Insertion
by ContraBardus
Summary: Two authors write a Ranma 1/2 self insertion...but something goes wrong...
1. Default Chapter

Insertion  
  
Part 1  
  
How the whole mess started...  
  
+++++++++  
  
Forward.  
  
This idea came to me after reading, Messed Up, Nuke Em Till They  
Glow, and thinking about another fanfic idea I had a while back. I  
always wanted to write something that was completely off the wall  
insane. I still think Nuke Em Till They Glow, is probably the funniest  
piece of fanfiction I've ever read in my life, but that's just me.  
Anyway, you'll catch on to this one pretty quickly, and it's probably  
the most original Self Insertion Parody you'll see for a long time to  
come.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
A familiar scene, Jusenkyo, in the Bayankala mountain range of  
China. Ranma Saotome trading blows with his father over the quiet  
pools of water, atop bamboo chutes that jut from the small ponds.  
  
Two fanfic writers, typing the exact same opening, to two  
different stories. They moved in tandem, their hands working on the  
keys in perfect unison, even though neither of them knows who the  
other is. Things like this happen on occasion, it is rare indeed. The  
chances are similar to those of a monkey writing out the complete  
works of Shakespeare.  
  
Few people realize it, but almost all works of fiction are self-  
insertions on some level. Whether it is a wish for a better world, or  
a craving for a life of adventure that the author will never have, is  
uncertain. It is possible that it is just the venting of frustrations,  
played out upon someone who cannot retaliate in any way, no one person  
has the same motivation.  
  
On some level, a small portion of the author's soul is taken and  
placed into the story, perhaps becoming a reality in some distant  
universe. The mechanics of such things is uncertain, however, this  
time, something different happened.  
  
Whether the Kami of said universe had an unusual sense of humor, or  
was unaware that these two tales were completely different is, and  
shall always be, a mystery. The Kami have a way of blowing off  
mistakes of that kind as some sort of grand scheme.  
  
In any case, all that mattered was the fact that it happened. As  
Ranma fell into the pool that would change his destiny forever, two  
souls attempted to merge with his own, in order to exact the changes  
that would carry their tales.  
  
Inside Ranma's head, a sound echoed for a moment. It was almost  
like the sound of two coconuts colliding together on some astral  
level. How the astral coconuts had arrived at their destination is  
uncertain as well. Whether they were carried by two astral swallows  
could remain in debate for eons to come, as well as whether said  
swallows were of the African variety, or the European kind. Such  
things are best left to philosophers anyway.  
  
As Ranma broke the surface of the water, gasping for air, said two  
coconuts were rubbing their foreheads and cursing under their breath.  
It was quite a confusing scene for all involved.  
  
The young Saotome was unaware of these proceedings thus far, and  
promptly screamed as she glanced down at the new additions to her  
chest. Thus, the chase began. Seeking vengeance for the blunder, Ranma  
began to tear across the Chinese wilderness after his, now her,  
father.  
  
As she left the land surrounding the springs, chasing her father  
up the side of a mountain path, a voice suddenly cried out from within  
her.  
  
"HOLD IT!"  
  
Ranma felt her body stop cold, and blinked in shocked surprise.  
"Who?"  
  
"What the hell is going on here!?" cried a different voice from  
within his head.  
  
"I'm going to kill my pop! That's what!" answered Ranma out loud,  
not yet realizing that there was a voice speaking to her from inside  
her head.  
  
"Who the heck are you?" said another voice from her head.  
  
"Ranma Saotome," replied the redhead dumbly as she started to  
glance around in search of the pair. "Where the heck are you? Come out  
so I can see you!" she demanded.  
  
"I know who you are!" snapped the second voice at her. "I was  
talking to the other guy inside our head."  
  
Ranma blinked, not quite certain what to say or do.  
  
"Who the heck are you?" said the first voice indignantly.  
  
"I asked first!" snapped the second voice angrily.  
  
"I've gone nuts! Snapped!" muttered Ranma as she fell to her knees  
clutching her head. Her eyes wide with terror as she rocked back and  
fourth. Finally she stood up and turned towards where her father had  
run off too. "Pop! This is all your fault! I'm gonna kill you!"  
  
"Stop!" cried one of the voices, and her body suddenly became  
still.  
  
"Yeah! We aren't going anywhere until we get this mess figured  
out!" said the other voice in agreement.  
  
"Fine, I'll start then. My name is Dan Hibiki," said the first  
voice.  
  
"It is?" said the second voice. He started to laugh out loud,  
almost causing Ranma to fall over. She had no idea what it was she  
found so funny.  
  
"Shut up! It's not my fault!" snapped Dan angrily.  
  
"I guess not, man, your parents are cruel. Naming you after the  
worst street fighter ever," said the second voice as it slowly calmed  
to the occasional chuckle.  
  
"I was born before that!" retorted the angry Dan bitterly.  
  
"Whatever, people call me Carrot," said the second voice with a  
shrug.  
  
Ranma felt her shoulders move and blinked in surprise. "Um, could  
you stop that?"  
  
"Not sure how," said Carrot with another shrug. "I think we're  
stuck like this for a while."  
  
"We?" muttered Ranma in shock.  
  
"Yup, there's three of us in here now," said Carrot after a  
moment's thought. "At least I think there's three of us, if there is  
someone else, they ain't said nuthin."  
  
"Was this because of that spring?" muttered Ranma as her eyes went  
wide with shock again.  
  
"Could be," ventured Carrot lazily. "Come on, we'd best get back.  
I think the guide might have some hot water back at his hut."  
  
"What good will that do us?" snapped Ranma angrily.  
  
"It's the cure for the curse," said Dan with a slight annoyance in  
his voice. "We'll turn back into a guy again, and then make panda  
steaks."  
  
"Right," agreed Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"You seem to be taking this well," commented Dan with a small  
frown.  
  
Ranma's entire body was shaking, a cold fear gripped her heart as  
she stood up and started to slowly walk away. Hoping the voices would  
remain in the clearing, and this would all just be some sort of bad  
joke.  
  
Unfortunately, that's not the way things worked. The pair  
continued to talk as she walked.  
  
"It's this way," said Carrot as he forced Ranma to turn her body  
and moved in a different direction.  
  
"No! This way!" the redhead's body twisted towards another path.  
  
"No! We passed those trees over there, remember?" said Carrot as  
he pointed towards a small grove.  
  
"Damn it! I know where I'm going!" muttered Dan angrily.  
  
"Come on! Try to get along will ya? We don't know how long we're  
stuck like this!" pleaded Carrot. "We've got to try and be good  
roomies. Okay?"  
  
"Roomies?" muttered Ranma in horror.  
  
"Fine! We'll go your way! Don't come crying to me when we end up  
in India!" snapped Dan.  
  
"Great!" said Carrot cheerfully. "So, how ya doin, Ranma?"  
  
That did it. "How am I doing? I'm a friggin girl! I'm hearing two  
different voices inside my head, and I ain't walkin nowhere, but  
somehow I am! How the hell do you think I'm doin!?"  
  
"Jeez, calm down. There's no need to blow a gasket," said Carrot  
lazily.  
  
"Calm down?! CALM DOWN?!! Are you nuts?" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Well, I guess I am a little, but that's beside the point," said  
Carrot with another small shrug. "Look, getting upset won't help  
anything, let's just go back to the Guide's house, and get some hot  
water. We'll be a man again at least."  
  
"Right," agreed Dan.  
  
"You mean...I don't have to stay a girl?" muttered Ranma in  
surprise, a great relief flooded her body suddenly.  
  
"Ooh, that tingled," commented Carrot.  
  
"Shut up!" snapped Dan.  
  
"Who the heck are you?" said Ranma as she walked along, a little  
bit calmer than before.  
  
"We already told you," said Carrot.  
  
"I know that! How the heck did you get inside my head?" snapped  
Ranma angrily.  
  
"I dunno," said Carrot.  
  
"Beats the hell outta me," agreed Dan.  
  
Ranma found herself trying to shrug her arms, and cross them at  
the same time.  
  
"I'm just glad this girl thing is only temporary," muttered Ranma.  
If she was lucky, the voices would leave with the girl body.  
  
"Actually, it's kinda permanent," muttered Carrot with a small  
chuckle.  
  
"What?" said Ranma as she suddenly stopped in the middle of the  
path.  
  
"Hot water changes us into a guy, cold water turns us into a girl.  
It's pretty simple really," said Carrot cheerfully. "Come on, how bad  
could it be?"  
  
"I'm a guy!" snapped Ranma, desperately wishing she could beat the  
crap out of this guy.  
  
"Will both of you just shut the hell up?" snapped Dan.  
  
"Calm down will ya? All this arguing isn't going to get us  
anywhere," replied Carrot. "Look, being a girl has advantages. We can  
look at all the naked girls we want, without being called perverts. We  
can get free food, cause we're cute. We can do all sorts of things  
guys don't get to do, because it isn't macho. Like eat those girly  
ice-cream things, and play with dolls."  
  
"You play with dolls?" muttered Ranma in disgusted shock.  
  
"Huh? No! Of course not! But we could if we wanted too, and it  
wouldn't look weird. It was just an example."  
  
"Yeah right," grumbled Dan with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Let's not get snippy. I'm assuming that we both already know all  
about Ranma, but what about the two of us?" said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"What do you mean you know about me?" snapped the pigtailed girl  
angrily.  
  
"You're the star of a manga back where we came from, that is, if  
Dan is from the same place I am," said Carrot lazily.  
  
"Right," confirmed Dan with another frown.  
  
"Man, what a grouch," muttered Carrot to himself, although, all of  
them heard him.  
  
"You shut up you!" cried Dan as he punched himself in the face.  
  
"Hey! Cut that out!" cried Ranma as she rubbed her nose.  
  
"Ouch! You jerk!" snapped Carrot as he retaliated by twisting his  
own breast.  
  
"So! You want to play rough do you?" retorted Dan angrily as he  
punched himself in the gut.  
  
Genma Saotome, having realized that he wasn't being chased  
anymore, walked in on an unusual scene. His son, now turned daughter,  
was beating the living daylights out of herself, and cursing at  
herself as well. He paused and watched the scene for a moment, before  
turning away and holding a sign with the words, "I don't want to  
know," printed on it. He shuffled away through the brush quietly.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Half an hour later, Ranma was laid out on the ground, covered in  
bruises. "Are you two jerks done yet?" she muttered angrily. One of  
her hands was still weakly slapping her across her face, while the  
other had a weak grip on her neck, and was trying it's best to  
strangle her.  
  
"Die!" cried Dan bitterly.  
  
"Feel my fists of death!" muttered Carrot.  
  
"That's enough!" snapped Ranma as she jumped to her feet. She  
paused and realized that she didn't feel tired at all. Her arms were  
moving like she was completely drained though, as they attempted to  
continue the battle. She was feeling quite sore despite the energy she  
still had.  
  
"I'm done now," muttered Dan.  
  
"That's enough," agreed Carrot.  
  
"So, which one of you knows martial arts?" said Ranma calmly.  
  
"Huh? I've got my second dan in kenpo," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"I don't know any," said Dan.  
  
"Yeah, but you're a fighter," commented Ranma as she started  
walking again.  
  
"I guess," grumbled Dan. "I prefer to have a good weapon in my  
hand to be honest."  
  
"Like a sword?" asked Ranma. He seemed like the type who might  
know Kendo or something.  
  
"No, like a 357 magnum," said Dan with a snort. "I was a cop, a  
part of the SWAT team in Denver."  
  
"Where's Denver?" muttered Ranma in confusion.  
  
"America, I'm from Jacksonville myself, in Florida," commented  
Carrot lazily.  
  
"Let me get this straight. I've got two gaijin Assholes inside my  
head?" snapped Ranma in disgust.  
  
"Yup, that's about the size of it," commented Carrot lazily. "Hey,  
I wanna blow something up."  
  
"Shut up!" snapped Dan.  
  
"Sorry, I've always wanted to say that," replied Carrot with a  
grin.  
  
"We're here," commented Ranma as she noticed the Guide's hut up  
ahead.  
  
"We'll end up in India, huh?" deadpanned Carrot with a smug  
looking grin.  
  
"I'd kill you, but I'm too tired," snapped Dan.  
  
"Come on, let's go all right?" muttered Ranma.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Ranma! Just you wait! I'll make you pay for running out on our  
duel!" cried Ryoga Hibiki as he staggered through the forest. He had  
made it safely past the cliff that overlooked Jusenkyo, and was now  
moving towards Europe.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Well?" said Ranma as he looked at his father in disgust.  
  
"Boy, I don't know what you're talking about," said Genma from the  
ground. He looked like he had been beaten quite nicely.  
  
"You stupid jerk! I turn into a girl, and I've got two voices  
talking to me inside my head! This is all your fault old man!"  
  
"Sirs! I never hear of this happening before!" cried the Guide in  
concern.  
  
"How often do people get cursed here?" snapped Ranma in a  
completely different tone as he turned to look at the man for a  
moment.  
  
The guide stepped back and thought about it. "It not happen in  
many years. Maybe that why I not hear about it before?" he muttered  
sheepishly.  
  
"Well, that's something I guess. Where is the spring of drowned  
man?" said Ranma again, with his tone changing again.  
  
The guide blinked and looked at him in shock. "Sirs, no one ever  
ask that before after being cursed. You is first."  
  
"Hey. Why didn't I think of that?" muttered Ranma with a blank  
look on his face.  
  
"I so sorry to say, no can cure curse yet. Magic still very  
unstable, is dangerous. Must wait for many months before curse can be  
cured."  
  
"Damn," muttered Ranma as his tone changed again.  
  
He suddenly became cheerful again, "Oh well!" He put his hands on  
top of his head, and strolled away lazily.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Tendo, bringing Ranma from China. Saotome."  
  
Soun Tendo sat at the table, with his daughters looking at him as  
if he had three heads.  
  
A sound came from the front door, it was opened, and someone  
entered the home.  
  
"Ooh! That must be Ranma!" cried Nabiki as she jumped to her feet.  
  
"Saotome! My friend! I've been waiting!" cried Soun as he followed  
her into the hall. Akane and Kasumi were directly behind him. The two  
girls found themselves almost run over as Soun and Nabiki came running  
back into the room.  
  
A giant Panda walked in, with a young girl directly in front of  
it.  
  
"You wouldn't be?" ventured Soun.  
  
The girl smiled at him cutely, pulling her hands up to her face  
and shaking her head from side to side. "Hi! I'm Ranma Saotome! Tee  
hee!"  
  
Every Tendo in the room fell over.  
  
Nabiki was the first to recover, she glared at her father for a  
moment. "Ranma is a girl."  
  
"I can see that!" snapped Soun.  
  
"A rather cute girl," continued Nabiki as she poked at the girl's  
breast.  
  
"Ooh! Don't stop!" cried the redhead as she pulled the girl's hand  
by her wrist and forced her to grab the breast she had been poking.  
  
Nabiki pulled her hand away in disgust and glared at the girl. She  
paused though, there was something in her eyes that bothered her  
slightly. They almost shined with a dangerous intelligence, and seemed  
to be flashing with anger. "There's more to her than this airhead,"  
she thought to herself for a moment.  
  
Soun looked at the homoerotic display for a moment, and passed out  
on the ground.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma was sitting at the table with the Tendos, seeming to beam  
with pride as the panda glared at her angrily. None of the Tendos  
noticed this, as they were focused on Soun's prone form on the ground  
just beside the table. He had a cold cloth sitting across his  
forehead, and tears in his eyes.  
  
"This is all your fault daddy!" said Nabiki.  
  
"Well I assumed that my friend Saotome's son was a boy!" snapped  
the man in retort.  
  
"Hey! Aren't you going to cop another feel?" said Ranma as she  
turned her head towards Nabiki and grabbed the girl's hand, pulling it  
to her chest again.  
  
"Stop that!" cried Nabiki as she pulled her hand away and blushed.  
  
The girl's expression became serious all of a sudden. "Fine."  
  
"Who the heck are you?" said Akane as she eyed the girl nervously.  
  
"I thought we covered this," said the redhead as she flicked her  
ponytail over her shoulder and smiled. "I'm Ranma Saotome. You want to  
be friends? Don't worry, I'm just pulling your sister's chain for  
poking my chest earlier. I'm not really gay, well, not in a literal  
sense anyway."  
  
Akane wasn't certain what to make of that comment, finally, she  
smiled at the girl weakly. "Um, sure..."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
A few moments later, the pair were out in the dojo.  
  
"So, I hear you practice kenpo?"  
  
"Yup," said Ranma lazily.  
  
Akane was unnerved a bit by how quickly the girl's expressions  
changed. She seemed to almost be feeling three things at one time. She  
pushed the thought aside and smiled warmly. "Well, let's have a match  
then!"  
  
The redhead's smile widened slightly. "All right. I like to punch  
stuff."  
  
"Huh?" muttered Akane in shock.  
  
"Well, I like other things too, like kicking things, and  
explosions..."  
  
"Um, right," said Akane as she took up a ready stance.  
  
+++++++++  
  
"You're up Ranma," said Carrot cheerfully inside the redhead's  
brain.  
  
"Try not to insult her," agreed Dan with a small scowl.  
  
"Shut up! Are you sure we can get out of this engagement thing?"  
said Ranma nervously.  
  
"Nope," said Dan flatly.  
  
"Not a clue," chimed Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"Well, I still think we should have stayed in China. That Shampoo  
was a babe!" said Dan.  
  
"Are you nuts? She was tryin to kill us!" replied Ranma.  
  
"Only at first," commented Dan. "Besides, I've got other plans."  
  
"Hey, lets beat the crap out of her!" said Carrot merrily.  
  
"What? No way!" cried Ranma.  
  
"I say we crush her like a bug," agreed Dan.  
  
++++++++  
  
Outside the brain, the fight had already started.  
  
"What's wrong? Attack me!" cried Akane as she spun into a kick.  
  
"Huh?" muttered Ranma as her expression changed suddenly. "If you  
say so..."  
  
Akane was flat on her back a half second later. The redhead had  
her arm extended still and was looking down at her absently. "Ouch.  
What the hell just happened?" Akane was feeling sore spots in at least  
six different places.  
  
"Are you all right? I didn't hit you too hard did I?" said the  
redhead as she knelt down beside her.  
  
"No, you're pretty good," commented Akane as she sat up and shook  
her head. She couldn't even remember what had happened to her.  
  
"Pretty good?" said Ranma with an amused look in her eyes.  
  
"Okay, you're really good," amended Akane with a smile forming on  
her lips. "I'm just glad you're not a boy."  
  
"Who the hell said I wasn't?" said Ranma with a cheerful smile.  
  
"Ha ha," said Akane as she stood up finally and dusted off her  
dogi.  
  
"Hmm, well, I'm definitely more of a tomboy than you are," said  
Ranma with a small wink. "I'm more of a man than you realize."  
  
Akane blinked at the statement, and was about to say something.  
That was when Kasumi decided to make her entrance though.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
A short time later, Kasumi had shown Ranma to her room, and then  
the bathroom. The ponytailed girl sat down on the stool and scrubbed  
herself off for a moment idly.  
  
"So? Now what?" said Dan gruffly.  
  
"Well, we should go out as a man I guess..." muttered Carrot  
almost bitterly.  
  
"I guess so, Pop is gonna tell them about it sooner or later,"  
agreed Ranma. "I really wish you'd stop doing that when we're a girl  
Carrot. You know it bugs the hell out of me!"  
  
"Well, I think it's fun. You've got to loosen up some man, you're  
too uptight. Nothing compared to Captain Destructo here, but still..."  
  
"Those sound like fighting words to me!" snarled Dan.  
  
Ranma looked at her arm in terror as a fist began to form.  
  
"Now, now, we both know Akane Tendo is going to walk through that  
door in the nude any moment now. So let's not get into a fight with  
ourselves again. It's obvious that she already thinks we're a little  
crazy."  
  
"Is she wrong?" deadpanned Ranma.  
  
"Probably not," agreed Carrot as he dumped the cold water over her  
head.  
  
"I say we blow out of here. I've got no interest in this stupid  
engagement," snorted Dan.  
  
"We'll miss all the fun if we do," commented Carrot lazily as  
Ranma shook the water out of her hair and shivered for a moment.  
  
"Well, I still say we should have stayed in China!" insisted Dan.  
  
"You're just mad you had to leave all that stuff behind,"  
commented Carrot lazily.  
  
"Stupid Japanese gun laws!" grumbled Dan bitterly.  
  
"Hey! We wouldn't have left in such a hurry if not for you!"  
snapped Ranma angrily.  
  
"They were trying to kill us first!" snapped Dan.  
  
"Whatever," said Ranma as he stood up and started to reach for a  
towel.  
  
At that moment, the door slid open, revealing a nude Akane. "Hi!"  
  
"Man, you were right about that peeping stuff," thought Ranma as  
he desperately attempted to keep his eyes inside their sockets as he  
stared for a moment. Luckily, Akane didn't seem to notice as she sat  
down and started to scrub herself off.  
  
"Hey, not bad," commented Carrot.  
  
"I've seen better," grumbled Dan.  
  
"Are you done already?" said Akane with a slightly surprised look  
as Ranma started towards the door.  
  
"Um, yeah," muttered the redhead as she walked past the girl, and  
pulled her towel up around her body.  
  
"Let's see what'll happen next," said Dan.  
  
"She'll find out, call us a pervert, and then try to brain us with  
a table or something," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"She seems nice to me," said Ranma obliviously.  
  
"I got a hundred yen that says you're wrong," commented Carrot.  
  
"You're on!" snorted Ranma.  
  
"Will you two cut that out? How can you make a bet, the yen  
belongs to all of us remember?" snapped Dan.  
  
"Oh yeah," muttered Ranma.  
  
"Spoilsport," said Carrot.  
  
"Ranma! Why are you still a girl?" cried Genma as he rushed up to  
his son.  
  
"Huh? Are you kidding, Pop?" said the redhead irritably.  
  
"What do you mean?" snapped Genma.  
  
"Akane's in there. You don't want me to scare her half to death do  
you?" said the girl as she wandered over to the table and sat down.  
  
"Man, I wish I'd thought of that sooner! I'll bet her expression  
would have been great!" thought Carrot bitterly.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
Sailor Pluto frowned, something was wrong. A force of chaos like  
no other had appeared suddenly. She had been unable to pinpoint it,  
and it frustrated her to no end. The senshi weren't scheduled to  
awaken for some time yet in this universe, not that she realized that  
it was different from the others. Beryl shouldn't awaken for many  
years either, but this seemed even worse than her.  
  
Whatever it was, it was crazy, violent, and chaotic. It had to be  
evil, there was nothing good that combined all three of those  
qualities. She scowled and glared into the Time Gate, searching for  
the source of the disturbance. "Where are you?"  
  
She whirled around, turning away from the Time Gate, her scowl  
growing with each step she took. A small capsule on the planet earth,  
waited patiently for it's awakening. "It looks like I'll have to put  
my plans into motion sooner than expected." She sighed, the unexpected  
should never happen to her, it just wasn't right. Plus, she was  
starting to get a headache, there is nothing Sailor Pluto hates more  
than a headache.  
  
Soon, Minako would be receiving a visitor, and the events would be  
set into motion.  
  
She finally did what was needed, and sat down on a nearby table,  
pulling a bottle of pills from a desk. She shook it and frowned as she  
dumped the last two pills in her palm. "Damn, gotta get this  
prescription refilled again."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
This will grow more twisted as time goes on, the SM tie in was a  
last minute addition. Mostly because I realized I've never written one  
of those kinds of fics before. This change was also inspired by my  
rereading NETTG recently.  
  
Updates on this one will be as with The Joy of Fatherhood.  
Approximately whenever I feel like it, or about once a month.  
  
As per usual on a project like this, continuation depends on  
feedback.  



	2. Insertion Part 2

Insertion  
  
Part 2  
  
The Fiancee Factor.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma sat with his father and the Tendos in his male form several  
minutes later. All the girls were looking at him oddly, and a silence  
hung in the air around them. Ranma didn't notice, as he was busy with  
a conversation inside his own head.  
  
"Okay, one of these girls is going to be our fiancee for a while  
at least. We need to decide which one it's going to be," said Carrot.  
  
"What? I ain't going to marry no stupid girls!" snapped Ranma  
angrily.  
  
"What were you planning on marrying then?" muttered Dan with a  
small frown.  
  
"Right, now that it's settled. Who do we pick?" agreed Carrot.  
  
"I ain't pickin nobody!" snapped Ranma in retort. "And that ain't  
what I meant and you know it!"  
  
"Whatever," snorted Dan irritably. "Can we just get this over  
with?"  
  
"Okay, I say we pick Nabiki," said Carrot.  
  
"Huh? No way!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"You be quiet unless you've got something useful to say," replied  
Dan.  
  
"You won't be happy no matter what we say, and he's right, we have  
to pick somebody. Regardless of whether we intend to marry them. I for  
one don't want to get stuck with Akane," said Carrot in agreement.  
  
"I don't have ta do nuthin!" snapped Ranma indignantly.  
  
"Right, we'll just do it for ya," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
Ranma growled, and considered punching himself in the face for a  
moment to teach them both a lesson. He then remembered that he was  
surrounded by other people, and managed to control himself.  
  
"Why Nabiki?" asked Dan.  
  
"Come on. Akane's going to beat the crap out of us and get in our  
way," said Carrot with another frown.  
  
"What's wrong with Akane? She seems nice enough," said Ranma, then  
he remembered something else the voice had mentioned. "Hey! I can take  
that slow chick anytime!"  
  
"You'll find out what's wrong with her soon enough," said Dan with  
a small chuckle.  
  
"Anyway, Nabiki's got a better body. I mean look at those things,  
Akane can't compare!" said Carrot sagely.  
  
"Kasumi is older, and more developed," pointed out Dan.  
  
"Yeah, but Nabiki is more likely to put out," said Carrot  
cheerfully.  
  
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" snapped Ranma in shock.  
  
"If you have to ask, you'll never know," deadpanned Carrot.  
  
"I like having money to spare," countered Dan. "Kasumi is more  
likely to leave us alone."  
  
"Yeah, but we get sent to Tofu's a lot in the beginning. I'd  
rather not get on his bad side," said Carrot with a little thought.  
  
"Good point," agreed Dan. "I don't intend to ever set foot in the  
place if I can help it though."  
  
"Wanna take that chance?" countered Carrot.  
  
"Not really, no," said Dan with a small sigh.  
  
"What the hell are you two talking about?" snapped Ranma  
irritably. "What's going on?"  
  
"We're deciding our future," replied Carrot as if the boy should  
already know.  
  
"What?! Hey! This is my life you jerks!"  
  
"And ours," pointed out Dan.  
  
"That ain't my fault! You two can't just decide stuff for me!"  
snapped Ranma angrily.  
  
"Hey, we're stuck here. We aren't deciding for you, we're deciding  
for us," said Carrot calmly.  
  
"It's my body!" snarled Ranma.  
  
"And you've been outvoted," said Dan.  
  
+++++++++  
  
"Mr. Saotome, why is Ranma choking himself?" said Kasumi sweetly  
as she interrupted the man's explanation.  
  
"Huh? Oh that. It's nothing to worry about," said the man  
cheerfully.  
  
The other Tendo's simply watched in shocked silence as Ranma  
rolled around on the ground, punching and kicking himself as hard as  
he could. He even blocked several strikes to his own groin during the  
battle.  
  
Not caring about the odd connection this boy had with the redhead  
they had seen earlier that hadn't been explained yet. Nabiki quickly  
rushed to Akane's side. "Oh, he want's Akane."  
  
"Definitely," agreed Kasumi.  
  
"What? Why would he?" stammered the girl in shock as she looked at  
the boy in horror.  
  
"Well, you are the cute one sis!" said Nabiki.  
  
"Oh yes, all the boys at school like you. I'm sure he'll pick you  
anyway. We're just too plain looking!" agreed Kasumi.  
  
Nabiki growled and flashed a quick glance at her sister, but did  
not argue.  
  
"Hey! That's right! He must be a pervert! Just like all the  
others!" said Akane with a snarl as she began to apply pressure to her  
grip on the table, cracking the area around her fingers.  
  
By this time, Ranma had himself pinned up against the wall and was  
trying to pull his own hand away from his throat. Soun stood up next  
to the boy and pat him on the shoulder, ignoring the strangeness of  
the situation for a moment.  
  
"Well, congratulations son! Meet your new fiancee!" said the man  
as he waved his arm towards Akane.  
  
"Huh?" muttered the boy as he looked at her blankly. "Hey! I  
didn't pick nobody!"  
  
"Too bad, you should have been quicker," said Nabiki as she  
wandered away.  
  
"Oh my! I have to start dinner!" gasped Kasumi as she also left  
the scene very quickly.  
  
"Damn! This is all your fault, Ranma!" muttered Ranma under his  
breath quietly. No one seemed to notice this, and he sat back down.  
  
"Well, now that we have this settled. Perhaps we should explain  
this to Akane now, Saotome?"  
  
"Right," muttered Genma as he pushed his glasses up his nose.  
  
"What's to explain? I'm not marrying him!" snapped Akane as she  
crossed her arms and turned away from them.  
  
"Fine by me," muttered Ranma as he scratched his ear absently. His  
interest in the situation seemed to have vanished completely.  
  
"They just need some time to get used to the idea," said Soun.  
"However, we never did get to tell them about the curse."  
  
"It doesn't matter I suppose," said Genma with a small nod.  
"They'll find out sooner or later."  
  
"Curse? What curse?" said Akane as she spun around and glared at  
them like they had suddenly sprouted palm trees from the top of their  
heads.  
  
"Well, this curse," said Genma as he attempted to pick his son up  
and throw him over his shoulder, only to have the boy land in the yard  
just short of the koi. "Have you gained weight son?" he gasped as he  
looked at the boy for a moment.  
  
"Hey! You callin me fat old man?" snapped Ranma as he succeeded in  
throwing his father into the koi, changing him into a panda.  
  
"What the?" snapped Akane in shock. "You turn into a panda?"  
  
"No, I don't. I turn into a girl," said Ranma as he sighed and sat  
down. "We've already met, Akane."  
  
The girl blinked and stared at him for a moment.  
"You...you...you're that girl?"  
  
"Yup! Ain't it cool!?" said the boy cheerfully. His cocky grin  
changed to a rather innocent looking smile.  
  
"That...you...you...YOU PERVERT!" she picked up the table and  
attempted to slam it down on top of him.  
  
He nimbly jumped aside and looked at her in shock. "Hey! What the  
heck are you doin?"  
  
"I can't believe you! You looked at my body you letch!" snarled  
the angry girl as she prepared to swing again. She blinked as he  
seemed to appear directly in front of her face, after vanishing from  
where he had been, and poked her nose lightly.  
  
"Hey, you walked in on me lady," he replied.  
  
"It's different when a girl sees a boy!" she retorted shakily as  
she jumped back, dropping the table in the process.  
  
By this time, Soun and Genma were celebrating the union of the  
schools nearby. They each had a bottle of sake in their hands, and  
were waving around fans with tears of joy in their eyes.  
  
"Not really. I tried to tell you earlier, but you just didn't get  
it," said the boy as he sat down. "Besides, what's the big deal?"  
  
"What's the big deal!? You pervert!" she snapped.  
  
"Do you honestly think I get something out of that? I've got  
everything you've got," said Ranma calmly as he ignored her ranting.  
"Don't get mad at me because you screwed up lady. I told you I wasn't  
really a girl in the dojo, and I'm not the one who engaged us. This  
isn't my fault anymore than it is yours. I say, we take this out on  
the people who are really responsible."  
  
Genma and Soun looked up from their drinking with complete shock  
on their faces.  
  
Akane looked at the boy for a moment. He was glaring at his father  
with an odd smirk on his face, and cracking his knuckles absently.  
  
"Now boy..." muttered Genma as he backed away.  
  
"Come now Akane! You know I only want what's best for my little  
girl!" muttered Soun as he went completely pale; tears began to flow  
from his eyes as well.  
  
Akane looked back and fourth from her father to Ranma. Unable to  
decide what to do. Finally, she picked up the table again, and turned  
towards Genma and Soun.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Well, that was fun!" said Carrot merrily as he sat down on the  
porch later that evening. Both of the parents were inside, nursing  
their injuries and lying on futons in their respective rooms.  
  
"I agree," said Dan. He found himself wishing there were more  
explosions involved though. He really missed China.  
  
"It wasn't that bad, at least after that Akane chick stopped  
trying to kill us," agreed Ranma with a small sigh.  
  
"Don't worry Ranma, we're going to find a way out of this mess.  
There's lots of women much cuter than Akane in the world!" said  
Carrot.  
  
"I've got an idea...it may help get Akane off our backs," said Dan  
with a small chuckle. "It's obvious she doesn't like boys, and has an  
ego bigger than the three of ours combined. She probably thinks we  
planned all this to get in her pants or something."  
  
"Really?" said Ranma with a hopeful smile.  
  
"Hey! You thought of something?" said Carrot in surprise.  
  
"Shut up!" snapped Dan as he punched himself in the jaw.  
  
"Ouch! I was just kiddin!" grumbled Carrot irritably as he rubbed  
at their face gingerly.  
  
"Anyway, we'll tell Akane that there's someone else, and we can't  
marry her. That way, she'll pretty much leave us alone," said Dan.  
  
"Is she about five seven, with long purple hair?" muttered Carrot  
cheerfully.  
  
"I ain't marrying that psycho chick!" said Ranma in a panic.  
  
"I like her, but I ain't marrying her. We've all seen how they  
treat men in that village, and I agree that it ain't for us," said Dan  
with a small frown.  
  
"Ah ha! Ukyo! You're an Ukyo junkie!" said Carrot happily as he  
smacked is palm.  
  
"Ucchan? You guys are sick! I knew it!" screamed Ranma in terror.  
  
"We are not you dope! Ukyo Kuonji is a girl nimrod!" snapped  
Carrot.  
  
"He ain't! I'd know if my best friend was a girl!" retorted Ranma.  
  
"Carrot is right, Ukyo is a girl. She's a bit of a tomboy, but  
still a girl," said Dan calmly.  
  
"It ain't true!" snapped Ranma indignantly.  
  
"Look, if Ukyo is a boy, I promise we won't try anything. Okay?"  
said Carrot with a small sigh.  
  
"Right! You're damn right you won't!" replied Ranma irritably.  
  
"Still, the 'someone else' plan should work. Akane's anything but  
attached to us. We'll explain things to her tomorrow. I'm sure we can  
pull it off. Especially since Genma already spent the dowry," said  
Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"Should be easy enough," agreed Dan.  
  
"You promised!" warned Ranma.  
  
"And we intend to keep our promise too," said Carrot with a sly  
grin forming on his face. He, of course, had no intentions of marrying  
Ukyo Kuonji, but it would make a good cover for a while with Akane;  
possibly curbing her insane jealousy a bit.  
  
+++++++++  
  
"Oh my! He's so animated," said Kasumi as she sat at the table and  
watched Ranma mutter to himself outside.  
  
"What a weirdo," said Nabiki from beside her. "He just sits there,  
making faces."  
  
"I guess he's the quiet contemplative type? He should be good for  
Akane," said Kasumi cheerfully.  
  
"I think he's nuts, and we should get rid of him as fast as we  
can. Getting married to a loon is the last thing Akane needs."  
  
"Nabiki! That's not very nice!" chastised Kasumi.  
  
"It's true though, and we have to help her! For the good of the  
family, Kasumi!"  
  
"I suppose you're right," said the older girl as Ranma began to  
laugh maniacally to himself. "But don't be to hard on him, Nabiki."  
  
"Right, I'll only do what I have too," said the younger girl with  
a small sigh, as she hung her head guiltily. She hated it when Kasumi  
made her promise things like that too her. Still, she could work  
around it easily enough. After all, what would be 'enough' wasn't  
quite clear.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"School?" asked Ranma as he sat with his father the next morning.  
  
Genma sat across from Ranma with a huge black eye and his arm in a  
sling. "That's right boy. We are going to be staying a while."  
  
"I guess it's been a while since I've been to school," said Ranma  
with a small shrug.  
  
"It's the same school Akane and I go to! See you there!" said  
Nabiki cheerfully as she ran towards the door.  
  
Akane stood up. "Hey! Wait up! I'll go with you!"  
  
Nabiki paused and looked back at Ranma for a moment. "He can't do  
that much damage just walking to school, and Akane can take care of  
herself," she thought to herself. "Sorry, he's your fiancee, you  
should walk him to school."  
  
Akane glared at the boy for a moment. He merely stood and walked  
past her towards the door.  
  
"Well, are you coming?" he said without looking back at her.  
  
Akane held her breath for a moment, puffing out her cheeks in  
frustration. "Jerk!"  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"When we get to school, we don't know each other!" said Akane  
angrily as she looked up at the boy walking along the fence lazily.  
  
"When we get to school, I'm an old friend of your family, and  
nothing more," said Ranma as he looked down at her coolly.  
  
"I don't want you following me around! Got it?" she snapped in  
retort.  
  
"Hey! Why would I..." started Ranma, but his expression quickly  
changed again. "Look, we've got to talk, right now." He hopped down  
next to her and gently grabbed her wrist. The girl stopped and whirled  
around to glare at him. She paused and glanced over her shoulder as a  
splash of water hit the ground behind her. An old woman was emptying  
out her bath water from a pail, with a ladle.  
  
"Don't touch me!" snapped the girl as she pulled her hand away.  
  
"I've got no intention of marrying you, Akane. It isn't because  
you don't like me, or I just want to disobey my own father either,"  
said Ranma calmly as he leaned against the wall with a rather casual  
air about him.  
  
"What are you talking about?" muttered Akane uncomfortably.  
  
"There's someone else," said Ranma coolly.  
  
"And you still came to my house and..." seethed Akane.  
  
"Shut up and listen," said Ranma with a dead calm that bothered  
her slightly. Akane fell silent and looked at the ground for a moment.  
  
"When I was six, my stupid old man engaged me to someone else. He  
took the dowry and ran off without her, never intending to honor the  
agreement in favor of this one. Ukyo was my best friend, and my dad  
thought that I thought she was a boy, and that I didn't know about the  
engagement." Ranma paused for a moment and looked at the girl in  
silence. Akane was simply glaring at him, not saying a word. "Now, our  
parents are going to try to make us do this no matter what, but Ukyo  
has lost her dowry already, my father wasted it. That makes her  
engagement more valid than this one as far as I'm concerned, no matter  
which one was first. So, you're going to calm the hell down, and stop  
being such a little bitch, right now."  
  
"What?" snapped Akane in shock.  
  
"I didn't ask to get dragged here you know. I like this less than  
you do, but if Pop finds out I know about this other engagement, he  
might do something stupid. So we're just going to keep our mouths  
shut, and play along. Got it?" said the boy as calmly as ever.  
  
Akane growled and clenched her fists tightly and snorted in  
disgust at the boy in front of her. "Fine."  
  
"Good," said Ranma cheerfully. "Let's go to school then!"  
  
"You know, Pop was following us," said Ranma inside their head.  
  
Carrot blinked and chuckled to himself. "So he was, I forgot."  
  
"Did you?" said Dan with a wry smile crossing their face for a  
moment.  
  
"That's a secret," said Carrot cheerfully. They continued to walk  
behind the strangely silent Akane, allowing her to lead them to the  
school.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Genma frowned as he backed into the shadows again. "The boy  
knows!" The phrase worked over and over in his mind. "This isn't good,  
I've got to think of a way out of this. Ranma must marry Akane, he  
just has too! With the agreement with Soun, we'll get the dojo! The  
Saotome name cannot be soiled like this, there must be a way!" As he  
thought this to himself, he was absently rubbing the front of his neck  
nervously. "I'll deal with the boy later, when we're alone..." he  
decided after a moment.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Hate boys! Hate boys! Hate boys! HATE BOYS!!" screamed Akane as  
her morning tradition began.  
  
Ranma blinked and started walking forward with his hands in his  
pockets lazily. "Oh yeah," he said out loud, as if he'd just  
remembered something. Akane met the hoards of boys attacking her and  
he followed just behind her, stepping over fallen bodies, and ducking  
under the occasional thrown ones.  
  
Finally, they were all defeated leaving her and Ranma about  
halfway to the doors of the school. The ponytailed boy was standing in  
the middle of the one time crowd, and looking around idly. He didn't  
seem particularly concerned with this new development. Finally, he  
stepped forward, just in time to catch a flying rose from the air.  
  
"What the?" he muttered in confusion. He turned and handed the  
rose to Akane. "Here, this is probably yours."  
  
"You there! How dare you give a rose of love to Akane Tendo?!"  
said a new voice from behind a nearby tree.  
  
"What are you so worried about? It wasn't intended for me, and  
she's the only other person standing right now. At least, I hope it  
wasn't for me," said Ranma calmly as he turned to face the boy who had  
stepped from behind the trunk.  
  
"True, it was intended for my love, the tigress Akane Tendo," said  
the boy with a frown as he glared at Ranma.  
  
"Well, you should be more careful, that could have hurt someone  
the way you threw it," said Ranma as he started walking away.  
  
"Fool! Did I give you my leave!" snapped Kuno as he stepped  
towards the strange boy.  
  
"Did I ask permission to leave?" said Ranma coolly.  
  
"It is obvious you do not know who it is that you are dealing  
with!" snapped Kuno arrogantly. "The sound of my voice..."  
  
"Shut up. I know exactly who you are. You're the regional Kendo  
Champion, Tatewaki Kuno, the self proclaimed 'Shooting Star'. Don't  
speak to me like I'm your servant," Ranma continued to walk away,  
leaving Kuno with his mouth hanging open.  
  
"That wasn't much fun Carrot," muttered Dan from inside the boy's  
head.  
  
"Wait for it," said Carrot as he slowed their pace slightly.  
  
"Hold," said Kuno as his jaw hardened. He looked towards Akane for  
a moment. "Forgive me my love, but we shall spar in but a moment. I  
must first lay this dog low. I must, in my wisdom, show him where his  
place upon these hallowed grounds is." Kuno raised his weapon and  
rushed towards Ranma, who was now standing still, and glancing over  
his shoulder with a smile on his face.  
  
"How bad do we want to hurt him?" said Carrot as the boy  
approached.  
  
"As much as we can, let's just kill him and be done with it,"  
snorted Dan.  
  
"No! Just knock him out or something!" retorted Ranma.  
  
"Cur! I shall smite thee for thy insolence!" roared Kuno as he  
swung the blade down.  
  
Ranma merely struck out with his hand, catching Kuno in the  
throat. The kendoist stood still for a moment, with the blade halfway  
swung. He made a small gurgling noise and fell flat on his back,  
gasping for breath desperately.  
  
"Damn it!" snapped Ranma irritably. "Why did you do that?"  
  
"Hey, he had a weapon!" retorted Carrot. "I can't jump around like  
you can remember? We've only been training with you and your father  
for a couple of months!"  
  
"You should have let me handle this then!" cried Ranma.  
  
"There was no time for delegation," snorted Dan. "You're lucky it  
wasn't me, I would have used our grenade."  
  
"That reminds me! Why are we still carrying that around? We don't  
even need it here!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Because I don't go anywhere without something on me. I can't  
openly carry a gun around in Japan, and this is easier to hide!"  
grumbled Dan.  
  
"Calm down, both of you. You're ruining our dramatic exit," said  
Carrot as he turned them away from the fallen Kuno.  
  
"Well, at least the day can't get any worse," muttered Ranma  
angrily.  
  
"Heh, you ain't seen nothing yet," chuckled Carrot.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Pluto frowned as she looked at the empty bottle on her table.  
She'd run out again. The pain in her head was throbbing, irritating  
her more and more with each passing moment.  
  
"Damn, I've got to go," she grumbled as she stood up and grabbed a  
coat. "Damn prescription."  
  
Unfortunately for Pluto, there were no pharmacies on the entire  
planet. Which meant that it's guardian had to go elsewhere to get her  
medications. "Back to Earth again," muttered the Senshi.  
  
Luckily, Venus had been awakened now. She should be able to handle  
things for the moment without her, for a short time anyway. Setsuna  
smirked as she teleported away; she always did enjoy getting out a  
bit. Who knew, maybe this trip, something interesting would happen?  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
NEXT TIME: Hallway Horrors, Setsuna's pills, and "What the heck is  
Dragonball Z"?  



	3. Insertion Part 3

Before we begin, I'd like to clear something up. Dan and Carrot  
never get spoken lines. All dialogue with them is internal, meaning,  
inside Ranma's head. The outside world only sees Ranma Saotome, so  
that's what their dialogue to the outside world will be labeled as.  
  
Before anyone suggests that I use a different punctuation system, such  
as "" for speech, [] for thoughts, ** for Chinese, and () for Pig  
Latin. I'd just like to point out that this method is bad grammar. I  
won't do it.  
  
It's pretty obvious who's saying what most of the time, so a  
system like that isn't needed; and shouldn't be. If you have a doubt,  
look at the context of what's being said, and it should be clear. If  
it isn't, it probably isn't that important, or an ambiguous statement  
anyway.  
  
Insertion  
  
Part 3  
  
Hallway Horrors.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Nabiki Tendo was in a good mood. Tatewaki Kuno stood before her,  
with a bandage wrapped around his neck.  
  
"What?! Fiancee!" said the boy in shock.  
  
"Uh huh, my dad and his dad decided. Akane's going to marry  
Ranma," said the girl cheerfully.  
  
"Ranma Saotome!" cried the boy in anguish.  
  
"Kuno! Go stand in the hall!" said the teacher.  
  
Within thirty seconds, Kuno was racing down the hallway with a  
pair of buckets in his grasp. "I forbid it!"  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Well, it seems that our new student, Ranma Saotome, has recently  
returned from a visit to China. So lets all give him a warm Nihao  
welcome," said the teacher lazily as he read the file. "You can take  
that seat over there." He pointed out a random seat and the ponytailed  
boy sat down.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotme, was not happy. Not because of anything that was  
happening to him now, but because he had forgotten to be late to  
class. "So, we missed Kuno, big deal," said Dan lazily.  
  
"What are you talking about?" grumbled Ranma.  
  
"Nothing important. I doubt if we'll miss him. He'll come crashing  
through that door any minute now," commented Carrot lazily.  
  
To the class, he looked rather board, and Akane was giving him  
nasty looks from her seat nearby. He yawned and looked over at the  
door for a moment.  
  
"Three...two...one..." said Carrot calmly.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"I shall not allow it!" roared Kuno as he burst through the  
doorway.  
  
"What the?" said Akane in shock.  
  
"Nabiki told him," said Ranma as he glanced back at her lazily.  
  
Akane blinked and glanced at him for a moment, before Kuno started  
his rant.  
  
"I shall not allow this falsehood of an engagement to continue!  
Never! I shall not allow your engagement to Akane Tendo, Ranma  
Saotome!" screamed the boy at the top of his lungs.  
  
Akane went pale, every student looked at the trio of students  
blankly.  
  
"I don't need your permission, Kuno. There's nothing you can do,  
it's a matter of family honor, and none of your business. Unless you  
really want to fuck up Akane Tendo's giri, I suggest you forget about  
it."  
  
"Giri?" muttered the boy as he stepped back in shock. "You would  
use her honor against her? Foul dog! How dare you keep her from her  
true love! The noble and righteous Tatewaki Kuno awaits her embrace  
with open arms!"  
  
"Why is this my fault? I don't have any say in the matter. If you  
want to do something about the engagement, go talk to Soun Tendo. It  
was his idea," commented Ranma lazily as he stood up from his seat.  
  
"Surely you cower in fear of my might, and seek to hide behind  
others! Manipulator! I shall free her from this unwanted engagement!"  
roared Kuno as he jumped towards the boy.  
  
Akane was busy with the student body, who had now sprung to life  
and were bombarding the pair with questions. Ranma ignored it in favor  
of Kuno, while Akane stammered nervously and tried to convince them  
that it wasn't her idea.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Let's use the grenade!" said Dan.  
  
"I don't think that's a good idea, as cool as that'd be," grumbled  
Carrot as the boy charged them.  
  
"We have to get out of here!" snapped Ranma as he took the  
initiative and bolted from the room.  
  
Kuno cut the boy's desk in half and Ranma managed to make it out  
the door.  
  
The teacher was still standing there, with his mouth hung open.  
  
"Now what?" said Dan lazily as Ranma ran.  
  
"I say we kick his ass again," offered Carrot.  
  
"There's no room in here!" retorted Ranma.  
  
"Eh, you're just being a wuss," countered Carrot.  
  
"Let's blow him up!" cried Dan.  
  
"Man, you really want to use that thing don't you," said Carrot.  
  
"Hell yes!" snorted Dan.  
  
"I said no! Do you want to get arrested?" snapped Ranma.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Kuno was still just behind them, waving the bokuten around  
angrily. "Hold still knave! Receive your punishment!"  
  
Ranma stopped cold and turned to face the boy. "But...wouldn't  
that be stupid?"  
  
"It is fitting that you do so to not exert me. After all, it is  
inevitable that I will be victorious!" said Kuno as he stood proudly  
and puffed out his chest.  
  
"Not really, I beat you earlier pretty easy," continued Ranma as  
he looked thoughtful for a moment.  
  
"I do not admit defeat!" snapped Kuno as he glared at the boy.  
  
"That doesn't change the fact that you were beaten," pointed out  
Ranma. "Whether you admit it or not is irrelevant."  
  
"Silence dog!" snapped Kuno as he slashed the blade again. Ranma  
nimbly sidestepped and put his foot out, tripping the kendoist.  
  
Kuno was laid out across the floor, face first. He lifted his head  
up and glared at Ranma for a moment. "That hurt you know."  
  
A crowd of students was rushing up just behind them. "Oooo! And  
the winner gets to go out with Akane!" exclaimed a girl near the  
front.  
  
The girl in question was leading the mob, she took a quick glare  
back at them, but continued forward to where Ranma was standing over  
the fallen Kuno.  
  
"It's over already?" said one of the boys in shock.  
  
"Well, you saw what he did earlier," pointed out another boy.  
  
Kuno sat up and looked at the crowd. "I am not defeated. 'Tis  
merely base trickery by the evil of Ranma Saotome."  
  
"Evil?" said Ranma in mock confusion.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Heh, that's us," snorted Carrot.  
  
"Shut up!" snorted Ranma at him.  
  
+++++++++  
  
Outside Kuno was attacking them again. "Accept your fate! Be still  
knave!"  
  
"Nope, nuthin doin," said Ranma in retort. He was cheerfully  
bouncing off the walls. His face became serious again suddenly. "This  
is no place to fight Kuno! Follow me!"  
  
"That I shall!" replied the kendoist.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Not the window!" snapped Carrot as he halted the body suddenly.  
  
"What the?" said Ranma out loud as he felt himself stop. He  
quickly twisted and moved down a flight of stairs.  
  
"What did you do that for?" snapped Ranma angrily at Carrot.  
  
"There's a pool outside that window. We would have gotten wet,"  
replied the voice as he rushed out onto the schoolyard.  
  
"Oh," muttered Ranma angrily.  
  
"But that would lead too..." started Dan.  
  
"I know, but I'm not in the mood. I say we kick his ass soundly.  
So bad that he can't deny that we beat him down!" said Carrot  
cheerfully as he moved into a combat stance.  
  
"Works for me," agreed Ranma.  
  
"Can we use the..."  
  
"No!" was the simultaneous reply.  
  
"Dang."  
  
+++++++++  
  
At that moment, Kuno rushed out the doors. "Have at thee!"  
  
"Okay! You asked for it!" said Ranma as cheerfully as ever. He  
charged the kendoist head on.  
  
Kuno slashed and missed as Ranma danced around his strikes,  
punching and kicking at the older boy viciously. Kuno staggered back  
and grunted after a dozen or so strikes hit him.  
  
"Hey. Does that hurt?" said Ranma as he hopped up and down  
unharmed nearby.  
  
"Yes!" snapped Kuno irritably as he rubbed his jaw.  
  
"Okay, I just wanted to make sure you knew you were being  
defeated," said Ranma with a merry looking grin.  
  
"I do not admit defeat!" snapped Kuno.  
  
"I thought we went over this earlier," muttered Ranma in mock  
confusion as he avoided more strikes from the kendoist.  
  
"You cannot defeat me!" said Kuno as his bokuten suddenly became a  
blur of motion in front of him.  
  
"Sure I can!" said Ranma as he jumped up and back from the  
strikes. The blows shredded his clothes a little, but did no real  
damage. Behind him, a statue crumbled to dust.  
  
Kuno finally faltered in his attack, and Ranma winked at him.  
Then, the ponytailed boy rushed forward, slamming his fist into his  
gut. "The mighty blue thunder has never felt defeat!" roared the  
kendoist as he pulled back and prepared to strike again.  
  
"Really? Well," elbow, "this," punch, "is," kick, "what,"  
uppercut, "defeat," knee, "feels," bitch slap, "like."  
  
Kuno fell to his knees, leaning against his bokuten. "I fight on!"  
  
Ranma punched him dead in the face, sending him sprawling across  
the ground on his back. He was still awake, but could obviously not  
move. "So now you know," said the boy cheerfully as he looked down at  
his fallen opponent.  
  
"I feel nothing!" announced Kuno.  
  
"That's because your nerves are in shock," commented Ranma lazily  
as he walked back towards the school. The crowd that had followed them  
parted in his wake. "It'll hurt later."  
  
++++++++++  
  
Carrot was happy. "That was fun!"  
  
Ranma was feeling pretty good too. "I guess, it was better than  
that schoolwork stuff."  
  
Dan was disappointed. "Why couldn't we use my grenade?"  
  
Akane was angry. "That stupid jerk! Why'd he have to go and tell  
the whole school?"  
  
Yuka, Akane's friend, was jealous. "Man, Akane got such a cute  
boyfriend."  
  
Sayuri, Akane's other friend, was happy for her. "I know! She's so  
lucky! I'm glad she finally found someone!"  
  
Hiroshi and Daisuke, Ranma's soon to be friends, were thinking  
perverted thoughts in unison. "I wonder if he's ever seen her...Hell!  
They've probably... I'll bet they've even..."  
  
Every other male in the room, was depressed. "Akane! We shall  
never forget you! Our first true love!"  
  
Kuno was in pain, "Perhaps the young Saotome has fought me to a  
draw? Such an even match of skills..."  
  
Nabiki was counting her money, and wishing she had more. Luckily,  
Kuno would see to that many times during the day.  
  
The janitor was crying. "Stupid martial artist! This was supposed  
to be an easy job!"  
  
The teacher had still not moved from his initial shock, and simply  
stood in the front of the room staring at the far wall.  
  
The security guard sat at his desk, sleeping soundly. "Ah-cha-cha-  
cha..."  
  
The vice-principal was crying, powerless to do anything about the  
mess.  
  
Thus, all was right with the world.  
  
But then, why did Sailor Pluto still have a headache?  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma walked home from school with a rather lazy stroll. Akane had  
gone on ahead of him, in favor of her friends. She vainly hoped to  
convince them that her fiancee was in name only. They of course  
insisted on asking embarrassing questions. Like, "How does he kiss?"  
and the like.  
  
The day had been rather bland after the incident with Kuno. Carrot  
and Dan kept him occupied through most of the day. Basically  
conversing inside his head while the teacher droned on about some  
impact or something or other, that is, after he finally recovered.  
None of the three was paying attention anyway, so it didn't matter.  
  
They passed by a rather attractive looking girl as they walked  
towards the Tendo home. A girl with long green hair, dressed in a  
business suit.  
  
Ranma paused with a blank look on his face as she strolled by,  
rubbing her temples lightly.  
  
"Hey! Look, it's Sailor Pluto," quipped the boy with a cheerful  
smile.  
  
Setsuna froze in mid stride, slowly turning towards the boy who  
was grinning at her dumbly.  
  
Ranma obliviously continued. "You're kinda cute. Can I buy you a  
cup of tea or something?"  
  
"Who are you?" snapped Setsuna angrily. Her fists balled up and  
she stepped back away from him.  
  
The boy blinked and looked around. Finding no one else standing  
nearby, he answered her. "Ranma Saotome."  
  
"What do you know about Pluto?" she snarled angrily.  
  
"Ninth planet in the solar system, really cold, really small, and  
really far away," said the boy obliviously.  
  
"That's not what I meant," snapped the girl as she rubbed at her  
temple again, not even realizing what she was doing.  
  
Ranma blinked, looking her up and down for a moment. "Huh? What  
the heck are you talking about?"  
  
"You called me Sailor Pluto. Why?" said the woman as her frown  
deepened even more.  
  
"Cause you kinda look like her. Sorry, I didn't know it was a soft  
spot," said the boy as he backed away from her with his hands put up.  
"I didn't mean anything by it."  
  
"How would you know what Sailor Pluto looks like?" said Setsuna as  
she relaxed a little.  
  
"Um, cause I've seen her before?" ventured Ranma nervously.  
  
+++++++++  
  
"You've seen Sailor Moon before right, Ranma?" said Carrot  
nervously.  
  
"Who hasn't?" muttered Dan. "If he's a Japanese national, he's at  
least heard of it."  
  
"Huh? Sailor what?" replied Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Oh boy," said Carrot nervously.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Where would you have seen Sailor Pluto before?" said Setsuna in a  
very dangerous tone.  
  
"Wait. You mean...you really are Sailor Pluto?" said Ranma as he  
backed away from her with a little sweat forming on his brow.  
  
"You've got some explaining to do," said the woman sharply.  
  
"Think fast genius! She's gonna kill us!" snapped Dan.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Oh man," muttered Carrot as he desperately tried to think of a  
way out. "I've got it!"  
  
"Got what? What's going on? Who is this chick? And why do I feel  
like Carrot just screwed up?" cried Ranma in frustration.  
  
"Probably because he did," said Dan with a small frown.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma looked at the woman and gave her a nervous grin. "Look, I've  
been having these really weird dreams lately. I'm in some sort of  
kingdom, and I recognized you. I didn't think they meant anything!  
Honest!"  
  
Pluto frowned even deeper than before. "That shouldn't be  
possible. Only the senshi, and a few other key members of the Moon  
Kingdom were reborn," she thought to herself. "I don't recognize you."  
  
"Huh? What do you mean?! We were engaged or something!" snapped  
Ranma.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Carrot and Dan fell silent, both of them not wanting to say  
anything as Ranma blurted out something that surprised the both of  
them.  
  
"We were?" said Carrot after a moment.  
  
"Huh? I dunno," said Ranma in confusion. He was starting to wonder  
why he had said that himself.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Pluto continued to glare at him for a moment. "Tim?" she said out  
loud. "No wait, that's not right...what was the name...oh yes.  
Genaku." She did not sound like she liked the name very much.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Not good. She doesn't look happy," commented Dan. "Can I use the  
grenade now?"  
  
"That might be a good idea," said Carrot nervously.  
  
"Shut up! She ain't done nuthin yet!" snapped Ranma as he watched  
her carefully.  
  
++++++++  
  
Setsuna glared at the boy for a moment, and then whirled around.  
"I don't know you."  
  
All three boys involved quickly relaxed.  
  
The girl walked away calmly, leaving them behind. Naturally, she  
had other things to do, and it wasn't like the engagement still held.  
It was till death do they part, after all. Genaku had most certainly  
died.  
  
"Man, what crawled up her ass?" muttered Ranma as he watched her  
go.  
  
"I dunno, but I think it would be a good idea too leave her alone  
if we see her again," commented Carrot.  
  
"Don't be such a wuss," snorted Dan.  
  
"Yeah!" agreed Ranma.  
  
"You two shut up! I don't know about you morons, but I don't want  
to be on the receiving end of a Dead Scream!" snapped Carrot  
defensively.  
  
"So, now what?" muttered Ranma as he started walking again.  
  
"We gotta do something to Nabiki, just to make sure she doesn't  
try anymore stupid shit with us," said Carrot coolly.  
  
"I can handle that," said Dan lazily.  
  
"I didn't mean kill her!" snapped Carrot.  
  
"Oh. Well, tell me if you change your mind," said Dan with a  
shrug.  
  
"Will do," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma was sitting in front of the TV a half-hour later. He had a  
huge grin on his face as he did so, and merrily hummed along with the  
theme to the show.  
  
"What are you doing?" asked Nabiki.  
  
"Watchin TV," said Ranma happily.  
  
"I can see that. What is that anyway?" said the girl as she sat  
down next to him and sipped at a can of soda lazily.  
  
"Dragonball Z!" chimed Ranma.  
  
"You're an anime fan?" said the girl with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"Yup, this stuff is a luxury for me," said the boy as he kept his  
eyes glued to the screen.  
  
"I guess it would be if he spent all that time on the road," said  
Kasumi as she walked into the room and sat down with a cup of tea in  
her hands.  
  
"Boy! You don't have time to waste watching this rubbish!"  
exclaimed Genma as he walked into the room. He walked over and  
attempted to lift the boy up.  
  
Ranma, Dan, and Carrot all reacted in the same way. The trio  
punched the man at the same time.  
  
Genma Saotome flew into the air, and out into the yard. He slammed  
into the wall and slumped down. "It can wait...until the show is over  
I suppose."  
  
Ranma was too busy looking at his hand in confusion. "What the  
heck was that?" the three voices thought in unison.  
  
After a moment, they shrugged it off and sat back down.  
  
"Wasn't that overdoing it a bit?" commented Nabiki as she sipped  
at her drink again.  
  
"No one messes with a man and his Anime," replied Ranma as he  
nodded sagely.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Tatewaki Kuno sat in his room, deep in meditation. "I was almost  
defeated this day. Thankfully, my superior skill allowed me to escape  
such humiliation. Thus, I must think of a way to lay this sorcerer  
low."  
  
And he puzzled, and puzzed, till his puzzler was sore. Then Kuno  
had an idea. Tatewaki Kuno, got a wonderful, awful, idea. "I know just  
what to do!" Kuno laughed in his throat. "I'll make a quick Santy  
Claus hat and a coat!" Kuno paused. Perhaps that would not be of much  
help after all. He continued to think.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Deep in the mountains of Japan, inside a small village nestled in  
a tiny valley, a young boy rode through the forest on his mighty  
steed. Which consisted of him hopping around while banging two coconut  
halves together. Quite an odd sight indeed.  
  
He paused, rearing back as he did so. "Whoa! Easy now!"  
  
The boy frowned as he glanced around. "Oh bother, this isn't it  
either."  
  
"Who the heck are you?" said a voice from nearby. There was a  
small group of locals looking at him oddly.  
  
"Hello! Jolly good weather we're having isn't it?" said the boy as  
he pulled a jet-black European style umbrella from across his back and  
put it up over his head. "Jolly good indeed!"  
  
One of the locals blinked and stared at him for a moment. "No,  
it's raining."  
  
"Quite," said the boy with a cheery looking grin.  
  
"You lost or somethin?" asked the man.  
  
"What? Me, lost? Don't be...Actually...well, yes. I am," said the  
boy as he put his nose up slightly.  
  
"Stupid tourists," muttered a few of the crowd as they wandered  
away.  
  
The boy handed over a map, and pointed to a location. "I'm looking  
for a chap named Ranma Saotome, I believe he is in a place called  
Furinkan High."  
  
"You're nuts, this is Tokyo! You're on the wrong island!"  
  
"Oh! Oh my! Terribly sorry to bother you then," said the boy as he  
wandered away.  
  
"Funny, he doesn't look like a gajin," commented one of the  
remaining villagers.  
  
"Must be American," snorted the lead villager as he wandered back  
to whatever it was he was doing.  
  
"Prepare yourself Ranma Saotome! I shall at last defeat you! No  
one does something so rude to Ryoga Hibiki and escapes his wrath!"  
said the boy as he rode his mighty steed deeper into the mountains.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
I know what you're thinking. WTF?!! Heh, there's reasons for  
everything people.  
  
Next time: Kuno's revenge, ponytailed loves, and Gentlemen's  
honor.  
  
Heh.  



	4. insertion Part 4

Insertion  
  
Part 4  
  
The Great Pigtailed Goddess.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Akane screamed in frustration as Ranma hopped around her easily.  
He had a smug looking grin on his face as he jumped around through the  
air, side stepping and skipping past her best strikes.  
  
"Come on! Fight me!" she snarled as she spun into a kick. This  
time, he grabbed it out of the air almost casually and snorted. "What  
do you think you're doing? You said you'd spar with me you jerk! How  
can I work out my frustration if you won't hit back?"  
  
"Well, when you're good enough to hit me, I'll hit you back," he  
replied calmly.  
  
Akane stared at him, anger building up inside her for a moment.  
"You jerk!"  
  
"What? You can't hit me back, so it isn't very fair to just pound  
on you," replied the boy as calmly as ever.  
  
"Are you saying I'm not good enough to spar with you?"  
  
"Have you managed to hit me yet?" retorted the boy calmly.  
  
"I'll kill you!" snarled Akane as she charged him.  
  
"If you could do that, I'd be more than happy to spar with you,"  
said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"That's enough boy!" said Genma as he walked into the dojo. Both  
combatants paused and looked at the man for a moment.  
  
Ranma pulled his sleeve up and looked at the watch on his wrist  
for a moment. "Hey, you're right! It's time for Dragonball Z!" He  
walked out past his father and headed straight for the TV.  
  
"Um, that's not exactly what I meant boy," muttered Genma. He did  
not bar his son's path though.  
  
"Mr. Saotome?" said Akane in confusion.  
  
Genma sighed, "I feel I owe it to the boy to allow him a half-hour  
a day for such things."  
  
"You mean you just don't want him to punch you through the wall  
again," said Nabiki as she passed by the open door.  
  
"Humph! Who do you think taught him how to do that?" snorted Genma  
indignantly as he puffed out his chest.  
  
"Whatever," grumbled Akane in irritation as she walked past him.  
"I'm takin a bath."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Somewhere in the mountains of Japan...(?)  
  
"What do you want?" said the figure high above.  
  
"Where is Ranma Saotome?" said Ryoga as he looked up at the figure  
who was gazing down on him.  
  
"What?" said the man high on the top of the wall.  
  
"I said, I'm looking for Ranma Saotome," repeated Ryoga.  
  
"Huh? No thanks, you see, we already got one of those," said the  
man on the wall.  
  
"I beg your pardon?" said Ryoga in shock.  
  
"Heh. I told him we already got one!" said the man at the top of  
the wall to two other men crouched down beside him, out of sight.  
  
"Look, I dunno what your talking about, I'm looking for a man  
named Ranma Saotome..." said Ryoga irritably from far below them.  
  
"Look! A swallow!" said the man who was now speaking in a rather  
outrageous French accent. He promptly dropped a coconut down off the  
wall. It landed on Ryoga's head and split open.  
  
"That hurt you know!" cried Ryoga prissily as he dabbed the milk  
off of his face with a handkerchief.  
  
"I don't want to talk to you no more! You wiper of other peoples  
bottoms! Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of  
elderberries!" cried the Frenchman angrily. "Now go away! Or I shall  
taunt you a second time!"  
  
"What's he on about?" grumbled Ryoga irritably as he glared up at  
the annoying man.  
  
"Excuse us," said a voice from beside him. Ryoga turned and saw a  
group of men dressed up in armor. The one in the lead spoke to him.  
"Have you seen a grail around here? You see, we're looking for one..."  
  
"Nope, sorry old chap. You wouldn't happen to know of a man called  
Ranma Saotome would you?" replied the lost boy as he put up his  
umbrella to deflect the various farm animals that were now raining  
down on him from above.  
  
"No, sorry," replied the man sympathetically.  
  
"Excuse me, but...why is it raining farm animals?" said another  
one of the knights as he looked up.  
  
"I'm not sure. This chap here is quite insane. Going on about how  
he's already got one," said Ryoga with a small shrug.  
  
"Oh? Really?" said the lead knight as he glanced upwards  
nervously. Several chickens fluttered down to the ground around him as  
he did so.  
  
"Quite," agreed Ryoga.  
  
"He's already got a what?" asked one of the other knights.  
  
"I'm not sure," said Ryoga. "Look, sorry to bother you. I really  
must be going now. I think I've somehow wandered into France again."  
  
"Really? Why?" said the lead knight.  
  
"Well, that man up there, sounds French," said Ryoga with another  
quick glance.  
  
"But this is England. What's he doing here?" asked one of the  
knights.  
  
"I'm not quite sure," said Ryoga honestly. "He's quite rude  
though, I don't suppose it's any of my business anyway. I'm Japanese  
after all."  
  
"Oh, quite right," agreed the knights cheerfully.  
  
"Well, I'm off then. Good luck with your grail," said Ryoga  
stiffly as he wandered away.  
  
"Yes, and good luck with your...Ranma," said the lead knight.  
  
"What a nice fellow," commented one of the other knights.  
  
"Oh yes, quite nice indeed," agreed another one of them.  
  
A dark shadow formed overhead, and the knights looked up, only to  
see a huge bovine descending upon them.  
  
"Jesus Christ!"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"So?" said Ranma lazily as he sat back at his desk with his arms  
folded over his head. Classes were just about to start for the day,  
and Ranma wanted to relax a bit before hand. The trio in his head had  
worked out a system of sorts. They took shifts, with each subject,  
deciding who would pay attention to what was a little difficult, but  
it worked out nicely for them in the end. At the moment, their  
relaxation was being tampered with, by one irate Akane Tendo.  
  
"This is serious! Kuno's written a formal letter of challenge!"  
snapped Akane as she handed him the note.  
  
"What's so serious about it? I can take that loser," replied Ranma  
calmly. "Look, it's only Kuno."  
  
"Yes, the boy who was the best fighter at school other than me,  
before you came along!" snapped Akane.  
  
"Yeah, and you can't even hit me," replied Ranma calmly. "Besides,  
it's -before- I came along. He couldn't find his ass with both hands  
and a flashlight, much less a clue. That moron doesn't stand a chance  
against me."  
  
Akane attempted to punch him, but her hand was easily caught and  
shoved aside. "Jerk!"  
  
"Quit it! You're going to hurt somebody," replied the ponytailed  
boy as he deflected a few more cheap shots.  
  
Akane growled at him again, but calmed slightly. "I still say  
you're taking this too lightly."  
  
"Relax would ya?" snorted Ranma. "I got it covered."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome stood glaring at the boy in front of her. They were  
both in the center of a large athletic field. The sun was setting in  
the distance.  
  
"Where is Ranma Saotome?" said Kuno as he glanced around. "Bah!  
The coward has not answered my challenge! I knew it would be so! No  
doubt he fears my prowess with the sword!"  
  
+++++++++  
  
"Now what?" snorted Dan lazily. He seemed somewhat amused at the  
situation.  
  
"How was I supposed to know about the sprinkler system?" said  
Carrot. "I'd almost think Kuno told us to meet us here at that time on  
purpose. He's not smart enough for that though."  
  
"How dare he say that about me!" snapped Ranma as he tried to rush  
Kuno and pound him. He was held back by the others. "Lemmy go! Leemy  
at 'em!"  
  
"Look, he doesn't know that we're Ranma, got it? Leave this to  
me," said Carrot with a wry looking grin  
  
Ranma paused and frowned. "What are you planning?"  
  
"Let's use the grenade!" said Dan excitedly.  
  
"No! I think I can talk us out of this, without making us look  
bad," said Ranma coolly. "Shut up and let me do all the talking."  
  
+++++++  
  
"Ranma Saotome isn't afraid of you," said the strange redheaded  
girl who stood before Kuno. She paused and noted that a small crowd  
from the school had shown up as well.  
  
"Who might you be?" said Kuno as he raised his eyebrow slightly.  
  
"Ranma Saotome," replied the girl smugly.  
  
"It is not you that I seek," said the boy stoically.  
  
"Yeah, I know," said the girl with a small shrug. She was grinning  
at him and regarding him in almost the same manner of Nabiki. "Look,  
Kuno-chan, we gotta talk."  
  
"You will address me as Kuno-sempai!" snorted the boy irritably.  
  
"Yeah, whatever. Ranma isn't going to fight you," said the girl as  
she almost swaggered over to his side and put her hand on his  
shoulder. "It's pretty simple really."  
  
"What? So it is true! The coward!" snapped Kuno as he clenched his  
fist in front of him.  
  
"No, Ranma Saotome isn't a coward. He just doesn't like beating up  
weaklings, see?" said the girl with her grin growing a little wider.  
  
"Weaklings?" roared Kuno as he looked down at her.  
  
"Yeah, he beat you so easily earlier today, that there's no point  
in fighting you again! See, there's no way you could have improved  
enough to fight him in just a couple of days. You'll have to train for  
months." said the girl calmly. She was looking at the back of her hand  
absently, while leaning off of his shoulder.  
  
"Lies! The villain seeks to taint my honor with such vicious  
lies!" snapped Kuno.  
  
"Bullshit, I was there, he beat the crap out of you," said the  
redhead calmly. "Nobody here believes you when you say that he didn't.  
We all saw it with our own eyes."  
  
"Then it was no doubt an illusion, cast by the foul sorcerer Ranma  
Saotome," said Kuno with a slight frown.  
  
"Well honey, I hate to say it, but even if he did, it was still  
fair. Anything goes in a street fight, including magic," said the girl  
as calmly as ever.  
  
"Such base trickery," said Kuno in a rather ignorant display.  
"Fear not young maiden, I shall lay low this villain on the morrow!"  
  
"Look you ass," said Ranma as she pulled the boy into a headlock  
and cut off his ranting. "Ranma Saotome is not going to fight you. Got  
it? And you're not going to fight him? See?"  
  
"I must..." said Kuno through a few gasps.  
  
"No," said Ranma as she walked into a tree, with his head. "You're  
too weak to fight Ranma again, he might hurt you."  
  
"I am not weak!" insisted Kuno. "The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High  
is the mightiest warrior that the world has seen for..."  
  
The rant was cut off again as Ranma walked him into a statue this  
time. "Nope, not buyin it," she insisted cheerfully.  
  
"Unhand me woman!" snapped Kuno as she continued to lead him  
around the schoolyard.  
  
"Make me you weenie," said Ranma as she walked into the building  
this time. The group of students were staring in shocked horror, or  
laughing so hard they were rolling around on the ground as the tiny  
redhead dragged the 'Blue Thunder' around like he was a doll.  
  
"Wench! I shall not allow this humiliation to continue!" there was  
more to that, but he was cut off by another tree.  
  
"Well, I'm just showing you how weak you are. I'm just a cute  
little girl, and I'm beating the crap out of you without even trying,"  
said Ranma cheerfully. "Ranma Saotome, is much stronger than I am!"  
  
"But, did you not say that you were, Ranma Saotome?" muttered Kuno  
with a slight slur.  
  
"Well, yeah. But that's beside the point. Now, are you going to  
fight Ranma again?" The girl sat down, forcing him to the ground  
behind him, and began to rub his head rather roughly in one spot.  
  
"Never! I shall never submit!" cried Kuno as he struggled on the  
ground.  
  
"Are you sure?" said Ranma as she continued her assault.  
  
"You're noogie attack shall never fell the Blue Thunder!" roared  
Kuno. Lightening crashed in the distance somewhere.  
  
Ranma paused and looked over her shoulder at the sound, but  
shrugged after a moment and continued to rub his head. "If you don't  
say something soon, you're hair is going to catch fire. Then you'll be  
bald."  
  
Kuno's eyes went wide at this announcement. "I cannot become bald!  
I will never allow that!"  
  
"Well, you'd better promise to leave Ranma alone then," said the  
girl with a huge smile on her face as she looked him dead in the eyes.  
  
Kuno froze, something in his eyes glazed over as he stared into  
the deep pools of blue that seemed to cut into his soul. "I shall..."  
he muttered dreamily, not even noticing the smoke that was beginning  
to rise off the top of his head.  
  
Ranma glared at him, and stopped her rubbing. "You shall what?"  
  
"I shall...not challenge Ranma Saotome on the morrow..." he  
muttered. "And..."  
  
Ranma blinked at this. "And? And what?"  
  
"I would date with you!" screamed Kuno as he jerked forward,  
sweeping her into his arms. He promptly fell forward, landing with his  
head in her lap.  
  
"Ouch!" said Ranma cutely as she shoved him off and rubbed at her  
backside. "I burnt my fingers, hurt my behind, and cracked a nail!"  
she groused as she looked at her hand again for a moment, and then  
kicked the fallen Kuno in irritation before standing up.  
  
"Perhaps you should consider a diet, my young pigtailed goddess?"  
said Kuno from his place on the ground.  
  
"You ass! I don't have an ounce of fat on my body!" she screamed  
as she turned and stomped on the back of his head repeatedly.  
  
Nabiki Tendo, stood nearby with a camera in her hand. The gods had  
truly been kind to her today indeed. A barely held back fit of  
laughter surfaced slightly, appearing as girlish giggles as she filmed  
the entire event, immortalizing it forever.  
  
Ranma walked over to her, cheerfully as usual. "Hiya, Nabiki-  
chan!"  
  
The Tendo girl frowned slightly. Ranma seemed to be more...cute,  
when in his female form. "What is it?"  
  
"I was just wonderin, what Kuno might do to keep those photos from  
being released?" she said cheerfully.  
  
Nabiki raised her eyebrow, she had already thought of that of  
course. Ranma coming up with that idea, surprised her more than a  
little. The girl walked past her and jumped up into the branches of  
one of the trees. She came back down with her hands behind her back  
and grinned. "What did you just do?"  
  
"Just got my camera!" said Ranma as she pulled a small video  
recorder from behind her. "I'm betting whatever it is he'll do to keep  
those pictures a secret, he'll even more to keep the video hidden!  
After all, those pictures don't have all the embarrassing dialogue!  
Tee hee!" The redhead skipped away, leaving Nabiki standing in shocked  
silence.  
  
The Tendo girl stood still as a wind blew by, carrying a few  
leaves with it as it rushed across the field. "I don't believe  
this..." she said finally.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Ah, Setsuna! Back to see me already?" said Tofu as he looked up  
at the woman in front of him from behind his desk.  
  
"I need my prescription filled again," said the woman with a  
completely drained look about her.  
  
"My God! Setsuna! What happened to you?" said the doctor in shock.  
  
"My work related headaches have gotten worse, plus I've found a  
few disturbing things out about someone from my past. This is not my  
day Tofu."  
  
"I can see that, normally I wouldn't, but you're a special case I  
suppose," said the man as he opened a cabinet behind him and rummaged  
around for a moment. "You might want to consider going to a pharmacy  
for something a bit stronger. That prescription I wrote you allows for  
it."  
  
"Thank you doctor," said the woman as she walked out the door.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
About halfway down the street she paused. A young redhead was  
standing in front of her, staring with the biggest, cutest, most  
saccharine filled eyes she'd ever seen. That was saying something,  
considering how long she'd been around.  
  
"Setsuna-samma!" said the girl cutely.  
  
"Do I...know you?" stammered the woman as she backed away,  
completely powerless under the force of her cuteness.  
  
"I...I...I love you!" said the redhead. "I've been admiring you  
from afar for so long!" Her face became completely red, and she pulled  
her hands up to her face and shook her head from side to side almost  
violently. "Oh no! I've said it!"  
  
Setsuna's eye twitched, a slight blush crept onto her face as she  
looked at the girl in horror. "What?"  
  
The girl seemed to calm slightly, and started to play with the  
ground with her toes. "I wanted to know if you'd go...on a date with  
me...um, if it's not too much trouble..."  
  
Setsuna calmed a little more. "Look..."  
  
Ranma's eyes went wide again, paralyzing Setsuna with her cuteness  
again. "It's because I'm a girl isn't it?"  
  
"No, but..." stammered the woman as she attempted to find a way  
out of the situation.  
  
"Then why!?" said the girl as she moved right up to her face,  
their lips almost touching. "Tell me!"  
  
"I uhh...I...I've got a fiancee!" said Pluto desperately.  
  
Ranma's eyebrow creased slightly. "I don't believe you."  
  
"No really! His name is Ranma! I was just on my way to see him!"  
said the woman as she backed away. "Gotta go! See ya!" She turned and  
ran down the street desperately.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!" Ranma was still  
screaming.  
  
"You can stop now, he's done," said Dan irritably.  
  
"Well, phooey," said Carrot as he watched Setsuna vanish down the  
street. "I was kinda hopin that would work."  
  
"You mean... YOU WANT TO HAVE SEX AS A GIRL?" cried Ranma  
desperately.  
  
"Only with another girl, relax, Ranma," said Carrot as he waved  
off the ranting.  
  
"You think that makes it any better!?" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Well, yeah. Kinda," said Carrot in reply.  
  
"I agree with Carrot," said Dan.  
  
"You guys are sick!" screamed Ranma.  
  
"Calm down. So what if we are? At least we know how to have a good  
time," said Carrot calmly. "That, and we now know that Setsuna is  
really Ranma's fiancee. Thanks to my undercover work."  
  
"Under the covers work is more like it," snorted Dan.  
  
"Great," muttered the pigtailed boy dejectedly. "What is that now?  
Three?"  
  
"Well, four if you count that carryout girl. She might not show up  
though, we aren't sure," said Dan.  
  
"Look, we've got this all worked out now. I say we stick with  
Setsuna! She's the hottest one of all!" said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"She's too old!" snapped Ranma irritably.  
  
"She's the Senshi of time, she's whatever age she wants to be,"  
said Carrot in retort. "She'll always be that old."  
  
"Well, I don't care who we marry. I just want to use my grenade  
soon," said Dan.  
  
"What's wrong with Ak...um...some other girl?" said Ranma.  
  
"On second thought, I agree with Carrot," said Dan. "We aren't  
marrying any violent tomboys."  
  
"Well, that rules out most of Ranma's other fiancee's. I'm not  
becoming an Amazon male either, so that leaves us with Setsuna!" said  
Carrot happily. "Now, how to ask her out...without dying?"  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Um, excuse me," said the young blonde woman as she looked down at  
the man in front of her. She had come to stop an attempted mugging,  
but found herself witnessing a rather impressive display of skill  
instead. "Um..Hi! I'm Sailor V...do you need any help?"  
  
There were several men sprawled out across the ground unconscious,  
with him standing in the middle with an umbrella over his shoulder. On  
his head was a bolo hat, and he was dressed in a dark colored suit,  
with a long trench coat. The only unusual thing, was the yellow and  
black handkerchief that poked out of his jacket pocket. "Ah! Good day  
young lady! Oh my!" He paused and looked at her.  
  
Venus smiled, no doubt she was smitten by her beauty. Plus, he  
didn't look that much older! Maybe she could...  
  
"You really should dress warmer than that! You'll catch a dreadful  
cold!" exclaimed the boy. "By the look of you, I'd say you attend a  
private school near here. Tell me, could you point me in the direction  
of Furinkan High? I'm looking for a fellow named Ranma Saotome. I've  
gotten quite lost you see."  
  
Venus jumped down, blinking in surprise. "Well, I haven't been  
around here long...wait a minute! You think this is a school uniform?"  
  
"Isn't it? I'll admit it is rather short..." said Ryoga as he  
looked her over for a moment.  
  
"I'm the champion of justice! Sailor V!" snapped the girl  
irritably.  
  
"Oh, quite nice, quite nice indeed," said Ryoga as he unfolded his  
map again.  
  
Venus rolled her eyes and looked at the map. "Um, this is a road  
map of Idaho."  
  
"Really?" said Ryoga in surprise. "That would explain why I passed  
Boise a few hours ago! I had no idea Idaho was so close to Japan!"  
  
Venus glanced up at him. His face was completely serious. "Right.  
Look, I'll be going now. Sorry I couldn't help you."  
  
"Quite all right! Quite all right indeed!" said Ryoga with a good-  
natured chuckle as he waved her off. After she was gone, he paused and  
pulled the handkerchief from his pocket, dabbing it gently along the  
bottom of his nose. "Such an outfit! She'll catch cold if she isn't  
more careful," he muttered as he wandered away, and tilted his head  
back while pressing the cloth against his nostrils.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Hey, where are we?" said Carrot as he looked around. He paused as  
he found he could see himself, if only a little transparent. He was  
dressed much the same as the man across from him. "Who?"  
  
"Carrot?" said the man with a surprised look on his face.  
  
"Dan?" said Carrot as he recognized his voice.  
  
"Where's Ranma? What's going on?" said Dan.  
  
"Ranma's behind you," said Carrot as he nodded over to the  
ponytailed boy.  
  
Ranma was standing, and simply staring off into space. "So, you  
two are the voices inside my head?"  
  
"Um, yeah. What's going on?" said Carrot. He noticed that only  
himself and Dan were transparent.  
  
"Die!" screamed Ranma as he attacked them. The ponytailed boy  
blinked as he passed through them and landed on his face.  
  
"I've been wanting to do this for a long time!" snarled Dan as he  
sprung at Carrot, only to have his fist pass through him as well.  
  
"I think I get it, we're dreaming," said Carrot with a chuckle as  
he watched the two idiots continue to try and fight each other, and  
him.  
  
The pair paused and glanced around. "What makes you think that?"  
said Dan in a deadpan voice.  
  
"I dunno, only the fact that we're looking at the Silver Millenium  
right now."  
  
The trio turned and looked around, only to find themselves  
surrounded by a palace of some kind. Carrot smirked and crossed his  
arms over his chest. "Pay attention Ranma, you're about to remember  
some of your past life."  
  
"Huh?" stammered the ponytailed boy in shock.  
  
A figure walked down the hallway with a huge frown on his face. He  
had long red hair and an extremely muscular body, his chest bare, save  
a single red sash that was draped over one of his shoulders. A  
broadsword hung from his hip as well, and he was trailed by a long  
flowing dark green cape. His features revealed a familiar face to all  
present.  
  
"Hey!" exclaimed Ranma in shock. "Why the heck am I wearin a  
skirt?"  
  
"I've come ta see the Queen, as requested by her majesty," said  
the past Ranma with a thick accent. "Tell her the Wild Pony of the  
Highlands has come, ta meet his future bride. Tell her Genaku McTome  
is here."  
  
Dan and Carrot were rolling on the ground with laughter.  
  
"Y-yessir!" said the guard who was standing by the door with a  
terror stricken face. He stumbled across his own feet as he rushed in  
to inform the queen.  
  
++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Now, there's no way in hell you were expecting that!  
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!  
  
Next time: Dream a little dream!  



	5. Insertion Part 5

Insertion  
  
Part 4  
  
Dream a little dream...  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome stared in horror at the man he used to be. Both Dan  
and Carrot stood behind him, stifling giggles as they watched the  
scene in amusement.  
  
"Aye! I've come to meet me bride!" said Genaku rather loudly as he  
walked through the hallways of the palace. He was followed by a large  
group of guards, who did not even attempt to stop him. Most of them  
had worried looks on their faces as they moved after him.  
  
"Everyone is scared of this guy," commented Carrot as he followed  
the crowd with his two companions.  
  
"I like him," said Dan cheerfully.  
  
"You would!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Shhh, something's happening," said Carrot with a grin forming on  
his face.  
  
Setsuna appeared around a corner, scowling at Genaku coolly. "What  
are you doing here?"  
  
"Eh? Ye dunna know?" snorted the man with mild surprise on his  
face.  
  
"I am not omnipotent, you blowhard," snorted the Senshi of Pluto.  
  
"Humph, I figured you ta be buttin in on everyone's business, the  
way ye always do," replied Genaku with an unimpressed look on his  
face.  
  
"I am the defender of the future," said the woman calmly.  
  
"Ha! Manipulator is more like it! I've no respect for ye woman! I  
do not cower before any force, like these weak fools," snorted Genaku  
arrogantly. "Humanity survived long before ye ever got yer little  
claws on that magic, and he will continue ta do so without yer help."  
  
"Perhaps, but I can ensure the peace that we have achieved will  
come again, even after it is lost."  
  
"But you canna stop us from losin it can ye?"  
  
Pluto's eyebrow twitched, but she did not reply.  
  
"Har! I knew ye was jest blowin steam out yer arse!" snorted the  
man roughly as he continued to walk towards the throne room.  
  
"You still haven't told me where you're going," said Pluto, her  
voice as cold as ice.  
  
"Nor do I intend ta," said the man as he rounded a corner.  
  
Pluto clenched her fist and glared at him, seething in anger.  
"Don't just stand there you dolts, go after him!" she snarled at the  
dumbfounded guards.  
  
Genaku had been a thorn in her side for as long as she could  
remember, and probably would be for some time to come. After all, he  
was as immortal as she was. She just wished the morons would finish  
their stupid 'game' so they would finally lose their immortality. Some  
of them were almost as bad as Genaku, but he was probably the worst of  
them. Even the ones, who sided with the dark powers, still didn't get  
under her skin the way he could.  
  
"I'll deal with that moron later," she snorted as she turned and  
went back about her business. "I wonder what the queen has summoned me  
for? I suppose I shall find out soon enough. Probably something  
stupid, like when the princess's first pimple will be again." Serenity  
was a great ruler, and a wise and strong person, but some things she  
couldn't quite grasp. Like the fact that the time gate was not  
intended for small and personal events. Such as how old her daughter  
will be when she has her first period. Setsuna had never seen anyone  
turn that red in her life, after her mother had asked that question in  
front of the whole court, the princess had almost passed out. It  
probably would have been better if she had really.  
  
+++++++++  
  
"I like this guy!" said Carrot as he watched Genaku ignore the  
pleading of a minor court official.  
  
The unfortunate man was begging him to hurry to the throne room,  
in order to have his audience with the Queen. After all, she was  
waiting for him.  
  
Genaku looked up at him for a moment, and grunted. He had decided  
to raid the kitchen, and was sitting at a table with a huge leg of  
meat in his hands, along with a large mug of some obviously alcoholic  
beverage of some kind. Carrot and Dan would have guessed it was Ale or  
Beer. It appeared to be a swirling green and purple though.  
  
"Go away little man, before I become angry with ye!" he snorted  
and continued to tear into the meat.  
  
"I thought I might find you in here," said a familiar voice from  
behind both of them.  
  
"Uh-oh," said both Genaku and the old man in unison.  
  
"Ducking my summons in favor of food again?" said Serenity as she  
sat down next to the pair with a mischievous looking sparkle in her  
eyes.  
  
"Well, I can't come ta meet ye on an empty stomach yer highness.  
Yer beauty alone gives me butterflies. You know how those things upset  
my delicate constitution..."  
  
"This from a man who is reported to have taken out a man's heart  
and eaten it whole?" said Serenity with an arched eyebrow.  
  
"Well, that report was exaggerated a wee bit, Highness," muttered  
the man in embarrassment.  
  
"Oh really?" said the queen as she leaned in towards him.  
  
"Aye, 'twas too big ta fit in me mouth whole. I had ta take a few  
bites first," said the man cheerfully.  
  
"Oh," said Serenity blankly. She had been expecting him to deny  
the affair, and hadn't really believed the report when she had heard  
it.  
  
"So, ye have arranged a meeting with my future bride today?" he  
asked timidly.  
  
"Yes," said the Queen as she stood up and motioned for him to  
follow.  
  
The pair walked through the hallway together silently. After a  
moment, they entered the throne room. Setsuna was sitting in a chair  
off to the side looking rather bored, and strangely upset. Genaku  
caught something about not believing that something was happening to  
her.  
  
Then she paused and stared at him.  
  
"What? Her?" said Genaku with a rough snort.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Pluto. "You...you can't do this to me!"  
she pleaded as she fell on her knees in front of the queen.  
  
"Oh! How nice, you already know each other?"  
  
"He blew up my moon!" snarled Pluto as she stood up and jabbed her  
finger at him.  
  
"It was jest a teeny thing though..." he muttered.  
  
"It was the only one I had!" snapped the Senshi bitterly.  
  
"I jest got a wee bit excited, 'twas all," muttered the man as he  
blushed.  
  
"What did I do? Why am I being punished?" said Pluto as she fell  
to her knees in front of the queen again. "I swear I'll never do it  
again!"  
  
"Punished? You two seem like you might be good together, that's  
all," said Serenity sweetly.  
  
"Good?" muttered Genaku under his breath.  
  
"No! We'd be terrible! I hate him! Look! I've even been trying to  
kill him in secret for the last hundred years!" Pluto brought out a  
large stack of rather elaborate looking diagrams, charts, and  
blueprints. All of them seemed to involve sabotage, or somehow  
beheading someone and making it look like an accident of some kind.  
  
"Har! I knew it!" said Genaku proudly. He looked rather pleased  
with himself. "Too many accidents over the last few years!"  
  
"Oh, I'm sure you'll get along fine," said Serenity as she turned  
and walked towards her throne. "The wedding will be in two weeks."  
  
The now engaged pair simply looked at her, unable to do or say  
anything.  
  
+++++++++  
  
"This is all your fault!" snarled Pluto as she stormed down the  
hall with Genaku at her side.  
  
"My fault?" he said in disgust. "Twasn't! I had nuthin ta do with  
this plot against me!"  
  
"Against you? She's doing this to punish me!" snarled Pluto in  
retort.  
  
"Look," said Genaku with a frown. "We both know why she's doing  
this ta us. She loves weddings, and will do anything ta have one.  
There's no way we're gettin out o' this."  
  
"You're right," said Pluto as she slumped down against the wall.  
"We'll go through with this, and then go on as we always have. I never  
had any plans to get married anyway."  
  
"Aye, I know," said Genaku as he turned away.  
  
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" snarled Pluto.  
  
"Isn't it obvious? A frigid bitch such as yerself could never net  
her claws inta a decent man anyway," said the man coolly.  
  
"I'll have you know I could have any man in the solar system if I  
wanted him!" she snarled. "I know I'm beautiful!"  
  
"Ya look like you've been standing too close ta Sol, you half  
baked ninny."  
  
"It's an exotic tan you nimrod! I get plenty of compliments!"  
snapped Pluto in retort.  
  
"Whatever, but you're forgetting one thing, pet," said Genaku as  
he turned away from her.  
  
"I never forget anything," said Pluto bitterly as she glared at  
him.  
  
"Oh, then ya do remember?" said the man with a small chuckle.  
  
"Remember what?" said Pluto with her head turned aside.  
  
"That the only thing Serenity loves more than weddings, is  
babies," said the man as he continued to walk away, chuckling to  
himself.  
  
Setsuna stood in the hallway, completely pale, with her jaw  
hanging down. She staggered for a moment and leaned against the wall  
again, her eyes wide with horror.  
  
Genaku was right; Serenity would expect her to produce, or else.  
The queen would know that both of them were genetically compatible.  
Children were just a matter of time, especially considering the  
technology Mercury had. They had drugs that would make her fertile  
periods predictable, to within five minutes.  
  
+++++++++  
  
Genaku walked out of the palace and paused as a long scream echoed  
through the hallways for a moment. Flocks of birds scattered into the  
air from within the palace walls.  
  
He turned back towards the large transport that would take him  
back to the Silver Star, the flagship of the queen's fleet.  
  
"General! Are you ready to leave sir?" said one of the men beside  
the docking ramp.  
  
"Aye," said Genaku with a small chuckle as he passed by him and  
returned the man's salute.  
  
++++++++  
  
A freezing cold splash of water ended the dream quite suddenly.  
  
All parties suddenly sat upright at one time and looked at Genma  
Saotome as he stood over them with an empty bucket.  
  
"Ye fat furball! I'll tear out ye hide and use it ta cover the  
hole in me wall I get from putting yer head through it!" snarled Ranma  
as he jumped up and slammed the man out the window and into the koi  
pond.  
  
Ranma froze in shocked horror and put his hands over his mouth.  
  
"Ha-ha! That was classic!" said Carrot as he shook the water out  
of their hair and chuckled merrily.  
  
"I had no idea you were so cultured, Saotome," agreed Dan  
cheerfully.  
  
"You two jerks shut the hell up!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Come on, we've got to get ready for school," muttered Carrot as  
he walked them towards their closet.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Nabiki watched lazily as Genma fell out of the sky and landed in  
the koi pond. "Yet another normal morning," she commented as the panda  
sat up, looking confused.  
  
"Son?" said the sign it held up, as it looked up at the window of  
the bedroom it had been thrown from.  
  
"Here I come Pop! Get ready!" said Ranma as he leapt from the  
window.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Pardon me good sir, but where might I find a place called  
Furinkan High School?"  
  
"Pardon?" said the man walking down the middle of a rather  
deserted and worn looking road in the countryside of Japan.  
  
"I'm looking for this place you see. I've gotten rather lost,"  
said the stuffy looking teenager who stood in front of the downtrodden  
looking peasant.  
  
The man looked at the map of Tokyo in the boy's hands and frowned.  
"This is Tokyo, that's five hundred miles north o' here."  
  
"Oh! Oh my! Bother," muttered the boy as he walked off, in exactly  
the wrong direction.  
  
"No! That way!" said the man angrily. "That way!"  
  
"It's this way then?" said Ryoga as he turned at a ninety-degree  
angle, still moving in the wrong direction.  
  
+++++++++  
  
Ranma was in the middle of a rather deep problem.  
  
"Tell me why it is I must give to you?" snapped Kuno angrily.  
  
"Oh man, this part," muttered Ranma under his breath as he rolled  
his eyes. "What do you mean, Kuno?" The boy said it as if he was  
reading lines off a cue card.  
  
"Quoth Nabiki Tendo, 'If you wish to give your gift to the  
pigtailed girl, give to Ranma Saotome."  
  
"She doesn't like you Kuno," said Ranma flatly.  
  
"Lies! What sort of woman would not be attracted to such manly  
continence as myself?"  
  
"A lesbian?" offered Ranma with a small shrug.  
  
"I shall not allow you to spread such lies about my pigtailed  
goddess!" roared the kendoist angrily.  
  
"All right! Jeeze! She thinks you're too stuffy, she doesn't like  
handsome rich types," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"So, my money and power frighten the young flower of my heart?"  
said Kuno with his eyes growing wide.  
  
"Yeah! That's it exactl..." Ranma was cut off by a splash of cold  
water from the bushes.  
  
"Oh! How I have pined to see you again!" said Kuno as he grabbed  
the currently female teen in a rough hug. "My ponytailed goddess!"  
  
"Look you jerk! Leeme alone!" snapped the ponytailed girl as she  
glared at him angrily from his grip.  
  
"Come! We shall leave these hallowed halls of learning, so that we  
might date together!" said Kuno as he ignored her protests.  
  
"Look, Kuno..." said the girl with a seething anger in her voice.  
  
Nabiki appeared from behind the bushes with a teakettle. "Oh  
Ranma, what am I going to do with you!?" she said merrily as she  
poured it over the girl's head, changing her back into a man in Kuno's  
arms.  
  
"What have you done with the ponytailed goddess?" snarled Kuno  
angrily as he looked at Ranma.  
  
"We're going to have to explain this to him," said Nabiki in  
disbelief. "Look Kuno babe, her body, her s..." she was cut off as  
Ranma put his hand over her mouth.  
  
"I don't need your help, thanks," he said with a small wink. He  
grabbed Kuno by his collar and began to drag him away.  
  
"Unhand me knave!" roared the boy.  
  
"Shut up, I'm going to tell you all about the 'ponytailed girl',"  
said Ranma calmly.  
  
Nabiki narrowed her eyes and watched him take the boy away to a  
quiet  
corner of the school grounds.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"What is the meaning of this?" ranted Kuno as he struggled against  
the ropes that tied him to a tree trunk. "Release me at once!"  
  
"Just relax, I'm going to explain everything to you now, this is  
just to make sure you behave, and pay attention," said Ranma  
cheerfully. The boy put down a bucket of water, and a teakettle on  
either side of himself and reached into his pocket.  
  
"What is this?" said Kuno as the boy attached something to the  
ropes. It had a long string tied to it that led into Ranma's hand.  
  
"A hand grenade," said Ranma calmly as he sat down.  
  
"What?" muttered Kuno as he suddenly went very still.  
  
"Good, I've got your attention," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"This will not go unpunished," snarled Kuno as he nervously eyed  
the explosive that hung in front of his chest.  
  
"Calm down Kuno, no amount of 'prowess' will save your sorry ass  
if I pull that pin," said Ranma with a small wave of his hand. "This  
is for your own good. Just pay attention and listen, and I won't have  
to hurt you."  
  
"I see," said Kuno with an unusual calm.  
  
"All right, now watch very closely." Ranma poured a little of the  
water over his head and shifted forms.  
  
"Ponytailed girl!" said Kuno in shock.  
  
"Yup! Now watch again, don't blink now," said the girl with a  
small wink. She used the kettle next, shifting back to male form.  
  
"What sorcery is this?" gasped Kuno as he struggled against the  
ropes. "Return the ponytailed goddess to me at once!"  
  
"Ah, ah, ah!" said Ranma as he waved his finger and tugged on the  
string lightly.  
  
Kuno froze and fell silent again.  
  
"Good, I'm glad you remembered."  
  
"Explain," said Kuno as he turned his head away.  
  
"Fine! It all started when I was training in China..."  
  
++++++++++  
  
Nabiki Tendo stood in terror stricken silence as she watched Ranma  
play with the string attached to Kuno's chest. He had an almost casual  
air about him. "Where the hell did he get that?" she gasped after a  
moment. She was afraid to move out of her cover, the bushes kept her  
well hidden, but she now felt she was far too close to the scene. The  
camera she had brought sat unused in her grip, for fear of alerting  
the insane Ranma of her presence. She simply sat, and watched.  
  
++++++++  
  
"So, you fell into this cursed spring, and forced the soul of the  
lovely ponytailed girl into your black heart?" snarled Kuno angrily.  
  
"No Kuno, she doesn't have a soul," said Ranma. It was clear that  
he was growing tired of explaining this to him.  
  
"No, soul?" said the boy in a sort of horrified wonder.  
  
"Kuno, we aren't two different people, both the ponytailed girl,  
and myself are the same. There is no difference," said Ranma with a  
heavy sigh. "Get it?"  
  
"So you use base sorcery to fool me, so that you can breech my  
defenses and fell me while I am weak?" snarled Kuno.  
  
"God! Are you that stupid? I'm trying to help you!" said Ranma  
flatly.  
  
"What do you mean? How does this assist me?" growled Kuno as he  
lowered his eyes to the grenade.  
  
"Because, I can't have you chasing me around telling me that you  
love me, get it? What would everyone think? A man of your noble  
stature, chasing around a man? It wouldn't be right!"  
  
"You speak the truth," admitted Kuno quietly. It was clear he  
didn't like the idea.  
  
"Good, you're getting it now. I'm not gay, so I don't want you  
chasing after me. Plus, if anyone found out about my curse, your clan  
would be dishonored. So if you understand, it benefits us both," said  
Ranma with a friendly smile on his face.  
  
"This does not excuse you from forcing yourself upon Akane Tendo!"  
said Kuno as he glared at the boy angrily.  
  
"Fine, fine," said Ranma as he waved the comment off and removed  
the grenade, much to the protest of one of the voices within his head.  
  
"So, you admit that your actions are cowardly?" snorted Kuno.  
  
"Look, you can have Akane Tendo, I don't love her," said Ranma  
calmly.  
  
"Yet you still?" snarled Kuno as he attempted to jump up again.  
  
"Do I have to use the grenade again?" said Ranma flatly. The same  
voice cried out triumphantly inside his head.  
  
"That will not be necessary," grumbled Kuno as he turned his head  
away.  
  
"Look, the engagement to Akane isn't my idea. If you've got a  
problem with it, go talk to Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome. They're the  
ones who arranged everything. My hands are tied," said Ranma flatly.  
  
"You claim that you have no feelings for Akane Tendo?" said Kuno  
as he glared at the boy.  
  
"She's a nice girl, but not my type. My dream woman has long green  
hair, and red eyes..." Ranma sighed wistfully as two of the three  
voices inside his head pictured Setsuna.  
  
Kuno frowned and realized that Ranma looked ridiculously like a  
love stricken schoolgirl at the moment. "Surely a lie! No man can  
resist the allure of Akane Tendo's feminine wiles!"  
  
"Are you sure we're talking about the same Akane?" muttered Ranma  
as he looked at Kuno dumbly.  
  
"Silence! Release me at once! I shall smite you for having such  
thoughts about my beloved!"  
  
"Fine, I guess that was a bit too much to hope for," muttered  
Ranma as he knocked Kuno upside his head and untied the ropes. The  
kendoist slumped to the ground unconscious. "It'll be kinda fun  
beating on him every day I suppose." He stood up and smirked at a  
patch of bushes off to the side. "You can come out now."  
  
Nabiki froze, she swallowed and looked around, desperately hoping  
there was someone else hiding in the bushes.  
  
"Look, I know you're in there Nabiki. Relax, I'm not gonna hurt  
ya," said the boy calmly as he walked over and stood directly in front  
of her.  
  
Nabiki stood up and glared at Ranma angrily. "What did you do to  
him?"  
  
"Huh? He's fine, relax would ya?" said Ranma with a small chuckle.  
"This is just something I picked up in China. Nothing to worry about,  
I wouldn't waste it that way anyway. They're pretty expensive." He  
tossed the grenade in his hand once, and then slipped it into his  
sleeve.  
  
"And illegal," said Nabiki with a small cold frown.  
  
"So is loan sharking, racketeering, and selling pornographic  
photos of your sister without her knowledge," said Ranma with a small  
chuckle as he showed her several snapshots of Akane working out in  
the dojo. He tossed them on the ground casually at her feet.  
  
"Those are hardly pornographic," said Nabiki coolly.  
  
"Yeah, Kuno's too stupid to risk selling the good photos too.  
You're very selective about who you will give those pics too. I've  
seen a few of em hidden inside the palms of some of the boys around  
campus, or tucked inside the back of a locker or two." Ranma casually  
flicked his ponytail over his shoulder and smirked. "I'm kinda partial  
to the 'Akane in the bath' series myself. It's a wonder no one ever  
took pictures like that of you...oops!" Ranma put his hand to his  
cheek and looked at the ground for a moment.  
  
Nabiki looked at the ground as well, hidden within the photos of  
Akane, was a single picture of her washing off on the stool in the  
bathroom. "No way!" she gasped.  
  
"Yeah, it'd be a real shame if these got around the school  
somehow," said Ranma as he walked off and left her standing with the  
unconscious Kuno, and the photos. He paused about ten feet away and  
looked over his shoulder again. "I wonder what she would do, if she  
ever found out about those pictures? Hmm, an interesting dilemma.  
Don't worry, I don't mind the ones of me you've been selling, but I  
expect a cut of the money. Word around school puts em at around five  
thousand yen apiece. I'll expect a payment of ten percent, by  
tomorrow. Bye!"  
  
Nabiki had never felt so violated, she wanted to destroy him, she  
wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, she wanted...to marry him. She  
smiled to herself and picked up the pictures carefully. "And here I  
thought you'd be some boring jock. Very interesting Ranma Saotome,  
very interesting indeed."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"I told you those photos would pay off in the end," said Carrot.  
  
Ranma was still sulking. The whole episode didn't sit well with  
him, he hated the way things were going. "It isn't right! This isn't  
the way a martial artist should act!"  
  
"Well, I'm no martial artist, not by choice anyway," snorted Dan  
irritably. "I still say we should have killed him."  
  
"We can't slack off in our training, we've got a whole mess of  
shit coming down on us soon," said Carrot with a sort of wistful calm  
about him. "We need him, and his stupid battles to keep us sharp. I  
just wanted him to quit hitting on us."  
  
"This is dishonorable!" continued Ranma with a bitter trembling in  
his voice.  
  
"Shut up! Damn you honor boy! I'm sick of your whining! What would  
you know about honor? Do you realize what kind of man your father is?  
I bet he's the one who taught you about honor, right? Do as I say, and  
not as I do or something?" said Carrot sharply.  
  
"This isn't right," said Ranma firmly.  
  
"Fine, you worry about right, I'll worry about what's best for  
us," said Carrot as he calmed again. "Ranma, you've got to quit  
sulking around so much. I'm the brains of this operation, Dan is the  
muscle when we need it, and you're, well, you're our skill. We all  
need each other for this to work out."  
  
"He's right, we've got to work out a compromise, or we'll end up  
getting ourself killed," agreed Dan.  
  
"And before you even think it, Akane isn't a compromise," said  
Carrot sharply.  
  
"Hey! I don't like that uncute tomboy!" replied Ranma.  
  
"Good, keep it that way," said Dan coolly. "Neither of us likes  
her either."  
  
"Ranma, have you ever just tried having fun with this? I mean,  
you're taking this so seriously. Relax, enjoy having us around, we're  
going to be here whether you're happy with it or not."  
  
"I'd rather die," snapped Ranma coldly.  
  
"Fine, you might get your wish," said Carrot with a shrug. "You'll  
lose your mind if you keep fighting us. Come on, we're not all that  
bad."  
  
"Shut up," snorted Ranma bitterly.  
  
"Let's go home, I don't feel like school today," said Dan as he  
turned them towards the gates.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Setsuna looked into the Time Gate and frowned, an image was  
becoming clear at last. Slowly, a shadowy figure appeared in the  
mirror. It was only a silhouette, but it was enough. She smiled and  
her headache almost vanished completely.  
  
"Oh, this is too perfect," she said with a small chuckle, a  
chuckle that slowly built into full blown laughter.  
  
The image before her revealed the source of the chaos at last.  
Ranma Saotome was looking at her coldly, with two ghostly figures on  
either side of him.  
  
"I had thought you'd been killed, but apparently I was wrong.  
Genaku McTome, you've changed sides it seems. Now that you oppose the  
queen's will, I can destroy you at last."  
  
Soon, Artemis would receive a call from his anonymous benefactor  
again. This time, the target would be clear at last.  
  
The Senshi of Pluto had not been so happy in over a thousand  
years.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Furinkan High School..." muttered Ryoga as he stood directly in  
front of his destination. His face was buried inside a road map of  
Tokyo. "Where is the blasted place?"  
  
One of the students nearby overheard him and was about to speak.  
Ryoga turned away at the last moment though. "Oh! A telephone box!  
I'll call information!"  
  
The student watched in shock as the boy walked into a bright red  
phone  
booth that had appeared next to the wall of Furinkan. He managed to  
catch a glimpse of another confused looking gajin inside the booth,  
just before the whole thing vanished.  
  
"Um, never mind," said the boy as he wandered off. Swearing never  
to  
leave his house again, or make another phone call for as long as he  
lived.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Venus Attacks! The way to Nabiki's heart...  



	6. Insertion Part 6

Insertion  
  
Part 5  
  
Venus Attacks!  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome was walking home from school. Nothing unusual about  
that, accept for the fact that the school day had just begun. They had  
just walked away from their rather interesting talk with Tatewaki  
Kuno, and had decided to do a bit of exploring.  
  
"Where are we?" grumbled Ranma as he glanced around himself.  
  
"I dunno," replied Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"We're still in Nerima," replied Dan casually.  
  
"Oh," said Ranma with a small sigh.  
  
"Hey, an arcade," commented Carrot as he looked at a nearby  
building.  
  
"Wanna go in?" asked Dan.  
  
"No," said Ranma flatly.  
  
"He's right, we don't have much money on us at the moment," agreed  
Carrot. "I'll have to remember it's here though."  
  
"You're right, places like this are a good source of information,"  
agreed Dan. "We'd do well to remember any bars we pass too."  
  
Carrot nodded their head in agreement.  
  
"Information?" said Ranma in confusion.  
  
"You'd be surprised how useful having some can be," said Dan  
casually as they looked around at the crowds of people wandering by  
around them.  
  
A voice called out behind them, followed by a whistle. "Hey! Stop  
right there!"  
  
Ranma paused and turned around; a police officer was approaching  
them from behind.  
  
"Shit," muttered Carrot.  
  
"Wasn't expecting this," agreed Dan calmly.  
  
"Now what?" cried Ranma nervously.  
  
"Relax, let me handle this," said Carrot calmly as the man  
approached them.  
  
"What are you going to do?" said Ranma nervously.  
  
"Relax, we don't need to hurt him. Just a little creative truth  
telling," said Carrot with a small chuckle.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Why aren't you in school?" snapped the officer as he grabbed  
Ranma by his shoulder.  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma innocently as he looked up at the man. "Hello!"  
  
"Answer the question!" snapped the officer.  
  
"I just returned to Japan a few days ago," said Ranma with a  
shrug. "I haven't even been home yet."  
  
"What?" said the officer dumbly.  
  
"I've just returned from a training trip, in China," said the boy  
as he looked at the man for a moment. "I'll be in school tomorrow."  
  
"What's your name kid?" snorted the officer.  
  
"Ranma Saotome," replied the boy cheerfully.  
  
"Come with me," said the man as he looked at the boy for a moment  
and frowned. Ranma merely nodded and followed.  
  
"Where do you live kid?" said the officer as he turned to face the  
boy.  
  
"I'm not sure, I haven't been home in ten years," said Ranma with  
a small shrug.  
  
"Don't get smart with me kid," said the officer.  
  
"I'm not being smart. I've been on a voyage of training with my  
father for the last ten years," replied the boy with a shrug.  
  
"Where is he at?" said the man with his frown deepening.  
  
"I'm not sure, I went off to do a bit of exploring. I'll meet him  
later today," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"Saotome huh?" muttered the officer as he opened the door of his  
squad car and pulled out the radio. "What's your mother's name then?"  
  
Ranma smirked; this was going better than he had thought. He had  
expected the officer to release him after he told his story. "Nodoka."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"What's he doing?" said Ranma nervously as they watched the  
officer for a moment.  
  
"Checking up on us," said Carrot with a small shrug. "It'll only  
take a minute."  
  
"We shouldn't have lied," said Ranma sternly.  
  
"We didn't lie, nothing we told him was a lie," said Carrot  
calmly. "We just withheld information from him."  
  
"We know where Genma is," commented Dan.  
  
"No we don't. We know where he probably is; he and Soun could have  
gone out for a drink or something. There's no way to know for sure,"  
said Carrot with a small chuckle.  
  
++++++++  
  
The officer looked at his radio with a frown on his face. The  
office had put him through to the Saotome home, and he had expected an  
angry mother. Instead, he found a woman frantically asking him strange  
questions.  
  
"My son is here?" gasped the woman desperately. Hope was clearly  
straining her voice.  
  
"Yes Ma'am, I've got him standing next to my car right now," said  
the officer.  
  
"What's he look like? Is he manly?" cried the woman.  
  
"Um, I guess so," muttered the officer as he looked up at the boy.  
The kid was still standing there, grinning at him like an idiot.  
"Look, I'm calling because..."  
  
"Ranma? He's finally come home?" said the voice in shock. "Where  
are you? Where is he?" cried the frantic woman.  
  
"Um...I...Ma'am, he isn't a runaway is he?" muttered the officer  
in shock.  
  
"His father isn't with him?" said Nodoka with a sudden tensing in  
her voice.  
  
"Um, no ma'am. Your son said he was meeting with him later..."  
stammered the officer. It appeared as though the kid wasn't lying.  
  
"Where is he!?" cried the woman desperately.  
  
"Look, I'll bring him to you. Just give me your address again and  
I'll..."  
  
"My son is coming home?" said the voice on the other end of the  
line.  
  
"Yes ma'am, I'll bring him over if you'd like," said the officer  
nervously. He heard the sound of something hitting the ground on the  
other end of the line, and the line went dead. "Ma'am? Um, hello?" He  
turned back towards Ranma. "Get in the car kid."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"I've got a mother?" said Ranma as he sat in the back of the car  
as they rode towards the Saotome home.  
  
"Apparently," muttered Dan lazily.  
  
"We've got to let him know about the contract, before he does  
something stupid," said Carrot.  
  
"Right," grumbled Dan.  
  
"What contract? What are you talking about?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Well, your father did something really stupid just before you  
left," said Carrot sheepishly.  
  
"What?" said Ranma with a sudden fear growing in his gut.  
  
"Why are you so surprised?" commented Dan.  
  
"He's right Ranma," agreed Carrot.  
  
"What the hell did that old man do now?" growled Ranma.  
  
"Calm down, and we'll tell you. That cop is looking at us funny,"  
said Carrot. "It was just before you left on your training trip. Don't  
worry, I've got a way out of it for us. We'll seem manlier than ever  
before I'm through with her."  
  
++++++++++  
  
The police officer stood at the door of the Saotome home and  
opened it. "Hello? Miss?"  
  
"RANMA!" cried a voice from inside, it was quickly followed by the  
sound of feet pounding against the floor. Before the officer could  
even blink, Nodoka Saotome shot out the door like a bullet, quickly  
shoving him aside and taking the boy standing behind him into her  
arms.  
  
"Gak!" cried Ranma as the woman lifted him off his feet and  
crushed him painfully.  
  
"My son!" wailed Nodoka.  
  
"Huhhhh..." groaned Ranma painfully.  
  
The woman put him down and bowed deeply to the officer. "Thank you  
sir! You have brought my son home to me!"  
  
"Um, it's no problem ma'am," muttered the man as he stood up and  
backed away from her. "I'll just let you two alone now. Just make sure  
he's in school tomorrow, all right?"  
  
Nodoka nodded her head almost violently. "Thank you again!" She  
bowed to him deeply once again and he gave a short bow in return  
before walking away. Ranma smirked as he noticed the man was shaking  
slightly.  
  
Nodoka turned towards the boy and smiled. "Is it really you my  
son? I'm not dreaming?"  
  
"Um, yeah. It's really me mom," said Ranma as he scratched the  
back of his head.  
  
"Please! Come inside!" she led him into the home and smiled.  
  
"Mother?" said Ranma in a hoarse voice quietly as he followed.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Nodoka was staring at her son in shock for a moment. "You rescued  
a young girl from a cursed spring?"  
  
"Yeah, it wouldn't be so bad, but there's a catch to it," said  
Ranma calmly as he looked at the glass of water she had brought him.  
  
"Are you feeling well my son?" said Nodoka as she put her hand  
across his forehead.  
  
Ranma moved her hand gently away and poured the water over his  
head. "You must be Mrs. Saotome! It's nice to meet you! Tee hee!"  
Ranma bowed to her mother deeply. "I'm Ranko! Wow! You've got a nice  
house! It sure is neat! I like your son! He's so nice, and really  
cute! He's got a nice butt...um, I'm sorry. Don't you think his butt  
is nice though? I've wanted to meet you for so long! Are you really  
Ranma's mother? Wow, that's really nice. I didn't know his mother was  
still alive. Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say something like that."  
  
Nodoka was simply staring at the overexcited redhead in front of  
her. After a moment, her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and  
she fell to the ground in a heap.  
  
"That went well," commented Ranma as she looked down at the woman  
for a moment.  
  
Inside their collective head, Ranma Saotome was still screaming  
painfully.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Oh, I had the strangest dream," muttered Nodoka as she slowly  
woke up. "What would my son think? Having such an odd dream about him.  
He looked quite handsome though, I hope he looks as such in reality."  
She paused and looked around for a moment. She wasn't in bed, but  
rather was laid out on the floor, with a cold rag placed across her  
forehead.  
  
"Hello Mom," said the boy who was sitting next to her.  
  
"It wasn't a dream!" she gasped.  
  
"Um, no. Sorry about Ranko, she gets...excited easily," said Ranma  
with a slightly nervous twitch on his face.  
  
"Hey!" said one of the voices inside his head indignantly.  
  
"You mean?" stammered the woman.  
  
"Yeah, I'm still cursed," said Ranma sheepishly.  
  
"Is there no cure for this horrible curse?" said Nodoka quietly.  
  
Ranma's features changed slightly. "Short of killing her, none  
that I know of."  
  
"So, you must suffer for the sake of this young girl?" said Nodoka  
with a small nod. "Manly indeed," she muttered quietly.  
  
"Seems like it," agreed Ranma.  
  
Nodoka took him into her arms again, squeezing him tightly. "Oh!  
My son!"  
  
Ranma hugged her back, the two other voices inside his head looked  
on silently, and patiently now.  
  
"Where is your father? When are you moving back in with me again?  
I've missed you so!" said the woman as she finally released him.  
  
"Pop is at the Tendo's place, we've been staying with them for a  
while," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"So, you know of the engagement?" said Nodoka cheerfully.  
  
"Um yeah," said Ranma sheepishly.  
  
"Look, Mom. Pop doesn't know I'm here," said Ranma as his features  
changed slightly again.  
  
"Pardon?" said the woman.  
  
"Pop is afraid to come back, he thinks that Ranko is a breach of  
that contract you made. I don't agree with him, but..."  
  
"I see," said Nodoka with a small frown. "You know of that do  
you?"  
  
Ranma nodded in reply. "I'd like to let him know that we've met.  
That moron got cursed too, he turns into a giant panda."  
  
"A... Panda?" muttered Nodoka.  
  
"Yeah, it's really weird. I think he wants us to stay at the  
Tendo's for a while too," said Ranma as he looked away from her for a  
moment.  
  
"I see...because of the engagement?"  
  
Ranma merely nodded. "I'll come visit of course. I know where you  
are now."  
  
"As shall I," agreed Nodoka as tears welled up in her eyes for a  
moment.  
  
"Great. I've got to go now," said Ranma as he stood up and walked  
over to the door. He paused by the door and turned towards a small  
table with a telephone on it. He quickly scratched down a number and  
an address. "Here's the number and address to the Tendo's house. Give  
me a day or two to let Pop know that we've met. He still thinks you're  
going to kill him."  
  
Nodoka frowned at this, and nodded her head. "I still might," she  
muttered under her breath. "Worthless coward."  
  
"I'll come back and see you soon," said Ranma as he walked out the  
door.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma was on his way back to the dojo. He had wandered around a  
bit after the meeting with his mother. Dan and Carrot were silent for  
most of this time, allowing Ranma some time to think.  
  
"Well, we're almost back," said Carrot finally as he looked over  
at a familiar street sign.  
  
"Right," agreed Dan.  
  
"You two sure have been quiet," said Ranma.  
  
"You've got a lot to think about," said Carrot with a small shrug.  
  
Ranma punched himself dead in the face. "Don't ever do that to me  
again!"  
  
"Ouch! What the?" stammered Carrot.  
  
"Hey! That hurt!" growled Dan.  
  
"My mother thinks I've got a girl inside me you ass!" snarled  
Ranma.  
  
"Look, if I hadn't done that, you'd be sitting in her back yard  
with a knife on your belly! Don't be so ungrateful!" snapped Carrot as  
he punched himself in the gut.  
  
"Why couldn't you act like a normal girl?" snapped Ranma as he  
pulled at his own hair.  
  
"That was more fun! That's why!" snarled Carrot viciously as he  
put himself in a headlock and began to shove himself into a telephone  
pole.  
  
Dan swept his own feet out from underneath him. They all landed  
face first on the concrete. "You idiots leave me out of this!"  
  
"Not till he apologizes, and promises not to do that again!"  
snapped Ranma as he rolled over onto his back, and began to hit the  
back of his head against the telephone poll.  
  
"Fat chance, Pigtailed Girl!" snarled Carrot as he started to  
choke himself.  
  
++++++++++  
  
On the street, the young boy beating the hell out of himself was  
given a wide berth by all the passers by, who merely ignored the scene  
otherwise.  
  
A little girl pointed down at the boy and shrieked. "Mommy! What's  
he doing?"  
  
The woman holding her hand turned the girl's head away and said  
nothing.  
  
The beating abruptly stopped when a voice called out over the  
crowd. "Hold villain! At last the hand of justice has found you!"  
  
"Huh?" muttered all three voices inside Ranma at one time. They  
all looked up and saw a young girl standing on top of a wall. She was  
wearing a sailor fuku, and had a strange looking mask over her face.  
The girl's long blonde hair billowed in the wind dramatically, and she  
jabbed a finger at them.  
  
"The defender of love and justice has found you at last demon!  
Prepare to be punished by Sailor V!"  
  
"Hey, it's the senshi of Venus," commented Ranma dumbly from the  
ground as he looked at the girl in shock for a moment.  
  
A small white cat that was standing at the girl's feet gasped in  
shock, and quickly jumped down to the ground in front of them.  
  
"Cat..." stammered Ranma.  
  
"You know more than I expected," said Venus as she narrowed her  
eyes at him. "You really are one of the enemy, aren't you?"  
  
"Huh? Enemy?" said the boy dumbly, his gaze was still locked  
fearfully on the feline that was standing in front of him.  
  
"Destroy it quickly V! This thing is dangerous!" said Artemis.  
  
"Talking cat..." muttered Ranma fearfully. He then blinked and  
looked up at Venus. "Destroy?"  
  
"Take this!" screamed the girl as she jumped down and kicked him  
dead in the face.  
  
Ranma skid across the pavement, and landed headfirst in a wall.  
"Ouch! Why that dirty little..." He shook his head and saw Venus  
standing over him, her face was an angry looking scowl. He paused and  
snorted for a moment, staring at her legs from his prone position on  
the ground. "Wow. Those go all the way up."  
  
Venus blinked and looked down at where he was staring. "Pervert!"  
She kicked him again, pushing him into the wall harder, and creating a  
crater.  
  
Ranma grunted in pain and slumped forward for a moment. "If you  
hadn't been standing right in front of me, I wouldn't have been  
looking there!"  
  
"Venus! You have to destroy it!" cried Artemis from just behind  
her.  
  
The only voice that had been silent thus far in the battle,  
suddenly made a sound. "Niyau!"  
  
"What?" gasped the senshi as she looked at the strange position  
the boy had taken up. He was sitting on his hind legs, with one hand  
on the ground, and the other curled up in a cat-like paw beside his  
face.  
  
"Heh, you've unlocked the Nekoken," said Ranma with a dangerous  
and feral looking gleam in his eyes. He bolted into the air, easily  
clearing Venus's head and landed just behind her.  
  
"All right, come on!" snarled Ranma as he stepped back slightly.  
  
"What?" muttered Venus as the boy waved his hand. She was suddenly  
thrown back into the wall. Hundreds of sharp blows slammed into her  
body as she created a crater of her own.  
  
"Such power!" commented Armetis in horror.  
  
The blonde girl looked down at her fuku, several tears had  
appeared inside the fabric, and her skirt was in tatters. She growled  
angrily and glared at the boy for a moment, he was still sitting  
quietly opposite her. An occasional catlike growl escaped his lips as  
he gazed at her calmly. Despite his calmness, something feral burned  
in the back of his eyes.  
  
"Looks like I'm gonna have to go all out," muttered Venus.  
  
"Come on Minako, calm down. I don't want to fight you, you're  
kinda cute," said Ranma with a slight chuckle.  
  
"He knows?" gasped Artemis in shock.  
  
"No way!" said Venus as she stepped back for a moment.  
  
"Let's play nice," said Ranma as he seemed to force himself to  
stand up.  
  
Venus narrowed her eyes at him. "Monster."  
  
"Hey! I am not a monster," snapped the boy irritably.  
  
"Take this! Venus Crescent Beam!" snarled the girl as she lashed  
out at him with her attack. The arc of energy rushed towards Ranma far  
to fast for him to dodge.  
  
The boy slashed upwards with his hand, but the Nekoken did nothing  
to the blast, and he was caught in the chest and thrown back, clear  
across the street. He slammed into a nearby clothing store window, and  
blew through the glass, landing painfully on the floor in a shower of  
debris. A few racks of clothing fell on top of him and customers  
scattered like roaches away from the scene.  
  
Venus was also thrown into the wall again, the Nekoken had not  
stopped her attack, but hers hadn't stopped it either. She landed  
inside the crater from her first impact, and the wall cracked even  
more.  
  
"Hurry up Sailor V!" cried Artemis as he scurried towards the  
shattered window.  
  
"Easy for you to say," muttered the girl as she staggered to her  
feet again. She jogged over and peered inside, Ranma was gone.  
  
No one noticed the figure wearing a black fedora, sunglasses, and a  
long black trench coat walk out of the restroom and out into the  
street. A familiar looking red pigtail flopped about just over the  
coat's collar as she walked away.  
  
A few frightened onlookers pointed Venus towards the bathroom. She  
rushed inside, and found an open window. "Damn!" she screamed as she  
climbed through it. Artemis met her in the alleyway behind the store.  
  
"He's gone! Vanished!" cried the cat.  
  
+++++++++  
  
Carrot frowned deeply. Ranma was awake again, thanks to the cold  
water. "I guess Cat's really don't like getting wet, eh Ranma?"  
  
"Shut up," said Ranma in retort.  
  
"That was not good. The two of us were barely able to stay in  
control," muttered Dan angrily. "Sailor Venus could be a problem. Why  
does she think we're a demon?"  
  
"I don't know, but we've got to think of a way to change her  
mind," said Carrot coolly.  
  
"I say we just get rid of her, this could quickly become annoying,  
especially if the other senshi join in it with her," said Dan with a  
slight growl.  
  
"Hey! I ain't killin nobody!" snapped Ranma defensively.  
  
"I'm afraid Ranma's right, Dan. We can't kill her," said Carrot  
firmly.  
  
"You two are pansies," snorted Dan irritably.  
  
"I for one don't want to go toe to toe against Beryl and her  
minions," said Carrot firmly. "Especially not alone, which is what  
will happen if we kill the senshi. To say nothing of the stuff that  
comes after Beryl."  
  
"What's a Beryl?" muttered Ranma in confusion.  
  
"Big, mean, and very powerful. Not something we want to fight  
Ranma, if we can help it that is."  
  
"We've got to defend ourselves though," said Dan firmly. "I  
promise we won't kill her."  
  
"Oh, I get it," said Carrot with a small smirk. "You want to bring  
them out again."  
  
Dan nodded, a predatory grin appearing on his face. "Captain  
Destructo returns again."  
  
"Who?" said Ranma in confusion. "You never did explain why we  
called ourselves that before."  
  
"That was what they called me when I was working for the Denver  
Police Department," said Dan with a small chuckle. "Things had this  
weird tendency to explode around me."  
  
"Sounds like one of those cheesy nineteen thirties sci-fi serial  
shows," commented Carrot.  
  
"That's right, the guy who started calling me that was a fan of  
those things. It sort of just stuck."  
  
"Well, we'll need to be careful from now on then," said Carrot  
firmly. "Don't forget, no matter what, we can't kill the senshi. Our  
objective is to convince her we aren't a youma, which has happened  
somehow."  
  
"Right," agreed Dan with a smirk forming on his face. If Ranma  
could see the look he had at that moment, he definitely wouldn't have  
liked it one bit.  
  
++++++++++  
  
An hour later, Ranma was sitting in his father in his room.  
  
"You what?" said Genma in shock.  
  
"Mom found me!" cried Ranma desperately. The look of complete fear  
was quite convincing. "I couldn't get away...she saw...EVERYTHING!"  
  
"Do you have any idea what you've done boy!" cried Genma in  
terror.  
  
"We're doomed Pop!" cried the pigtailed boy desperately.  
  
"Come on! We're getting out of here!" said Genma as he stood up  
and grabbed his traveling pack.  
  
"No!" said Ranma dramatically.  
  
"What?" said Genma with fear in his eyes.  
  
"I shall face my fate...as a man!" said Ranma firmly. A look of  
determination burned in his eyes.  
  
"Son! Don't talk crazy! We can still be cured! It's not too late!"  
cried Genma desperately.  
  
"No, I will not run away from my destiny old man," said Ranma with  
righteous tears in his eyes. "You can run if you want. I will not be a  
coward! I shall die with honor!"  
  
"Boy! Are you out of your mind!?" cried Genma as he took his son  
by his collar.  
  
"No, I am not," said Ranma firmly as he pushed the man's hands  
away and walked out of the room.  
  
Genma stood and stared at the doorway, completely numb with  
terror. He could barely move, and his legs felt like they were made of  
jelly. "What have you done boy?" He fell down and sobbed into his  
hands.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Nabiki raised her eyebrow as Ranma's firm looking face changed to  
a cheerful smile the instant he walked out of his room. He strolled by  
her, whistling a tune to himself with his hands in his pockets as he  
walked down the stairs. He turned and spared her a small wink as he  
passed and chuckled to himself.  
  
"What was that about?" she wondered out loud.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Captain Destructo?  



	7. Insertion Part 7

Insertion  
  
Part 6  
  
Who is Captain Destructo?  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stood over Kuno's fallen form with a smirk on his face. "You  
got it today?"  
  
"I have not forgotten your ill gotten payment," snorted the boy on  
the ground. He reached into his robes, and pulled out a wad of money.  
  
Ranma took it cheerfully and stuffed it into his own pocket.  
"Well, here you go, the only copy of yesterday's humiliating defeat.  
Today's defeat will be on sale tomorrow, for the low price of only ten  
thousand yen!" He handed Kuno a videotape and walked off calmly.  
  
Nabiki watched the scene silently from a few yards away. She had a  
small frown on her face as he conducted his business and left the boy  
sitting on the ground. "This is cutting into my own business," she  
snorted angrily. "I've got to do something about this."  
  
Ranma went on obliviously about his day, not caring or seeming to  
notice any of the angry looks the male student body was giving him. He  
heard the hateful whispers behind his back of course, and knew that  
they were all too cowardly and weak to hurt him. It was starting to  
bug him though.  
  
And thus, things went as such for several days.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Ranma, do you want to make out?"  
  
Ranma blinked and looked up from the manga he had been reading in  
mild surprise. He turned his head and saw Nabiki sitting beside him.  
She was staring at the television with a bored expression on her face.  
  
"Wha?" said the boy dumbly.  
  
"Everyone's gone, and I'm bored," said Nabiki casually.  
  
"Okay," said the boy with a shrug. "But what's the catch?"  
  
"What? I'm just bored," said Nabiki as she turned towards him and  
shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"There's always a catch," said Ranma as he glared at her in angry  
disbelief for a moment. "Especially with you."  
  
"Look, I don't want to marry you, and it's obvious that you've  
already seen me naked. You took those pictures of me in the bath. So  
why not? I'm just bored."  
  
Ranma blinked again and stood up. "Sure, whatever."  
  
Nabiki pulled him down next to her, and wrapped her arms around  
his neck.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
An hour later...  
  
Ranma Saotome, sat on the back porch of the Tendo home once again.  
He was looking rather indifferent, and scratching the inside of his  
ear with his pinky lazily. Inside his head was quite active though.  
  
"Man, I haven't done that in years," said Dan cheerfully.  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
"Yeah, sure brings back memories," agreed Carrot.  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
"I wonder what she's up to though?" ventured Carrot lazily as he  
lay them back against the floor.  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
"I dunno, gotta be somethin," said Dan with a sagely looking nod.  
"She probably got pictures or something."  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
"Hmmm, could be, that would be dangerous for her though," said  
Carrot calmly. "It's got to be something else."  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
"Well, we'll figure it out soon enough," said Dan with a small  
sigh.  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Meanwhile, Nabiki Tendo sat on her bed. A small smirk on her lips  
as she looked at the roll of film in her palm for a moment. It had  
definitely been more fun than she had anticipated. Not just because  
she'd finally gotten her claws into him, but also because the boy had  
experience. It was painfully obvious he knew what he was doing. It  
gave her a warm and fuzzy sensation just thinking about what he'd done  
to her, just with his hands.  
  
She idly rubbed the dark mark that was now present on her shoulder  
as she thought about it more and more. The boy was almost too  
experienced, it didn't sit well with her. It was more than being  
familiar with a female body, like say his curse would do to him. He  
knew exactly what he was doing, she was expecting to have to coax him  
a bit, move him around and such. Instead, she found herself sitting  
back and enjoying the ride.  
  
She pulled the film up in front of her face for a moment too look  
at it and frowned deeply. "Who are you?"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Boy! We've got to talk," said Genma as he sat across from his son  
at the table.  
  
"Huh? Oh, hey pop," said Ranma as he turned to look at his father.  
  
"I need to speak with my son, not you," said Genma coldly as he  
noticed the gleam in the boy's eye.  
  
"Ranma's kind of out of it right now. He hasn't talked in like two  
hours," said the boy calmly with a shrug. "We haven't been able to  
snap him out of it yet."  
  
"Why?" said Genma.  
  
"That's none of your business, its private guy stuff," said the  
boy with a smirk.  
  
"This is serious," snorted Genma as he glared at the boy.  
  
"Genma, do you really think we're stupid enough to get Ranma  
killed?" said the boy calmly as he eyed the man with a harsh looking  
smile.  
  
"I'm not sure," said the man honestly.  
  
"Point taken," admitted the boy with a small nod. "However, I  
assure you that you and your son are quite safe from Nodoka. She  
thinks the curse is a separate entity. I suggest you keep up this  
illusion, a new personality of your own perhaps?"  
  
"What?" said Genma as his eyes went wide. He wasn't sure what to  
say.  
  
"We lied to your wife. She thinks that Ranma's girl side is  
someone he saved from a cursed spring. Quite a manly act to suffer for  
her sake," said the boy with an odd looking smirk. "She's still quite  
angry with you, seeing as how you ducked away from her out of fear of  
the seppuku pledge. That'll pass with time."  
  
"Why are you telling me this?" asked Genma as he narrowed his eyes  
at the boy.  
  
"Because Nodoka is coming here tomorrow, and I think you've sweat  
enough for now," said the boy with a small chuckle.  
  
"About that Kuonji girl," said Genma.  
  
"You don't have the right or the authority to engage all three of  
us to anyone," said Carrot firmly. "We'll decide who we marry, without  
your help."  
  
"Boy! I'm..."  
  
"You're not my father, you're Ranma's father. I am not Ranma  
Saotome, to put it bluntly, he's been outvoted. We're a collective  
group, Genma, we have our own way of doing things. Most of us don't  
care about your family's honor, or your stupid customs."  
  
"What? Boy! You should learn to respect your elders!" snapped  
Genma as he stood up and slammed his palms on the table. He leaned in,  
glaring the boy directly in his eyes.  
  
He simply returned the stare calmly, not intimidated in the least  
by the overweight man glaring at him. "You're only older than I am by  
about ten years old man."  
  
Genma sat down, staring at the man dumbly. "What?"  
  
"One of us is twenty-two, and the other twenty-eight. We don't  
like you Genma, but you're convenient for the moment. The instant I  
think you're a danger to us, I'll get rid of you without a second  
thought. Ranma is the only thing keeping us from eliminating you."  
  
"Eliminating?" said Genma with a frown. "Boy, you need to learn  
your own limits!" He puffed out his chest as he said this, daring the  
boy to take him on.  
  
"You need to learn to extend your memory a bit," said the boy  
coldly.  
  
Genma Saotome froze as a familiar click sounded from underneath  
the table. He looked down and saw Ranma still sitting calmly, with  
both hands under the table. "What?"  
  
"Calm down and behave yourself. Ranma still cares about you, and I  
don't want to upset him," said the boy with a small chuckle.  
  
Genma did so, but continued to glare angrily at the boy across  
from him.  
  
"Good boy," said the boy calmly.  
  
Genma relaxed somewhat as the familiar click sounded again, and  
his son's body put both hands back on the table.  
  
"What are you up to demon?" snarled Genma coldly.  
  
"Me? Nothing much, I just wanted to let you know where we stood.  
You can continue on your way, blissfully trying to snare your son in  
Akane Tendo's subtle web of feminine wiles if you like. But we aren't  
marrying her, we don't like her much I'm afraid."  
  
"What's wrong with her?" snarled Genma bitterly.  
  
"She's an insanely jealous and overly violent thug, that's what."  
  
Genma growled and turned his head away. "She seems nice enough to  
me."  
  
"That's because we leave her alone," said Ranma with a small  
smirk. "Now, where were we? Oh yes, Nodoka will be here tomorrow  
afternoon. I suggest you stay home for it. She's been calmed down  
considerably, and shouldn't do anything rash. Well, not to me anyway."  
  
Genma swallowed and rubbed at his throat absently as the boy stood  
up and walked away.  
  
"Genma," said the boy calmly.  
  
"What do you want?" snarled the man.  
  
"We aren't marrying Kuonji either, just so you know. We've got  
much bigger plans."  
  
"Care to share them with me?" said the man sarcastically.  
  
"Not yet," said the boy with a chuckle as he walked up the stairs.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"What just happened?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"You're finally awake?" said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"Damn, it's about time," said Dan.  
  
"Auuugggh! You idiots got Nabiki pregnant!" cried Ranma in terror.  
  
Dan and Carrot burst into laughter.  
  
"What the hell is so damn funny!?" snapped Ranma bitterly.  
  
"You dolt! It takes more than a little necking and groping to get  
someone pregnant!" said Dan as he continued to laugh.  
  
"Ranma, he's right. Relax would you?" said Carrot.  
  
"Where the heck are we?" muttered Ranma as he looked around and  
noticed they were standing on the roof of a home somewhere in Nerima.  
They were dressed in the black coat and hat they had obtained the  
other day at the incident with Sailor Venus.  
  
"We thought we'd go check out that arcade. We're gonna start  
hanging around in places where we can get information."  
  
"Why?" snorted Ranma irritably. "I don't like no stupid games."  
  
"God, don't be such an ass Ranma. It'll be fun, and people are  
more likely to tell you things if they know you," said Carrot  
cheerfully. "We need money anyway, we're goin to a bar or two while  
we're at it."  
  
"What? Kuno isn't enough, and we've got to pick a street fight  
now?" said Ranma.  
  
"You got that right, we're gonna need to get in contact with a  
local Yakuza," said Dan.  
  
"What on earth for?" said Ranma as his disgust became very clear.  
  
"Ammo, and re-supply," said Dan casually.  
  
"We ain't even shot that thing yet!" snorted Ranma angrily.  
  
"We're about too, check your six," said Dan as he began to grin.  
  
Ranma turned his head and his face fell. "Oh shit."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"I knew it! It is him!" said Minako as she followed close behind  
the dark figure jumping through the rooftops of Nerima. The boy turned  
his head and saw her. "Damn! I've been spotted!"  
  
"So, go after him! He can't get away!" said Artemis from the other  
end of the communications watch that she wore. She saw him duck into  
an alleyway near a large warehouse.  
  
+++++++++  
  
Ranma jumped down and landed in the center of a dirty looking  
alley. Garbage lined the walls, and steam rose from a grate in the  
ground that led to a storm drain. He glanced around quickly and saw a  
door that was chained shut. It led to the inside of a large warehouse.  
He turned and saw Minako land just behind him. Without thinking, he  
rammed into the door with his shoulder and ducked away to the inside.  
  
"Got him!" cried Minako as she followed him inside. She paused and  
stared at her surroundings for a moment. The inside was huge, large  
stacks of wooden boxes rose up to two hundred feet in the air, and the  
whole thing was almost pitch black. "Shit."  
  
"What is it?" said Artemis in alarm.  
  
"This place is huge, dark, and spooky, that's what. Our man is  
wearing black too," she slowly walked into the room and glanced around  
nervously. She never even noticed the shadow rush by behind her,  
closing the door quietly.  
  
She walked around aimlessly for a moment, shuddering at the chill  
in the air, and the familiar squeak of the various rodents that made  
the building a home. Finally she came to what appeared to be the  
center of the building. From there, two complex mazes of boxes  
stretched off to the other side of the building, one on each side of  
her.  
  
"Hello," said a voice from above her.  
  
She almost screamed in fear as she looked up and saw him sitting  
on the boxes just over her head.  
  
"Calm down," he said as he watched her like a hawk from his perch.  
"I'm not going to attack you."  
  
"You're not?" said the girl nervously.  
  
"No. Why are you after me?" he said calmly as he looked down at  
her.  
  
"You're one of the enemy," she said firmly as her backbone began  
to grow a bit more.  
  
"Am I? Who is the enemy? What do they want?" said the boy in an  
amused tone.  
  
"I...don't know," admitted Minako quietly.  
  
"Really? So, you're sure I'm one of them?" said the boy  
cheerfully. He leaned in to stare down at her, resting his arm across  
his knee as he did so.  
  
Minako froze as she saw the flash of silver in his hand. The boy  
was carrying a gun, her eyes froze on the weapon and she stepped back,  
all her built up courage vanished in an instant.  
  
"If I wanted to use this, you never would have even heard the  
shot," said Ranma calmly. "We're going to sit her and talk, and you're  
going to tell me exactly why you want to kill me. I believe I deserve  
an explanation at the very least."  
  
"Because you are the most violent and chaotic creature on the  
entire planet!" said a familiar voice. "Dead Scream!"  
  
Minako stared in shock as the boxes where the boy had been  
standing shattered into a thousand pieces, showering the room in  
debris.  
  
"Don't worry about the gun, your Senshi powers will protect you  
from the bullets," said the woman who walked up behind Minako. She  
smirked at her and brushed a hand through her long green hair idly.  
"He doesn't stand a chance against us."  
  
"Who are you?" said Minako in shock as she stepped away from the  
newcomer.  
  
"I am the Senshi of Pluto," said the woman calmly. "I'm afraid you  
won't see much of me in the future, but this is too important for me  
to leave to you alone."  
  
"That's good to know, Pluto. I don't have to worry about  
accidentally killing you then do I?" said Ranma from the shadows just  
behind them.  
  
"What?" gasped Setsuna as she whirled around. Minako was thrown  
off her feet and landed roughly on the ground, sprawled out painfully.  
The Senshi of Pluto noticed a flash of light that was followed by a  
loud bang. "No! Venus! Are you all right?"  
  
"Ouch," muttered the blonde as she stood up slowly. She was  
rubbing a spot on her shoulder and looking at it in a sort of shocked  
wonder. "That hurt!"  
  
"Seems you weren't lying. I wonder if you could take a shot from  
this distance though?" Ranma melted from the shadows, directly beside  
Pluto as he touched her temple with the barrel of the gun. There was  
another in his other hand, trained on Minako. Both weapons were silver  
plated 45. semi automatic handguns.  
  
"Try it and find out," snarled Pluto bitterly. "I should have  
known you'd join Beryl to save your worthless hide Genaku."  
  
"Join Beryl? Don't be stupid," said the boy calmly. He spun the  
gun around in his hand and brought the butt down against her temple,  
sending her to the ground out cold.  
  
"No!" screamed Minako in horror as she started forward.  
  
Ranma pointed both barrels at her and stopped her cold. She stood  
glaring at him angrily for a moment. "She's fine, I'm not going to  
kill you."  
  
"Too bad!" snarled Venus as she thrust her hands forward, blasting  
a wave of light energy at him. Ranma ducked and rolled away, barely  
avoiding the blast as he vanished into the shadows once again.  
  
Minako rushed up to Pluto's side, lifting her up into her arms for  
a moment. "Are you all right?"  
  
The Senshi of Time woke up and fluttered her eyes for a moment.  
"Yes." She slowly stood up and glanced around the room cautiously.  
"Where is he?"  
  
"I don't know, he vanished again," said Minako nervously as she  
glanced around.  
  
Pluto narrowed her eyes and stared into the darkness. "We have to  
find him and destroy him. He's dangerous."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma was standing with his back against a metal support beam,  
looking into the darkness. "Shit! What the hell did you two assholes  
get us into?"  
  
"Shut up! This isn't going very well, Carrot," said Dan tensely.  
  
"No shit, We've gotta get out of here," said the boy in  
frustration. "I can't believe Pluto is trying to kill us!"  
  
"Scratch one fiancee," said Dan morbidly as he slowed their  
breathing down a bit.  
  
"Right, next thing is getting out of here alive," said Carrot as  
he nodded in agreement. "Where's the door?"  
  
"Other side of the room," said Dan as he turned their head towards  
the exit. "That way."  
  
"Shit, they're standing between us and the exit," said Carrot.  
  
"We could go over them," said Ranma as he looked up at the stacks  
of boxes.  
  
"That'd cut down the amount of room we have to maneuver in,"  
warned Carrot as he saw what the boy was planning.  
  
"It's our best chance to escape unnoticed though," said Dan as he  
put the two weapons into the holsters that hung at the small of their  
back.  
  
"Right, come on. Quietly," said Ranma as he stepped forward and  
jumped into the air.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Pluto scanned the area cautiously, with Minako at her back at the  
ready. "Where is he?"  
  
Venus was shaking, completely terrified. Setsuna realized that the  
situation they found themselves in wasn't good. Ranma shouldn't have  
much that could really hurt them in his arsenal though. "Relax, we're  
not vulnerable. The Power of your transformation will stop most life  
threatening injuries. A bullet won't do much to hurt us, unless it's  
magically charged."  
  
"Can he do that?" muttered Minako nervously.  
  
"I don't think so," lied Pluto. "That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt  
though, don't get shot."  
  
"Right, I remember," muttered Minako with a slightly more  
confident tone.  
  
Pluto froze and whirled around on her heels. "Up there! Dead  
Scream!"  
  
"Venus Crescent Beam!"  
  
"Shit," muttered the shadow as it turned to look down at them,  
just before the boxes under his feet exploded, sending him flying into  
the air. Ranma put his arms up and rolled as he arced towards the  
ground and hit the floor rolling.  
  
He stood up and rushed away as another pair of magical attacks  
slammed into the area where he had landed. The blast caught him and he  
was lifted into the air and pushed away from the center of  
destruction. A large hole was now present in the wall of the building,  
and dust filled the entire room.  
  
Ranma was growling angrily as he stood with his back against  
another set of boxes, just out of the senshi's line of sight. "That  
does it."  
  
"Come out and give up. I promise I'll make it quick," said Setsuna  
with a confident smirk on her face.  
  
"Come on Setsuna, you're so cute when you're angry. You may have  
tossed me around a bit, but I'm not hurt."  
  
"Still an Asshole," growled the Senshi of Time under her breath.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Dan put a pair of shades on his face and grinned, it was not a  
nice smile. Carrot and Ranma both looked around in surprise as techno  
music began to play inside their head.  
  
"What the?" muttered Ranma nervously.  
  
"Um, Dan? What are you doing?" said Carrot with an equal amount of  
uncertainty.  
  
"Getting us the hell out of here," said the boy as he stepped  
around the corner and pulled the two weapons from behind his back  
again.  
  
"How many times have you seen 'The Matrix' anyway?" grumbled  
Carrot irritably as everything began to make sense.  
  
"I owned it," replied Dan with his smirk widening.  
  
"What the hell are you guys talkin about?" muttered Ranma in  
confusion.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"There he is!" snarled Setsuna as she saw his figure through the  
cloud of dust. He was simply standing with his hands out at his sides,  
holding the handguns at the ready.  
  
"Right!" agreed Minako as she narrowed her eyes.  
  
Dan moved silently and quickly, charging directly for them. He  
raised his hands, and began to fire the guns. Both Senshi were thrown  
back as the bullets slammed into their chests. He continued to run by,  
kicking off a few boxes to sail over their heads as he moved towards  
the door again.  
  
"We could have just taken that hole you know," said Ranma  
irritably.  
  
"Not without giving them payback!" snarled Dan inside his head as  
they continued to run towards the door, all while firing the gun's  
behind them to keep the Senshi at bay.  
  
Setsuna was on her feet the instant he was over their heads. She  
spun around dodging a few more bullets. "Dead Scream!" she cried as  
she blasted another hole in the wall, barely missing Ranma as he  
ducked aside and was thrown into another group of boxes by the shock  
wave of the blast.  
  
Minako slowly picked up her head and watched as a small object  
fell out of the boy's hand and rolled over to several large drums that  
were covered by a tarp.  
  
Ranma rolled over and blinked painfully. He was glancing around in  
a slight daze for a moment. All the while, Setsuna was preparing  
another blast.  
  
"I have you!" she cried triumphantly.  
  
The boy was looking at his hand at the time rather blankly. He  
took off the sunglasses and stared at her in horror. Setsuna smiled,  
until she realized that he wasn't looking at her at all, but just  
behind her.  
  
"No!" screamed the woman as she turned her head and saw the red  
labels on the barrels, and the small grenade that rested just beside  
them. The next moment was nothing more than a burning pain that  
swallowed her up completely.  
  
Minako shrieked in terror as the wall of fire rushed up to her,  
she managed to stand up and started to run desperately away, explosion  
after explosion sounded behind her and she stumbled as the ground  
shook beneath her. The last thing she remembered was the wall of fire  
rushing up her legs.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma was having problems of his own, he had landed near the  
doorway, and ran outside as the flames rushed up to him. The instant  
he was out the door, he rolled away as a jet of fire blasted out after  
him. He staggered to his feet as the flames quickly consumed the  
alley, jumping up to avoid the blast and rushing out into the street.  
He continued to run away, moving across the street as the building  
burned. He turned once he reached the other side and stared in horror  
at the destruction.  
  
The warehouse exploded, sending flaming shrapnel in every  
direction. The boom sent a shock wave out that shattered windows for  
blocks. He shielded his face and staggered back from the force, his  
ears ringing as the boom died down. Finally, he stepped back and  
dusted himself off as the building now burned silently, sending a  
shower of fiery debris raining down on the street.  
  
"Whoa! That was cool!" exclaimed Dan.  
  
"Let's get out of here!" said Carrot as he turned and jumped onto  
a nearby rooftop. "We'd best not be around when the emergency vehicles  
show up." The sirens were already audible in the distance.  
  
"Wow," said Ranma dumbly as he took another glance back at the  
burning remains of their battlefield.  
  
"Oh my god! We killed Pluto!" said Carrot as he stared with Ranma.  
  
"So much for that engagement," commented Dan.  
  
"Right," muttered Ranma, he hadn't been able to say much else thus  
far. He felt an overwhelming sense of dread fill him, as if something  
had been torn out of his heart. "What have I done?" he gasped.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Inside the warehouse, a pile of debris slowly rose from the floor.  
Two cold blue eyes became visible as the pile of hot ash burned across  
her body. Tears streamed down her face, her uniform was charred and  
burnt to shreds. Her hair was actually burning in some places, and  
several cuts were visible where her skin was visible. She was covered  
in a thick layer of ash and shuddered for a moment as she looked  
around. She raised her hands into the air and screamed painfully.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"What is it?" said Dr. Who as he looked at the odd contraption he  
had been handed. He was standing inside a cave of some kind, on what  
was clearly some distant planet in another dimension.  
  
"A molecular disrupter," said the small old man who stood in front  
of him. He was bald, and appeared to have been painted purple. He wore  
a long robe, made from a green sparkly fabric. "That fiend spent time  
on the surface of Jupiter, you won't be able to harm him with anything  
less."  
  
"It seems like a bit much," said the Dr. coldly as he accepted the  
strange contraption. It looked like an oversized blaster, and it was  
blowing bubbles out of a large tube that protruded from the top.  
  
"Quickly! He's coming!" said a beautiful looking female companion  
who cowered in terror.  
  
Dr. Who got a stern look on his face as he walked towards the  
tunnel that led into the room. He readied the blaster and waited.  
  
"Mr. Where!" said an odd looking mushroom man in terror. His body  
looked oddly like it was made out of rubber.  
  
"Who!" roared a voice from down the cavern. "Because of you! I  
really have seen hell!"  
  
"You're the one who was driving when we went there!" retorted the  
Doctor as he glared at the figure that stood opposite him now.  
  
Ryoga Hibiki glared angrily at his nemesis, a small R was now  
present on his forehead. He pointed his umbrella at the man and  
smirked. "You're no match for me Who. I grow tired of these cheesy  
effects, everyone here sound so ridiculous!"  
  
"Well, your accent sounds faked!" retorted the doctor bitterly.  
  
"How dare you!" snarled Mr. Where as he stalked forward, his feet  
left craters in the ground as he walked, crushing the rock where he  
passed easily.  
  
"Now!" said the purple man desperately.  
  
"You never told me how it works!" snapped Dr. Who as he fumbled  
with the mechanism for a moment.  
  
"Press the button on the side! It will scatter his molecules  
across the dimensions!" said the purple man.  
  
"Oh no!" said the mushroom man as he hid his face away.  
  
The female led swooned, and reached for Dr. Who desperately. "No!  
Look out!"  
  
Ryoga, who was still almost ten feet away, and moving rather  
sluggishly, blinked and stared at her for a moment. Unfortunately, Dr.  
Who found the button at that moment, and a multicolored light erupted  
from the barrel.  
  
"No! I won't be beaten by such a cheesy looking effect!" said  
Ryoga in horror as he slowly faded away.  
  
"It's over," said Dr. Who as he tossed the machine on the ground  
carelessly. "I've finally defeated, Mr. Where."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: A familiar visitor?  
  
Hee hee. I'm evil.  



	8. Insertion Part 8

Insertion  
  
Part 8  
  
Assault on Diamos  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Darkness, it was all that surrounded her as she glared into the  
shadows. Only the pale light of the tube of green liquid gave any  
indication that the entire room was not a black void of nothing.  
Several machines could be seen nearby, lit by the pale glow.  
  
Pluto floated inside the tube; her body curled up in a fetal  
position. Her eyes simply stared forward as she waited for her body to  
heal, a process that would take considerable time. Her arm was nothing  
more than a stump, and part of her right leg was missing, almost the  
entire length of her body was covered in burn scars from the massive  
blast that had consumed her. A dark rage boiled in her heart, hatred,  
anger. She knew all these things.  
  
Yet there was something more, a painful loss. Something long  
forgotten in the streams of time. The mere thought that he could hurt  
her at all was alien too her. Genaku was always a thorn at her side,  
an irritation that was to be disposed of. However, he had never once  
raised his hand against her.  
  
Now things had changed, somewhere deep in her heart, she thought  
that maybe he hadn't fallen to the darkness. Perhaps he managed to  
escape that fate, he was always strong. Beryl was too much though,  
there was no way he could have survived, or been reborn without her.  
Now, all that hope had been crushed, as tiny as it was to begin with.  
  
As it had always been, they were opposed. Now it was more than  
words and ideals, now, she had to destroy him.  
  
That was when she saw the two eyes staring back at her from  
outside the tank. She simply stared at them, an expression of any kind  
simply too painful to make.  
  
"You were defeated," said the voice from outside. Her body was  
hidden by the darkness.  
  
Pluto felt shame, shame that the other had to see her this way.  
Slowly, painfully, she nodded once.  
  
"That isn't acceptable," said the voice calmly.  
  
Pluto felt her heart jump, she was unable to move. If she could,  
she would have been banging against the glass of her healing tank, and  
screaming for her not to interfere. There was nothing she could do,  
she would not survive more than a few moments outside her self made  
prison at the moment.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"What the hell did you do, Ranma?" said Carrot in irritation as he  
sat down on the roof of the Tendo home. "This is more than a passing  
annoyance."  
  
"I didn't do nuthin!" said Ranma in retort.  
  
"Carrot is right," agreed Dan coolly. "This isn't some minor  
irritation we're dealing with. Those two were trying to kill us."  
  
"Yeah, but why?" said Carrot as he painfully tried to think of  
some reason for the woman's discomfort.  
  
"Well? Tell us brain boy," said Dan grumpily.  
  
"I haven't got a clue damn it! Why don't you ask Ranma? It was his  
stupid past life!" snorted Carrot.  
  
"I told you! I didn't do nuthin!" snapped Ranma irritably.  
  
"Look, if it wasn't us. It had to be Genaku, it's the only  
explanation for this. We need to figure out what he did, and maybe  
we'll be able to get out of this mess," said Dan.  
  
"We'll work it out later, it isn't save for us to hang around here  
at night," said Carrot with a small sigh.  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma.  
  
"The senshi have ways of finding us, we need to be gone at night,"  
said Carrot.  
  
"This isn't good, maybe we should get the old man and take off on  
a training trip for a few years?" said Dan.  
  
"Genma might has well have cemented his ass in front of that Shogi  
table, he's not going anywhere without a fight," said Carrot.  
  
"Wait a minute? We're running from some stupid girls?" said Ranma  
angrily. "I don't run from nobody!"  
  
"That's why you're an idiot. I know when we're outclassed. We hit  
those girls with bullets, and it didn't take them down. I imagine that  
explosion did little more than piss them off," said Carrot with  
another nod.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"My hair!" cried Minako as she stared at her reflection in the  
mirror sadly. "When I find that bastard...I'll..." she clenched her  
fists in frustration and glared at the reflective surface with hatred  
in her eyes. "Look what he did to my beautiful skin! I'm all red!"  
  
"You've got to calm down," pleaded Artemis as he hopped up on the  
dresser.  
  
"Calm down? Calm down?! Look at my complexion! I look like a  
lobster!" screamed the girl as she threw her hands into the air.  
  
Artemis backed away nervously from the ranting. "Please! We have  
to think of something! We can't just attack him head on, he's too  
strong for you by yourself!"  
  
Minako hung her head and sighed, "You're right, but what can I  
do?"  
  
"That's what we need a plan for," said Artemis calmly.  
  
"Any word about that other senshi?" said Minako as she suddenly  
became serious. She had a sort of sad look in her eyes.  
  
"The authorities didn't find anything according to the papers. If  
they did, they aren't saying anything. You weren't hurt, maybe she got  
away too?"  
  
"Not hurt?" said Minako with a slight growl. "Look! I had to cut  
my luxurious hair! It only goes to the middle of my back now!"  
screamed the girl as she stood up and pointed at the bottom of her  
long blonde locks. The base was cut even now, and ended just above the  
small of her back.  
  
"Heh, you could awaken the other senshi," said a new voice.  
  
Artemis and Minako whirled around and saw a strange figure  
standing in the window, staring at them.  
  
It was a girl about her own age. She had long violet hair that was  
tied up in a ponytail, her violet eyes were locked on the pair in a  
cold stare. Her clothes weren't unusual, a yellow turtleneck sweater,  
and a pleated skirt.  
  
"Who are you?" said Minako in shock.  
  
"I am Tsuki," replied the girl calmly as she leaned against the  
windowsill.  
  
"What do you want? What's this about other senshi?"  
  
"There are five inner senshi. One for each planet except for Earth  
of course, and one for the moon."  
  
"That's nine," said Artemis coolly as he walked up to the window.  
  
"The outer senshi are not of concern to you," said the girl  
calmly. "You only need to find Moon, Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter."  
  
"Who are you? What's your connection to this?" said Artemis as he  
narrowed his eyes at the girl and moved behind Minako's legs.  
  
"That's my business. Just go to Juban, and follow the rabbit,"  
said the girl coldly as she jumped away and left them.  
  
"Wait!" cried Minako as she rushed up to the window. Predictably,  
the girl was gone. "Damn."  
  
Of course, neither her nor Artemis bothered to look down, where  
Tsuki was laying face down on the ground. She groaned painfully and  
did not move. After a moment Minako turned away from the window, and  
Tsuki picked up her head. "Damn. I forgot that was the second floor.  
Ite..." She slowly stood up and staggered into the streets.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ryoga blinked and looked at the skinny looking bridge and then  
back to the old man again. "But, I don't want to cross the bridge of  
death. I'm trying to get to Nerima."  
  
"Just answer the questions," said the old man.  
  
"We want to cross the bridge of death though!" said the group of  
British knights that stood directly behind him.  
  
One of the nights stepped forward. "Ask your questions."  
  
"What is your name?"  
  
"Lancelot, knight of the round table!"  
  
"What is your quest?"  
  
"To find the Holy Grail!"  
  
"What is your favorite color?"  
  
"Blue."  
  
"All right, off you go then," said the old man.  
  
Ryoga hung his head. "I might as well," he sighed.  
  
"What is your name?" said the old man ominously.  
  
"Ryoga Hibiki."  
  
"What is your quest?"  
  
"To find Ranma Saotome, and finally defeat him!"  
  
"What is the value of Pi?"  
  
Ryoga blinked, and looked at the old man's leer for a moment. "To  
what decimal?"  
  
"Huh? I don't know that!" said the old man. He was promptly flung  
into the gorge by some unseen force, and was never heard from again.  
  
"How do you know these things?" said one of the knights to him.  
  
Ryoga stared at him for a moment. "I'm Asian, everyone knows we're  
good at math."  
  
"Oh, quite right," agreed the other knights as they moved across  
the bridge just in front of him. He stood aside and waited for them to  
pass.  
  
Ryoga stood and waited for them to pass and then stepped onto the  
bridge. He frowned as it creaked under his weight. "Oh, right.  
Jupiter," he muttered calmly. The boards under his feet gave way, and  
he plummeted into the pit below.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Her name is Minako, she's about five-four. She's got long blonde  
hair and blue eyes. She's also a bit boy crazy too," said Ranma as he  
looked at the group of teens.  
  
"Buddy, we're all lookin for that chick," said one of the boys  
with a rough snort.  
  
The boys around him chuckled in crude agreement and then turned  
back to their game.  
  
"What are we doing here?" said Ranma to himself as he turned away  
from the group, or rather the others in his head.  
  
"Trying to nip this in the butt, that's what," he told himself in  
reply.  
  
A group of girls walked by, giving him a wide area of clearance as  
he passed. He was wearing his coat and hat again, and had a pair of  
shades covering his eyes.  
  
+++++++++  
  
"All right, hold it," said Ranma as he stopped their body and  
moved over to a quiet corner of the room. They were inside the arcade,  
asking around for any information on Minako they could get.  
  
"What's up?" said Carrot in confusion.  
  
"What's going on here? We're looking for trouble," said Ranma  
angrily.  
  
"We're trying to avoid it. As much as Dan would enjoy it, I'm sure  
the two of us don't want to end up running around shooting up half of  
Tokyo."  
  
"Right," agreed Ranma.  
  
"We're going to find Minako, and try to explain things. Maybe we  
can still talk our way out of this," said Carrot calmly.  
  
"Not after we blew up Pluto we can't," said Dan calmly.  
  
"Hey I had to do it! We didn't have a choice!" said Ranma  
defensively. "Besides, it wasn't the planet, it was one of the moons!"  
  
"I don't think he's talking about the fight earlier," commented  
Carrot.  
  
"Anyway, we need to find her soon, before she gets the others on  
us," said Carrot calmly. "There are nine senshi, we've only met two,  
and some of them are stronger than the pair we fought. Believe me  
Ranma, we don't want to fight these chicks."  
  
"Right," muttered Ranma irritably. "That doesn't explain why  
everyone is avoiding us."  
  
"Oh that, they think we're with the Yakuza, that's why," said Dan  
calmly.  
  
"What?" said Ranma in shock.  
  
"Enough about that, you remember something don't you?" said Carrot  
with a sly looking grin crossing their face for a moment.  
  
"No," said Ranma pointedly.  
  
"We're going to find out sooner or later," said Dan with a small  
sigh. "It's best not to worry about that now though."  
  
"Why is that?" asked Carrot.  
  
"Because we're about to get a visit from an old friend," said Dan  
with a small chuckle.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
The wall of the arcade crashed in suddenly, revealing a familiar  
looking girl with a bonbori held out in front of her. "You! Is Captain  
Destructo! Where Ranma?"  
  
"Ack!" said Ranma in shocked surprise. "Shampoo, what are you  
doing here?"  
  
"Come to find girl, and kill!" said the Amazon bitterly.  
  
"You know I won't allow that," said Ranma coolly as he stared her  
down for a moment.  
  
"Why? Girl is Destructo airen?" said Shampoo with a smirk forming  
on her face.  
  
"Not really," said the boy with a small shrug.  
  
"Husband very bad run away, Shampoo," said the girl as she glared  
at him for a moment. "His wives in village very angry."  
  
That got the attention of the crowd of dumbstruck onlookers. One  
of the boys perked up suddenly and turned towards the black clad teen.  
"Wives?"  
  
"Heh, your laws don't apply to me. I thought I made that clear  
when we left," said Ranma coolly as he stared her down for a long  
moment. "I'll never be a second class citizen."  
  
"Showing such disrespect. I can't forgive that," said a new voice  
from the hole Shampoo had made her entrance through. A handsome  
looking Chinese boy stepped through, but placed a thick looking pair  
of glasses on his face as he entered. "For forcing Shampoo into your  
arms, and ignoring the laws of the Amazons, you must be punished."  
  
Ranma smirked at the boy. "Hello Mousse."  
  
"It's been a while," said the boy in reply with a small nod of his  
head. "You won't escape this time."  
  
"Escape? I've never been afraid of you two losers," said Ranma  
with a cruel sounding chuckle. "Besides, Shampoo came into my arms  
willingly as I recall."  
  
"What?" said Mousse in shock. He turned towards the girl and  
started to blubber. "Shampoo! You didn't!"  
  
The girl looked at Ranma for a moment with a rather blank  
expression. She knew it wasn't true, but... "Is Shampoo husband." She  
shrugged her shoulders and turned back to Ranma again. "You come home  
to China with wife now."  
  
"Heh, make me," said Ranma with another chuckle.  
  
"If that way Destructo want it," said the girl as she grinned and  
prepared herself.  
  
Mousse charged in front of her. "Enemy to all women!" Various  
blades shot from his arms and into the crowd. Those who weren't smart  
enough to leave before this, now quickly vacated.  
  
Ranma smirked and sidestepped most of the attacks. "Come on then."  
  
"Stupid Mousse!" cried Shampoo as she backed away from the battle.  
  
Ranma spun around as Mousse sailed over his head, drawing the two  
silver weapons from behind his back. "Think you can take me sword  
boy?"  
  
"I will not be defeated!" cried Mousse as several more weapons  
shot from his sleeves.  
  
"Never bring a knife to a gunfight!" snapped Ranma as he ducked  
under the strikes and fired two clean shots.  
  
Mousse froze, he slumped down against one of the video games and  
shuddered, shock evident in his eyes. Two holes appeared on either  
side of his head, and his glasses fell away from his face from where  
they had broken on the edges of the frames.  
  
"Next time, I won't aim to miss," said Ranma as he twirled the  
weapons around on his fingers as he replaced them in their holsters.  
He ducked quickly, and the sound of metal being unsheathed filled the  
silence that had suddenly appeared in the room. Shampoo froze with her  
bonbori held over her head just behind him. The blade of a rather  
large knife was pointed at the nape of her neck. "Ah, ah, ah!" said  
Ranma as he wagged his finger at her playfully.  
  
The Amazon girl growled and slowly lowered her weapons.  
  
"I suggest you give up on me, there are forces at work that you  
can't hope to beat," said Ranma as he stepped away from the pair. "And  
I don't mean me." He calmly walked through the new entrance to the  
arcade that the two Chinese had made when they entered and vanished  
into the shadows.  
  
Both of the teens looked out the window at the flashing blue  
lights that quickly approached.  
  
"Mousse," snapped Shampoo as she left the room.  
  
The boy shook his head and tucked what remained of his glasses  
into his shirt.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"Are you sure this is wise with Shampoo running around?" said Dan.  
  
"Of course, I'd rather deal with her than those cops," said Carrot  
as he dumped a bucket of water over their head.  
  
"Great! What the hell are those two doing here?" snapped Ranma  
angrily.  
  
The whole group froze when they felt something poke at their back.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Well, I had no idea we were looking for the same person, son in  
law," chuckled Cologne as she hopped back away from the redhead nimbly  
as the young girl spun around to face her. "Quite a fine specimen,"  
commented the old woman as she poked her again.  
  
"Who are you?" said Ranma coolly as she backed away.  
  
"Me? No one in particular, we'll meet again. By then you'll be  
begging me to marry Shampoo," said the old woman as she hopped up onto  
the rooftops and vanished into the night.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Who was that?" said Ranma angrily.  
  
"Cologne, Shampoo's great grandmother," said Carrot.  
  
"Shit," grumbled Dan irritably.  
  
"Well, now the fun really starts," said Carrot with a small  
chuckle. "Come on, let's go back."  
  
"Right," said Ranma with a sigh.  
  
They walked calmly into the growing crowd in front of the arcade  
and blended in, vanishing.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Sir, Diamos, they're everywhere," said a small man dressed in a  
military uniform. He stood in front of the gigantic kilt clad general  
with a look of fear in his eyes.  
  
"Aye, I can see that lad," said Genaku as he looked at the display  
screen in front of him. They were standing on the deck of a large  
destroyer class ship. "Admiral Jadeite?"  
  
A man in a gray uniform frowned from a nearby chair and leaned in  
slightly. "Has the gate been compromised?"  
  
On a the huge screen a pair of small planetoids appeared on the  
screen. One a lush green moon, slightly smaller than the tiny white  
planet that it orbited.  
  
"We believe so, sir," said the reporting officer.  
  
"Not good," said Genaku as his scowl deepened.  
  
"How many civilians?" said the Admiral with a slight smirk forming  
on his face.  
  
"Diamos has no civilians living on it," replied Genaku with a  
chuckle. "'Tis a military moon, like Pluto. Only a few dignitaries an  
scientist are permitted on these planets. The Gates of Time and Space  
are too dangerous ta allow a population."  
  
"Admiral Jadeite?" said one of the techs as he looked at the man  
for a moment.  
  
"Prepare the cannons for a planetary razing," said Jadeite calmly.  
  
  
"Aye," agreed Genaku. "Prepare mah men, we're gonna unleash hell  
itself." He turned and walked towards the lift.  
  
"I'll see you when you return, general," said Jadeite with a  
slight nod.  
  
"Aye, that ye will," said Genaku as he continued to stroll away.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"The Gate of Space is ours," said one of the soldiers as he knelt  
before his master. "The last of the defenses have fallen." The man was  
dressed in a black uniform, with a bright yellow fist insignia on the  
right breast.  
  
"Excellent," said the armor-clad man who nodded to the man. He was  
wearing black European style armor, including the helmet that covered  
his head completely. A large black broadsword was in his grasp, and he  
casually sliced a prisoner that was held beside him by two more black  
clad soldiers. "Soon the Moon will fall, and the entire galaxy will be  
ours."  
  
"The fleet overhead is preparing their cannons to fire," said one  
of the nearby men.  
  
"Who is in command of the invading force?" said the armor-clad man  
calmly. "The defense shields will hold out as long as we need them  
too."  
  
"General Genaku," said the man calmly with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Excellent, aim all of the planetary defenses at Pluto," said the  
commander with a small chuckle. "He will bow to us before he lets us  
destroy the Senshi of Pluto and her planet."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Genaku, the planetary defenses are changing their target. They've  
targeted Pluto directly." Jadeite frowned deeply as he looked at the  
calm face of his old friend staring back at him.  
  
"Eh? So what?" snorted the man casually.  
  
"Pluto's defenses cannot hold out against an attack like that, it  
will be destroyed."  
  
"And he thinks he can persuade me not ta attack because of this?"  
said Genaku with a small snort. "Mah Marines can take down that  
fortress before they can destroy it. I assure ya, now proceed with the  
plan."  
  
"But the Senshi of Pluto is still..."  
  
"Very well aware of what's about ta happen. She is the Senshi of  
Time, ain't she?" said Genaku coldly. "Admiral, fire the cannons to  
clear our path for entry."  
  
"Yah here that men? All of Pluto is depending on us to win this  
battle! What have ya got ta say about that?" he roared over his  
shoulder.  
  
A roar of battle cries echoed throughout the ship, Jadeite could  
see the crowd behind Genaku raising their weapons into the air  
enthusiastically. He chuckled and turned towards the gunnery officer.  
"Fire at will Commander."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"What the hell is he doing?" snapped Pluto as she stared into the  
screen.  
  
"This can't be!" said the scientist who stood next to her. "The  
Time Gate told us that he'd bow, and then the Martian forces would  
push them back! We'd have it all back within a month's time!"  
  
"Genaku!" snarled Pluto angrily. Her mind worked as she attempted  
to find some sort of reason. The Time Gate showed how to manipulate  
events, but Genaku somehow had the ability to change things to his own  
will. "How does he do this?" she snarled.  
  
"We could be destroyed!" cried another scientist.  
  
"Put me through to that moron!" snarled Pluto.  
  
"He's cut off communications from us," said another of the men in  
the room as he turned away from the console he was working at.  
  
"What?" said Pluto.  
  
"All we're getting is this," said the man as he moved aside to  
show her the screen.  
  
Pluto felt her blood run cold as she saw the screen staring back  
at her. It was a picture of Genaku's butt, mooning her. She put her  
hand to her head as an intense pain formed there, and screamed in  
rage.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
The sky overhead was alight with flashes as the barrage from the  
fleet slammed into the shields that surrounded the small planetoid.  
Around twenty huge troop carriers maneuvered to the ground, unmolested  
by any attack. They landed in a swarm, great tan hulls that looked  
like pregnant aircraft, each holding hundreds of troops within.  
  
The armor-clad soldier stood in front of rows and rows of his men  
as the military drop ships landed in front of him. All of them were  
standing at attention, like some sort of massive military parade. The  
commander chuckled and cried out to the lead ship, which was no more  
than twenty feet in front of them.  
  
"Genaku! I have come to accept your surrender! Give up now, and  
Pluto and its Senshi will be spared. Perhaps your men would like to  
survive as well!" A roar of laughter erupted from the masses of  
soldiers behind him. "There is no one here to help you, and you have  
but five thousand men. I have twice that number, the battle is lost!"  
  
The door of the lead ship opened. Genaku calmly strolled out and  
stood in front of the opposing army, his sword sheathed at his side.  
  
"So, you accept my terms?" said the Commander calmly as he stepped  
forward.  
  
"Who are ye?" snapped Genaku.  
  
"I am Yumato, New General of Light, and soon to be ruler of all  
the galaxy," said the armor-clad man proudly.  
  
"The only thing ye'll be rulin is hell!" roared Genaku as he  
raised his sword into the air and charged forward.  
  
"What?" said Yumato in shock. His men stood in dumb surprise for a  
moment, scrambling to raise their weapons as men poured out of the  
ships behind Genaku, charging forward. They were firing into the rows  
of black clad soldiers as soon as their feet hit the surface of the  
planet, some before then.  
  
Yumato raised his sword and staggered back as Genaku slammed into  
him, hacking down. The armor-clad man was almost forced to his knees  
from the blow, and had to move his weapon madly in order to block the  
mad slashing of the General. "You're crazy!"  
  
"Pluto won't be destroyed, if ya cannot give the order ta destroy  
it!" roared Genaku as he continued to hack and forced the man back.  
His swings were wide, and many of the black clad soldiers fell around  
him as he pushed the armor-clad warrior further back.  
  
The forces of the Moon Kingdom were dressed in bulkily clad tan  
uniforms, shoulder pads and rifles were present on most of them as  
they continued to rush into the crowd. The initial barrage had sent  
the black clad warriors into a state of disarray. The first two rows  
of soldiers had fallen before they had even reached their front lines.  
  
Now, the Interplanetary Marine forces were fighting in close  
combat, against two to one odds. Several of the Marines slowly  
approached near the back of their ranks. They lifted large tube like  
cannons onto their shoulders and began to fire into the air.  
  
Balls of flaming energy soared into the air, and came down in the  
back of the ranks, exploding and taking out dozens of the soldiers  
with each blast. It also slowed the retreat of the enemy.  
  
Genaku was standing in the middle of the enemy soldier's ranks,  
fighting with their commander, and none of the black clad men had even  
tried to fire at him. The whole mass of men was in a panic,  
desperately trying to hold back the forces pushing into them.  
  
"Ha!" snarled Genaku as he slashed down, cutting a huge chunk of  
metal off the man's shoulder.  
  
"Damn you! Kill him you idiots!" snarled the man as he performed  
an upward slash that blocked a strike and forced the general to step  
back.  
  
Finally, one of the men seemed to snap out of his stupor and  
turned with a blaster in his hand. He fired at Genaku, who merely  
jumped back. One of the black clad soldiers fell on the other side of  
the clearing the men were giving.  
  
Genaku stabbed back with his sword without looking back, the  
strike cut deep into the man's chest, and he started after the enemy  
commander. The man had run away as soon as Genaku was forced to stop  
attacking him.  
  
His own forces seemed to surround him all at once, easily cutting  
the larger forces into sections as they fired their way through them.  
  
"Sir!" said one of the men who kneeled into a firing position next  
to him.  
  
"Did ya see which way that coward went?" said the general calmly  
as he used the hilt of his blade to slam into one of the enemy's face.  
The man dropped like a rock and did not move.  
  
"East sir, we're tracking him now. He's heading into one of the  
buildings with a few of his men.  
  
"The planetary defense controls," said Genaku with a small nod.  
  
"Where is the place?" he said calmly.  
  
"Over there," said the Marine as he pointed at a large set of  
buildings.  
  
"Where are the pounders?" said Genaku with a smirk forming on his  
face.  
  
"Still taking up the rear," said the soldier as he fired a few  
more shots into the quickly retreating crowd of black clad soldiers.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Sir!" said the officer in charge as Genaku approached the row of  
men armed with the long tube-like weapons.  
  
"See those buildings?" said Genaku as he pointed at them.  
  
"Yes sir," said the man with a grin forming on his face.  
  
"Aye, ye know what ta do," said the red-haired general as he  
strolled back to the battle.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Yumato stood in shocked silence as he stared at the smoking  
remains of the building in front of him. "No! It can't be!" He turned  
and growled angrily at the swarm of tan uniforms on the battlefield a  
few hundred yards away. The black uniforms no longer swallowed them  
up. "He blew up the command center!"  
  
"What are we going to do!?" said one of the nearby men in panic.  
  
Yumato hacked him in two in a fit of frustrated anger. "We're  
going to destroy him!"  
  
"How do ye plan to do that?" said a familiar voice. The small  
group of soldiers turned to see the intimidating and blood-soaked form  
of Genaku staring down at them from the top of a hill.  
  
"Kill him!" snarled Yumato bitterly.  
  
The men raised their rifles up and aimed at Genaku. Yumato headed  
towards a nearby building that was still mostly intact.  
  
Genaku moved unlike anything the men had ever seen. He dodged  
around their shots easily, hacking into them and quickly tearing  
through the men.  
  
Finally, three of them remained and stared at the man in horror.  
He looked like some sort of blood soaked god of death. They dropped  
their rifles and took off screaming in terror.  
  
"Feh, cowards," snorted the man casually. He followed Yumato into  
the building. Inside he found a long hallway with a row of lights  
overhead and no doors.  
  
"The fighting is over sir," said a voice from the small metal  
insignia on the scarf that ran across his shoulder.  
  
"Already?" snorted Genaku in what seemed to be disappointment.  
  
"The reinforcements are arriving from the south. We didn't even  
need them," said the voice on the other side of the line with a small  
chuckle.  
  
"Reinforcements?" said the black clad figure that stepped out into  
the middle of the hall.  
  
"Aye, I also brought ten thousand men with me," said Genaku as he  
stared the man down for a moment. "Unfortunately, yer men were no  
match fer five of mine. So they didn't get to join in. I had planned  
to flank ye."  
  
Yumato staggered back. "That's not possible! We never detected..."  
  
"Mercury has some amazing technology ya know, best in the entire  
solar system. 'Tis a wonder they never came up with a way to hide from  
the detection systems of a planet, is it not?" said Genaku with a  
small chuckle.  
  
"You're too late, I've opened a gateway to my home world. The Gate  
of Space will soon dump a million men onto this planet, and they will  
crush you and your forces. You've lost general." Yumato pointed at the  
man with his sword.  
  
Genaku narrowed his eyes at the man. His helmet hid his face, and  
he could not detect fear in his voice.  
  
"I'll just have ta make sure ya never get ta enjoy yer victory  
then," he said as he raised his sword.  
  
Yumato stepped back as the enraged general charged, hacking at  
him. They exchanged blows in the middle of the hallway and backed  
slowly into the main chamber that was at the end.  
  
Genaku frowned when he saw the large gateway, a glowing blue light  
had formed in its center. The man wasn't lying. He grunted with effort  
and hacked a huge gash into the man's side, cutting through the armor  
like it wasn't there.  
  
Yumato cried out in pain and fell down to his knees. Blood poured  
through the open wound and pooled on the floor around him.  
  
"Do ya feel it?" said Genaku as he stared down at her. "The  
boiling in your blood?"  
  
"I will destroy you!" snarled the man as he jumped to his feet and  
stabbed at Genaku.  
  
The man took a slash from blade in his belly and slammed the hilt  
of his own sword into the armored man's helmet. It flew off of  
Yumato's face and clattered across the ground.  
  
"Damn you," snapped a very different voice as the man stood up and  
glared at Genaku harshly.  
  
"A woman," said the general in shock.  
  
"I will be Empress of the Galaxy!" she snarled as she raised her  
sword again. Behind her, the shadowy figure of her reinforcements  
began to slowly materialize in the light of the Space Gate.  
  
"Yer wound is gone," noted Genaku calmly.  
  
"I cannot die!" she snarled as she charged forward while slashing  
wildly.  
  
Genaku calmly slammed her in the face with the hilt of his blade  
again sending her sprawling out on the floor again. "Hurts more  
without armor, eh?" He said with a small chuckle.  
  
"I cannot lose!" she gasped as she looked up at him hatefully,  
unable to move from the pain.  
  
"Ya already have," said Genaku calmly. "There can be only one."  
  
"What?" said the woman as her eyes went wide. The man had is sword  
raised over his head.  
  
The last thing she saw was the blade descending down on her.  
  
Genaku screamed as energy crackled across the room. Screens  
shattered and lights exploded as the woman's energy escaped her body  
all at once. He was lifted off the ground by the force of the power  
and was then thrown back down to the ground. He fell too his knees,  
gasping for breath as the energy slowly and painfully died down around  
him.  
  
Slowly, he staggered to his feet and looked up at the Space Gate.  
The first group of men was slowly walking through, glancing at his  
surroundings. Genaku readied his sword, and narrowed his eyes as  
dozens more came through behind the man. They saw him lying over the  
dead body of their commander, and began to raise their weapons.  
  
"Shit," he as he touched the communications device on his  
shoulder. "Back to the drop ships, evacuate the planet."  
  
"Sir?" said a questioning voice on the other side.  
  
"Do it," said Genaku sharply. The first shot passed by him  
harmlessly, and was quickly followed by others as still more men  
appeared in the room.  
  
His sword began to grow red as a magical power began to form  
inside the metal. "I'm afraid I'm gonna to ask ya to return home. Ya  
weren't invited!" He slashed down with the blade, sending a wide arc  
of energy slamming into the gate.  
  
The frame shook for a moment, and then cracked. Finally, the  
entire doorway shattered. The black clad men stood in shocked horror  
as they stared at the remains of the doorway for a moment. Then, the  
blue light that was once contained inside began to expand slowly.  
  
Genaku turned and started running out the hallway towards the  
door.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Jadeite stared out into space, watching the growing light form on  
the surface of the planet. It slowly grew larger and larger, engulfing  
the surface as it slowly spread. The drop ships could be seen  
approaching the fleet at high speed and were being let back inside the  
bays.  
  
"Genaku, what have you done?" he said in horrified shock.  
  
Red lines began to spider web along the surface of the planet, slowly  
spreading across it. "Load those ships now! Get us the hell out of  
here!" he screamed onto the bridge. "Hurry it up! Do it now! As soon  
as the ships are loaded!"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
In the silence of space, the shattering explosion sent shock waves  
across the emptiness. Diamos shattered and was blown to oblivion in an  
instant as the ships moved away across the sea of stars.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Pluto stared at the screen in horror as the moon exploded. Rage  
slowly built up inside her. She lifted her hands into the air and  
screamed.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Ya said yourself that the Space Gate did not have its own Senshi,  
and was a liability. It had no defense against attacks other than the  
planetary defense. Now, it tis no longer a liability," said Genaku as  
he stood before Serenity.  
  
"He destroyed the Space Gate, and you rewarded him for it!"  
snarled Pluto bitterly.  
  
"He prevented an invasion, and saved countless lives," said the  
queen calmly. "The Space Gate also had no practical value. It was an  
open doorway for us to conquer with, and had no defensive value. Now  
the temptation will be gone for future rulers."  
  
Pluto's jaw dropped, her entire face turned completely red as rage  
boiled up inside her.  
  
Serenity gave a slight smile. "I realize that your duties have  
been  
cut in half, and I'm sure you can find ways to fill your time." Her  
smile spoke in volumes.  
  
Pluto went from an angry red, to a pale white in an instant.  
"What?"  
  
"Maybe it's time you started looking for a husband?" wondered the  
Queen out loud.  
  
Pluto knew what that meant, "Find a husband, or I'll do it for  
you."  
  
Genaku chuckled and shook his head. "I give ya my leave," he said with a  
low bow as he strolled out of the room.  
  
+++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
BTW. In case your interested, this was written to the Gladiator  
soundtrack. The battle in the beginning of the movie.  
Everyone kept asking me what Genaku did to get Pluto so pissed,  
well, this is part of it, and now you know. Next time, the Amazons. 


	9. Insertion Part 9

Insertion  
  
Part 9  
  
Cologne's trick.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"What's wrong?" said Kasumi as she looked down at Ranma for a  
moment in shock.  
  
"The water! That old hag!" snarled the girl angrily. She was  
currently in the nude, and looking at the luke-warm furo hatefully.  
  
"What the heck are you talking about?" said Akane as she strolled  
in with Nabiki.  
  
"That old bat! She hit me with some shiatsu that makes my body  
overly sensitive! I can't change back into a boy!" said Ranma as she  
stood up and glared at the water.  
  
"Old woman?" said Nabiki in confusion.  
  
"What are you talking about, you idiot?" snapped Akane.  
  
Ranma merely walked out of the bathroom, grabbing her clean  
clothes as she went.  
"I've got to go see someone. I don't know when I'll be back."  
  
"That was weird," commented Nabiki as she watched him go.  
  
"Oh my," muttered Kasumi.  
  
"He's up to something, I can smell it," said Akane.  
  
"You've been saying that since he got here," pointed out Nabiki.  
  
"So?" muttered the girl in embarrassment.  
  
"I'm going after him," said Nabiki as she rushed out of the room.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"You don't mean my little 'Full Body Cat's Tongue' do you?"  
chuckled Cologne as she looked the angry Ranma in the face.  
  
"Yeah, that one," replied the redhead.  
  
"I could give you the cure, if you promise to come back with my  
Shampoo," said the old woman with a crafty looking chuckle.  
  
"Or, I could trade it for her life," said Ranma casually as she  
leaned against the counter and looked at her fingernails for a moment.  
  
"You couldn't," muttered Cologne.  
  
"You know I could," replied the pigtailed girl lazily. "I'm  
willing to be reasonable. How about I work for it?"  
  
"What's that?" said the old woman.  
  
"I'm willing to work out some kind of agreement, or challenge.  
Something reasonable of course," said the pigtailed girl calmly. "You  
can take my offer, or I'll just make Shampoo disappear for a while."  
  
"And how do you plan to do that?" said Cologne cautiously.  
  
"That would be telling wouldn't it?" said the redhead with a  
smirk. "Come on, let's work something out."  
  
"Very well," conceded the old woman after a moment of thought. Her  
smile had turned rather cheerful. "I just opened my business, and I am  
in need of a server to wait tables. If I should happen to drop this in  
the course of the day..." She held up a large ball attached to a  
necklace.  
  
"What's that thing?" said Ranma as she looked at it.  
  
"It is called the Phoenix Pill, and it is the cure for your  
condition," said Cologne cheerfully.  
  
"You got a deal," said Ranma with a smirk on her face.  
  
"Great Grandmother, Shampoo..." the young amazon walked out of the  
kitchen with a confused frown on her face. It quickly changed into a  
mask of anger as she noticed the girl standing with the old woman.  
"Ranma! I kill!"  
  
"Huh? You mean, you didn't...?" The girl looked at Cologne for a  
moment and sighed as the old woman simply shook her head negative.  
"Great," said the girl with a smirk on her face as she dashed out of  
the room, with Shampoo in hot pursuit.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Well, now what?" said Carrot as he stepped out of the alleyway  
they had ducked into and watched the amazon girl fade into the  
distance.  
  
"What the heck are we doing? Why don't we just take that stupid  
pill?" snapped Ranma angrily.  
  
"I don't see any point in dragging this out," said Dan irritably.  
  
"We're going to need this speed training, that's why," said Carrot  
calmly.  
  
"Speed training?" muttered Ranma in confusion.  
  
"That's right, taking that pill away from that old woman isn't  
going to be as easy as you think. Dan and I aren't going to help you  
either," said Carrot.  
  
"What? You jerks!"  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" snarled Dan as he grabbed  
them by their neck and pushed them against the wall.  
  
Carrot merely smirked. "If Ranma trains in the Chestnut Fist, then  
we'll all be much faster. We can take the pill from her working  
together, but if the body is trained, think about what we can do  
then."  
  
"Chestnut Fist?" said Ranma in confusion.  
  
"I think I get it," said Dan reluctantly as he released them from  
his grip.  
  
"It's agreed then, we play along for a while, and then show this  
old bat what we're made of," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"Right," agreed the other two, although Ranma had no idea what he  
was agreeing too.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki frowned as she saw Ranma nodding too himself like he did  
sometimes. Her eyebrow raised slightly when she saw him grab himself  
by the neck and push himself up against a nearby wall. It hadn't been  
hard to follow him after he left the restaurant and talked with that  
old woman. The Chinese girl left a rather messy trail behind her.  
  
"Who the heck are these people? What do they have to do with  
Ranma?" she muttered under her breath. She had heard some of the  
conversation between Ranma and that old crone, and knew that the girl  
had gotten a part time job for some reason. "I can use that, I'm  
betting more than a few boys will pay good money to hear about a new  
restaurant with that kind of waitress." She chuckled and faded away.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"You what?" said Cologne as she looked at the redhead in shock.  
  
"I put these up," said Ranma cheerfully as she looked down at her  
new boss.  
  
"Well, I never expected you to do something like that, son-in-  
law," said the old hag cheerfully as she handed her the next order.  
There was a small exchange of blows as she attempted to grab the  
bowls.  
  
"If I'm gonna be here, and stuck like this, I might as well make  
some extra money," replied the girl as she walked away with several  
bowls now balanced on her head.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Nabiki seethed as she looked at the walls of Furinkan. Hundreds of  
fliers were now stuck on the lockers. She now realized what Ranma had  
been doing when she came home so late that night. She'd been making  
copies. "That little witch! How dare she undermine me!"  
  
She pulled one of them off the wall and stared at the  
advertisement hatefully. On the page, were a photo of Ranma in his  
girl form, and another snapshot of Shampoo he'd managed to take. The  
ad explained that the girls were real waitresses at the restaurant,  
and that they'd be happy to serve them as best they could. Implying a  
kind of service that she knew wasn't going to happen. Still, the idiot  
boys were standing around the places with the fliers on the walls,  
drooling like morons. She crumpled up the page and almost screamed in  
frustration. Now, not even Kuno would pay her for information about  
the place today. She had seen the moronic kendoist staring at one of  
the fliers with disgust on his face.  
  
"The honorless cur, it disgusts me," he had commented as he turned  
away from the page.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"This is fun," deadpanned Ranma as she dodged another set of  
throwing knives and a crushing mace blow with bowls of hot soup  
balanced all across her arms.  
  
"Well, it's good training," said Carrot lazily.  
  
"It takes all three of us to navigate this mess, you just worry  
about that pill," snapped Dan as he casually sidestepped another  
volley of thrown weapons.  
  
Shampoo and Mousse had both started to take any cheap shot they  
could get in while they worked. Cologne had ordered her to not chase  
the girl away during business hours, but leaving work each night had  
become a mad dash to escape the pair. It was no coincidence that the  
woman did not command them to stop attacking her. Fortunately, they  
were very careful about hitting customers, and only attempted to kill  
her when they had a clear shot.  
  
Cologne hopped up to them and smiled after her deliveries were  
made. "Son in law, come with me for a moment."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"I'd like to show you something," said the old woman as she  
started a fire and pulled out a bag of chestnuts from her robe.  
  
"Huh?" muttered Ranma in confusion as she watched the old woman  
toss the bag into the fire.  
  
"Watch closely," said Cologne. She then proceeded to reach in and  
pluck them out of the fire.  
  
"Not bad," commented Ranma as her eyes narrowed.  
  
"With this technique, taking the Phoenix Pill will be child's  
play," said the old woman cheerfully. She hopped away and left the  
redhead alone to her own devices for a while.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"What is that idiot doing?" muttered Akane as she watched the girl  
sit out in the yard with a small campfire.  
  
"She's been at it for a week now," commented Nabiki lazily.  
  
"Is she still working at that restaurant?" asked Akane as she  
looked at her sister.  
  
"Every night," said the girl with a nod. "We hardly ever see your  
fiancee."  
  
"Good," snapped Akane.  
  
Genma walked out and frowned at his son. "Boy! What do you think  
you're doing?"  
  
"Training," was the reply as Ranma burned her hands yet again.  
  
"This new job of yours is taking away from your skills! I won't  
allow it!" snapped Genma angrily.  
  
Ranma looked down at the small, slightly burnt wristwatch she had  
started wearing. "Hey, it's time for Dragonball." She stood up and  
started towards the television.  
  
"That's enough boy! You're going soft!" snapped Genma as he hefted  
the girl over his shoulder. Ranma twisted in midair and landed on her  
feet.  
  
"Right, I think I showed you how soft I've been getting," snapped  
Ranma angrily as she charged the man.  
  
"What?" muttered Genma in surprise.  
  
Ranma had vanished, and then reappeared directly in front of him.  
Genma quickly snapped out of his stupor and attacked. Ranma was  
dancing around him as easily as if it was Akane fighting him. "What's  
the matter old man? Can't hit me?"  
  
"Boy, you should learn some respect!" snapped Genma as he pushed  
himself a little harder, no longer holding back.  
  
Ranma took a blow too the side of his head and staggered back for  
a moment. "Not bad old man."  
  
"Huh?" muttered Genma in shock as he looked at his fist.  
  
"Ha!" cried Ranma as he jumped up and kicked the man in his face.  
Genma was sent across the back yard by the force of the blow, and  
didn't stop until he slammed into the wall.  
  
Ranma snorted and turned towards the TV.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
It was a rerun, but that didn't matter much because the boys were  
talking amongst themselves inside Ranma's head again.  
  
"What just happened?" said Ranma. "Since when are we that good?"  
  
"Easy, we've been training for six hours a night," said Carrot  
calmly. "Shampoo and Mousse spend all their time trying to kill us. We  
dodge that while balancing bowls, plus we attack that old ghoul every  
chance we get. What did you expect?"  
  
"I never thought about it like that, I've just been focused on  
that pill," said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Great," muttered Dan. "So, now what?"  
  
"Ranma hasn't learned the Chestnut Fist," said Carrot. "We keep  
doing this until he does."  
  
"Makes sense," said Dan with an indifferent shrug.  
  
"Man, I barely felt that punch," said Ranma as he looked back at  
his father, who was still sleeping against the wall outside.  
  
"Well, we beat ourselves up on a regular basis," commented Carrot.  
  
"You jerks deserved that beating! I said I wanted Thai!" snapped  
Dan defensively.  
  
"We wanted Ramen," countered Ranma.  
  
"Let's not start that again," said Carrot irritably. "Look, the  
fact is that this is good for us. So we keep doing it."  
  
"Right," agreed the others.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Follow the rabbit? What the hell does that mean?" said Minako as  
she wandered through the streets of Juban.  
  
Artemis was poking his head out of her purse, and watching the  
road. "It is a bit cryptic, all we've found so far are a few  
magicians. Bad ones at that."  
  
"So, do we give up and go home now?" said Minako in a slightly  
whiny voice.  
  
"I suppose there's nothing else we can do," agreed Artemis.  
  
"Gahhh! I hate school!" said a rather loud girl from behind them.  
  
"You should study for your tests more," commented a goofy looking  
boy that stood next to her.  
  
"Shut up Umino! Don't you have a home?" snapped the blonde  
irritably. She had a rather unusual hairstyle.  
  
"Don't be so mean Usagi, he didn't mean it," said the girl who was  
standing next to her.  
  
"Of course I meant it! How do you expect to be successful without  
an education?" cried Umino.  
  
"Marry a rich man?" said Usagi obliviously. "I suppose you're  
right Naru, I mean, I'm still young and all."  
  
"I didn't mean you shouldn't study at all," said the girl.  
  
Artemis and Minako looked at each other for a moment as the group  
walked by them.  
  
"Usagi?" said the cat.  
  
"You don't think?" said Minako.  
  
"Let's go!" Artemis put his ears back and stared forward at the  
girl. "Don't let her get away!"  
  
Just beside them, a shadowy figure watched the scene and chuckled  
to herself. "Right! Everything is going according to the plan!" She  
watched them vanish into the crowd and turned to melt into the  
shadows. The effect was ruined, as a loud clanging noise, followed by  
a crash filled the deserted alley. "Ouchies! Stupid fire escape  
ladder!" squealed Tsuki as she found herself sprawled out in a pile of  
garbage bags. She was rubbing her forehead and glaring at the  
offending object above her irritably. After a moment of grumbling to  
herself, she looked up at the sky with tears in her eyes. "Don't worry  
Pluto-sama! I won't fail, not like you did!"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Have you mastered that technique I showed you yet?" said Cologne  
as she jumped over the wall of the Tendo home and paused.  
  
Ranma was smiling cheerfully, dressed in a yukata with the rest of  
the family. "Hie, boss!"  
  
"What's going on here? I expected you to be in training," said  
Cologne as she hopped over to the girl's side.  
  
"I'm takin a little time off today. We're going to the fair," said  
the redhead cheerfully. "Hey, I got the haunted house from seven to  
eight right?"  
  
"That is correct," confirmed Cologne as she watched them wander  
towards the door.  
  
"Kay, see ya then," said Ranma as she followed after them. "Hey!  
Wait up you jerks!"  
  
"Most unusual," said Cologne to herself as she hopped away.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Come on, be a man!" said Ranma as she looked down at the boy who  
was sitting next to her at one of the food booths at the fair. He was  
becoming violently sick. "Jeez, one little drink and you're done  
already?" She took another shot of Sake and left him with the bill.  
  
Akane was watching the scene in shocked horror. "What are you  
doing?"  
  
"Having a drink," said Ranma obliviously.  
  
"With a boy?" snapped the girl angrily.  
  
"Hey, he offered too buy me a drink," said the girl with a shrug.  
"I said yes."  
  
"You pervert!" snapped Akane.  
  
"If I am, it's none of your business is it?" replied the redhead  
calmly.  
  
"But...I..." stammered Akane.  
  
"Look, the kid thought he was being a badass when he offered too  
buy me a drink. Thought he'd impress me with how wild and rebellious  
he was. I taught him a lesson. It's amazing what these jerks will do  
to impress a pretty girl."  
  
"What?" said Akane dumbly.  
  
"Heh, that idiot thought he could match me drink for drink," said  
Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"How many did you have?" said Akane as she looked back at the  
unfortunate boy. He was still getting sick.  
  
"Well, I downed six at first, plus two more after he started doing  
that," said Ranma as he looked back at the scene for a moment. "That's  
eight."  
  
"Well, I'm impressed Saotome," said Nabiki as she walked up to  
them. "Win a lot of bets that way?"  
  
"I'd planned on starting. I've got a very high alcohol tolerance,"  
said the redhead casually. "I just had eight drinks, and all I feel  
right now is a little warm."  
  
"Boy! Why didn't you tell me you discovered the Saotome Secret  
Drinking Technique?" said Genma as he slapped Ranma in the back of her  
head.  
  
"Huh? We've got a family technique for that?" said the girl  
dumbly.  
  
Genma looked up and saw the Tendos staring at him. "Um, no. Of  
course not boy, I was just joking."  
  
"Saotome, I seem to recall an evening that led up to this glorious  
union between the schools..."  
  
"Don't worry about it Tendo. I assure you I was just as drunk as  
you were," said Genma in what was an obvious lie.  
  
"My poor departed wife nearly decapitated me for that! How could  
you Saotome!?"  
  
"Calm down Tendo, it worked out for the best in the end, didn't  
it?" comforted Genma as he pat the man on his back.  
  
Ranma decided to slip away as the two men now had the angry  
attention of three teenage girls on them.  
  
She walked near a fish catching booth and listened to the call of  
the man working there for a moment.  
  
"Catch em all take em home for free!"  
  
"Heh," she strolled over and sat down in front of the tank. "I'll  
take that challenge."  
  
++++++++++  
  
Soun and Genma were lying in the middle of the midway, beaten too  
within an inch of their lives when Akane walked up behind her and saw  
the prizes Ranma had won. She had several bags full of fish, and a  
large tank full of piranha.  
  
"Where did you get those?" she asked dumbly.  
  
"Huh? Oh, I won them playing that game over there," replied the  
redhead casually as she handed the tank over to the girl. "Here, hold  
this for a minute."  
  
"You mean where that man is crying, and putting up a closed sign?"  
  
"Yup, that's the one," said Ranma cheerfully. She was handing out  
the fish too a large group of children that was passing by. "There.  
I'd give those away, but they're dangerous." Said the redhead as she  
took the tank back. "See ya later, I've got to go work my shift at the  
haunted house now."  
  
Akane merely waved and watched her go.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Carrot smirked as he strolled up to Cologne. "Hiya, boss."  
  
"Good, you're here," said the old woman as she glanced back at  
Shampoo for a moment. "Fifteen minutes early too."  
  
"Yeah well," said the redhead with a shrug. She glanced at the  
Amazon girl and frowned for a moment. "It'll be hard to work with her  
and her boyfriend trying to kill me the whole time."  
  
"They are not permitted to attack you at the moment," said Cologne  
cheerfully.  
  
"I bet you thought I'd be a little more pressured to go with you  
with those two idiots trying to kill me huh?"  
  
"My but you're perceptive," chuckled Cologne.  
  
"I mastered that technique by the way," said Ranma as she held up  
her hand and dangled the pill's box in front of the woman's face.  
  
"Gah! How?"  
  
"Not bad huh?" said the redhead cheerfully. She popped open the  
box and took the candy drop from inside. "Hey, it's grape!" she said  
cheerfully as she walked over to where she would get her makeup and  
costume from. "Thanks for the candy drop."  
  
Cologne narrowed her eyes at the girl. "He is perceptive. Even I  
would have assumed that it was the real pill."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Boy! What are you doing?" snapped Genma angrily as he saw Ranma  
standing in front of the haunted house in a kimono. She was holding a  
small lantern in front of her and announcing the presence of the  
attraction to the passing crowd.  
  
"Attracting customers," said the girl obliviously. "And getting  
hit on a lot too," she added with a slight frown.  
  
"Wow, you look good in a kimono, Saotome," said Nabiki as she  
strolled up with her sisters.  
  
"What kind of man takes a job like this?" snapped Genma as he  
attempted too grab hi son. She sidestepped and he fell flat on his  
face.  
  
"A man who's cursed to turn into a girl," said Ranma with a small  
shrug as she looked down at him. "You guys goin in?"  
  
"Of course," said Nabiki cheerfully.  
  
"It probably isn't scary anyway," muttered Akane.  
  
"Oh my! I think I'll wait out here," said Kasumi nervously.  
  
"Enjoy," said Ranma as she watched the two younger girls go into  
the building. Akane was dragging the crying Soun in by his collar.  
  
"Really Tendo!" said her father as he walked just behind them.  
  
Kasumi turned towards Ranma and frowned. "It doesn't bother you  
that you turn into a girl?"  
  
"Huh?" Ranma blinked at her and then smiled. "Of course it does,  
but if you have to live with it, live with it well."  
  
"I see. So you're making the best of the situation?" said the girl  
with an understanding smile.  
  
"You've got it!" said the redhead as she winked at her.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"I'm Sailor Moon?" said Usagi in shock as she looked down at  
herself in wonder.  
  
Luna nodded her head. "That's right, defender of love and justice!  
The pretty sailor soldier! Sailor Moon!"  
  
"So, I find you at last Sailor Moon."  
  
Both Usagi and Luna turned and gasped as they saw Sailor V  
standing in the window, watching them both. A small white cat padded  
its way around her feet silently.  
  
"Who?" muttered Usagi in confusion.  
  
"Artemis?" gasped Luna in shock as she stared at the white cat.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Bwahahahahaha! My master plan is going exactly as I had  
envisioned it!" said Tsuki as she stood on a rooftop nearby and  
pointed her finger up at the moon. "Soon, I shall awaken all the  
Senshi, and then we'll destroy the one who dared hurt my, Mistress  
Pluto!"  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Naru woke up in the dead of night and walked down the stairs. She  
rubbed her eyes sleepily and paused when she saw her mother in the  
middle of the room with a large sack of jewelry in her grasp.  
  
"Mom? What's going on?"  
  
The thing that looked like her mother slowly turned around, and  
glared at her.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Pluto opened her eyes, she was still inside her healing tank, but  
her body was looking much better now. Unfortunately, she still had a  
long way to go before she could leave the protective liquid. "No!  
What's he doing here so early?" she thought as she stared into the  
darkness. "It's too soon! They shouldn't be here yet! What is  
happening?" Her mind turned the situation over and over. She could  
come up with only one answer. "Genaku." It had to be. He was the only  
one with enough chaos around him to manipulate events beyond the time  
gate's vision. She clenched her jaw, causing a new surge of pain  
through her body. He had to be destroyed, now more than ever.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next time, a day at the beach, and more Genaku. 


	10. Insertion Part 10

Insertion  
  
Part 10  
  
Fun at the beach.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma strolled down the street, dressed in a black Chinese shirt  
and a pair of black slacks. A pair of Rayban shades hid her eyes from  
view as she walked along. Her stroll was lazy and purposeful as she  
moved through the crowd of commuters.  
  
"Ah summer," she said as she looked up at the sky and smirked,  
taking her shades off.  
  
"What's with you?" muttered Akane as she walked up behind her and  
grumbled.  
  
"I look good, I feel good, and this is a beautiful day," replied  
the redhead with a confident smirk.  
  
"You don't look that good," snorted Akane irritably.  
  
Ranma merely turned her grin towards her and put her sunglasses on  
again. "Yeah. I do."  
  
Akane simply stared at the girl in shock as she continued to walk  
along the street. She crossed her arms and turned her nose into the  
air when she noticed the gaze of several young men train on the girl  
as she walked by. Ranma almost seemed to be dancing as she strolled  
down the street. The redhead paused in front of the Cat Cafe and  
smirked as she saw the sign hanging there.  
  
"Moved to the beach for the summer. Management." There was a small  
map with the location of the new location on it.  
  
"Looks like I'm taking a trip," said Ranma with a small chuckle.  
She spun around on her heels and walked away, Akane rushing up behind  
her with a confused frown on her face. The redhead paused and looked  
at her companion. She turned her head and looked up and down the  
street for a moment, noticing the hungry looking gazes of the young  
men, and a few of the older ones. "This won't do at all."  
  
Akane blinked. "Huh?"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Akane blushed as she stepped out of the store and looked down at  
herself. "What the hell is this?"  
  
"You've got too loosen up a bit," said the redhead casually as she  
pat the girl on her back.  
  
Akane was dressed in black, a tight fitting sleeveless black shirt  
with a turtleneck and slacks similar to her fiancee. Both of them were  
wearing polished black shoes with flat soles. "I can't wear this."  
  
"It's all about attitude," said Ranma as he placed a pair of  
shades on her nose and smiled. "Follow my lead, you'll get it."  
  
"But...Look you pervert," snapped the girl irritably.  
  
"Hey, we went over this already. I've got someone already, and you  
ain't her. Relax, and enjoy yourself. You're too uptight right now.  
Calm down."  
  
Ranma turned her back too her and glanced back at her. "Keep a  
straight face, relax when you walk, and remember. We're damn sexy."  
  
Akane sighed and hung her head. "Look..." The redhead was already  
walking away.  
  
"Hey! Wait up!" grumbled the girl as she followed.  
  
It only took about ten feet, Akane found herself moving a little  
smoother as she strolled silently through the crowd behind Ranma, a  
little to the right of her.  
  
After a moment, she realized what she was doing and paused,  
blushing badly. "What am I doing!?"  
  
"Huh?" muttered Ranma as she glanced back at her. "What's up?"  
  
"It's nothing," said Akane as she steeled herself. "I could get to  
like this," she thought in confusion as she started walking again.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma walked into the Tendo home, and removed her shades in almost  
perfect unison with Akane as the strolled through the door.  
  
Kasumi walked out to greet them and paused at the kitchen door.  
"Oh my!"  
  
Nabiki turned the corner, she was sipping a drink and stared at  
the pair for a moment in silence.  
  
"Hi," said Ranma as she strolled past her with Akane just behind  
her.  
  
Nabiki promptly spit her drink across the hall and stared openly,  
her jaw hanging open. "Akane?"  
  
The girl blushed, and hung her head as she realized that she was  
the one they were staring at. Her father was frozen, his newspaper  
hanging limply from his grasp. "Um. Hi. What do you think? Is it me?"  
  
Nabiki seemed to snap out of her stupor in an instant. "Wow! I  
never knew you had it in you!" She pat her sister on the back and  
walked away cheerfully.  
  
Akane blinked and looked down at herself again. "I guess so."  
  
"Hey Pop," said Ranma as she looked over at her father. "What's  
goin on?"  
  
"What are you doing boy?" said Genma as he stood up and glared at  
him.  
  
"Goin to the beach," said the girl with a small shrug. "I gotta go  
get that pill from that old woman."  
  
Soun shook his head, the surprise of his daughter's new look  
wearing off in an instant. "Pardon?"  
  
"That ghoul moved her shop to the beach, I gotta go after her,"  
said the redhead with a small shrug.  
  
"To the beach then!" announced Soun as he stood up with a fan in  
his hands.  
  
"For Ranma's sake!" agreed Genma.  
  
Nabiki threw her hand up into the air happily. "Yay!"  
  
"How nice!" commented Kasumi.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Several hours later, Akane stood next to her fiancee with a scowl  
on her face. "What the hell?"  
  
The pair had just walked out of the changing booths, and Ranma was  
dressed in a very skimpily looking black bikini.  
  
"What is it?" asked the redhead.  
  
"What the hell are you wearing?" gasped Akane as she staggered  
back.  
  
"Looks good, ne?" said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"But...you're..."  
  
"I'm proud of how good I look, you should be too," snorted Ranma  
as he noticed her rather conservative one piece.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" snapped Akane.  
  
"Well, you've definitely got the body for clothes like this," said  
Ranma as she looked her up and down. "You're just too shy, or too  
nervous to wear them. I don't get why though."  
  
"Cause I'm not easy! You perverted jerk!" snapped Akane.  
  
"What? You think I am? I'm not easy Akane, I'm impossible," said  
Ranma as she put her shades on and grinned.  
  
The girl blinked and stared at her dumbly. "Huh?"  
  
"You've got to learn how to use this kind of thing to your  
advantage," replied the redhead as she scanned the beach for a moment.  
"Hmmm. Gotta find that ghoul." She grabbed one of the passing boys by  
his shoulder, it wasn't hard since an entire group of them had moved  
in for a closer look, they were trying too look casual about it, as if  
they weren't looking at all. "Hey, I'm looking for a place called the  
Cat Cafe," she said coldly.  
  
The boy could feel her gaze on him through the shades, and she  
looked like she might hurt him. Not that he would have minded much if  
she did. He blushed badly and stammered. "Uh, it's about a half mile  
down the beach." He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb in the  
direction they had come from.  
  
The girl merely nodded at him and let him go. She paused and  
looked towards Akane for a moment. "You coming?"  
  
The girl blinked and turned to face her. "Huh? I guess."  
  
About a quarter of a mile later, the pair walked through the sand.  
  
Ranma looked rather cool and collected, while Akane glanced around  
nervously.  
  
"I don't see anything yet," said Akane.  
  
"We've got a little more walking to do first," replied Ranma as  
she continued to move forward.  
  
A rather bulky looking man walked up between them and put his arms  
on their shoulders. "Hey, you two ladies look lost." He was obviously  
a body builder of some kind, and his smile was a devious looking grin.  
  
"I know where I'm going, let's go Akane," replied the redhead as  
she shoved his hand away from her in disgust.  
  
The black haired girl nodded and followed after her.  
  
"Hey, come on! Maybe I can help you?" insisted the man as he  
jogged up to the pair. "I'm sure I could help you find a good time."  
He flexed his arm.  
  
"Go away, we aren't interested," replied Ranma coldly. She had to  
put a restraining hand on Akane's shoulder. "Calm down, subtlety," she  
whispered to her.  
  
Akane gave the man an evil looking glare, but complied.  
  
"At least let me buy you a drink or something, come on," insisted  
the man. He was giving a thumbs up to a group of men who were watching  
the scene.  
  
"If you don't leave now, I'm going to hurt you," said Ranma  
without turning to face him.  
  
"And how is a pretty little thing like you going to do that?" said  
the man with a confident chuckle.  
  
Akane got a rather satisfied look on her face as she slowly turned  
to look at him.  
  
Ranma nodded too her and they both slammed their knees into his  
crotch at the same time.  
  
The man said nothing, and fell too his knees in pain. Ranma merely  
smirked as she pushed her hand against his forehead and sent him down  
all the way.  
  
"See, that was much more satisfying than just beating him, wasn't  
it?"  
  
Akane looked up at her, not saying a word in reply. She smiled a  
little though.  
  
"Here," said Ranma as she handed her the sunglasses she had bought  
for her earlier. "I figured you might want these."  
  
Akane took them, and put them over her eyes. The pair strolled  
away from the scene, leaving a large group of cheering girls behind  
them.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Cologne hopped back to the small stand where their business was  
based for the duration of the summer. She had an empty delivery box on  
her cane, and smiled cheerfully.  
  
She paused when she found Mousse sprawled out across the ground.  
Ranma was leaning against the wall calmly, her foot planted on his  
back firmly.  
  
"Son in law, I wasn't expecting to find you here," said the old  
woman calmly.  
  
Ranma smirked and removed her sunglasses. "You didn't tell me you  
were moving, Boss."  
  
"I thought you might enjoy a small break," said Cologne  
cheerfully. "What brings you here?"  
  
"I figured you might need a little help, carrying around that pill  
all the time must be a terrible strain on your neck," said the redhead  
calmly.  
  
"How kind of you," said Cologne cheerfully. "Come with me then."  
  
"Hey Akane, looks like this might be interesting," said Ranma  
coolly.  
  
The black-haired girl stood up from where she had been sitting on  
the beach nearby, watching the pair converse.  
  
"And who might this be?" said Cologne as she looked the girl up  
and down.  
  
"Just a friend of mine, nothing to worry about," said Ranma in  
reply.  
  
Cologne nodded. "I see."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"It's a race! It's a war!" cried the announcer excitedly as he  
attempted to draw a crowd.  
  
"Martial arts melon splitting?" said Akane as she stared at the  
sign hanging over the event.  
  
"Looks easy," snorted Ranma calmly. She was leaning against one of  
the signposts and looked rather bored.  
  
"The contestants run while trying to split each other's  
watermelons. The first to reach the finish line with his melon intact  
wins!" explained the announcer.  
  
The crowd around him began to disperse.  
  
"And the prize for the winner is... Miss Shampoo!"  
  
The Amazon girl stood on a podium with the pill hanging from her  
grasp. Every male in the crowd suddenly had his full attention on the  
prize.  
  
"An interesting little game," commented Ranma.  
  
"Indeed, if you want to win, you have to play," said Cologne.  
  
Akane turned to see her family had been attracted by the  
commotion.  
  
Ranma was currently still leaning against the pole, her gaze  
hidden by her sunglasses. Shampoo was staring her down angrily.  
  
"Shampoo make sure you no win," said the Chinese girl.  
  
The redhead merely snorted and stood upright. "Sounds like fun."  
  
++++++++++  
  
On your marks! Get set! Go!" cried the announcer as he started the  
race.  
  
Ranma immediately dispatched her competition, slicing through  
everyone else's melons in an few seconds. She snorted and casually  
tossed aside the boken she had been given. "Easy."  
  
Cologne dove from the sky, slamming her cane into the ground and  
forcing Ranma to move aside.  
  
"So, you decided too play too then?" said the redhead as she  
cracked her knuckles.  
  
"Don't get me wrong, I was just remembering the times I had  
playing on the beach as a child," said Cologne cheerfully.  
  
Their battle was interrupted as Soun and Genma charged in. Genma  
was currently a panda, and they both converged on Ranma, trying to  
shatter her melon.  
  
The redhead dodged and spun around to face them. "Humph. Stay out  
of this."  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" snapped Soun.  
  
"We came for that pill, and I'm going to get it," said Ranma  
calmly.  
  
"How dare you try and win that girl!" said the panda's sign.  
  
"I can't marry her if I'm stuck a girl, can I?" said Ranma with a  
confident smirk.  
  
Cologne watched carefully as the trio faced off.  
  
"Shampoo, no let girl win race! Kill!" snapped the Amazon as she  
jumped over the pair's heads and landed in front of Ranma. She sliced  
at the redhead with her own boken and missed by a hair's length as the  
girl sidestepped.  
  
Ranma chuckled and put her foot through the girl's melon as she  
passed. "Looks like you're out."  
  
"The prize has entered the fight! And has already been  
disqualified!" exclaimed the announcer.  
  
Shampoo glared up at him angrily, her face covered in sand from  
her landing. He gulped nervously and turned his attention back towards  
the race. "The old woman, the young girl, the older man, and the panda  
are all that remain!"  
  
"Make your choice!" said Soun as he and Genma shoved Shampoo and  
Akane in front of the redhead.  
  
Ranma looked at the both of them, and merely stepped back.  
  
Genma and Soun suddenly realized something was wrong, as the two  
girls in front of them began to glow.  
  
"Saotome?"  
  
"Growf?"  
  
Ranma shrugged her shoulders and casually walked by the group as  
the two idiots were pounded by the two angry girls. She had her melon  
hefted onto her shoulder and calmly moved towards the finish line.  
  
Cologne dove from above yet again and landed in front of him. "I'm  
afraid I can't let you win that easily. I won't let you pass until you  
promise to choose Shampoo."  
  
Ranma merely smirked at her and nodded her head.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"We're going to try that new technique out," said Carrot as they  
stared at the old woman.  
  
"What?" said Ranma dumbly. "Isn't that a bit much?"  
  
"No, not with this old hag," said Dan calmly. "You want me to  
wait?"  
  
"For now, we may need that extra kick," commented Carrot. "You  
lead Ranma, this is your department."  
  
"Right," said the boy in reply. "This is hard to do though. How  
are we going to manage?"  
  
"Time the moves, we'll use our own heartbeat as a beat counter.  
It'll be a lot easier if we do it that way, it's just like we  
practiced it," said Carrot.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Cologne and Ranma clashed as the redhead charged forward. The old  
woman easily blocking the girl's strikes with her cane.  
  
"You're a hundred years too young to keep up with me!" cackled the  
old woman merrily.  
  
"I ain't even started yet!" cried Ranma as he thrust his arm  
forward.  
  
Cologne narrowed her eyes and jumped up, leaving an opening to her  
melon. She launched her cane forward intending to take his out at the  
same time.  
  
She missed.  
  
"What? How?" snapped the old crone as she stared at the girl in  
shock. The strike should have been much too fast for her to dodge.  
  
Ranma was smiling just beyond her reach. "Surprised?"  
  
"Very. Who could have known you were good enough to split my  
melon?"  
  
Ranma narrowed her eyes and held her melon behind her back. "Looks  
like I win then."  
  
"Hardly, you've still got to get by me," snapped the old woman  
with a small unhappy looking glare.  
  
"Easy enough," said Ranma with a small smirk on her face.  
  
"If you win, I shall give you the Phoenix Pill, and if I win, you  
return too China with my Shampoo. How does that sound to you?"  
  
The redhead smirked, she had been expecting this. "You got a  
deal."  
  
Cologne charged forward, intent on putting a quick end to the  
fight now.  
  
Ranma merely smirked, and a soft glow formed around her body.  
"Kaio ken!"  
  
Cologne gasped as the redhead blasted forward. "What is this?" She  
found herself slammed into the ground as the redhead kicked her in the  
back after vanishing from sight and reappearing in front of her. She  
staggered back to her feet and turned to see the girl standing just in  
front of the finish line, the glow still throbbing around her body.  
"What? How?"  
  
"Come on ghoul, I'll give you another shot," said the redhead with  
a confident smirk.  
  
Cologne narrowed her eyes and dashed forward, surrounding Ranma as  
she spun around her with the Splitting Cat Hairs technique. The  
redhead merely stood in the middle calmly, while Cologne threw sand up  
at her from every direction.  
  
Instead of attacking one of the images as Cologne had expected,  
Ranma jumped straight up into the air. "She's more foolish than I  
thought, that strike must have been a fluke." She stopped and waited  
for the girl to come down.  
  
Ranma smiled as she saw the old woman stop, and the glow formed  
around her body again. "Kaio ken!" she vanished in mid-air and  
appeared behind Cologne, kicking her like a football into the air.  
Instead of stopping, she vanished again and appeared behind the ghoul  
as she landed, connecting with a punch to the old woman's gut.  
  
"Impossible! No one can be this fast!" muttered Cologne as she was  
thrown into the air again, and came down against the girl's knee. The  
attack stopped, and she staggered to her feet. She glared at the  
finish line again, and saw the girl standing on the other side. "How?  
What technique is this? I've never seen anything like it!"  
  
"Heh, that's a secret," replied Ranma as she winked at the old  
woman. "You owe me a pill."  
  
"Very well," agreed the old woman reluctantly. She nodded towards  
Shampoo.  
  
"Great Grandmother?" gasped the girl in shock.  
  
"Give it too her Shampoo, I gave her my word of honor," snapped  
the old woman angrily.  
  
The girl glared at Ranma hatefully and tossed the pill to her. She  
caught it and smirked as she opened the box and popped it into her  
mouth. "One more thing ghoul, that attack..."  
  
Cologne narrowed her eyes and stared at her. "Yes?"  
  
"That was only at half strength," said Ranma as she turned away  
from the old woman and walked over to her dumbstruck family.  
  
"What?" gasped Cologne. "That's not possible!" She was not  
referring to the girl's comment, but rather the strange energy she had  
felt in the air during the battle. She was going over it in her mind  
over and over. If it wasn't some sort of illusion, the redhead's chi  
was doubling in spurts, each time she attacked with the Kaio ken.  
"Doubling your own fighting power in an instant? That isn't possible!"  
She turned towards her Great Granddaughter and motioned for her to  
follow. "We're leaving."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"That was cool!" exclaimed Akane as she stared at the redhead in  
awe.  
  
"Most impressive," agreed Nabiki with a slight nod.  
  
"Oh my! I hope that old woman wasn't hurt too badly," muttered  
Kasumi.  
  
"Don't worry, she's fine," said Ranma as she waved the comment off  
and looked at her father and Soun.  
  
"Boy! How dare you develop a secret technique without telling me!"  
said the panda's sign.  
  
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret technique would it?"  
replied the girl with a rough snort.  
  
"He's got a point, Saotome," commented Soun.  
  
"How could you?" said the panda's sign as he looked towards his  
old friend.  
  
"Can you show me how to do that?" asked Akane.  
  
"No, sorry. You have to have something special inside you for it  
to work. I've never met anyone else with it besides me," said Ranma  
with a slight smirk.  
  
"You don't think I'm good enough? Is that it?" snapped the girl  
irritably.  
  
"You couldn't learn it if you were as good as I am," replied the  
redhead with a small shrug. "It's got to do with my curse."  
  
Genma turned and stared at the boy for a moment, as if he suddenly  
realized something. "So, that's it? Is it?" said the sign as he  
narrowed his eyes at the girl.  
  
"You've got it, Pop," replied the girl calmly.  
  
Akane looked disappointed, but seemed to accept that answer.  
  
"Come on, let's go home. I'm sick of being a girl," said Ranma as  
she started towards the changing room and flipped her shades on again.  
  
The silence on the beach was suddenly shattered, as screams began  
to sound from a short distance away.  
  
"Huh?" muttered Ranma as she turned to face the disturbance.  
  
"What's going on?" asked Akane out loud.  
  
A gigantic beach ball with arms and legs was tearing down the  
beach, smashing things.  
  
"What the hell is that?" said Ranma dumbly. He paused when he saw  
a familiar figure running down the beach away from the thing. Turning  
towards his family he frowned. "Go home. I've got to go talk with  
someone."  
  
"What?" gasped Akane in shock. "You aren't going to try and fight  
that thing are you? I'll help!"  
  
"Do I look that stupid?" said the boy angrily. "The Sailor Senshi  
just got there." He pointed down the beach. Sure enough, the five  
girls were fighting with the monster already.  
  
"I just saw a guy I know running away, go on without me. I wanna  
catch up with him. I'll be back later."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Jadeite rushed through the crowd with an angry scowl on his face.  
"Damn! Those stupid senshi! How cold they have found out about my  
operation! Stealing energy with those evil seashells was a perfect  
plan!"  
  
He gasped for breath and paused as he ran into a young boy who  
moved in front of him. "Out of my way!"  
  
"Hey. Is that yours Jadeite?" said Ranma. He was once again in his  
male form, and dressed in his Chinese clothes again. He pointed at the  
gigantic youma and frowned.  
  
"Huh? How do you know..." sputtered the dark general dumbly.  
  
"Come on, you recognize your old friend Genaku don't you?" said  
Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"Huh?" muttered the evil general dumbly.  
  
"It's been a while. How've you been?"  
  
"Genaku? What are you doing here? How? I mean, you're..." Jadeite  
seemed to realize something and snarled at the man. "So! You've been  
reborn to oppose us as well!"  
  
"Oppose you? Why would I do that? Those crazy chicks are trying  
too kill me too," snapped Ranma irritably as he smacked the man in the  
back of his head.  
  
"What?" said the general dumbly.  
  
"I ain't figured it out yet, they don't like me for some reason  
though," said Ranma with a small shrug.  
  
Jadeite blinked. "So, we share a common enemy?"  
  
"Seems like it. Man, look at em! They can't even defeat a giant  
inflatable ball?"  
  
"Diamos comes to mind," said Jadeite calmly.  
  
"Serenity forgave me for that," said Ranma angrily.  
  
"There was also that incident involving the polar caps of the  
moon, and five billion gallons of instant Ramen."  
  
"Hey! It ended that famine didn't it?" said Ranma sourly.  
  
"Or the time you sent that gigantic shipment of exploding  
marshmallows to the Senshi of Mars?"  
  
"I helped clean it up," grumbled Ranma with his arms crossed over  
his chest.  
  
"By showering the entire planet in chocolate bars and gramcrackers?"  
pointed out Jadeite.  
  
"Hey, Serenity and her daughter were happy with it," said the boy  
with a small shrug.  
  
"Or the time you poured a hundred billion pounds of powdered  
gelatin into the oceans of Venus?"  
  
"Okay! I get the point!" snapped Ranma irritably.  
  
"So, why don't you join us? We could use a man like you," said  
Jadeite calmly.  
  
"Naw, think I'll stay neutral this time," said the boy with a  
small shrug.  
  
"It's a shame. I would have enjoyed working with you again," said  
Jadeite with a small shrug. "What are you doing here anyway?"  
  
"I dunno. I'm just getting my memories back recently. So, how have  
you been?"  
  
"Fine I guess," muttered Jadeite.  
  
"Hey, I'll buy you a drink," said Ranma as he motioned for the  
evil general to follow.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"All our attacks are bouncing off if it!" cried Venus as a few  
more of her crescent beams bounced off the plastic surface of the  
monster.  
  
"What can we do?" said Mercury desperately.  
  
"I'm not sure!" said Mars. "Don't just stand there you airhead! Do  
something! You're the stupid leader!"  
  
"Wahhhh! I hate the beach!" cried Usagi as she dashed away from  
another blast of sand.  
  
The creature was scooping up tons of it and blasting it at them  
with some sort of air nozzle. It would then puff itself up again and  
renew the assault.  
  
"What is this thing made of asbestos?" snapped Mars as her flame  
attack bounced off of its back.  
  
"It's flame retarded!" exclaimed Venus.  
  
"Looks like you ladies could use some help," said Tsuki as she  
strolled up behind them with a confident looking smile on her face.  
  
"So do something! You klutz!" snapped Mars.  
  
"I am not a klutz!" snapped Tsuki as she glared at the girl and  
stomped her feet. Her foot hit a nearby beach chair, and knocked it  
over. The chair hit a nearby umbrella, and created a chain reaction,  
as the giant umbrella hit yet another one, and another one. Several of  
them were lined up along the beach, and they fell like dominos. The  
final one, ripped a gash in the side of the youma's skin, and it  
promptly screamed as it deflated into nothing.  
  
"See," said Mars as she pointed at her.  
  
"I'll have you know I meant to do that!" snapped Tsuki irritably  
as a long staff appeared in her hand. She vanished into a porthole  
that opened into the air behind her and left them alone.  
  
"She sure is mysterious," commented Usagi.  
  
"The only thing mysterious about her is the fact that she's a  
bigger klutz than you," said Rei.  
  
"Gee, thanks Rei!" The girl paused as the statement sunk in a  
little more. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean!"  
  
"Calm down!" said Makoto as she attempted to halt the argument.  
  
"She's right, our real enemy has escaped," said Ami as she stared  
down the beach.  
  
"He'll show up again," said Minako coldly.  
  
"Unfortunately, you're right," said Luna as she walked up to them  
with Artemis at her side.  
  
"Yeah! We'll get him next time!" exclaimed Usagi.  
  
Minako sighed and shook her head. "This guy seems different from  
that other enemy."  
  
"The man who killed that other senshi?" asked Ami nervously.  
  
"Right," said the girl with a small frown. "Compared to him, this  
was nothing."  
  
"You're scaring me!" exclaimed Usagi nervously.  
  
"Some fearless leader," grumbled Rei as she turned away from the  
scene. "Come on, before the cops show up."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Jadeite and Ranma were rolling with laughter as they sat at the  
bar.  
  
"I remember that now! I used about twenty five million gallons of  
yellow dye, and an interplanetary water cannon!" said Ranma as he  
pounded his fist on the counter of the small bar they had found  
themselves in.  
  
Jadeite had tears flowing down his face as he chuckled.  
"It..it...it took her three years to clean it up. You're name was  
written across the equator of Pluto for three...three years!"  
  
"Oh. I'm starting to realize why they want to kill me," said Ranma  
as he wiped his own eyes. He tossed some money on the counter and pat  
Jadeite on his back. "It was nice talking with you again, but I've got  
to get home. My family will kill me if I'm gone for too long."  
  
"Beryl, she'll know about you," said Jadeite as he calmed down  
suddenly.  
  
"So what? Tell her, that blowhard. I'm of no use to her, and she's  
got better things to do than hunt me down," said Ranma with a slight  
smirk.  
  
"Nephrite might not be so kind," said Jadeite with a slight smirk.  
"I've got my own missions to complete, and I personally won't be  
bothered with hunting you down. But him..."  
  
"He's still mad about that?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Pissed," confirmed Jadeite calmly.  
  
"It was just a little novocaine," said the boy with a small frown.  
  
"It was his wedding night," pointed out Jadeite.  
  
"Oh, right..." muttered the boy as he hung his head. "Well, look  
me up sometime. I'm sure I can handle that moron anyway."  
  
"Suit yourself," replied Jadeite with a small shrug. "I'll see you  
around."  
  
"Right," said Ranma with a small nod as he left the bar.  
  
+++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
  
  



	11. Insertion Part 11

Insertion  
  
Part 11  
  
The Senshi's Revenge  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome was walking home from his job at the Cat Cafe. He  
had changed back into a man again, escaping both Mousse and Shampoo in  
the process. It had been about two weeks since the incident on the  
beach, and Cologne was surprised when she showed up for work.  
  
"Why are we keeping this job?" muttered Ranma irritably.  
  
"Because it's good for us, it gets us away from the Tendo house,  
and it keeps us with an income," replied Carrot casually.  
  
"Yeah, ammunition isn't cheap you know," agreed Dan.  
  
"Oh," said Ranma glumly.  
  
"So? Now what?" asked Carrot as he looked up at the sky and  
watched the stars as they walked.  
  
"We've got a meeting," said Dan with a smirk.  
  
"Is that tonight?" asked Carrot cheerfully. "I must have lost  
track of the days."  
  
"Yup," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
++++++++++  
  
It was a small bar in the Nerima area, a light haze of smoke  
filled the room, and several other patrons sat around the various  
booths. A group of three men in gray uniforms caught Ranma's eye and  
he walked over to them.  
  
"Hi," he said casually as he took up a seat next to them.  
  
"Genaku, how have you been?" asked Kunzite as he pat the boy on  
his back.  
  
"Pretty good. I haven't had to deal with those crazy chicks in a  
while now."  
  
"Good to hear. I only wish I was so lucky," said Jadeite with a  
frown as he downed a shot of some form of alcohol.  
  
"Not doing so well?" said Zocite with a small chuckle.  
  
"Hey. None of that now, you can back-stab each other when you're  
with the queen bitch," snorted Ranma as he nodded at the bartender.  
  
The man looked at him and gave a small nod of recognition as he  
set down a bottle of beer in front of him.  
  
"Beryl isn't the best person to work for, but it's not like we  
have a choice," said Kunzite with a small nod.  
  
"How's Nephrite?" asked Ranma casually.  
  
"Still strutting around like a peacock," commented Jadeite with  
his frown deepening a little. "He's still the smug bastard he's always  
been."  
  
"Well, live and stay the same moron you always were," replied the  
boy with a small shrug. "Cheer up Jadeite."  
  
"Heh. I suppose I should," commented the man as he glared at  
Kunzite and Zocite for a moment. "Beryl is growing impatient with me.  
That's not good."  
  
"I suppose not," said Ranma with a small nod.  
  
"I'm starting to see why you didn't want to join us," said Jadeite  
as he took another shot.  
  
"Slow down," snorted Zocite. "We don't want to carry you back  
again."  
  
Ranma found himself frowning, wishing he could do something for  
his old friend. He knew better than to convince them to join him.  
Beryl had a hold on their minds that he knew he couldn't break.  
  
"This makes me think of better times," said Kunzite with a wistful  
looking grin. "Like that time we all got smashed in the place known as  
Italy now."  
  
"Oh god. Don't remind me. Endimyon was pissed," grumbled Jadeite.  
  
"Using a Galaxy Class Destroyer as our ride home probably didn't  
help matters either," commented Ranma with a slight grin.  
  
"We shouldn't have ordered him to park it in front of the bar,"  
said Kunzite with a small chuckle.  
  
"Poor Nephrite about wet himself when half the building was  
crushed," chuckled Ranma.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Zocite as he gave a small laugh.  
  
"We always gave him a hard time," commented Ranma. "He used to  
take it so well."  
  
"Well, he never stayed mad at you long," said Jadeite with a small  
chuckle. "I think he may have had a little crush on you."  
  
"Never thought about that," commented the boy with another shrug.  
  
"Please, it never crossed your mind once?" chuckled Zocite.  
  
"Naw. I've never been interested in stuff like that really,"  
replied Ranma obliviously.  
  
"Well the incident on earth was nothing compared to that time  
Genaku went to Mercury with us," said Kunzite.  
  
"Oy," muttered Ranma as he clutched his head. "Don't remind me."  
  
"Thirteen years of genetic manipulation, ruined in one moment of  
blatant stupidity."  
  
"Well, she looked thirsty," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"She was supposed to be the Senshi of the Sun," commented Zocite.  
"Giving her a shot of 150 proof alcohol wasn't a good idea."  
  
"She shot flames out of her mouth and into one of the vats of high  
explosives in the lab. The orbit of the planet was disrupted by the  
explosion," said Kunzite as he grabbed the boy by his shoulder. "I  
don't think I've ever seen Mercury that angry with anyone."  
  
"Serenity put a stop to the project after that," grumbled Ranma  
irritably.  
  
"Heh, she always liked you for some reason," commented Jadeite.  
  
"I suppose. I never figured out why," said the boy with another  
shrug.  
  
"You were the only fiancee that Pluto wasn't able to get rid of,"  
commented Zocite.  
  
"That explains a lot," muttered Ranma.  
  
"We were all a little different back then," said Kunzite with a  
small nod.  
  
"Well, this is getting too depressing for me. I'll see you guys  
around," said Ranma as he stood up and stepped away from the bar.  
  
"Back to the family again?" asked Zocite.  
  
"You got it. It's been so long since I've had one," said the boy  
with a small nod.  
  
"Heh. That goes for all of us. I'm almost envious," said Jadeite.  
  
Ranma gave them a small wave and walked out into the street.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"It's getting late," said Carrot as he looked up at the sky.  
  
"Yeah. I can't wait to hit the sack," commented Dan.  
  
"It's a nice night though," said Ranma as he glanced around at the  
empty streets. They were about halfway home now, and it was a cool  
evening.  
  
Carrot was about to respond, when something interrupted him.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Evil demon who holds no love for mankind! For the crime of  
hurting the Senshi of Time, there can be no forgiveness! We're the  
Sailor Senshi! In behalf of the moon, you shall be punished."  
  
"Shit!" snapped Ranma as he spun around and found himself  
surrounded by the girls. There were five of them, and that accounted  
for all of them at the moment.  
  
Sailor Moon stood proudly in her pose, and then dropped her hand.  
"This guy?"  
  
"He's more dangerous than he looks," said Minako as she glared at  
him angrily. "He's got to be destroyed!"  
  
"What? Why?" snapped Ranma as he continued to turn and assess his  
situation. There was no easy way to escape.  
  
"You killed Sailor Pluto, and you ruined my hair!" snapped Minako.  
  
"Pluto isn't dead!" snapped Ranma as he grit his teeth and stepped  
back away from her. "If you're still alive, I know I didn't kill her,  
Minako."  
  
"He knows your name?" gasped Mercury in shock.  
  
"And yours Ami," said the boy with a small chuckle. He leveled a  
glare at her and smiled. One of the voices in his head informed him  
that she was the weakest link in the circle.  
  
Ranma slowly edged his way towards the shorthaired senshi, and  
reached behind his back. He muttered a small curse when he realized  
that his weapons were still at the Tendo home. "We're in trouble," he  
told himself.  
  
"Who are you? How do you know who their names?" snapped Usagi.  
  
Ranma turned his head towards her and smiled for a moment. It  
might be enough to throw them off balance enough for him to escape. "I  
know who all of you are. Makoto, Usagi, Rei, Ami, and Minako. Where  
are your little sidekicks? You know, Luna and Artemis?"  
  
The girls gasped in shock, and began to move back. All of them had  
horrified looks on their faces.  
  
"Now!" screamed Ranma as he jumped into the air and landed on top  
of a nearby street light. He bounced off of the pole, and sailed over  
the girls. Before they could recover, he was in a full sprint. He  
quickly left the sidewalk and moved into a wooded area inside a small  
park.  
  
"No you don't!" cried Makoto. "Thunder Shower!"  
  
Ranma was forced to roll across the ground as a bolt of lightening  
struck the ground in his path. His entire body tingled, and he cursed  
as he rose to his knees, only to find himself surrounded again.  
"Damn!"  
  
"Good work Sailor Jupiter!" cried a male voice from above them.  
All of the girls looked up and saw Tuxedo Mask standing on a branch.  
  
Ranma was standing in a combat stance, and glaring at the girls.  
"Get the hell out of my way! I ain't done nuthin to none of you!"  
  
"That's a lie!" snapped Minako.  
  
"You attacked me for no good reason!" retorted the boy angrily.  
  
"What is he talking about?" said Usagi in confusion.  
  
"Leave me alone!" snarled Ranma as a soft glow formed around his  
body.  
  
"Look out!" cried Makoto.  
  
"Don't make me hurt you!" snarled Ranma.  
  
Ami raised her hands, and a dense cold fog began to form in the  
air.  
  
Ranma jumped above it, and was met in the air by Tuxedo Mask. He  
managed to get a kick in and forced him back into the ring of girls.  
  
"Sailor Moon! Defeat him now!"  
  
"Endimyon! You bastard!" snarled the martial artist. "Kaio Ken!"  
  
The tuxedo clad man gasped in surprise as the angry boy appeared  
in front of him and slammed his fist into his face. He was thrown into  
the air by the force of the blow, he landed rather painfully as Ranma  
appeared in the air above him and kicked him into the ground.  
  
"No! Tuxedo Mask!" cried Usagi.  
  
"Mars Fire Arrow!" cried Rei as she shot a bolt of flames at the  
pigtailed boy, only to have him vanish from in front of the  
projectile. "No! Ami! Look out!"  
  
The Senshi of Mercury gasped as the flames sped towards her, she  
was barely able to erect her shield in time and they bounced away.  
  
"Thunder Shower!" cried Makoto angrily, her attack was never  
finished, as the boy kicked at her and stopped the energy from leaving  
her body. She managed to block the strike and snorted. "You'll have to  
do better than that!"  
  
"I'm barely trying now!" snarled Ranma as he appeared opposite  
Sailor Moon. "I'm warning you."  
  
Tuxedo Mask grabbed his leg. Ranma turned to glance at him in  
surprise. "Do it Sailor Moon! I've got him!"  
  
The boy jumped up and kicked his leg out, throwing the unfortunate  
man into Usagi. They both tumbled to the ground and he vanished as  
another bolt of fire and lightening slammed into the ground where he  
had been.  
  
"He's too fast!" snapped Makoto. She charged forward and met him as he  
appeared again. Lashing out with a kick that the boy barely dodged.  
  
"Damn it!" he growled as he rolled away as Rei got into the act as  
well.  
  
"I'll purify your soul with my sacred fire!" screamed the  
priestess as she attempted too kick him.  
  
"Ha! Kaio Ken, times two!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"No way!" gasped Makoto as she felt a super strong blow in her  
gut. She sailed through the air, only to impact on the boy's waiting  
knee as he appeared behind her.  
  
Rei didn't even have time to blink after that assault as the boy  
vanished and appeared with his fist in her jaw. She crumpled too the  
ground and didn't move.  
  
Makoto staggered too her feet and glared at him. "That hurt!"  
  
"Oh like hitting me with a lightening bolt wouldn't hurt me!"  
snapped the boy angrily as he appeared and kneed her in the face. She  
was thrown onto her back and passed out.  
  
Minako had been running back and fourth, trying to get an attack  
in up to this point. She could barely follow his movements though,  
much less keep up. Now, with her two friends knocked out, she finally  
saw an opportunity for a clean shot. "Venus Crescent Beam!"  
  
Ranma ducked as the arc of energy sailed over his head. It slammed  
into a tree behind him, and he rolled out of the way.  
  
Minako only looked on in horror as the gigantic trunk slowly fell  
towards her. "Uh oh."  
  
"Look out!" cried Tsuki as she appeared and shoved her out of the  
way.  
  
"Tsuki!" gasped the girl in shock as she looked down at her  
savior. She frowned as she noticed the dazed look on her face; the  
girl had hit her head on a rock and was now out cold. "Rei is right!  
You are a klutz!" She blinked and looked up, only to find Ranma  
cracking his knuckles and glaring at her. "Oh man."  
  
He kicked her in the face, and she was out as well. That was when  
he realized that he had forgotten about someone. "No! Where's..."  
  
"Moon Twilight Flash!" cried Sailor Moon as she focused a beam of  
energy from the moon onto him.  
  
"Argh!" he cried in pain as the light blinded him.  
  
Tuxedo Mask jumped up and tossed a rose at him from where he was  
still lying on the ground. He gasped in shock as the boy caught it  
while still blinded by the light. The boy tossed it away and fell to  
his knees.  
  
"Ouch! What the hell was that?" sputtered Ranma as he rubbed at  
his eyes and tried to focus his sight.  
  
"No way!" gasped Usagi in shock.  
  
He stood up and glared at the pair for a moment. "Leave me the  
hell alone!" With that said, the glow formed around his body, and he  
vanished from sight completely.  
  
Ami staggered over to the fallen senshi in shock. "I'm sorry! I  
couldn't do anything!"  
  
"You did real good Ami! You were as brave as they were!" said  
Usagi in her defense.  
  
"Thanks, but I wish I could do more than just make fog," muttered  
the girl with a small frown.  
  
"Sailor Moon, are you hurt?" asked Tuxedo Mask with a worried  
frown.  
  
"We should be fine, our pride is a little bruised though. We won't  
underestimate him next time. I wish I had listened to Minako sooner."  
  
He smiled and nodded at her. "I understand."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Damn it!" grumbled Carrot angrily as they moved towards the Tendo  
home in the shadows. "I thought we were through with that!"  
  
"Well, apparently not," snorted Dan irritably.  
  
"They'll think twice before attacking us again," said Carrot with  
a small sigh.  
  
"We kicked their asses," agreed Ranma with an angry frown.  
  
"Yeah, but that attack hurt. We still can't see straight,"  
muttered Dan irritably.  
  
"Great, It's starting to come back at least," said Carrot as he  
made them blink. "We need to start packing when we're at work now it  
seems."  
  
"I've got no problem with that," said Dan.  
  
"Of course you wouldn't!" snapped Ranma. "I don't need no stupid  
guns!"  
  
"You say that now, but it would have been easier to escape if we  
had them with us."  
  
"Look, can we not talk about this?" said Carrot with a frown.  
  
"Heck no!" snapped Ranma as he punched himself in the jaw.  
  
"Ouch! You bastard!" retorted Dan as he countered with a slug to  
his own stomach.  
  
"That hurts you jerks!" snapped Carrot as he gave himself a right  
hook.  
  
Within moments, the trio was rolling on the ground in combat with  
themselves.  
  
Carrot was about to knee himself in the chest, when something  
unusual happened.  
  
"Stop it this instant! Fighting is bad!"  
  
Ranma froze where he was on the ground and blinked.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" cried Carrot.  
  
"You don't have to be so mean! We could talk about this like  
gentlemen? There's no need to be violent!"  
  
"Who said that?" muttered Ranma in horror.  
  
"Oh god no," grumbled Dan.  
  
"Hi! I can't let you do that anymore. It isn't right, and I'm sure  
we can all make up and be friends!"  
  
The voice was...cute. Irritatingly so, and it was almost feminine  
sounding, but not quite.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" snapped Carrot angrily.  
  
"I'm your new conscience. Your old one wasn't working, so the  
power of the moon made me to help you! Isn't that nice?"  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"  
  
The pained cry echoed through the streets of Nerima for another  
hour.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
A familiar figure stood glaring up at the stars from the rocky  
surface of some unknown world. His bangs hung around his face, and a  
small 'R' could be seen peeking out from behind them. He was dressed  
in a black suit and tie, with shined black shoes and a bowl hat  
resting on top of his head.  
  
"Where the hell am I now?" he cried into the sky angrily. He  
raised his fists into the air, and the stones around him began to rise  
off of the ground from the power he was exerting. "Damn you Ranma!  
When I finally return home again. I'll show you the true terror of Mr.  
Where!" He paused as a small watch alarm went off. "And I'll find you,  
right after I have tea."  
  
Ryoga set down his backpack, and opened it, pulling out a small  
tea set from inside. He promptly went about setting it up, and  
preparing a few small sandwiches and cookies for himself.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma was staggering down the sidewalk, a horrified stare on his  
face as he moved towards the Tendo Dojo. "Another one..." He muttered  
the phrase over and over.  
  
Dan punched them again. "Snap out of it!"  
  
"I said stop that!" said the voice angrily.  
  
"The hell! Make me you little wimp!" snorted Dan angrily. He  
gasped as he found himself unable to move.  
  
"No one can resist it! You'll just have to learn to stop being so  
violent.  
  
Carrot snorted, and punched himself again.  
  
"Stop that!" cried the voice. Carrot found himself immobile and  
Dan slugged himself.  
  
"Ouch! That hurts! Stop hurting me!" whined the voice  
pathetically.  
  
Ranma decided to take a shot, and slugged himself as well. Then he  
found himself immobile as the weird voice tried to stop him.  
  
Carrot and Dan both slugged themselves again.  
  
"Why? Why are you being so mean?" cried the voice pathetically.  
  
"Heh. It seems that it can only suppress one of us at a time,"  
chuckled Carrot.  
  
"Like that's a big help," snorted Ranma.  
  
"We'll just keep kicking its ass until it leaves us alone,"  
snorted Dan.  
  
"I'll never give up! Giving up is something we should never..."  
  
All three of them attacked at the same time, laying themselves out  
across the pavement.  
  
After a moment, Dan groaned painfully. "Is it gone? Did we kill  
it?"  
  
Carrot sighed and shook their head. "I think it's just knocked  
out."  
  
"I really hate you guys," muttered Ranma.  
  
"Right, well I hate you guys too," snorted Carrot in irritation.  
"Let's just go home. I'm tired."  
  
There was a resounding agreement at that, and they stood up and  
began to walk home again in silence.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Ouch," muttered Tsuki as she sat down in her room on Pluto. She  
was rubbing the spot on her head where she had been hit. "This job  
sucks." She frowned and looked into the Time Gate, it was currently  
showing the present, and all the Senshi, and one Tuxedo clad guardian  
were covered in bruises and scrapes far worse than her own.  
  
She sighed and tried to relax.  
  
Inside her healing tank nearby, Setsuna shook her head and sighed.  
The girl was definitely trying her best, but still. She needed to be  
out there again. Things were going too far out of control for Tsuki to  
handle, and it would only grow worse. Especially with Genaku around.  
  
The young girl stood up from her seat and turned to look at  
Setsuna in adoration. "Don't worry. I'll take care of this until  
you're better."  
  
The woman nodded, and closed her eyes.  
  
"I guess I should practice now," grumbled Tsuki. "I am Senshi in  
training Tsuki! And you shall be punished for... No, too long. I need  
something more decisive! I am Tsuki! Senshi in Training! On behalf of  
Pluto, you shall be punished!" She hung her head and frowned. "No,  
that's Usagi's line." She stopped and looked thoughtful for a moment.  
"I've got it! Tsuki! Senshi of Time in training! And your time is up  
villain!" She looked pleased with herself and smiled cheerfully. "Now,  
If I could just come up with a good pose..."  
  
If Setsuna could groan inside the healing liquid, she would have.  
She settled for merely banging her head lightly against the glass tube  
in frustration. "Idiot," she thought to herself.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
TBC...  



	12. Insertion Part 12

Insertion  
  
Part 12  
  
Ranma's new friends.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
It was an average day for Ranma Saotome, one week after his battle  
with the Senshi; he'd managed to avoid any other altercations thus  
far. He was walking through the streets on the outer edge of Nerima,  
simply enjoying the day. His clothing was what had become normal for  
him over the past few weeks, black slacks, shined shoes, and a button  
up Chinese shirt. He was also wearing his shades and whistling to  
himself as he walked. He seemed quiet, and calm, but in reality there  
was a heated discussion going on inside his head.  
  
"Let me get this straight, you think we should just die?" muttered  
Ranma angrily.  
  
"If it means we don't have to hurt anyone, then yes," snapped the  
new voice.  
  
"The hell we will! You can't stop all of us!" snarled Dan  
irritably. "We'll fight whether you like it or not!"  
  
"Look Pissant, we're going to survive," commented Carrot.  
  
"Yeah, quit your whining, or I'll kick your ass again, Pissant,"  
agreed Dan.  
  
"I still don't think that's a very good name," grumbled the voice  
irritably.  
  
"It suits you. Hey, babe," said Carrot as he turned their head to  
watch a particularly attractive passer by.  
  
"Pervert," grumbled Ranma irritably.  
  
The woman turned her head and smiled at them as she noticed their  
gaze. Carrot gave her a small salute as he continued on his way. "Lay  
off Boy Scout, she doesn't mind us looking."  
  
"What did you call me?" snapped Ranma angrily.  
  
"Shut up, both of you," grumbled Dan.  
  
"Yes, being a Boy Scout is an honorable tradition dating back..."  
  
Carrot slapped them.  
  
"Thanks," commented Dan.  
  
"Would you just stop talkin already?" snapped Ranma at Pissant.  
  
"Welcome," commented Carrot as he continued to stroll down the  
street. He paused and looked around for a moment. "What's this?"  
  
There was a rather nasty looking group of children huddled around  
what appeared to be a vicious beating.  
  
"Freak!" cried one of the little boys. He paused when he noticed  
the shadow standing over him. Ranma Saotome was cracking his knuckles,  
and glaring down at all of them.  
  
"What the hell do you little shits think you're doing?"  
  
That caught the attention of the entire group. They all looked up  
at him for a moment.  
  
"Mind your own business! This little freak of nature..." said one  
of the boy's angrily as he raised his fist to strike the child huddled  
on the ground.  
  
Ranma simply lifted him up by his shirt. "That little freak of  
nature what?" he asked coldly.  
  
The remaining children scattered like roaches.  
  
"You had better have a really good explanation for this punk,"  
said Ranma.  
  
"I...I..." stammered the boy in terror.  
  
Ranma looked down at the child who was still lying in a protective  
ball. "You all right kid? Hey kid..." He gently shook her arm, and she  
shuddered for a moment, pulling herself into her protective ball a  
little tighter. "Oh man." He picked her up and held her gently in one  
arm, she was pretty badly bruised, and had a little blood coming from  
the corner of her mouth.  
  
"Hey! I know this girl!" he muttered under his breath. "Hotaru?"  
  
The kid in his other hand was shaking visibly, and clutching at  
his arm in a desperate attempt to escape.  
  
Ranma turned to look at him and frowned. "Where do you live kid?"  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Who are you? What are you doing with my son?" gasped the woman  
who met him at the door of the child's home.  
  
"My name is Ranma Saotome, and I thought I'd show you what your  
son was doing to this little girl," he replied as he looked down at  
the girl who was sleeping soundly in his arms.  
  
"What?" gasped the woman in shock as she stared down at Hotaru in  
horror. "You're saying that..."  
  
"I found him beating on her with about six other kids about two  
blocks from here," he replied calmly.  
  
"I should call the police, you can't..." started the angry mother.  
  
"If you do, I'll make sure her family presses charges against your  
son," replied the boy calmly. "I'd like to keep the police out of this  
at the moment. If I see this again, I'm taking him in myself." He  
turned away from her, leaving her standing in the doorway with her jaw  
hanging open.  
  
As he walked away, she heard a loud smack, and the familiar  
wailing of a young child. He grinned to himself as he carried Hotaru  
to a park bench and set her down next to him.  
  
After a few moments, she woke up and gasped as she looked around.  
  
"You feelin all right?" he asked her.  
  
She blinked and looked up at him in terror. "Who...?"  
  
"Relax, I'm not gonna hurt ya. Why were those kids beating you  
up?" he asked with a small smile.  
  
"It's...nothing..." she muttered quietly.  
  
"Yeah, those healing powers of yours must be pretty scary to  
someone who's never seen stuff like that before," said Ranma with a  
small chuckle.  
  
The girl looked up at him, her eyes wide in shock. "What? You  
mean...you know...about...?"  
  
"I know a lot of stuff," replied the boy with a shrug. "You'll  
make a really good doctor one day. If that's what you want to do with  
your life."  
  
"I..." It was becoming painfully obvious that she was very shy.  
  
"I'll tell you a secret, I've got a special power too," he said as  
he gave her a small wink.  
  
"R...really?" she muttered as she looked up at him.  
  
"Yeah, it's not as neat as yours though," he commented as he  
looked up at the trees for a moment.  
  
"Do people beat you up because of it too?" she asked quietly.  
  
"Naw, I'm too strong for em to beat," he replied with another  
wink. "Come on, I'll walk you home."  
  
She moved away from him, slightly nervous.  
  
"Can you walk okay?" he said gently.  
  
"Yeah," muttered the girl as she jumped off the bench and almost  
fell over. She staggered back to her feet, and appeared to be fine  
after that.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Who are you?" asked Hotaru's father as he stared at the boy.  
"Hotaru! What happened? Who...?" He fell down to his knees and pulled  
her into a hug.  
  
"A bunch of punks a few blocks from here. She's lucky I ran into  
her," said the boy with a small grin.  
  
"Those boys again? It's never been this bad before..." said the  
man with a frown on his face.  
  
"Have you considered putting her in a self defense class? I  
noticed a dojo nearby that teaches Karate." asked Ranma with a small  
frown.  
  
"I would, but she's so young. I'm afraid she's not very healthy  
either, she's a very fragile child," said the man as he hung his head.  
"I must thank you."  
  
"Fragile huh? Aikido would be good," said Ranma as he appeared to  
ignore the man's thanks and peered down at the little girl. She was  
hiding behind his leg.  
  
"Pardon?" said her father dumbly.  
  
"I live at a dojo in Nerima, I'm gonna inherit it someday  
supposedly. My name is Ranma Saotome, and I'm the heir to the Anything  
Goes School of Martial Arts. The style itself isn't very good for  
someone like her, it requires a lot of strength and energy. However,  
I've mastered several softer styles, ones that don't require a lot of  
effort, but are very effective."  
  
"You mean..." muttered the man as he looked down at her.  
  
Ranma smiled at him. "I could do it for free. It would only take  
about an hour, maybe three or four times a week to teach her a little  
self defense."  
  
"Excuse me, it's a nice offer, but I don't want my child turning  
into one of those bullies," said the man nervously.  
  
"Naw. I wouldn't worry about that much. The styles I have in mind  
aren't very useful for offense. Mainly defensive stuff really,  
blocking punches, redirecting attacks, things like that."  
  
"It's very kind of you, but..."  
  
"I hate to sound pushy, but I want to do it. Especially after what  
I saw. This is a once in a lifetime offer, unless your born into it,  
free martial arts is unheard of. If you're doubting my credentials, I  
could bring some references by later."  
  
The man blinked at him, and then looked down at his daughter  
again. She was still blushing, and hiding behind his leg. "All right,  
bring some references by, and we'll talk."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Why did we do that?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Hotaru is probably the most powerful of the Senshi. We've got  
quite a while before she becomes Sailor Saturn, but if we have her as  
an ally rather than trying to kill us..." said Carrot with a small  
chuckle.  
  
"What's this about references?" asked Dan.  
  
"Remember when Ranma told us about those dojo he trained at while  
he was still in Japan?"  
  
"Yeah?" asked Ranma. "What about em?"  
  
"Those are our references. We're gonna go around and visit a few  
of em tonight," said Carrot calmly.  
  
"I think this is so sweet, but we should really be teaching her  
how to talk her way out of..."  
  
The trio smacked themselves, causing Pissant to become silent  
again.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Three days later...  
  
"Yeah, that's it," said Ranma as he smiled at the young girl.  
"You're getting it!"  
  
"It's hard," muttered Hotaru as she looked at her hands. She was a  
very spoiled child, and didn't like doing much if she didn't have to.  
  
"It takes a long time to learn it right, but it gets easier the  
more you do it," said Ranma cheerfully as he knelt down beside her.  
"You'll feel better, and you won't be so tired so often."  
  
"So. I'll be normal one day?" asked the girl.  
  
"I can't promise you that you'll grow as strong as other kids  
will, but you'll be able to stop people from hurting you. One day, if  
you practice enough, no one will be able to hurt you, not even me."  
  
"Why would you do that?" asked the girl fearfully.  
  
"I wouldn't. But someday, I won't be able to, even if I did want  
to."  
  
"Oh. Okay Saotome-sensei," said the girl with a small sigh.  
  
"Ready to try again?" he asked gently.  
  
"I guess so..." she grumbled.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Well, that was fun," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"God, what a brat," muttered Dan irritably.  
  
"She's just not used to this sort of thing. You saw her room, I  
thought my brain was going to explode. I've never seen that much pink  
before," muttered Carrot with a small frown.  
  
"I thought her room was pretty," commented Pissant.  
  
"Speaking of which, we should start practicing more ourselves,"  
commented Ranma.  
  
Dan nodded in agreement. "He's right, we're good at dodging thanks  
to our job, but we're going to need some new attacks."  
  
"Some sort of chi blast?" asked Carrot.  
  
"Yeah, right. Like it's just that easy!" snorted Ranma angrily.  
  
"Well...maybe it is?" asked Dan with a small shrug.  
  
"Have we ever tried?" agreed Carrot.  
  
"Well...no..." said Ranma dumbly.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
A short time later, they were standing in the middle of the park.  
It was getting late, and the area was mostly deserted.  
  
"All right, here's the way we do it," said Carrot as he made them  
face a tree.  
  
"You know what you're doing?" asked Ranma dumbly.  
  
"I know the basic idea," replied Carrot with a small frown. "It's  
the weight of the emotion. Find the emotion you feel the most of, and  
use that. We've got to work on focusing it."  
  
"Right," chimed the other three voices cheerfully.  
  
"How do we do that?" said Ranma with a smug looking grin crossing  
his face.  
  
"According to what I've read, we focus it in our abdomen, here."  
He poked them in the stomach, and closed his eyes. "Then we will it  
into a ball by forcing it out of our hands. It's some sort of  
willpower, and mind focus thing."  
  
All four of them concentrated at the same time.  
  
A tiny ball of light formed in their hands, it grew very slowly,  
until it was about the size of a golf ball. It swirled different  
colors, blue, red, white, and yellow.  
  
"Whoa!" gasped Ranma in wonder as he stared at it. He lost his  
concentration, and all the yellow faded out of the ball.  
  
"Ranma! We're losing it!" said Carrot as the ball faded away.  
  
"We should try that again," commented Dan as he looked at their  
hands for a moment.  
  
"Right, but what now? I mean, it was just sitting there."  
  
"Push it away with your mind, kinda throw it at something  
mentally," said Carrot.  
  
"Right," said the other three.  
  
After a moment, another ball of light formed in their hands. They  
willed it forward, and something completely unexpected happened.  
Rather than shooting the tiny ball of energy away, it erupted into a  
huge beam of light, almost as big as they were tall.  
  
"WHOA!" cried Carrot as he and the others cut the beam off and  
stared forward dumbly. "What the hell?"  
  
The tree had taken the brunt of the blast, and was unharmed.  
  
"It looked cool, but didn't do much," said Dan irritably. "In  
fact, I don't think it did anything."  
  
"What's that?" asked Carrot as he walked them over to the tree and  
looked down. On the side of the trunk, where the blast had struck, a  
small sprout was quickly growing into a tiny branch. It was fast  
enough to be visible. "Cool. What emotions were you guys using?"  
  
"Confidence," said Ranma.  
  
"Anger, what else?" snored Dan.  
  
"I was using sarcasm," commented Carrot.  
  
"That's an emotion?" asked Ranma.  
  
"I guess so, it worked," replied Carrot with a small shrug.  
  
"I think it was my fault," said Pissant sheepishly.  
  
"Huh? Howzat?" muttered Dan. "What the hell were you using?"  
  
"Peace and love," said the girlish voice cheerfully.  
  
"Well, that would explain it. All right, let's try this again,  
without Pissant," grumbled Carrot.  
  
"No! We'll hurt the baby tree!" cried Pissant.  
  
Dan smacked them again.  
  
"Stop that! I don't want too kill the little tree branch on it's  
birthday!" whined the voice.  
  
"Fine! Damn it, we'll just use another tree," grumbled Carrot.  
  
"Mmmmmm..." Pissant seemed like he'd start crying.  
  
"A dead one! Are you happy now?" snapped Carrot irritably.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Moukou Takabishi!" cried the trio in unison as they incinerated a  
dead stump, and a large area of the ground behind it. The blast struck  
the ground, and blasted a huge hole in the ground in a massive  
explosion.  
  
"C...c...cool..." said Dan.  
  
"Wow," agreed Ranma.  
  
"It's too big," said Carrot with a small frown.  
  
The beam had been a little smaller without the four of them, but  
the results were much closer to what they had desired.  
  
"Whatever," grumbled Dan irritably.  
  
"I think it works like the Kaio Ken. It gets stronger when we all  
do it," said Carrot with a small frown.  
  
"Makes sense, I mean, we weigh about four hundred pounds, and our  
attacks get stronger when we do them together," agreed Ranma.  
  
"We weigh how much?" gasped Pissant in horror.  
  
"We figured it out a while back, our weight is the same as the  
three of our original body weight's combined," said Dan.  
  
"Wait a minute, there's four of us now. How much does he make us  
weigh?" asked Carrot as he thought about it for a moment.  
  
"It's like we're four separate people, jammed together somehow.  
It's really weird. We haven't discussed it much, but do you guys  
realize that it's like we're, I dunno...roommates?"  
  
"That is weird," agreed Dan. "We can sleep at different times,  
when one of us gets knocked out, the others don't. We can even combine  
our strength to attack things, or attack separately. This is a weird  
situation."  
  
"That could mean that we might be able to separate ourselves one  
day, if we find the right way to do it," said Carrot with a grin  
forming on his face.  
  
"Yeah? Well let's start lookin!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Like we haven't been?" snapped Dan irritably. "This is nice and  
all, but we've got to get home soon. We've got school tomorrow, and  
then work, and now martial arts lessons."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
  
Once again, about half way to the Dojo, a familiar old friend  
stopped Ranma.  
  
"So, at last I find you Genaku McTome!"  
  
He looked up and frowned. Nephrite was hovering in the air over  
his head, and smiling at him.  
  
"Hey, how's it goin Nephrite?" he asked casually.  
  
"I've come for your life," snarled the man angrily as he stared  
down at him.  
  
"Huh? What for?" muttered Ranma as he looked up at him.  
  
"I'll never forgive you for what you've done," he snapped.  
  
"Come on, don't be like that buddy, it isn't like you to hold a  
grudge," said Ranma as he crossed his arms and frowned at the man.  
  
"I am not your buddy!" snapped Nephrite angrily.  
  
"So, you want to fight?" snapped Ranma with a frown on his face.  
  
"I want to destroy you!" snarled the evil general angrily.  
  
"Okay, but how about this. If I win, you forget about this stupid  
thing, and make up nice like."  
  
Nephrite paused and frowned at him. "What?"  
  
"Come on. I don't wanna spend all my time fighting you too. I've  
got enough problems with those stupid Senshi," he said as he looked up  
at the general for a moment.  
  
"You needn't worry about that," snapped the man coldly. "After  
tonight, you'll never fight again!"  
  
"So, is it a bet then?" said Ranma with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Always one for games," replied Nephrite with a chuckle. "Very  
well. I should warn you though, my power has been increased a hundred  
fold by Queen Beryl. You do not stand a chance."  
  
"Great!" said the boy cheerfully as he took up a combat stance.  
  
"What?" gasped Nephrite in shock. Genaku wasn't much of a fighter  
without his sword in the past, he was strong, and a good brawler, but  
seeing him take up a martial arts stance was a little odd to him. He  
snorted and waved it off. "Go my minion! Destroy him!"  
  
Ranma blinked, and a large dog like creature appeared in front of  
him. It was pitch black, and had several horns protruding from its  
head. The thing bared its teeth at him and growled.  
  
The boy blinked, and picked up a nearby stick. He began to  
whistle, and shook the twig in the air. "Here boy! Wanna fetch the  
stick?"  
  
The thing cocked its head and looked at him for a moment. It's  
long whip like tail moving violently from side to side.  
  
"Go get it boy!" cried Ranma as he tossed the twig away and into  
the darkness.  
  
"What the hell are you doing? Destroy him I said!" cried Nephrite  
angrily.  
  
"Aww, isn't that cute?" commented Ranma as the thing gave chase  
and went after the stick excitedly. He glanced up at Nephrite and  
grinned. "You done yet?"  
  
"Die!" snarled the general as he raised his hand and at him with a  
dark energy. It slammed into the ground where he had been and  
exploded. "What?" gasped the general when he realized that he had  
missed.  
  
"Surprise!" said Ranma as he appeared behind him and punched him  
in the back of his head.  
  
Nephrite was thrown forward, and clutched at his head painfully as  
he floated in the air. "How?"  
  
Ranma was in front of his face again. "Give up yet?"  
  
"Die!" cried Nephrite as he shot another blast of dark energy at  
him at point blank range. He saw the boy's aura flare before he  
vanished again, dodging the attack. "How can this be? He wasn't this  
fast in the past!"  
  
"I've learned a few new tricks. Wanna see my latest one?" said  
Ranma as he appeared in the air beside him with his hand held out.  
There was a small ball of light in his palm, pointing directly at  
Nephrite's head. "Or do you want to stop this before one of us gets  
hurt?"  
  
"What?" snarled the man angrily. "I will not lose!" He tried to  
turn and strike before his opponent could release the attack.  
  
Ranma snorted, and blasted him in the head. The general was  
knocked out of the air, and was now lying on the ground.  
  
"That was only at about one third strength Nephrite. Come on,  
can't we be pals again? The others still like me."  
  
Nephrite tried to jump to his feet, but the boy put his foot on  
top of his neck and applied a little pressure.  
  
"Please?"  
  
He growled under his breath, and shifted his eyes away. "You're  
stronger than I remember you."  
  
"Well, I've got my old memories, and this new life too," replied  
the boy as he stepped back and offered his hand. "I think I'll just  
sit back and watch this time. I don't care to get involved."  
  
"You'll have to pick sides soon enough," said Nephrite coldly.  
  
"I'll probably go with whoever is winning at the time then,"  
replied the boy with a small shrug. "Nothing for you to worry about. I  
figure I've got plenty of time."  
  
"Not as much as you think," growled Nephrite coldly.  
  
"Maybe, but I like where I'm at now. I don't want to work for  
Beryl, she doesn't like me much anyway," said the boy with another  
indifferent shrug.  
  
"Heh. I imagine that she still remembers that time you filled her  
palace water supply with 'Lime Jello'."  
  
"Yeah. She had to take a bath in that stuff for like a week. It  
took months for her skin to turn white again," replied Genaku with a  
small chuckle.  
  
"Heh. Unlike me, she does hold a grudge," said Nephrite with a  
small frown.  
  
"Whaddaya mean? It's been millennia since that happened!" said  
Ranma with a small frown. "It wore off eventually."  
  
"It was my wedding night! I had to spend three days of my  
honeymoon waiting for it to wear off!"  
  
"Sorry. I didn't mean for you to get that upset," said the boy  
with a small apologetic grin. "C'mon. You know I didn't mean any  
harm."  
  
"I suppose," muttered the man as he turned away from him.  
  
"We're supposed to get together again in a couple of days. You  
gonna be there this time?"  
  
"You promise not to use a star cruiser as our ride home this  
time?" said Nephrite with a small frown.  
  
"I would if I could, but..." said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"I suppose there isn't much you can do now," said the general with  
a small frown. "I suppose I could attend."  
  
"Great. See ya then," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"I suppose so," muttered Nephrite as he faded into the shadows.  
  
Ranma paused as the giant dog youma appeared next to him, it was  
wagging its tail excitedly and had the stick in its mouth.  
  
Nephrite appeared again. "Come on!" he snapped at the dog thing.  
  
It whined and followed him into the vortex.  
  
Ranma shrugged and continued to walk away.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Your mind is just as important as your body Hotaru," said Ranma  
sagely as he sat across from the girl in her backyard.  
  
"Yeah, but meditating is boring," she groused.  
  
"Not if you think about what you're supposed to. You can't just  
sit quietly, there's more to it than that. You've just got to learn to  
focus."  
  
"How do I do that?" asked the girl in confusion.  
  
"Okay, we'll start with something easy. I want you to think about  
your favorite thing in the world."  
  
"Huh?" said the girl in surprise.  
  
"Go ahead, try it," he said cheerfully.  
  
"Okay. How about...my teddy!"  
  
"That could work, anything you want," he replied with a small  
shrug.  
  
She sat with a grin on her face as she visualized the stuffed  
bear.  
  
"How do you feel?" he asked her.  
  
"Fine," she said as her train of thought was interrupted. She  
frowned a bit at the question.  
  
"No, about the bear. How does thinking about it make you feel?"  
said Ranma patiently.  
  
"Oh. It makes me feel warm, and safe," she said cheerfully.  
  
"Okay. Think about that feeling," he said with a grin forming on  
his face.  
  
Hotaru did, she felt the warmth growing through her entire body.  
  
"Good, think about everything that feeling does to you. How it  
makes your body feel, every little thing that feeling does to every  
part of your body."  
  
"Wow," she said cheerfully as she did. "I never knew it did so  
much!"  
  
Ranma smiled, and waited as she sat across from him in wonder.  
"Well, you're meditating now."  
  
She blinked, the feeling fading away from her body in an instant.  
"I was?"  
  
"Yup," he replied cheerfully.  
  
"That's all there is?" she said in confusion.  
  
"No, there's more, but that's the basics. You should practice  
that, and after you're really good at it. You'll be able to move on to  
other things."  
  
"Like what?" she said in confusion.  
  
"Oh, like being able to tell where other people are with your eyes  
closed, sensing danger, knowing about every part of your body, making  
it so pain goes away, lots of things," he said with a small shrug.  
  
"I can make stuff stop hurting?" she said in wonder.  
  
"After a while, yes, to some extent," he replied cheerfully. "If  
you get really good, someday you'll be able to do things like this."  
He held out his palm, and a small white ball formed there.  
  
"Wow!" she gasped. "Is that your special power that you told me  
about?"  
  
"No, this is something else," he said cheerfully.  
  
"Can I touch it?" she said as she reached forward.  
  
"Sure, this one is made of peace and love," he said as he put his  
hand down to her. "It can't hurt you."  
  
"You can make ones that hurt people too?" she said with a small  
frown.  
  
"Well, you can, but you don't have too," he said with a shrug.  
"It's up to you."  
  
"Oh," she said with a small nod.  
  
"Will you teach me how?" she said tentatively.  
  
"Sure, if you practice your meditation every day. I suppose you  
could learn in a year or two," he said with a small shrug.  
  
"I can't wait!" she said cheerfully as she put her hand through  
the ball of light. "Wow. I don't feel tired at all."  
  
Ranma smirked at her. "This one kind of works like your power  
does," he said cheerfully. "It can sort of heal things, make things  
grow, and basically makes you feel stronger."  
  
"So, can you do that all the time?" she asked.  
  
"If I want, but being tired is good for you. If I just healed you  
all the time, you'd never get any stronger."  
  
"Oh," she said in slight disappointment.  
  
"Don't worry Hotaru, it's a lot of work, but it's worth it," he  
said cheerfully.  
  
"Yeah. Thanks Saotome-sensei," she said with a grin.  
  
"Now, let's go over that kata once more," he said to her.  
  
"Okay," she grumbled as she stood up and began.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
  



	13. Insertion Part 13

Insertion  
  
Part 13  
  
Diamonds are Forever.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Jadeite?" muttered Ranma in shock as he simply stared down at the  
countertop with a frown on his face.  
  
"It was those damn Senshi," said Nephrite angrily.  
  
"Beryl didn't revive him?" asked the boy as he stared at the trio  
of dark generals for a moment.  
  
"Ha! She sealed him away, to ensure that we wouldn't," commented  
Zocite with a frown of his own. "Once we get that crystal, she'll be  
more apt to listen to our request though."  
  
"How?" asked Ranma as he glared at them angrily.  
  
"It was that despicable Sailor Moon, she hit him with  
something..." muttered Kunzite.  
  
Ranma merely nodded and downed the remainder of his drink. "I'll  
see you guys later."  
  
"Right, family calls," chuckled Kunzite.  
  
"No. I need to be alone for a while," said Ranma as he stepped out  
of the bar and left them.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"You know, he wasn't that bad a guy. Well, for someone who was  
trying to destroy the world and all," said Carrot wistfully.  
  
"Yeah," muttered Ranma in agreement.  
  
"Beryl is being stupid," commented Carrot as they walked through  
the park they had found themselves in.  
  
"Howzat?" asked Dan.  
  
"She's just cut her forces down. Jadeite and his minions are not  
available to her anymore," said Carrot with a small shrug. "It's a bad  
tactical decision."  
  
"I woulda brought him back," muttered Ranma angrily. "Even if I  
didn't like him. He was one of her soldiers, she can't do that to her  
men."  
  
"Well, we aren't her. She's spiteful and evil, more so now that  
she's working for Metallia," said Carrot with a small shrug. "There's  
nothing we can do about it."  
  
"Yeah, let's just go home," muttered Carrot.  
  
"You're quiet tonight, Pissant. Not that I'm complaining or  
anything," said Dan.  
  
There was a small sniffling, and they felt their body jerk forward  
as it burst into tears. "WAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! He's dead!  
WAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"  
  
"Great," grumbled Dan irritably.  
  
"Calm down damn it!" cried Carrot.  
  
"I hope nobody is watching us," said Ranma nervously.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Huh?" muttered Ranma as he looked up at Genma and Soun. It was  
early the next day, and he had a day off. It was Sunday, and Cologne  
had decided to excuse him for the evening.  
  
"We've been hired on as security. There's a showing of some  
valuable gem in some Museum. Soun knows one of the curators, and we've  
got to protect this gem this evening for some kind of formal party,"  
said Genma sagely.  
  
"How much am I getting paid?" said Ranma as he narrowed his eyes  
at the man.  
  
"They're going to pay us ten thousand yen," said Genma with a  
small nod.  
  
"No old man, how much am I going to get paid?" repeated Ranma.  
  
"Foolish boy! This is for the honor of your school!" snapped the  
man angrily.  
  
"In other words, you want me to take my day off, and do this for free,  
so that you can keep all the money to yourself," said the boy with a  
small frown.  
  
"Um, right," said Genma dumbly.  
  
"No thanks," said Ranma as he started to walk away.  
  
"What? Don't you walk away from me boy!" snapped the man angrily  
as he tried to turn his son around by pulling on his shoulder.  
  
Ranma was immovable though, he did stop walking. "Look old man.  
Why should we bother? You still get paid without us, all you have to  
do is stand around, and we've got a job already, and we don't want to  
take our time off and do something like this if we aren't getting paid  
for it."  
  
"Look, I don't care about the other two of you, but Ranma has to  
train. This is part of it," snapped Genma irritably.  
  
"Fine, then you pay us for our time," said the boy calmly.  
  
Genma frowned. "I'll give you a thousand yen."  
  
"Three, or you can go fuck yourself for all I care," said Ranma in  
reply.  
  
Genma frowned at this, he was only going to get three if he took  
Soun with him. The deal was for the three of them, at ten thousand. If  
only two of them showed up, they'd only get three apiece. He and Soun  
were going to split it at five apiece, now he'd only get three. That  
wasn't acceptable. "Two."  
  
"Twenty five hundred," said the boy as he smirked at the old man.  
  
Genma scowled at him, and hung his head. "Fine."  
  
"What time?" asked Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"It starts at six," muttered Genma irritably.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki Tendo was pressing herself against the wall just around the  
corner. Her hand covering her mouth as she tried her best not to say  
anything. Her mind was working as she attempted to figure out what was  
going on.  
  
Ranma haggling with her father hadn't surprised her, but something  
else bothered her. The boy had called himself 'we'. Genma seemed to  
know about it too. That sent alarm bells ringing inside her head the  
instant it had left his mouth.  
  
"The question is, what can I do about this?" she muttered to  
herself as she snuck away. There had to be a way to work it to her  
advantage. Ranma was crazy, she knew that now for certain. She  
couldn't do anything about it without some sort of proof, and he was  
actually pretty good at hiding it despite the way he acted sometimes.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
It was about three hours later that the men stood around the  
table. Genma and Soun were dressed in cheesy looking light blue  
tuxedos. Ranma had not even bothered to wear the one they had given  
him, and strolled out in a black suit and tie. His shades were stuck  
in his pocket, and he grinned at them cheerfully. "Ready?"  
  
"Where did you get that boy?" snapped Genma.  
  
"Huh? I've got a job remember?" said the boy with a small shrug.  
"I've got three of em." He brushed off one of the sleeves on his coat  
and walked past the two morons calmly. "Hey, you coming or not?"  
  
Akane walked out of her room and stared down at him cheerfully.  
  
"Akane?" asked Soun dumbly.  
  
"What is it daddy?" said the girl as she looked at him. She was  
wearing an outfit similar to Ranma's, but with a skirt and dark  
pantyhose instead.  
  
"What is she doing boy?" snapped Genma.  
  
"Going with us," he replied with a small shrug.  
  
"We can't bring a girl along on something like..." Genma grabbed  
the man by his tie, and pulled it off. "Tsk, a clip on? Really Pop."  
He placed it back on and then grabbed his collar, pulling him down to  
stare at him for a moment. "Akane is training too right?"  
  
"Well...I..."  
  
"That is why you wanted me along, right?" continued the boy.  
  
"Now, Saotome, this is far to dangerous for..."  
  
"Well, I suppose we could call and tell that guy that there's only  
three of us now, and go back to getting only ten thousand yen for the  
night, instead of twenty."  
  
Genma and Soun blinked and stared at him. "What?"  
  
"Mr. Tendo left the number out. So I called the guy, and asked if  
he'd be willing to pay for an extra hand. He agreed, and we all get  
checks cut for five thousand each."  
  
Genma looked at Soun for a moment, and then back to his son again.  
"We'll probably just be standing around all night anyway Tendo."  
  
"Right, agreed Saotome," said the man as they ushered the children  
along.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Wow!" gasped Akane as she stared at the party in awe. There were  
dozens of people ambling about, all of them dressed in extravagant  
clothing. Tables with the food and champagne lined the back walls, and  
at the center of the room was a display case in protective glass. It  
was roped off, and a sparkling gem could be seen inside.  
  
Ranma moved up beside her, his face was completely straight and  
his shades hid his eyes away. "We're security. Try to look  
intimidating."  
  
She blinked and turned to look at him for a moment. "Right." She  
put on her own shades and began to move smoothly through the crowd.  
  
"Follow me, I know what I'm doing," said Ranma coolly as he moved  
towards the edge of the room.  
  
Akane moved after him and frowned. "And I don't?"  
  
"Have you ever done this sort of thing before?" he said as he  
looked back at her with his eyebrow raised slightly.  
  
The girl blushed a bit and turned her head away. "Well, no..."  
  
"I have, several times. Trust me," said the boy as he nodded back  
at her. After a moment, they were standing on a flight of stairs that  
led to the upper level of the museum. They were roped off near the top  
preventing partygoers from wandering off.  
  
Ranma smirked as he noticed a small group of men standing around  
about halfway up.  
  
"The man who hired us will most likely be there," said Ranma as he  
began to stroll up towards them.  
  
An older man in the group paused his conversation and looked at  
the young pair for a moment. The two youngest members of the group,  
who were standing off to the side silently, moved to intercept.  
  
Ranma and Akane paused, neither one of them flinching as the much  
larger bodyguards stopped them. He removed his sunglasses, and she  
followed his example as they noticed the old man approaching.  
  
"Can I help you?" asked the man as he walked up between his guards  
and looked them over.  
  
"I'm Ranma Saotome, and this is Akane Tendo. We're from the  
Anything Goes School of Martial arts," said Ranma emotionlessly.  
  
"Ah, the extra security I hired," said the man as he waved the men  
off to the side.  
  
"That's right, what sort of security do you have in place now? If  
I can be permitted to know?" asked Ranma coldly.  
  
"You've done this sort of thing before," said the man with a small  
smile growing on his face. "We have the standard security for  
something this valuable of course, protective glass, silent alarm  
system, infrared laser net. Naturally there are a few inactive systems  
that protect it when the museum is closed, but you don't need to know  
about those," said the man calmly.  
  
"Nor am I particularly interested," replied Ranma. "I want to know  
what's active, and where I need to be."  
  
"Well, we have security cameras..." started the old man.  
  
"Six of them in plain sight, and probably at least two more hidden  
somewhere," said the boy with a nod.  
  
"Very good Mr. Saotome," said the old man as he chuckled a little.  
"Well, enjoy the party. A disturbance is unlikely, and we want you  
more for show than anything else. Just hang around the diamond, and  
keep people from getting too close."  
  
"Next time sir, I'd appreciate it if we were allowed early. Just  
before you start letting guests in is good. It's better if we're seen  
when they come in," said Ranma with a small nod.  
  
"And why is that?" asked the old man in amusement.  
  
"That way, they know we're security," said Ranma as he put his  
shades back on and walked back into the crowd.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Where are our parents?" asked Akane as she glanced around. They  
were standing on either side of the display now, watching the crowd  
around them.  
  
Occasionally, she or Ranma would have to move someone back a  
little, or clear a small path so photos of the gem could be taken by  
the press in attendance.  
  
"Slacking off by the food, they should be drunk in a little while,"  
commented Ranma as he turned his head over towards the pair and  
frowned.  
  
"Those dolts," growled Akane.  
  
"Calm down and forget about them," said Ranma coldly.  
  
"How can I just let them get away with that?" she hissed.  
  
"Because right now, no one knows who they are. They're just two  
drunken assholes who probably got invited by accident. We're the ones  
representing your school in everyone's eyes right now."  
  
Akane blinked and looked at him for a moment.  
  
"Don't worry, we'll get the chance to get back at them shortly,"  
said Ranma with a small smirk forming on his face.  
  
Akane nodded, and noticed that it was the first time she'd seen  
him smile at all since they had arrived. It wasn't a nice one either.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
A half-hour later, Genma and Soun were thrown bodily from the  
building. The two teens walked out, dusting off their hands and  
staring at them angrily.  
  
"Boy! What do you think you're doing?" sputtered Genma.  
  
"Kicking you two out, like we were told too," said the boy calmly.  
"Go home."  
  
"We were hired to protect..." started Soun angrily.  
  
"And you've been doing a shitty job too," replied Ranma calmly.  
"Both of you are drunk."  
  
"We were just enjoying the party a little, there's no harm in..."  
started Genma.  
  
"If you truly value the honor of the Anything Goes School, you  
will leave right now," said Ranma coldly.  
  
"What?" said the pair in shock.  
  
"I won't repeat myself, go home," said Ranma as he took off his  
sunglasses and stared them down.  
  
"Daddy, we'll take care of this," said Akane nervously.  
  
"Akane? How could you!" said the man in shock.  
  
"You're embarrassing us, and the school's name, go home," insisted  
Ranma.  
  
Genma turned his head, and noticed the cab pulling up behind them.  
"Let's go Tendo, we aren't wanted here."  
  
Ranma strolled down the steps, and paid the cab driver while Akane  
returned to the inside of the building. He leaned his head in and  
smiled at him. "Take them directly to the Tendo Dojo in Nerima." He  
jot down the address on a pad of paper. "They don't have any money, so  
don't take them anywhere else. No matter what they say."  
  
"Huh?" said the cab driver as he looked at the boy.  
  
Ranma winked at him, and showed him their wallets. "Just take em  
home all right."  
  
"Right," said the cab driver with a smirk on his face.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma walked back into the museum, and went back to his position.  
  
"This is boring," he commented.  
  
"Wow. You're pretty good at this, Dan," said Carrot.  
  
"I told you I was a cop. Doing things like this is a good way to  
make a little extra money," he replied calmly.  
  
"Wow! This is such a great party," commented Pissant cheerfully.  
"I wish we could talk to someone though."  
  
"You keep your trap shut, we aren't here to mingle," said Dan  
irritably.  
  
"Uh oh," muttered Carrot suddenly as he turned their head.  
  
"What's up?" asked Dan with a small frown.  
  
"Damn. I shoulda known," grumbled Carrot. "Five o'clock. Blond,  
white dress, meatball head."  
  
"Shit! I told you we should have left her at home," snorted Dan  
angrily as he saw Usagi. She was looking rather lost in the crowd,  
after a few moments of scanning the crowd, he saw the other senshi as  
well. Including the one he didn't recognize. "Who the hell is that?"  
  
"I dunno, she's a senshi, but I've never seen her before," said  
Carrot as they eyed her. Rei and Ami had both spotted them, but hadn't  
done anything yet other than stare, and inform the others. "We've been  
spotted."  
  
"I noticed," said Dan as he glanced towards Akane. She was  
watching the crowd lazily.  
  
"Maybe they won't try anything? I mean, this is a pretty big  
crowd..." muttered Pissant fearfully.  
  
"If we don't do anything, maybe," agreed Dan.  
  
"Hey. I see Tux boy," said Carrot as he glanced up at the rafters  
and spotted Endimyon.  
  
"This isn't good," growled Ranma.  
  
"Keep cool, we might not have to do anything at all," said Dan.  
  
"I doubt it, I'm betting Nephrite will show in a minute. If they  
think this thing might be the Silver Imperium Crystal..." muttered  
Carrot irritably.  
  
"Maybe we can intercept?" asked Dan as he searched the crowd for a  
sign of the general.  
  
"Maybe, we might be able to talk him out of this," said Ranma in  
agreement.  
  
After a moment, they spotted him in the crowd. He was holding a  
glass of champagne, and smirking as he watched the diamond.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Akane, stay here. I'm gonna check something out," said Ranma as  
he turned towards the girl.  
  
She turned her head, and watched helplessly as he moved into the  
crowd. "But..."  
  
"Ah, Genaku," said Nephrite as he noticed his friend.  
  
"Turn away, act like you don't know me," said Ranma as he  
approached.  
  
"Pardon?" said the general dumbly as he did so.  
  
"I know why you're here Nephrite. You might as well leave now,  
that isn't the Silver Imperium Crystal."  
  
"So? I have to bring something back," snorted the man casually as  
he eyed one of the women nearby casually.  
  
"I'm working security here Nephrite, I'll be most disappointed if  
I have to stop you. You know how much I hate screwing up a job."  
  
"Humph, I'm afraid I can't allow that," said the man coldly.  
  
"Well, we've had this battle before Nephrite. Both of us know who  
will win," said Ranma with a slight smirk on his face.  
  
"That may be, but if I go back to Beryl without even trying, she  
will destroy me," said Nephrite calmly.  
  
"Fine, keep away from that girl beside the diamond, she's not  
strong enough to hurt you anyway. We don't know each other, and I'll  
try to make sure you get out of here alive."  
  
"Alive?" muttered the general as he turned his head slightly.  
  
"Don't look at me!" snapped Ranma. "The senshi are here too."  
  
"Well, it seems you're going to have your hands full," said  
Nephrite calmly as he nodded.  
  
"Well, if you win, you can keep that damn rock. If I win, I'll  
come out looking good to the man who's paying me, and if they win..."  
  
"The two of us will probably be dead," said Nephrite with a smirk  
on his face.  
  
"Right," said Ranma as he walked away.  
  
"How interesting," said Nephrite as he moved away as well.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
The old man turned towards Ranma and blinked. "Pardon?"  
  
"I said we may have a problem," said Ranma quietly.  
  
"What's going on?" asked the man as he suddenly forgot about his  
conversation and gave him his full attention.  
  
"I spotted a man fitting the description of a jewel thief  
operating around the area recently. I moved in to check him out, and  
he was faking a conversation while watching the jewel."  
  
"You didn't apprehend him?" snorted the old man with a small  
scoff.  
  
"I thought it best if we could handle this discreetly," said Ranma  
as he turned towards the crowd. "Uniformed guards will likely be more  
persuasive towards him giving up quietly."  
  
The old man nodded and turned to his bodyguard. "Radio the museum  
security. Have them escort this man out of the building."  
  
Ranma turned away with a grin on his face. The security guards  
would move Nephrite out of the crowd, and he would allow it before he  
would attack them. That just left the Senshi, and if Nephrite didn't  
attack, then they wouldn't have any reason to act either.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Gentlemen, I assure you this is all a mistake," said Nephrite as  
he led them towards a quiet room in the museum. He stopped and raised  
his hands into the air as he watched them circle around him.  
  
"Not likely, in any case, you aren't welcome here any longer,"  
said Ranma as he strolled up behind the men.  
  
Nephrite smirked as he noticed the boy. "Very clever," he  
commented to himself. He raised his hands and a dark crystal appeared  
there. "I'll take your life force, thank you," he said as he held it  
over his head.  
  
The guards began to fall over around him, there were about seven  
of them, and their life energy seeped away and into the crystal. "A  
masterful plan, getting me away from the crowd that way so you could  
beat me more easily. In here, I can't drain all those guests. How did  
you know I would go with these men?"  
  
"You never were one for a direct fight. You'd have sent a youma  
out, that way you could distract the Senshi. Especially since you knew  
they were in there. That way, you could steal the diamond quietly,  
while they were busy with your monster, and escape."  
  
"Hmmm. That was my plan," said Nephrite with a small nod.  
  
"You led the guards into this room when you noticed they were  
after you, that way, you could drain them without the senshi noticing,  
and make sure that you could still use your original plan."  
  
"Unfortunately for you, it didn't work!" cried a new voice.  
  
"Shit," muttered Ranma as he turned and faced the doorway.  
  
"You who would steal the gems of our proud country! In order to  
protect our heritage, I Sailor Moon shall defeat you! On behalf of the  
moon, you are Punished!"  
  
The other senshi moved up behind her, and posed. After a moment, a  
porthole opened in the wall and Tsuki stepped through and smirked.  
  
"You stay the hell out of this and let me do my job," snapped  
Ranma as he narrowed his eyes at them.  
  
"So, you two were planning to steal that diamond and take it back  
to your master were you?" said Tuxedo Mask as he appeared from another  
doorway in the room.  
  
"I was hired as security actually," said Ranma with a small shrug.  
"I really hate screwing up a job, and all of you are trespassing.  
Leave now, or I'll make sure you regret it."  
  
Ami took a step back, and swallowed. "Um...Sailor Moon..."  
  
"We won't give up until you're defeated!" snapped Sailor Moon  
angrily.  
  
"Well, it's time I left then," said Nephrite as he jumped into the  
shadows and vanished.  
  
The sailor senshi began to encircle Ranma, closing in around him  
carefully, and slowly.  
  
He looked around at them and frowned. "There are a lot of  
expensive things in here that break easily. Are you sure you want to  
fight now? After all, you're here to protect your heritage aren't  
you?"  
  
Tsuki smirked at him. "Protecting our heritage is secondary to  
protecting the future. You must be punished for what you did to Pluto-  
sama. I, the Senshi of Pluto in training, shall make sure that you do  
not win this time!" A long staff appeared in her hand, and began to  
glow. "Attack him now!"  
  
Ranma tensed his body, and flew back as Jupiter landed a solid  
blow. "What the?" he gasped painfully as he slammed into the wall.  
"How the hell?"  
  
"What happened?" muttered Jupiter in shock. She hadn't expected to  
be able to hit him with her first strike.  
  
"It's like he's slowed down!" gasped Sailor Moon.  
  
"No, it's like they've sped up," thought Ranma as he glared at  
them and took up a defensive position.  
  
Venus rushed forward, slamming her fist into his jaw before he  
could react, and sent him flying into a suit of armor. It collapsed on  
top of him and he grunted in pain.  
  
"There's no way they're this fast!" thought the boy angrily as he  
stood up again. "Something is up."  
  
"Not so tough this time?" said Venus as she glared at him angrily.  
  
"Hurry up and beat him!" snapped Tsuki. "We don't have a lot of  
time!"  
  
Ranma paused and looked at the girl. She hadn't moved yet, she was  
merely standing there, holding the staff out in front of her. "It's  
her!" he gasped.  
  
Mamoru rushed forward as he started to tense his body up, kicking  
at him in order to prevent him from attacking.  
  
"Kaio ken times two!" cried Ranma as he suddenly blasted forward.  
The senshi could see him moving this time as he ran towards Tsuki, but  
it was still far to fast for them to do anything about it. He landed a  
hard right across the girl's jaw, and sent her sprawling across the  
floor.  
  
"Thought you could beat me by slowing down time? Is that it?" he  
snorted as he cracked his knuckles and turned to face the girls.  
  
"No way! No one is that fast!" cried Mercury as she looked at the  
display on her computer screen. "It isn't possible!"  
  
"I've got a job to do here, so if you don't mind..." Ranma  
vanished from in front of them, and reappeared at various points  
around them, slamming blows into their bodies repeatedly. The senshi  
could do nothing more than stand there and take it. One by one, they  
fell to the ground in pain, none of them even had the time to perform  
an attack to counter the assault.  
  
Finally, Tuxedo Mask was the last one standing, Sailor Moon was  
still conscious, but she was lying on the ground and hadn't tried to  
get up again.  
  
Ranma was standing in front of him with his arms crossed over his  
chest. "You know what the difference between you and me is Endimyon?"  
  
The boy looked up at him and frowned. "What's that villain?"  
  
Ranma pulled on the lapel of Tuxedo Mask's coat and snorted. He  
then put on his shades and smiled. "I make this look good." He turned  
away and walked out of the room. He paused in the doorway and smirked  
at them as they groaned painfully on the floor. "I'll be back in five  
minutes, and you had better be gone." He continued on his way, leaving  
them lying there.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Akane frowned as she saw Ranma calmly walking up to her. He was  
dusting off his sleeves, and his coat was slightly wrinkled now.  
"Where have you been?"  
  
"Just getting rid of some uninvited guests. Nothing to worry  
about," he replied calmly. "How is the party going?"  
  
"Just as boring as ever," she replied.  
  
"Good, that means we're doing our job," said the boy with a shrug.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"What? What do you mean no?" snapped Genma angrily as he stared at  
Ranma.  
  
"No, as in I'm not giving you one red cent you lazy bastard?"  
replied the boy with a small shrug. "You got kicked out of the party  
for being drunk, shirked your duty, and embarrassed the school.  
Therefore he insisted that you and Mr. Tendo not be paid."  
  
"He insisted?" muttered Soun in shock.  
  
"That's right, that guy asked us not to give you any of the  
payment," said Akane with a small shrug.  
  
"But, he paid you twenty thousand each!" cried Genma.  
  
"Well, I stopped a disturbance that you two idiots wouldn't have  
even noticed. I also did it without interrupting the party," replied  
Ranma with a shrug.  
  
"I spent all night standing next to that damn rock! You two were  
busy eating and getting drunk!" snapped Akane as she stared at the men  
in frustration.  
  
"Well, we would have taken a shift if we had remained all  
night..." lied Genma.  
  
"Well, you didn't. Your loss I suppose," said Ranma with a small  
shrug. He stood up and walked up to his room. Leaving both parents  
staring at him hatefully.  
  
"Damn that boy! I still don't know what he does with all that  
money," thought Genma angrily. He'd searched high and low, and still  
hadn't found the boy's stash.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma smirked, and glanced back at the old man as he walked up the  
stairs. "That idiot, he doesn't even realize that we opened a bank  
account. I bet he's still going through our things looking for that  
money," commented Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"Oh my, stealing is wrong. Maybe we should have a talk with him?"  
said Pissant.  
  
"Naw, let him suffer," snorted Dan. "Are we taking that job next  
week?"  
  
"Sure, I could get to like this kind of work," said Carrot  
cheerfully. "Akane was invited back as well. They're showing some sort  
of mask on loan from the Americans."  
  
"Maybe we should talk with Nabiki? Set up some sort of business?"  
asked Dan with a smirk.  
  
"Why bother with her?" replied Carrot. "With this kind of money  
coming in, we can quit the Cat Cafe. That would free up a lot more  
time for other things."  
  
"I guess so," agreed Ranma.  
  
"Come on, let's get some sleep," said Carrot.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
  
Next Time: A normal day in the life of Ranma Saotome.  



	14. Insertion Part 14

Insertion  
  
Part 14  
  
The start of a business.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome stared at the growing patch of grass in the back of  
the Tendo home and frowned. "This is..." he muttered under his breath.  
"Maybe I could..."  
  
"What are you doing?" asked Akane as she approached from behind  
him.  
  
He glanced at her and smirked, taking his eyes away from the spot  
in the yard. "Nothing, just training."  
  
"Oh," she said as she sat down on the back porch to watch.  
  
He glanced at her and smirked. "You want a job?"  
  
Akane paused, looking up at him dumbly. "Huh?"  
  
"I'm going to turn this security thing into a business," said the  
boy with a slight shrug. "I'm thinking I'll need more than just me.  
I've got something in mind, and if it goes as planned..."  
  
Akane looked at her hands for a moment, thinking it over. She  
didn't remain that way long, and nodded her head. "Sure."  
  
"We've got this thing at the museum right?" asked the girl as she  
stood up and walked up to him.  
  
"That's right, so we're already establishing a reputation," said  
the boy with a small nod. What he was planning could be bigger though,  
but there was no need to discuss it just yet.  
  
++++++++++  
  
A short time later, both Ranma and Akane were sitting at their  
desks in class.  
  
"Wow! Akane, is that really you and Ranma?" said Sayuri as she  
shoved a newspaper in front of the girl's face.  
  
"Yeah," said the girl with a smirk on her face as she looked at  
the photo that had been printed. It showed her and Ranma standing on  
either side of the gemstone.  
  
"That must have been so cool! Getting to go to that fancy party!"  
exclaimed Yuka. "So romantic! And you got to see that diamond! It's  
huge!"  
  
Akane frowned a little at that and shook her head. "It was pretty  
boring actually. We didn't get to do anything at the party really,  
mostly we just stood around that gem, and kept people back."  
  
The girls' faces fell at this, but they remained cheerful. "So,  
how is that going anyway? You and Ranma are engaged?"  
  
Akane looked over at him for a moment. "No, not at all. Our  
parents want it, but we just wouldn't work out. We decided that for  
ourselves a while ago."  
  
"But, he's so handsome!" cried Sayuri.  
  
"He's kind of a jerk. Deep down he's a nice guy though, pretty  
smart too," said Akane with a shrug.  
  
"But, why not then?" muttered Yuka as she failed to understand.  
  
"We just aren't compatible," replied Akane with a small shrug. The  
truth was, she was beginning to wonder why she didn't like him so much  
when he had first arrived. He'd made it clear that there was someone  
else he was in love with from the start, so she decided it was best  
not to think about it.  
  
The rest of the day went on undisturbed.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Hotaru blocked several light strikes from her sensei and smiled.  
He was still tagging her lightly from time to time, but she was doing  
very well under his tutelage and she knew it.  
  
"All right that's enough for now," said Ranma as he began to  
notice her growing a little too tired.  
  
"Thank you Ranma-sensei!" said the girl cheerfully as she bowed to  
him.  
  
Ranma smirked, it had taken a few weeks to get her to practice  
when he wasn't there, but she caught on after a while. He knelt down  
beside her and smiled. "Have you been practicing your meditation?"  
  
"Un!" said the girl cheerfully with a quick nod.  
  
"Okay, go ahead then," he said as he sat down across from her.  
  
The girl did as she was instructed, and quickly fell into a  
meditative state. He raised his eyebrow at this; she was doing far  
better in that respect than he had expected.  
  
Her father walked out and smiled at them with a mug of coffee in  
his hands. The girl had actually started looking forward to the  
lessons. She had grown calmer, and wasn't nearly as shy as she used to  
be. "I'm really glad I allowed this."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"So? Mom is coming by this weekend?" said Ranma as they strolled  
towards the usual bar.  
  
"Yeah, Ranko's going to have to make a few appearances," said  
Carrot with a small nod.  
  
"Man," muttered Ranma grumpily. "I hate when we have to do that."  
  
"Yeah well, live and learn. She seems to like her," said Dan with  
a small shrug.  
  
"I'm just glad I don't have to be the one doing it," muttered  
Ranma dejectedly.  
  
"I think we can bring Jadeite back," said Carrot suddenly.  
  
"Huh?" said the other three voices inside his head.  
  
"I said..." said Carrot.  
  
"I heard you!" snapped Dan. "What the hell are you talking about?"  
  
"We can bring him back, I'm sure of it. You heard what the others  
said, he's not really dead. Just sort of sealed away," said Carrot  
calmly.  
  
"So? How the hell are we supposed to do that?" snapped Ranma. It  
was obvious that he was very interested to hear what the boy had to  
say though.  
  
"When I said we, I actually meant Pissant," replied Carrot. He  
stopped them in the middle of the sidewalk and leaned against a fence  
that ran along beside it.  
  
"Me?" muttered the voice timidly.  
  
"That's right, alone you probably couldn't do it, but when we  
combine our chi like we did before. That white power actually seemed  
stronger," said Carrot calmly.  
  
"How do we get to him?" asked Dan with a small frown.  
  
"We see if we can get the others to bring us to him," replied  
Carrot calmly.  
  
"That's crazy!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Is it? They seemed pretty upset about what happened to him to  
me," said Dan with a small frown forming on their face.  
  
"I liked him, I'd be glad to help him if I can," said Pissant  
cheerfully.  
  
"The question is, can we get the others to help us, and trust them  
enough not to turn on us?" said Dan seriously.  
  
"I think that we can," said Carrot calmly.  
  
"How is that?" muttered Dan.  
  
"We ask them," replied Carrot.  
  
"Just go up and ask?" said Ranma.  
  
"Sure, why not? The worst that could happen is them saying no,"  
said Carrot. "Then we just forget about this."  
  
"Okay," said Dan with a small shrug.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Well, if it isn't Genaku," said Kunzite as he noticed the boy  
walk into the bar.  
  
Nephrite and Zocite both nodded a greeting at him.  
  
The boy smirked and calmly walked up to them. "We need a booth  
today."  
  
"What for?" asked Zocite as he looked at his companions for a  
moment.  
  
"Because I've got something to discuss with you," said the boy  
calmly.  
  
The trio looked at one another again, and followed him over to a  
dark corner of the bar.  
  
"What are you up too?" asked Nephrite suspiciously.  
  
Ranma sat down, and they followed. After a moment of silence, the  
boy spoke up.  
  
"I'm only going to offer this once. If you say no, I won't bother  
with it again," said the boy calmly.  
  
"We aren't going to leave Beryl," snapped Kunzite angrily. The  
others mirrored his angry expression.  
  
"Good, cause that's not what I'm asking," said the boy with a  
small shrug.  
  
"What is it then?" muttered Zocite with a slight blush on his  
face.  
  
"I think I can bring Jadeite back," said the boy calmly.  
  
"So?" snorted Kunzite. "Beryl will just kill him again."  
  
"Not if he's here with me," said Ranma calmly.  
  
Zocite started to laugh. "With you? Are you mad?"  
  
"No, he can lay low with me for a while, until queen bitch calms  
down, or you win this little war you're planning."  
  
Nephrite looked at him for a moment and frowned. "You're serious?"  
  
"All I need to do is find a way to get to him, and get back here  
with him," said the boy calmly.  
  
"Why would you do this?" asked Nephrite coldly.  
  
Ranma merely grinned at him. "To tell the truth, I need his help."  
  
"Pardon?" said Kunzite skeptically.  
  
"Did Nephrite tell you of my last meeting with him?" asked the boy  
calmly.  
  
The trio nodded, Nephrite had a small frown on his face as he did.  
  
"Well, I'm going to start a security business. I like that kind of  
work," said the boy with a small smirk.  
  
"So you need someone older to get things moving," said Kunzite.  
  
"It'll be a lot easier if I have someone older," agreed Ranma.  
  
"There's a motive I can understand," said Zocite cheerfully. He  
looked at his companions and shrugged his shoulders. "Why not?"  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma stepped out of the dark porthole and glanced around in  
confusion. "Where the heck are we?"  
  
"It's a storage room, mostly old junk. Weapons mostly, a lot of  
Mercurian technology. Mostly useless to us, these things can't harm  
the senshi, and magic is more effective," commented Zocite as he  
appeared behind him.  
  
"Where's Jadeite?" said Ranma as he frowned at them.  
  
"He's in the throne room. Beryl should be gone, but I think it  
would be a better idea to make sure before we go waltzing in there  
with you," said Kunzite.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Several moments later, Nephrite waved them into the throne room.  
Jadeites dried out husk was sitting inside a large crystal off to the  
side of the room.  
  
"How do we get him out of there?" asked Ranma coolly.  
  
"Easily enough, if he's revived he should simply come out on his  
own," said Kunzite with a shrug.  
  
"Good," muttered Ranma as he walked up the crystal and put his  
hands up. "I hope this works."  
  
The three generals stepped back in shock as a white light blasted  
out from his palms. After a moment Ranma cut off the beam of energy  
and stepped back from the crystal.  
  
"What was that?" gasped Nephrite in shock.  
  
"I'm not sure, I found it by accident a few weeks ago," said Ranma  
as he watched the crystal. A smile slowly formed on his face as the  
energy did exactly what he had expected. The dead form of Jadeite, was  
quickly being revived. He appeared to be simply sleeping now. After a  
few seconds, the man fell through the outside of the crystal and  
slumped down on the ground, groaning painfully.  
  
"What happened to me? Where am I?" he gasped. His body spasmed,  
and he jerked violently forward. "What?"  
  
Ranma stepped back in shock as something dark and evil looking  
slowly rose from his back, it seemed like a dark shadow almost. It  
screeched at him angrily, and he blasted it with a small ball of white  
light, dispersing it in an instant.  
  
"What was that?" gasped Nephrite in horror.  
  
Ranma narrowed his eyes and frowned. "I don't know. Help me get  
him out of here."  
  
"If we open a porthole in here, Beryl will know about it," said  
Kunzite calmly. "We'd do better to take him back the way we came."  
  
"Did it occur to you that she might ask where he went?" said  
Zocite with a small frown.  
  
"Blame it on me. Tell her I lied to you and said I'd join,"  
replied Ranma calmly. "You brought me to see her, and I escaped."  
  
"That's a little far fetched," snorted Kunzite irritably.  
  
"Not really, the Senshi are trying to kill me after all," said  
Ranma with a small shrug. "We share a common enemy, so things will  
probably go a little smoother if you point that out to her."  
  
"We'll be punished," said Kunzite sourly.  
  
"Not very harshly," noted Nephrite.  
  
"In Beryl's standards, that will be quite painful," said Zocite.  
  
"Relax, we'll be laughing about this in a few weeks," said Ranma  
irritably. This was not the time for a mutiny.  
  
Kunzite and Zocite frowned at this, but helped him lift Jadeite  
and carry him away.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"How stable is this porthole?" asked Ranma as they stood around  
the exit to the Dark Kingdom.  
  
"What do you mean?" snapped Nephrite angrily. It was him who had  
made it, and he looked like he took the comment personally.  
  
"No. I mean, will it take any more energy to transport more?"  
  
"Not really, the energy is in creating and closing the porthole.  
Maintaining it is easy," said the man with a frown on his face.  
  
"Where am I?" muttered Jadeite dumbly.  
  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders and shoved him into the porthole. He  
stumbled forward and fell into it.  
  
"Help me," said Ranma as he began to toss various things through  
the hole. Anything that wasn't nailed down really.  
  
"What are you doing?" said Nephrite dumbly.  
  
"Taking some of this stuff. You said it's not useful to you. I bet  
I can find interesting ways of using it," said the boy as he smirked  
at them.  
  
Kunzite and Zocite shrugged their shoulders and began to toss  
things into the vortex.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Several minutes later, the group walked out and found a large pile  
of objects on top of the fallen Jadeite.  
  
"Oops," said Ranma sheepishly as he dug his friend out.  
  
"Where am I?" muttered Jadeite numbly.  
  
"Relax, I just woke you up from a rather nasty sleep. You'll be  
all right in a few hours," said the pigtailed boy cheerfully.  
  
"What are you going to do with all of this junk?" snorted Zocite  
as he kicked at some of the equipment.  
  
"Some of it I'm going to sell the patents too. Others I'll use in  
my new business," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"Well, have fun," said Kunzite with a small shrug. He and the  
others turned towards the porthole.  
  
"Wait. I haven't thanked you yet," said Ranma as he stood up from  
where he was kneeling and smirked at them evilly.  
  
"Huh?" said Nephrite dumbly.  
  
The trio turned and saw a small multi colored ball of light  
swirling around in his palms. They were standing right beside one  
another in a tight group.  
  
"Moukou Takabishi!" cried Ranma as he blasted the energy forward.  
  
The Dark Generals managed to scream just before it engulfed them.  
The blast died down, and the vortex vanished as it came in contact  
with the energy bolt. After the blast cleared, the three generals were  
lying on the ground in a heap. Three dark shadows were hovering in the  
air just over them.  
  
Ranma smirked and repeated his attack at them. They vanished,  
leaving only a few wisps of dark power behind. "Gotya!"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Jadeite jumped up in shock. A terrified look on his face as he  
gasped for breath suddenly. "Where?" He looked down at himself and  
noticed he was lying in a small cot in a mostly barren room.  
  
"Welcome back Jadeite," said Genaku as he smirked at him. The boy  
was sitting on top of a dresser and eyeing him coldly.  
  
"Where am I?" asked the general.  
  
"It's a hotel room, the others are here too?" said the boy calmly  
as he jumped up. The man glanced around and noticed the other three  
still sleeping on futons along the floor beside him.  
  
"What's happened to me?" he muttered as he held his head for a  
moment and groaned painfully.  
  
"Nothing much, you've been working for Beryl for a while now, and  
when you failed, she sealed you up rather than revive you," said the  
boy with a small shrug. "You're going to stay on earth for a while  
now."  
  
"Beryl?" muttered the man in shocked horror. "I couldn't  
have...how could I? No! It had to be a terrible dream!"  
  
"Heh. I thought so," muttered the boy as he formed a ball of white  
light in his hand. "This is most interesting."  
  
"What did you do?" muttered Jadeite as he looked at the boy for a  
moment.  
  
"It seems I have the ability to break Beryl's hold over you. When  
the other's wake up, I'm going to offer them the same choice I'm about  
to give you. One, you go to the closet on the right, and back to her."  
  
"And the other?" said the man as he glared at the boy.  
  
"You pick the other closet, and stay here with me," said Ranma  
with a small shrug.  
  
Jadeite stood up and looked down at himself. He wasn't wearing  
anything but a pair of boxers. "Wha?"  
  
"Make your choice Jadeite," said Ranma with a slight smirk on his  
face.  
  
Jadeite stood up and opened the closet. He paused and stared at  
the contents in shock. "You're kidding right?"  
  
Ranma merely chuckled and shook his head for a moment.  
  
"Wait in the room next door, the others will make their own  
choice," said Ranma as he nodded at the door that led between the two  
rooms.  
  
Jadeite waited about an hour before Zocite and Kunzite came  
through. They were wearing the same thing he was.  
  
Finally, ten minutes later Nephrite walked in with Ranma behind  
him. All five of them were dressed exactly the same.  
  
Ranma smiled and put four silver cases down in front of them. They  
each took one.  
  
"Well. It looks like we're going to be working together again.  
I've decided to choose my side now. I'm making my own. Beryl will be  
trying too kill us, and the Senshi are still our enemies. They will  
try to destroy us on sight if they can. Don't bother even trying to  
explain things too them at the moment. We'll work out something with  
them later," said Genaku with a small smirk.  
  
"What is this?" said Nephrite as he leaned forward and stared at  
Ranma.  
  
"This is my security force. We're going to become highly  
specialized security guards. An elite force so to speak," said the boy  
with a small shrug. "I rented out these rooms for about two months,  
they'll be our base of operations." He pointed out the pile of  
equipment they had lifted from the supply room.  
  
"We took that much?" said Kunzite in shock.  
  
"Yup," said the boy cheerfully.  
  
"All this for a rent a cop company?" snorted Nephrite.  
  
"No. That's just a front," said Ranma as he put on his shades and  
dusted off his suit jacket. "We're about to become the best kept  
secret in the universe."  
  
The four men stared at him dumbly for a moment. "Huh?"  
  
"We work in secret, we have no names, we don't exist," said Ranma  
coldly. "Welcome to the Men In Black gentlemen." He put a few packs of  
business cards on the table and smiled at them.  
  
"What?" said Kunzite dumbly.  
  
"We're going to become the defenders of Earth once again. The  
senshi are not enough. They can't keep up with all these attacks that  
are happening. Now that Beryl has lost her generals, things are going  
to take a turn for the worst. She'll have to use youma to collect  
energy. That's where we come in. We're protecting the Earth from the  
scum of the universe. Just like old times."  
  
The three men blinked and looked at one another for a moment. They  
each opened the cases they had been given. Inside was a pair of  
sunglasses and a business card.  
  
"N?" muttered Nephrite.  
  
"Z," said Zocite with a small frown.  
  
"I'll bet I'm J. Yup," said Jadeite as he glanced down at his own  
card and smirked.  
  
"That would make me K," said Kunzite.  
  
"Gee I wonder what you might be Genaku," deadpanned Jadeite.  
  
"R actually," said the boy with a shrug. "I go by Ranma these  
days, you should start calling me that. People will think it's weird  
if you call me Genaku."  
  
Ranma walked over too the door that led outside and opened it. He  
stuck his head out and moved back in again.  
  
"Ranma? What's going on?" said Akane as she glanced around in  
confusion. She was dressed in her business suit again, and had an  
impatient frown on her face.  
  
"Sorry. This took a bit longer than expected," said Ranma  
sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. "Guys, meet agent A."  
  
The four men simply waved dumbly. None of them was quite sure what  
to do now.  
  
"Ranma?" asked the girl in confusion. "What is this?"  
  
"You said you wanted a job right?" said the boy with a small  
chuckle. "Well, this is our first day."  
  
He handed her a card and she glanced at it for a moment. "Men In  
Black?" She looked up at him and frowned. "Men?"  
  
"It sounds better than People In Black, or Men In Black and a  
Woman," he said with a smirk. "It's catchy and easy to remember,  
that's all. Don't take it personally."  
  
"Who are these guys?" said the girl irritably as she eyed the four  
men suspiciously.  
  
"Very old friends of mine, don't worry," said Ranma cheerfully as  
he put his shades on and smirked.  
  
"This is a bit much for security guards," commented Akane.  
  
"We're expensive security guards," said Ranma with a shrug. "Don't  
worry, we're fully funded."  
  
"Funded?" said Akane in confusion.  
  
"Give her the speech," said Jadeite cheerfully.  
  
"Yeah, tell her," agreed Nephrite with a small chuckle.  
  
"Jerks," grumbled Ranma as he flashed them a sour frown.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
A few hours later, Ranma sat in front of the television once  
again. He had a scowl on his face as he stared at the screen.  
  
"Men In Black?" grumbled Dan.  
  
"Shut up! It was a good movie!" snapped Carrot.  
  
"This wasn't one of your brighter moments Carrot," said Dan.  
  
"Man, that was stupid," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"Actually, I thought it was kind of nice," said Pissant.  
  
"Whatever, it'll catch on," said Carrot irritably.  
  
"We've decided to be against them both then?" said Dan with a  
small sigh.  
  
"They're both trying to kill us, so why not?" snorted Carrot  
angrily.  
  
"I don't want to fight with the Senshi," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"We don't have much choice. They aren't exactly asking us about  
ourselves before they attack," snorted Carrot.  
  
"I've got to admit, using the security agency as a front was a  
good idea," said Dan with a small sigh.  
  
"What do you think Akane thinks of all this?" asked Carrot.  
  
"We're still keeping a lot of secrets from her," said Dan with a  
small shrug. "We should continue to do so. Some of this is a little  
too far fetched."  
  
"More far fetched than protecting the planet from a bunch of  
invading monsters? With four magically powered warriors, and a whole  
bunch of advanced technology that we managed to get our hands on  
somehow?" asked Carrot.  
  
"Yes," said Dan calmly. "We'll let her in on more when she needs  
to know. It will probably never come up."  
  
"Here's hoping," said Carrot with a heavy sigh.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Akane was lying on her bed and staring at the card. It was a bit  
much, invading monsters and the Sailor Senshi? If it wasn't that weird  
boy who had walked into her life a few months ago, she'd never believe  
it. Still, it surprised her that he'd invited her into something like  
this at all. She wasn't nearly as good as he was at martial arts, and  
she'd felt more like a sidekick recently.  
  
Still, she'd always wanted some sort of adventure in her life.  
Something real, where she could actually use her skills for something  
more meaningful than beating up hormone driven perverts at school.  
  
She flipped over onto her back, looking at the card for a long  
time.  
  
"I guess I'm in," she muttered with a sigh.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Setsuna stood up for the first time in weeks, the green goo that  
had once surrounded her entire body was now dripping from her naked  
form as she stepped out of the healing chamber at last. She had a cold  
scowl on her face as she grabbed a towel that had been set up for her  
and wrapped it around her body.  
  
"Tsuki. Come here," she said quietly.  
  
The girl was in front of her in an instant. "You called me?" She  
bowed her head slightly as she said this.  
  
"Yes, you have done well, despite a few mishaps. I am proud of  
you, but you are not yet ready." Setsuna held out her hand, and the  
girl placed the Time Staff in her hand.  
  
"That was harder than I'd thought it would be," grumbled the girl  
with a small frown.  
  
"Like all things, it grows easier with time. You have plenty of  
time child," said the woman with a slight smirk on her face.  
  
"Yes Mistress," muttered the girl as she perked up and sat down in  
one of the chairs in the room.  
  
Pluto walked towards the time gates and frowned. The image of  
Crystal Tokyo was flickering. "This is not good. It seems I have a lot  
of work to do yet." She snarled and glared into the gates a little  
harder. "Genaku, I know it is him who is causing this. This time, I'll  
destroy him for sure. Nothing will stop me, and I will ensure the  
future of Crystal Tokyo at any cost."  
  
Tsuki watched the scene calmly, a rather bored expression on her  
face. She used to think it was scary at first, but she soon learned  
that the woman was almost always like that when she watched the stream  
of time flow through the gates. The snarling angrily was a bit new  
though.  
  
"Oh well," she said with a small shrug.  
  
++++++++  
  
Meanwhile, on yet another plane...  
  
"Nephrite! Before me!" bellowed Beryl angrily. "Kunzite! Zocite!  
Where are you! If you do not appear before me, I shall destroy you  
all!" She seethed in anger as no response came.  
  
"Where are those imbeciles?" she paused and noticed something off  
to the side of the throne room.  
  
"Where is Jadeite?" she said coldly as she strolled over to the  
empty crystal.  
  
Taped to the front of the crystal, was a small note.  
  
"Dear Beryl, we quit. Signed, Your Generals."  
  
She growled angrily and shook with rage. "This isn't possible!  
How? They shouldn't be able to break my will! It's not possible!"  
  
That was when she noticed a small side note at the bottom of the  
page.  
  
"Hiya! Borrowing your generals for a while! Genaku McTome!" There  
was a small face with its tongue sticking out at her drawn in the  
corner.  
  
She lifted her hands in the air and screamed in rage.  
  
++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: A new threat in Nerima?  
  
Why you might ask?  
  
I decided I liked having the genrals around, and I didn't want to  
kill them off. That's all really. 


	15. Insertion Part 15

Insertion  
  
Part 15  
  
New things...  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma sat in front of a small computer screen in his room. It was  
a laptop, and looked relatively normal. The display gave away  
something more though, it was showing some very advanced plans to some  
kind of electronic device.  
  
"You mean, I can make one?" said Ranma in shock as he stared at it  
in awe.  
  
"Yes," replied the computer with some onscreen text. It had a  
voice option, but Ranma had turned it off to prevent others from  
overhearing.  
  
"Oh man, this is so cool! Can you, I dunno, put out some  
simplified instructions?" he said as he leaned forward and smirked.  
After a moment, his face fell. "Oh boy. This is simplified?"  
  
++++++++++  
  
Akane sat up from where she was lying with a manga in her hands.  
She blinked and looked down at the watch Ranma had given her in  
surprise as it gave a small beep. "The Alarm?" she wondered out loud  
as she pushed the button he had told her too when it happened.  
  
"Hey! Akane," said Ranma's voice.  
  
She jumped in surprise. "What the?" she gasped in shock.  
  
"What? You sound surprised," said the boy with a small chuckle.  
  
"I thought you were kidding!" said the girl in shock.  
  
"Yeah, well now you know better," replied the boy in an amused  
tone.  
  
"Right..." she muttered to herself. She wondered how much of the  
rest of what he had told her was more than a joke. Surely the whole  
mess about having to maybe fight off monsters and senshi was. After  
all, those were just tabloid stories...right?  
  
"Anyway, I'm goin over to see the guys. I got some stuff I want to  
go over with them," said the boy casually.  
  
"Should I come?" she asked nervously. The men were far from ugly,  
but also made her slightly nervous for some reason she couldn't  
explain.  
  
"If you want, but this is technical stuff. I don't really want to  
go myself, it's gonna be pretty boring," he said with a small sigh.  
"Just wanted to test out the watch, and let you know I was going."  
  
"Right, I'll stay here then," said the girl with a small sigh.  
  
"Okay, back later."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"You want me to make some of these?" said Nephrite with a smirk on  
his face.  
  
"You're the techno geek," said Ranma with a shrug.  
  
The man frowned at this and simply sat down. "I hate it when you  
call me that, but I am rather bored."  
  
"How long?" asked Ranma with a smirk on his face.  
  
"With the equipment we stole? Probably about an hour for one,"  
replied the man with a small shrug of his shoulders.  
  
"Great. I want to have a couple for myself and Akane tonight  
then," said the boy cheerfully. "You can make em for the others  
whenever you feel like it, but we're going to need them."  
  
"Oh? What exactly is it?" said Nephrite as he peered at the screen  
for a moment.  
  
"Memory erasers," said Ranma with a small shrug.  
  
"I've never heard of anything like that," replied the man with a  
frown.  
  
"I asked the computer a few questions," replied Ranma with a small  
shrug. "Is this possible? How could I do it if it is? Can I make it  
compact, say the size of a pen? You get the idea."  
  
"Right," commented Nephrite as he tapped a few keys on his own  
keyboard. "I take it these are for adjusting the length of the memory  
you want to erase?" He pointed out several dials along the length of  
the pen like object.  
  
"Basically," said the boy with a small shrug. "I'm more worried  
about parts than anything else," said Ranma with a small frown.  
  
"There's actually nothing too advanced in these things, not by  
Mercury standards anyway," replied Nephrite with a small shrug. "It's  
probably just a case of the need for things like this never coming  
up."  
  
"What's with these two piles?" asked Ranma as he noticed that the  
large dump of equipment was now arranged in two separate areas. They  
had managed to swipe more than two hundred different objects.  
  
"One side is for equipment of kinds," said Nephrite as he pointed  
at the larger pile. "This is weapons."  
  
"Cool," said Ranma cheerfully. He lifted a couple of gun shaped  
objects in his hands and hefted them. "What are these again?" He  
fumbled for the memory for a moment and frowned.  
  
"Plasma guns," replied Nephrite calmly.  
  
"They don't feel like metal," commented the boy with a frown.  
  
"They aren't, they were designed to avoid detection. There's  
nothing in this time that can spot them as far as I know," said the  
man with a small shrug.  
  
"Great, I'll take these then," said Ranma as he put them into his  
belt and covered them with his shirt.  
  
"Good," said Nephrite with a small nod as he began to set up his  
tools.  
  
"Say...this isn't what I think it is...is it?" muttered Ranma as he  
eyed four long round objects that were lined up together. He lifted  
one up in his hand, and pushed a button on the side. It emitted a  
small snap and a blade of light burst from the top. "No way."  
  
"Like that do you?" said Nephrite with a small chuckle.  
  
Ranma turned it off and put it back down, noticing a particularly  
long one. "Heh. This one is better. It'll fit in with my new way of  
fighting better." There was a double snapping sound as the blades on  
either end came to life, creating a bladed staff of light.  
  
"Oh yes, the martial arts thing," said Nephrite coolly as he  
started to work.  
  
"Yup," commented Ranma as he picked up a few clips and hooked them  
onto his belt. "Where are the others?"  
  
"The bar down the street," said Nephrite. "I was there, but it's  
pretty boring tonight."  
  
"Right," said Ranma cheerfully. "I know you don't want me around  
while you're working, so I'll go hang out for a few hours then."  
  
"When I'm done, I'll leave them on the table for you. I'm getting  
kind of tired actually. I'm interested enough to stay up and see how  
this comes out though." Nephrite chuckled a bit and hunched over to  
really begin.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma was walking home cheerfully, his hands in his pockets as he  
strolled down the street. His sunglasses were rather unusual looking  
for as late as it was getting.  
  
"Aiya! Destructo!" cried a familiar voice. "Shampoo find you at  
last!" The Amazon rushed up to grab the boy, and he turned to face her  
with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Hey, look at this for a second would you?" he asked calmly as he  
held up what appeared to be a large silver pen. It flipped up and she  
noticed a small red set of crystals on the top half.  
  
The girl paused in mid glomp and blinked. "What is talking?"  
  
There was a flash of red light, and the pigtailed boy waved his  
hand in front of her face for a moment before smiling. "Heh. You  
passed a guy on the street who kind of looked like me, it wasn't  
really me though, and you just went back to what you were doing." He  
turned away and started walking again, leaving her standing there  
dumbly.  
  
Shampoo blinked and seemed to jump awake suddenly. "Aiya. Almost  
thought was Airen..." she muttered as she continued on her way.  
  
Ranma chuckled to himself as he heard her. The rather unpleasant  
gleam in his eyes was hidden away by his shades.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"A what?" muttered Akane in shock.  
  
"A memory eraser. Look, it works like this." The boy pulled his  
own out and opened her door, causing Nabiki too fall into the room  
with a glass in her hand.  
  
"I um...was thirsty..." muttered the girl.  
  
"Sunglasses," said Ranma calmly.  
  
Akane put hers on, and looked at him for a moment in confusion.  
  
Ranma flashed the light in Nabiki's face causing her to go blank.  
  
"Nabiki, you just overheard us talking about...losing our  
virginity to each other, without any strings attached."  
  
"What!?" cried Akane angrily.  
  
"Akane! Don't you dare! I mean...um...I was just passing by...and  
I heard...you wouldn't would you?" gasped the girl as she clutched her  
sister's shoulders.  
  
The girl simply stared at her in horror.  
  
Ranma was behind her back, pointing at his memory eraser with a  
grin on his face.  
  
The young girl nodded, and pointed it at her sister. Another flash  
of light later the girl was standing dumbly in front of her.  
  
"You didn't hear anything interesting at all, and fell through the  
door when you tried to stand up and tripped," said Akane with a dark  
frown on her face. She turned her head towards Ranma and stuck her  
tongue out at him. "Pervert!"  
  
"Hiya Nabiki, any in particular reason you came in here?" said the  
boy cheerfully as he turned to look at the girl.  
  
She had a huge blush on her face and turned away. "I just tripped,  
that's all. Sorry." She shuffled away and left them alone.  
  
"Where did you get this?" said the girl as she stared at the  
strange object in awe.  
  
"It's actually called a Neuralizer. Nephrite made it for me, he's  
good at stuff like that," replied the boy with a shrug.  
  
"Oh," said the girl as she sat down on her bed. "So, what time do  
we leave?"  
  
"About two hours," said Ranma cheerfully. "The party only lasts  
about two hours, it's some private invitation thing. We should be just  
for show this time. Museum security will take over after it's over."  
  
"Oh, okay," said the girl with a small shrug. "I'll be ready  
then."  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"This is it?" muttered Akane as she stared at the mask for a  
moment. It was in the lobby of the museum, and was encased in glass on  
a pedestal.  
  
"Yeah," muttered Ranma uncomfortably.  
  
"Something wrong?" asked the girl as she turned to face him.  
  
"It's nothing, I've just seen something like this before. It was  
bad news," replied the boy calmly.  
  
"What? Is it cursed or something?" asked the girl with a small  
snort.  
  
Ranma merely nodded silently as he peered at it. It was simple  
enough, a flat face made out of wood, with a strip of metal running  
from the forehead to the tip of the nose.  
  
"Don't tell me you believe in stuff like that," said the girl with  
a small chuckle.  
  
"Go get me a glass of water, and I'll show you," said Ranma  
calmly.  
  
Akane blinked and turned to look at the thing for a moment. "I  
never thought of it that way."  
  
"Well, nothing should happen we can't handle during the party. You  
kind of have to wear it for it to do anything to you as I recall."  
  
The pair turned towards the doors as they were opened and guests  
started to enter. They took their positions and prepared for a long  
boring stay.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"I don't believe it!" said Carrot excitedly. "This is so cool!"  
  
"What? It's just some stupid mask," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"What's the big deal?" grumbled Dan.  
  
"It's the Mask. The Mask."  
  
"So?" snorted Ranma.  
  
"You don't understand, this thing is really cursed. It turns  
people into a sort of invincible demon thing, but it isn't really  
evil. It bases what it does to you on your deepest desires. Some  
people would become a superhero, others would become a sort of  
monster. It's pretty cool, but I don't think it would be good to have  
it running around."  
  
"I think you've read too many comics," snorted Dan irritably.  
  
"I think it's kind of pretty," said Pissant.  
  
"That cruddy old thing?" snorted Dan.  
  
"Well, in an oldish kinda way," said the voice sheepishly.  
  
"I wonder what it would do to us?" said Ranma.  
  
"We'd probably short it out or something, there's too many of us,"  
said Carrot with a small chuckle.  
  
"Anyway, things are looking good so far," said Dan as he peered at  
the crowd. "Not near as many as that diamond."  
  
"Well, who want's to play charades?" asked Carrot.  
  
"You dope, we can't see each other!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Twenty questions?" offered Pissant.  
  
"How about the quiet game?" said Dan irritably.  
  
"Hey! That sounds fun!" cheered Pissant.  
  
"What the heck is that?" muttered Ranma.  
  
"We see who can shut up for the longest. First one to talk loses,"  
said Dan.  
  
Carrot said nothing, and resisted the urge to hang their head in  
shame as Ranma and Pissant instantly agreed to the game.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma and Akane walked out of the museum, the job completed.  
  
"Well, that's that," said the girl with as she walked down to the  
taxi waiting for them below.  
  
"Somehow, I doubt it," said Ranma with a frown on his face. He  
looked back at the doors and started after her.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"Ranma! How dare you take my little girl on such a dangerous job!"  
cried Soun angrily as he appeared in front of the boy.  
  
Ranma frowned and picked up the man's keys from a small table by  
the door. He reached over and put them into his pocket.  
  
"What are you doing son?" snapped Soun angrily.  
  
The boy then raised his neuralizer and flashed the man in his  
face. "You were looking for your keys to go somewhere, but can't find  
them."  
  
"Are you sure that's okay?" said Akane as she stepped by her  
father.  
  
"Relax," said Ranma as he strolled up to his room.  
  
After a moment, Soun was moving through the home, muttering about  
not being able to find something.  
  
"Daddy? What are you doing?" said Nabiki as she walked down the  
stairs to find him rummaging through a pile of magazines.  
  
"Looking for my keys, I can't find them," said the man irritably.  
  
"What do you need them for?" she said as she arched her eyebrow  
slightly.  
  
"I was going to go somewhere...but..."  
  
"Go somewhere?" she said as she looked up at the clock. It was  
after midnight.  
  
"If only I could remember where I was going!" said Soun angrily as  
he continued his search.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Stop right there!" cried one of the security guards. The dark  
clad figure was standing over the broken remains of the glass case  
used to house the mask. It was firmly in his grip, and he spun around.  
  
  
"Shit! I didn't expect them to be so fast!" grumbled the man as he  
rushed towards the front doors. They were locked, but also made of  
glass. He burst into the street and started running. Unfortunately, he  
never saw the truck that was speeding down the road. "Huh?" It was all  
he managed to get out before it slammed into him.  
  
The mask sailed from his dead hand, and into a nearby drainage  
ditch. It floated away, bobbing up and down in the water as it went.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
"He's been like this all night?" muttered Akane as she stared at  
her father in shock. Soun was scouring the floor under the table, in  
search of his elusive keys. His eyes were bloodshot, and tears were  
running down his face. The entire living room was destroyed by his mad  
search.  
  
Ranma stood just behind her. "I never thought he'd take it this  
far," he grumbled irritably.  
  
"This is your fault!" snapped the girl as she spun around to face  
him.  
  
"Calm down! I'm sorry!" he said with a small frown. "Look, it's  
not like he's got a job to go to, or classes to teach. He can go to  
sleep anytime he needs too. I didn't mean for this too happen, but  
getting mad about it won't fix anything. We'll just have to be more  
careful in the future."  
  
Akane stomped away from him and he sighed. "Great."  
  
Soun sat down at the table, running his hands through his hair in  
frustration.  
  
"Um, hi," said Ranma as he sat down next to him. Kasumi was  
setting out breakfast, and Nabiki was simply staring at her father in  
fascination.  
  
"Good morning Ranma. Tell me, have you seen my keys?"  
  
"They aren't in the dojo either, Tendo," said Genma as he walked  
back into the room and frowned. "I've got no idea where they might  
be."  
  
Ranma began to sweat nervously as Akane gave him an angry glare.  
"Um? Mr. Tendo? Did you check your pocket? I do that sometimes with  
stuff."  
  
Soun blinked at him and then frowned. "What are you saying? I'm  
not that absent..." He reached into his pocket and came up with the  
missing keys.  
  
Everyone stared at him for a moment, and he hung his head for a  
moment, and then lifted his head into the air and screamed before he  
passed out.  
  
"He took that rather well," said Kasumi sweetly.  
  
Ranma was looking rather uncomfortable under Akane's harsh glare.  
"Sorry," he muttered again.  
  
"Don't be, he'd have kept looking for those keys for days. This  
isn't the first time this has happened," commented Nabiki as she  
started to eat.  
  
Everyone looked at her, the three Tendo sisters looked rather  
embarrassed. Ranma and Genma merely looked confused.  
  
"I guess it wasn't as bad as I'd thought," said Ranma with a shrug  
as he started to eat as well.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
"Give us your lunch money punk!" screamed one of the trio of  
masked boys standing around Hikaru Gosunkugi.  
  
"But, then I won't be able to buy lunch!" whined the boy  
pathetically.  
  
"So you're hungry are you?" said one of the masked boys  
arrogantly.  
  
"Well, not at the moment," said Hikaru as he scratched the back of  
his head nervously.  
  
"Well then, you can eat my shoe!" cried another one of the boys as  
he kicked the rather pathetic boy in his gut.  
  
"No! Don't hit me again! You can have it! I probably won't get  
hungry anyway!"  
  
"Too late for that! I think you need a drink to go with that!"  
snapped the lead gang member.  
  
"Huh?" muttered Hikaru dumbly as he found himself lifted into the  
air by the trio. They tossed him over the fence, and into the drainage  
ditch, laughing crudely as he floundered about in the water.  
  
Hikaru stumbled back to his feet, finding himself knee deep in  
water. He clenched his fists and cried. He tried to stop, but it was  
just too much. He smirked a bit as he looked down at his school bag.  
"At least I've still got my lunch money." He paused as something  
struck him on the leg. A quick glance down revealed a small wooden  
mask. It was floating against his leg, staying in place as the water  
flowed on behind him. "What the?" He lifted it up and shook some of  
the water off, peering at it in confusion. "What's this? Some old  
mask?"  
  
He was about to toss it over his shoulder, when something stopped him.  
Not certain why, he put the mask into his bag, and started to climb  
out of the ditch.  
  
++++++++++  
  
A short time later, a bit further down the road.  
  
"Hey little girl, goin to school?"  
  
"Y-yes..."  
  
"Did daddy give you any lunch money?"  
  
"A little...why?"  
  
"I think you should give it to us."  
  
"But..."  
  
"Come on, be a good little girl and give us you're money."  
  
"What the heck is she doin?"  
  
"Look kid. You'd better give it up, or else my friends and I are  
gonna have to get mean. We're nice guy's see..." The mask wearing  
bully made the mistake of grabbing Hotaru by her collar.  
  
"Let go," she said quietly as she put her arm between his and  
snagged his wrist. With a simple twist, he was pulled down to the  
ground and held firmly in place.  
  
"Haw! Getting beat up by a little shrimp!" cried another of the  
bullies. He poked at her with his finger.  
  
Hotaru wasted no time, she released her first victim and snagged  
him before he could react, pulling down with her hand, and tapping his  
wrist, dislocating the finger.  
  
"Ouch! You little shit!" screamed the boy angrily.  
  
"Get her you idiots!" snapped the lead gang member.  
  
The trio rushed forward on full assault.  
  
Hotaru merely stepped back, her hand flew out and she snagged one  
of the outstretched punches, redirecting the momentum so that it  
slammed into one of his friends.  
  
"Little..." That was as far as he got. Hotaru snagged his wrist  
and spun around fluidly, twisting her own weight and flipping him over  
almost casually. There was a snapping sound as the boy's wrist broke,  
causing him to scream in pain.  
  
The first boy was back on his feet, he pulled a knife out and  
glared at her. "Now I'm gonna have to cut ya ta teach ya a lesson!"  
  
Hotaru narrowed her eyes as he dove for her. She shifted back,  
extending her leg out into his solar plexus, and grabbed his arm. In a  
single fluid motion, she cause him to stab his own leg and rolled  
under him as he fell.  
  
The trio was lying on the ground, groaning in pain as she strolled  
away towards her school calmly. Her face was a mask of complete ice as  
she left them there. After a moment, she seemed to snap out of it and  
gasped for breath.  
  
"Saotome-sensei was right. I'm going to have to work harder, I'm  
really tired," she moved over to a small set of stairs on an apartment  
building and sat down for a moment to catch her breath.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
On a distant world, far away from the Earth...  
  
"Where the hell am I?" snarled Ryoga as he continued to walk  
through the wilderness.  
  
A hissing noise caught his attention, and he turned to glare at  
the things that were following him.  
  
"Don't you ever give up?" he snarled.  
  
The things hissed at him, there were about a dozen of them. They  
were eight feet tall, with black skin and no eyes. One of them opened  
its jaws, revealing another set inside that slid outward  
threateningly.  
  
Ryoga snorted and put up his fists. "I don't have all day you  
know."  
  
The things charged him in a swarm, and he screamed in rage as he  
met them.  
  
A moment later, a loud chorus of screeching noises sounded, and  
the things scurried away in terror. Ryoga was standing unharmed and  
glaring at them as they ran.  
  
"Don't come back this time!" he called after them as he shook his  
fist in the air. "Stupid things, like giant ants or something." He  
continued on his way, trying to find his way into Nerima once again.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Senshi vs. MIB?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	16. Insertion Part 16

First off, a little Question and answer session.  
  
Q: Where's the new part of Rain?  
  
A: I haven't forgotten Rain, but the new chapter is coming slowly  
along. I'm working out a few details about what's going to happen over  
the last part of the story. When I get it all worked out, you'll see  
the rest of it. [Not Writers block, I'm just plotting it out  
carefully.]  
  
Q: Why are you working on this then?  
  
A: Cause I feel like it. Leeme alone.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Insertion  
  
Part 16  
  
Big Business  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome sat in front of two elderly men. They were inside a  
large office on the top floor of a skyscraper in Tokyo. He had a  
briefcase resting in his lap, and a smug looking grin on his face. One  
had a long gray beard, and an intimidating appearance about him. The  
other was twenty years younger and had a thick set of eyeglasses on,  
both were dressed in business suits. The man with the beard was  
sitting behind a large intimidating desk.  
  
"Where did you get this?" said the two men as they both peered  
down at the large holographic image that was generated by a small  
machine in front of them. Basically, a television from the silver  
millenium, created by scientist from the planet thousands of years  
before.  
  
"I confiscated it from some visitors from out of the country,"  
replied Ranma calmly.  
  
"You stole it?" said the man with a frown on his face.  
  
"Now that is a secret," replied the boy with a small wag of his finger.  
"However, the original owners will not be looking for it anytime soon."  
  
One of the men looked uncomfortable with this and sat back in his  
chair. "How do you know this?"  
  
"Because they have been dead for some time now," replied the boy  
with a small shrug.  
  
"I suppose I could buy it from you," replied the other man with a  
sour looking frown as he stroked at his beard calmly. "I'll give you  
sixty million yen."  
  
Ranma snorted in disgust. "Right. I give you that for a drop in  
the bucket? The patents involved with just the parts in that machine  
alone will ensure your business for decades. If you release them  
slowly, a piece at a time, you will quickly become the most powerful  
force in the technology industry. I'm not a fool."  
  
The man with the glasses narrowed his eyes at the boy and frowned.  
"You claim to have murdered the original owner of this, and now you  
make demands? You should be so lucky I offered that much."  
  
"I said he was dead. I never claimed that I killed him," replied  
the boy calmly. "How I got my hands on that is my business. I've got  
several offers from your competitors already. If you don't meet my  
demands, all of which were very nearly met by your competitors by the  
way, I will leave."  
  
"And what are your demands?" snorted the old man bitterly.  
  
"Fifteen percent of your stock, and twenty billion yen," replied  
Ranma coldly.  
  
"Are you insane?" snapped the bearded man as he jumped out of his  
seat.  
  
"No? Oh, I suppose I'll just sell this to the man who offered me  
ten percent, and nineteen billion yen. I hope your company can survive  
against someone who's putting out that kind of technology..."  
  
The old man stared down at the device hatefully. It was no bigger  
than a CD player, the image looked real enough to touch, and the disks  
it played were no larger than a quarter. They were capable of holding  
information thousands of times greater than a DVD disk according to the boy.   
Those two patents alone could do more than make up the loss in capital in just  
one year. The power supply was unlike anything he had seen before  
either. It looked a bit like a fuse, but held a brightly glowing light  
inside  
  
"I don't believe this..." he muttered under his breath.  
  
"I'm not interested in taking over your company. I'll liquidate  
the stocks once I'm satisfied with the gains this technology will make  
over the next few years. I've got plans of my own, and can't be  
bothered with marketing this myself," said Ranma with a cold smile on  
his face. "So, I'm selling it to the highest bidder."  
  
The old man chuckled to himself, nodding his head. "I like you.  
I'll match the other offer, plus tack on two percent to the stock.  
You've got a bright future ahead of you young man. I'd offer you a  
job, but you're to wealthy for that now."  
  
"That's nice to know, but I'm not an idiot," said Ranma coolly.  
"Have your secretary send in the man who accompanied me."  
  
The old man arched his brow at this and pressed a button on his  
desk. "Midori, send in the other gentleman please."  
  
After a few moments Jadeite walked into the room. "You summoned  
me?" he commented with a slight smirk on his face.  
  
"I'm still a minor, you'd have refused the stock options and  
probably the money as well. You'd have sited that the contract was  
invalid," said the boy with a small shrug.  
  
"Everything will go in this man's name, just to ensure that you  
don't try and refuse payment later on," said Ranma with a small  
chuckle.  
  
"The paperwork may take some time, a few days..." started the old  
man.  
  
"You have one hour. I think I'll wait here," said the boy calmly  
as he crossed his arms. "Don't treat me like I'm some green moron, old  
man."  
  
The younger man turned completely red in anger and clenched his  
fists. "How dare you?!"  
  
"Calm down," said the old man calmly. "This is too much for us to  
pass up. It's obvious that this technology isn't from this planet.  
There's too much for it to be some secret project from a competitor,  
or even something he stole from the military."  
  
"You're smarter than you look old man," said Ranma calmly as he  
smiled at him.  
  
Jadeite narrowed his eyes at them for a moment.  
  
"Yes, and you are a fool. You realize that this room is always  
under surveillance? I have this entire conversation recorded in  
countless ways. More than enough to convict you of espionage,  
blackmail, and numerous other small crimes, possibly including  
murder." The old man gave them a passing smirk. "I think sixty million  
is a nice sum, don't you agree?" The old man looked up to his lackey,  
who was now grinning back at him.  
  
"Fool," snorted Ranma calmly. "You don't think that's the only  
thing I confiscated do you?"  
  
"I don't see how that can help you," said the old man coldly.  
  
"I think it can, Jadeite," said Ranma coolly.  
  
The former youma general pulled a sleek looking weapon from his  
coat. It looked like a handgun from some old sci-fi movie.  
  
Both men froze where they stood.  
  
"I wouldn't hit the panic alarm hidden under your desk either,"  
said Ranma. He pointed at the silver tie pin on his clothes. "That  
weapon is a rather nasty way to die. It vaporizes your entire body  
rather slowly. It leaves no bodies behind, and no projectile. Show him  
Jadeite."  
  
The man merely nodded, and shot the computer that was sitting on  
the man's desk. A small ball of energy flashed from the weapon's  
barrel, and began to burn its way slowly across the plastic. Slowly,  
the computer vanished away, leaving only a few wisps of smoke behind.  
  
The old man gasped in shock and horror.  
  
"This tie pin, is a cloaking device. It prevents my voice from  
being recorded, and my picture from being taken clearly. I'm nothing  
but a bunch of white noise, and some weird looking blobs of black on  
any surveillance you might have."  
  
"This is..." stammered the younger man as he moved between Jadeite  
and his boss.  
  
"Calm down. I'm not threatening you. If you want us to leave, we  
will, but we're taking that with us. You just need to understand where  
you stand in respect to threatening me. You see, I can kill you  
without leaving a shred of evidence behind. I'm not interested in  
that, what I want is a business deal. If you aren't willing, I'll go  
somewhere else."  
  
The old man looked at his companion and sighed. "Stand down. I  
shall...comply."  
  
Ranma smiled cheerfully. "Good! I'm glad to hear that! Shall we  
start the paperwork?"  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Are you sure that was necessary?" grumbled Jadeite irritably.  
  
"Calm down, it's not like we haven't done it six times today,"  
replied Ranma. "None of the other companies even remember that we  
were ever there."  
  
"Fine, but still. Why my name?"  
  
"Simple, we're going to divide the money and stocks up between the  
four of you," replied Ranma with a shrug as they walked down the  
street. "I want you in charge of the stocks though."  
  
"What about you?" said the man with a small frown.  
  
"I'm going to wait until I'm old enough to own property. This  
money isn't just to live comfortably you know. We're going to need a  
base of operations for one. Transportation would be nice too."  
  
"Company cars?" muttered Jadeite.  
  
"Right," said the boy calmly in reply.  
  
"So? We don't have to worry about money then," said Jadeite with a  
small nod.  
  
"Right, that was the point. Now we don't have to worry about  
finding jobs, we can build a client base and work only choice jobs.  
It'll make us look elite, we'll overcharge and pick our work. That'll  
free us up for other things, like our real mission."  
  
"Why bother with the security thing at all then?" said Jadeite in  
confusion.  
  
"Mostly too keep the Tendos and Genma from getting suspicious.  
We've got access to a lot of money. I'm still a minor, so having a  
bank account of my own is dangerous with that fat leech around. That's  
why I need you for this. The four of us are going to have a joint  
account."  
  
"Right, I get it," said Jadeite calmly.  
  
"The business is also a cover for the government," said Ranma with  
a smirk on his face. "We're going to pay taxes, get the licenses  
required, and everything else. We're even going to hire a few men to  
take care of jobs while we're doing the real work."  
  
"How can I have a bank account? I don't exist," said Jadeite with  
a small frown.  
  
"Nephrite already took care of that, he should have everything you  
need for identification ready by now. All that stuff is computerized  
now, and with the mercury computers..."  
  
"Right, too easy I suppose," snorted the man.  
  
"You've got it," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"So, where's this base?" asked Jadeite.  
  
"There," said Ranma as he pointed at a skyscraper nearby. "We're  
going to rent out one floor. You guys are going to need housing too,  
that hotel isn't cutting it."  
  
"Tell me about it," muttered Jadeite irritably.  
  
"We can afford something a little better than normal folks," said  
Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"You too?" asked Jadeite.  
  
"No. I think I'll stay where I'm at until I finish school," said  
Ranma with a small smirk.  
  
"We're going to set up the teleporter then?" said Jadeite  
cheerfully.  
  
"Yup," said Ranma as he nodded in reply. "Come on, I'm hungry."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Hikaru Gosunkugi sat in his room, staring at the wooden mask. It  
rested in his palm as he sat on his bed and simply looked into the  
eyes. "I don't know why I even kept this thing. It just makes me  
remember those guys." He snorted and tossed it onto the sheets as he  
laid back and spread out his body over the mattress.  
  
"If only one of these spells would work," he grumbled as he looked  
over at the rows and rows of books that sat inside a small bookcase.  
All of them were useless, even the ones he recently acquired about  
voodoo. "Then I'd show em. I bet even Akane would notice me."  
  
He frowned and rolled onto his side, staring at the wall  
hatefully. "This stinks."  
  
That was when something caught his eye. The mask was now face down  
on his sheets, and a strange shimmering could be seen on the inside.  
He lifted it up in his hands and frowned as he looked at it.  
  
"What is this? What's this thing made of?" He pulled it closer, to  
get a closer look at the strangely shining interior of the mask.  
  
That was when it reached out and grabbed his face. He screamed and  
pulled at it desperately, but it clung on, moving onto his head more  
firmly. Flailing about desperately he fell off of his bed and rolled  
across the floor. His screams died down as he ripped it away and  
tossed it across the room. He sat on the floor, staring at it in  
horror. "What the hell?"  
  
"Hikaru! Hikaru dear? Are you all right?" said his mother's voice  
from outside the door. She knocked quietly and tried the knob,  
naturally it was locked.  
  
"I'm fine! Just a bad dream!" he called.  
  
"Are you sure?" said his mother in a worried tone.  
  
"Yeah, it's over now," he muttered more to himself than her.  
  
"Okay. If you're sure," she said as she turned away and left him.  
  
"What is that thing?" muttered the boy as he stood up and  
scrambled over to the other side of the bed, staring at it in horror.  
He stayed that way for a long time. Finally he mustered up enough  
courage to throw a shirt over the top of it. He then lifted it into  
his arms and tossed it into his closet, slamming the door shut. He  
leaned against it panting for breath for another long moment. "You can  
stay in there for a while, until I figure out how to get rid of you."  
  
++++++++++  
  
Hotaru smiled up at her sensei as she fought with him in the back  
yard. Naturally, he was going easy on her, but she still put up a good  
fight despite the difference in size and power. It was nothing more  
than light sparring to him, but a full blown workout for the little  
girl.  
  
Ranma smirked as he tossed a few new things at her in the mix of  
blows. She countered them without missing a beat and he jumped away.  
"Very good."  
  
"Thank you Saotome-sensei," said the girl with a polite bow.  
  
He walked up to her and she jumped into the attack again, her face  
growing ice cold. "Haaaa!"  
  
"What the?" muttered Ranma as he backed away from the assault. "I  
didn't teach her this!"  
  
"You bastard!" she said coldly. "What do you think you're doing  
here?"  
  
"Hotaru?" muttered the boy dumbly.  
  
Ranma countered a quick strike to his groin and jumped away with  
his eyes growing wide in surprise. "No! Saturn! What's she doing up?"  
  
Carrot and Dan both voiced surprise at this. Ranma pushed them  
away and jumped down into the yard. "Saturn."  
  
"Genaku," she replied with her cold smile growing a bit larger.  
  
"Well, it has been a while," said the boy with a small nod.  
  
"Of course it has, we've been dead for a while," retorted the girl  
calmly.  
  
"So, you're waking up are you? You shouldn't just yet," said Ranma  
with a smirk on his face. "Beryl isn't even dead yet."  
  
"You've been hanging around the senshi of Pluto too much," she  
replied curtly.  
  
Ranma chuckled at this and shook his head. "Well, I suppose I  
have. Not much choice in the matter actually."  
  
"I'm not fully merged with this girl yet," said Saturn with a  
small frown. "I shouldn't be talking to you, according to her anyway."  
  
"Well, we both know what I think of her predictions," said Ranma  
with another chuckle. "So, how've you been?"  
  
"This world is pleasant enough," replied the girl with a small  
shrug. "How is my favorite Uncle doing?"  
  
"Oh? I'm your favorite? I always thought you liked Jadeite. He was  
the one who took care of you when you were on Earth. Reading you  
stories, putting you to bed, keeping you out of the older senshi's  
hair..."  
  
"True, but the only time I had any real fun was when I was with  
you," said the girl with her cold smile growing a bit more.  
  
"Aye, I remember that," said Ranma with a cold glare of his own.  
"Good times those were."  
  
"You taught me the value of a good fight, and how to enjoy the  
looks on our enemy's faces when we ate their comrade's hearts."  
  
"Well, 'twas only that one time..." muttered Ranma with a slight  
blush. "Serenity gave me a right nasty tongue lashing for that  
episode..."  
  
"Not that it stopped you," said the little girl with a small  
chuckle. She paused and stared at him for a moment. "We have eaves  
droppers?"  
  
"Aye, three of the bastards. Livin inside me head they are. Can't  
figure out how the bloody hell they got in. Oh well, they're bright  
lads. One after me own heart, one too smart for me own good, and the  
other..."  
  
"The other?" asked Saturn with her eyebrow arched slightly.  
  
"I'd just as soon be rid o him," snorted the man calmly.  
  
"Hey, you ain't the only one not happy with this arrangement you  
know," said Ranma to himself.  
  
"Well, you seem to be quite the little community," said Hotaru  
calmly as she turned around for a moment.  
  
"Just think of us as his annoying room mates," said Ranma with an  
unusual smirk on his face.  
  
"Do you have any idea who I am boy?" said Saturn as she turned to  
glare at him.  
  
"Yeah. Senshi of Saturn, bringer of silence and all that. Big  
whoop," said Ranma as he raised his hands into the air in a sarcastic  
gesture.  
  
"I could destroy you with a thought," she snarled.  
  
"Not without killing your old friend too," commented the boy as  
his face changed into a hard frown. "I doubt if you'll destroy an  
entire planet just to kill me. You'll find hitting us with anything  
less more difficult than you think."  
  
"Heh, no fear at all," said Saturn as her face suddenly became a  
bright smile. "I like this one, or is it two of you?"  
  
"Pissant hasn't said much," said Ranma casually. "This is an  
interesting development though. Planning on joining your girlfriends?"  
  
"Hardly. Those twits are letting Pluto lead them around as if she  
had a leash on them. I won't be a part of that, I am beyond her scope  
of influence."  
  
"That's good to hear. I'd offer to let you work with us, but daddy  
wouldn't like that much," said Ranma with a smirk forming on his face.  
"Maybe later, but for now. I think you should go back to playing  
little girl."  
  
"I'm not playing. The girl Hotaru, has not realized that I exist  
yet. Think of me as a split personality of sorts. I'm the memory  
stored away in the back of her mind. I don't know what woke me up, but  
I shouldn't be like this. I should have gradually merged with her over  
time, never realizing my own consciousness."  
  
"I can think of a few reasons, and they're all my fault," said  
Ranma with a small nod.  
  
"Oh?" said the girl with a slightly questioning frown.  
  
"Contact with that chi ball could have done it, or even just the  
training itself. You using your powers before Mistress Nine tried to  
take over your body could have done it as well."  
  
"Using my powers?" said the girl as she arched her eyebrow yet  
again.  
  
"Yeah. Three boys found dead on your route to school about two  
days ago. Broken hand, dislocated finger, and a knife wound to the  
leg. None of the wounds were fatal, but they died somehow anyway. I  
believe their hearts exploded."  
  
"I though it best that the child didn't know about that," said  
Saturn with a small nod.  
  
"Good idea," said Ranma with a smirk on his face. "Taking them out  
was a good idea too, they probably would have tried again for revenge.  
They seemed like the type."  
  
"I thought it was best to eliminate them, just in case. I couldn't  
be sure if I could have surfaced again. It was better not to risk it,"  
agreed the girl with a small nod.  
  
"I agree, but I doubt if you're just going to go away," said Ranma  
with a smirk on his face. "Be more careful in the future. We don't  
want to attract a lot of attention."  
  
Hotaru just smiled at him and nodded. Deep down she knew that she  
was just posing at the moment, and she hated that. It had taken all of  
her power just to eliminate those boys. Using her other powers at the  
moment was out of the question, she had to bide her time and wait.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Well, that was interesting," commented Carrot sourly as they went  
back to the dojo.  
  
"How did she know we were in here? None of the other senshi  
noticed," said Dan irritably.  
  
"I'm not sure," said Ranma. "I think it's because she knew us the  
best. Out of all the Senshi, I used to hang around her the most."  
  
"Eew. I can't believe it, you're a..." said Carrot in disgust.  
  
"That isn't very nice," agreed Pissant.  
  
"Shut up!" cried Ranma as he punched them in the face. "It wasn't  
like that at all you jerks!"  
  
"Calm down, Carrot was joking, and Pissant is an idiot," said Dan.  
"Still, they are right. This could be a problem, or it could work out.  
Too early to tell yet."  
  
"Come on, let's go pick up the guys," said Carrot. "We need to  
start setting things up tonight."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Not bad," said Jadeite as he looked around the empty office. He  
was pushing a large overloaded handcart into the room and shoved it  
aside as he strolled through the area. It was on the top floor of one  
of the smaller skyscrapers in Tokyo. There was nothing on the entire  
floor other than them. "So, this is the new place?"  
  
"Right," said Ranma with a short nod as he walked in behind him  
with a cart of his own. "We need to start setting up."  
  
"We'll get the teleporter running at least," agreed Nephrite as he  
pushed a cart full of equipment into the room. Kunzite and Zocite  
followed doing the same thing.  
  
"Well, I've seen worse," commented Zocite with a small frown.  
  
"We aren't royalty any more you know. We have to take care of  
things like this ourselves," said Kunzite as he frowned at the man in  
reply.  
  
"I suppose you're right," said Zocite with a small nod.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
About an hour and a half later, the carts were unloaded. Most of  
the equipment was spread out along the floor now, and a few things  
were set up already. One of which was a circular pad on the floor in  
one of the back offices. It had a small machine hooked up to it on top  
of a short pedestal.  
  
"So, this is the teleporter?" said Ranma as he glanced at it for a  
moment. "I remember it being...bigger..."  
  
"The ones used on starships are a bit more yes," confirmed  
Jadeite. "This one is for short range use. Why do you think we weren't  
using it to transport ourselves here?"  
  
"Okay, so? What's the range?" said Ranma as he turned to look at  
the man for a moment.  
  
"It'll take you anywhere in Japan, but that's about it," replied  
Jadeite with a small shrug.  
  
Ranma was about to respond when Nephrite burst into the room.  
"We've got something on the scanners."  
  
Jadeite and Ranma rushed out of the room and looked at the  
holographic display from the back of one of the mercury computers. It  
was a map of the city, and a flashing red dot was easily visible in  
one of the streets.  
  
"Youma?" asked Ranma carefully.  
  
"Yup," said Nephrite as he began to work at the keys for a moment.  
  
"Should we go?" asked Zocite with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Of course," said Kunzite as he smiled darkly. "We can't let those  
senshi get there before us."  
  
Ranma put on his shades and started towards the transporter room.  
"Let's go then." He paused in front of it and pulled the glasses off  
of his face. "I always wondered how no one ever recognized those  
Senshi," he commented as he pushed a small button on the inside of the  
frames.  
  
"What? Did you think it was magic?" asked Zocite with a small  
snort of amusement.  
  
"I suppose not," commented the boy as he stepped onto the pad.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Um, now what?" said Usagi as she hid behind a dumpster with Rei  
and Makoto.  
  
"We've got to get rid of that thing!" muttered Makoto angrily as  
she peered around the corner for a moment.  
  
The thing was currently holding a car over its head and tearing it  
in half with its claws. It was an insect like creature, looking rather  
like a gigantic humanoid cricket.  
  
"I hate bugs," muttered Rei angrily.  
  
"Where are the others?" said Usagi fearfully.  
  
"Over there, we need to come up with a plan," said Makoto.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Great," grumbled Tsuki irritably as she watched the thing  
demolish a car. "Now what?"  
  
"You're the one who's supposed to know all this stuff!" snapped  
Minako.  
  
"Hey! I was just a temporary stand in!" retorted the girl as she  
grabbed her face and pulled on her cheeks.  
  
"Calm down! We need to think of a way to get rid of that thing!"  
said Ami firmly.  
  
"Why don't we just go out there and pound it?" said Tsuki as she  
made a punching motion with her arm.  
  
"Are you nuts? That thing is tearing cars in half out there!"  
snapped Minako. "'Tis better to fight and stay, to live to fight  
another day!"  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" said Tsuki as she put the  
girl in a headlock. "Can't you say anything that makes sense damn  
it!?"  
  
"Stop it right now!" snapped Ami. "We have to work together, I'm  
going to call the others!"  
  
"Yeah, you do that...who the hell are those guys?" said Tsuki as  
she dropped Minako and focused her attention on the street.  
  
Ami and Minako both blinked and looked out into the street. Five  
men in black suits were standing in front of the monster calmly. "What  
the?"  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to step away from the  
vehicle, sir." Ranma was looking up at the thing as it lifted a car  
over its head and began to rip it in half.  
  
It paused and looked at him for a moment, turning its head  
slightly in confusion.  
  
"What the hell is it doing?" muttered Nephrite as he glanced down  
the street and saw the rows of broken cars.  
  
The bug creature ignored them and went back to its task. It lifted  
the car over its head completely, and began to drink the gasoline from  
the remains of the tank.  
  
Ranma frowned and reached into his coat, pulling out a sleek  
looking silver handgun. Without a single word, he blasted the car from  
its grip with a single shot. The car was nothing more than a ball of  
twisted metal and flame when it came back down to the ground again.  
  
The creature roared angrily at him and stared the five of them  
down for a moment.  
  
"Sir, I'm afraid that you're over the legal limit. You're gonna  
have to come with us now," said the boy firmly.  
  
The creature charged forward, causing all five of the men to move  
back defensively. Without a single word Ranma simply leveled his  
weapon and waited.  
  
"What the hell are you doing?" said Nephrite in shock.  
  
"Waiting until it open's its big mouth," replied Ranma coldly.  
  
The creature lowered its head and roared. The boy fired a single  
shot into its jaws as it did so.  
  
A massive ball of flames rose into the air as the thing exploded.  
Fire rained out of the sky for almost two blocks as the burning gas  
fell to the ground.  
  
Ranma merely stood calmly and dusted off his lapel for a moment,  
cleaning off a tiny bit of the remains that had landed there. He was  
relatively clean for the most part though. "That was easy enough."  
  
"Who the hell are you?" cried a feminine voice from behind them.  
  
Ranma raised his eyebrow and turned slowly around to see the six  
girls standing behind him in a row. The generals moved up beside him,  
all of them ready for a fight. "Hello ladies."  
  
Usagi stepped back in horror. "You!"  
  
Ranma chuckled and took off his glasses. "I see we meet again, how  
have you been."  
  
"You bastard!" screamed Tsuki angrily from behind the blonde.  
"I'll see you destroyed for what you did!"  
  
"Well, I certainly remember that one," said Jadeite with a small  
frown as he glared at the violet haired senshi.  
  
"Indeed," agreed Nephrite coolly.  
  
Recognition began to hit the other senshi as they realized who the  
pair was.  
  
"Hey, it's..." muttered Minako.  
  
"Those guys!" growled Makoto as she stepped back.  
  
"You five can't even handle me alone. What on earth makes you  
think you could fight the five of us?" said Ranma coldly.  
  
"Because they believe in themselves!" said a new voice from  
overhead. "You can do it Sailor Moon!"  
  
Ranma frowned and blasted the rose in mid air before it stuck in  
the ground. "Will you shut up?"  
  
Tuxedo Mask growled and landed in front of the girls. "Villain!  
I'll..."  
  
"You'll what?" said Ranma as he pointed his weapon at the man.  
  
Tuxedo Mask froze.  
  
"It seems he's got a little memory about what that is," said  
Nephrite with a small chuckle.  
  
Ranma snorted and fired a shot into Mercury's chest. She screamed  
in shock and fell flat on her back. "Relax, these weapons can't hurt  
the senshi. Why do you think we never used them before now?" He put it  
back in its holster inside his jacket.  
  
Mercury got up, looking a little shaken, but unharmed.  
  
"Monster!" snarled Venus as she helped her friend stand.  
  
"You still want to fight?" said Ranma as he narrowed his eyes at  
the girls.  
  
"As a warrior of justice, I Sailor Moon, cannot allow this to  
continue! We shall defeat you!" said Usagi as she steeled herself and  
her companions.  
  
"Shit," grumbled Nephrite.  
  
"Relax, I've taken them on single handedly before," said Ranma  
with a small chuckle as his aura began to glow. "The five of us should  
have no trouble at all."  
  
"Endimyon," said Zocite as he stared at Tuxedo Mask for a moment.  
"You still owe me five hundred credits!"  
  
"I what?" said the man dumbly in reply.  
  
"Let's just get this over with," grumbled Jadeite irritably.  
  
"You said it," agreed Kunzite.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Sorry, mostly set up stuff this time. Next time, jokes return full  
force. Hikaru deals with the Mask, Ranma and his friends deal with the  
Senshi, Akane deals with her Sister, and Ryoga...is still lost.  



	17. 

Insertion  
  
Part 17  
  
Mousse's new bag?  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
It was evening out over the Pacific Ocean. Mousse stared out  
across the sea as he stood on the bow of the ship that carried him  
back to his beloved Shampoo. "I have got to America to perfect my  
techniques in hidden weapons. Soon, I shall free you my love!" he said  
with tears of determination in his eyes. "Just you wait Ranma Saotome,  
I'll have my revenge for all that humiliation soon enough."  
  
His thoughts wandered back to the man who had taught him his new  
skills. "You must have style as well as flare, it is almost as  
important as winning. Understand this young grasshopper, and you shall  
overcome all. The stars shine brightly for you my son, go out and make  
them believe!"  
  
He smirked at the speech and brushed his hair out of his face as  
he watched the sunrise. Large gems sparkled from the rings that now  
adorned his fingers.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Meanwhile, back in Japan...  
  
"Ready?" said Jadeite as he and the other generals stepped back  
into combat stances.  
  
"Just a moment," said a new voice.  
  
Ranma arched his eyebrow as Setsuna stepped out of a porthole and  
glared at the two groups for a moment.  
  
"Hi honey," he said cheerfully.  
  
"You! But...you died!" exclaimed Minako in shock.  
  
"Not quite," said Tsuki with a smirk on her face. The rest of the  
senshi turned to look at her for a moment and then back to Pluto  
again.  
  
Setsuna frowned at Ranma and turned to face the senshi for a  
moment. "You are not ready."  
  
"What?" said Usagi dumbly.  
  
"Mistress Pluto!" gasped Tsuki.  
  
Ranma noticed her back was turned and walked up behind her, he  
reached out and found his hand blocked by an invisible field of  
energy. The kick me sign he had intended to place on her back stuck in  
mid air for a moment before a surge of power incinerated it.  
  
Setsuna ignored him and continued to address the Senshi. "If you  
were to fight them now, you would be destroyed."  
  
"Aw, come on. Can't they have just a little bit of peril?" said  
Ranma with a mock frown on his face.  
  
"No," growled Setsuna angrily as she turned her head slightly.  
  
"They can take us! I'm sure of it," insisted Ranma.  
  
"No they can't," said Setsuna coldly.  
  
"But, we weren't even gonna kill em. Just rough em up a bit, you  
know..."  
  
Setsuna rolled her eyes and turned back towards the senshi again.  
"You will withdraw for the moment."  
  
"But..." started Usagi, her eyes suddenly went wide as she noticed  
Ranma holding up a sign with the words 'Frigid Bitch' written on it  
just behind her.  
  
Minako choked and almost fell forward.  
  
Setsuna turned to glare at him, and he quickly put it behind his  
back. All four of the generals were stifling giggles.  
  
"As I said, you are not ready. No arguments," insisted Pluto.  
  
Ranma's new sign had the words: 'She blows goats. I have proof!'  
  
"Um..." said Ami as she pointed at him.  
  
"You must trust me, it's far too soon," said Pluto as she didn't  
quite understand what the girl was indicating.  
  
"But he's..."  
  
'Pluto has a dog shaped birthmark just inside her right thigh!'  
was the new sign.  
  
"Hey! How does he know about..." muttered Tsuki in shocked horror.  
She quickly fell silent as she noticed the rest of the group looking  
at her.  
  
"What are you all looking at? Go home," said Pluto firmly.  
  
'Jello fetish! Jello fetish! I've got pictures!'  
  
"But you should really..." said Ami with a heavy blush forming on  
her cheeks.  
  
"I won't say it again, this barrier won't hold them off for long,"  
said Pluto calmly.  
  
The generals were trying their best not to laugh; all of them  
suddenly fell silent as Setsuna turned towards them again. Ranma was  
whistling with the sign hidden behind his back.  
  
"As for you. Give me those signs," said Pluto with a scowl on her  
face.  
  
Ranma blinked and swallowed. "Um...heh..." He handed them too her  
and she raised the time staff into the air.  
  
"Dead Scream."  
  
All four generals were blasted back by the force of the attack;  
Ranma took it directly and was thrown about thirty yards into the  
street. A forcefield of some kind erected around his body and he was  
protected from the brunt of the blast. "Ouch."  
  
"You won't be laughing for very long. Go tell your mistress that I  
won't allow her to succeed," snapped Pluto sharply.  
  
"Huh?" muttered Ranma in confusion. "What mistress?"  
  
"You think I don't know you're working for Beryl and Metallia?"  
said the woman as she narrowed her eyes at the group.  
  
"Naw, they quit that job. They work for me now!" said Ranma  
cheerfully as he waved the comment off.  
  
"The passage of thousands of years, and infinite darkness in your  
soul, and you still act like a child Genaku. You disgust me," said  
Pluto coldly.  
  
"Can't we just kick Endimyon's child molesting ass? Come on, give  
us something!" said Ranma as he dusted off his jacket sleeves and  
pouted at her.  
  
"Hey! I heard that!" said Tuxedo Mask as he whirled around and  
growled at the group.  
  
"What are you gonna do about it you weenie?" said Ranma as he  
stuck his tongue out at the man.  
  
Mamoru growled and started to step forward.  
  
"Hmmm, lets see. Credits to yen conversion...five hundred...plus  
interest...you owe me...Sixty Billion Yen," said Zocite as he worked  
on his calculator and glanced up at the man for a moment.  
  
"What?! That's outrageous!" snapped Tuxedo Mask.  
  
"Well, you have accrued thousands of years worth of interest after  
all," replied the general with a small shrug. "If you can't pay it,  
I'm sure we can find another way for you to work it off." He gave the  
man a dark smile and crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
Usagi appeared at his side and pulled at his arm. "Come on! Just  
forget about them for now!"  
  
"That can be arranged," commented Ranma with a rough sounding  
snort.  
  
"You stay away from them," snapped Pluto angrily.  
  
"Or you'll what?" said Ranma coldly.  
  
"I am the Senshi of Time! I could erase your very existence!" she  
said angrily.  
  
"They why haven't you?" said Ranma with a smirk forming on his  
face.  
  
The woman growled at him and clenched her fists.  
  
"Come now Setsuna, you know better than to try and bluff me," said  
the boy casually. "You're as helpless against me as they are. I've got  
other things to worry about. Besides, I know who they are and where  
they live. I could have eliminated them anytime I felt like it."  
  
"Then why haven't you?" countered Pluto coldly.  
  
"Where would be the fun in that?" said Ranma with a small chuckle.  
  
She turned away from him and entered the porthole. "Tsuki. We are  
leaving!"  
  
"R-right!" said the girl as she jumped from her hiding place  
behind a nearby car and followed her mistress.  
  
A moment later, the barrier fell.  
  
"To the bar!" announced Ranma cheerfully as he started to walk  
away.  
  
The four generals looked at one another and shrugged their  
shoulders.  
  
"You know, being reborn hasn't changed him much," commented  
Jadeite.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
The next morning, before the sun had risen over the horizon, Ranma  
sat up and scratched his head as something hit him in the face. He  
mumbled to himself as he lifted the offending object into his hands  
and flipped it over a few times. It was an envelope.  
  
"Huh? Wazzis?" He opened it and squinted as he read the note  
inside out loud. "Ranma Saotome, I Mousse, formally challenge you to a  
duel tomorrow evening. Be at the gates of Furinkan High at eight o'  
clock in the evening."  
  
Ranma muttered to himself for a moment and lay his head back down  
as he went back to sleep.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"You don't suppose Tsuki is..." said Rei with a blush forming on  
her face. She and the other inner senshi were all sitting around a  
table in a fast food restaurant.  
  
"She could be...I mean... she knew about that birthmark," said  
Minako with a cheerful smile. "But then...how did that guy know about  
it?"  
  
"Past life?" ventured Makoto.  
  
"Could be, maybe Pluto and Tsuki were...you know...changed by the  
rebirth?" said Ami nervously.  
  
"Could be," said Rei calmly. "I'm more interested in how he knows  
about it. That could be dangerous! How do we know we can trust Pluto?"  
  
"Tsuki, she always was a little, you know...odd..." muttered Ami  
nervously.  
  
"Well, if she is..." muttered Usagi with an uncomfortable frown.  
  
"Hi guys!" said Tsuki as she appeared with a tray of food in her  
grasp. She sat down and the girls moved away from her a little.  
"What?" she said in confusion.  
  
"Um...nothing," muttered Makoto.  
  
"Hey, you want some of my fries Usagi. I'm not going to eat them  
all," said the girl with a cheerful smile as she turned towards the  
blond.  
  
"Um, no thanks," said the girl as she moved a little further away.  
  
Rei leaned her head forward a bit and watched the girl in silence.  
"Mistress Pluto?" she wondered silently. "Could it really be that..."  
  
"Are you feeling all right Usagi?" said Tsuki as she put her hand  
on the girl's forehead. "I've never known you to turn down free food."  
She blinked and noticed Rei had turned an interesting shade of red.  
"What's with her?"  
  
Minako elbowed Rei in her ribs and laughed. "It's nothing really."  
  
"Okay," said the girl obliviously as she started to eat. "So, what  
are you planning to do about those evil guys?"  
  
Luna popped her head out of Usagi's bag. "I think it would be wise  
to follow Pluto's advice for the time being. That one boy has beaten  
us three times already. There isn't much we can do against all five of  
them at once."  
  
"Still, it seems a bit odd for us to just sit around and do  
nothing," muttered Usagi. "What did this guy do anyway?"  
  
"He was a terrible man," said Artemis as he popped his head out as  
well. "Probably one of the most evil beings in the universe. He turned  
the oceans of Venus into gelatin once. He was also the only thing in  
the galaxy that wasn't afraid of the Senshi of Saturn's power."  
  
"Gelatin?" said Makoto in confusion.  
  
"Yes," agreed Luna. "This was before he turned to Beryl's side. He  
destroyed Pluto's moon, and destroyed many great monuments. Most of  
them as some sort of practical joke."  
  
"What do you mean?" said Usagi nervously.  
  
"Well, there used to be a statue of Venus in the courtyard of the  
royal palace on her planet. One day, he decided it would be funny to  
carve away the clothing so that the statue was nude," said Luna.  
  
Venus blushed and stared at the cat in disbelief. "He...what?"  
  
"Don't forget the time he blew up most of Mercury during the  
Sailor Sol experiment," added Artemis.  
  
"How awful," said Tsuki as she scrunched her face up in disgust.  
  
"Um, yeah," muttered Usagi uncomfortably.  
  
"Oh stop that!" snapped Luna. "Some of you used to swing that way  
back then you know."  
  
Usagi, Makoto, and Ami all turned pale at this announcement.  
"What?"  
  
"Really? Who?" said Minako as she leaned forward and smirked.  
  
Rei simply sat silently and pretended not to be interested.  
  
"We don't remember," said Artemis with a small shrug.  
  
"Imagine that," commented Minako flatly.  
  
"What are you guys talking about?" muttered Tsuki in confusion.  
  
"Oh, don't worry about it. It's nothing," said Usagi cheerfully.  
  
"Kay," said the girl as she shrugged the comment off and went back  
to her food.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stood just outside the gates of Furinkan High with a scowl  
on his face. In his hand was a letter of challenge that he had  
received yesterday evening. It was evening, but a small crowd of  
students had come to watch the fight. The boy chucked to himself when  
he saw the look on Nabiki's face after he had told her that he had  
already sold the information about the fight. She was there, running  
the betting pools, so it wasn't a complete loss to her.  
  
"Where is the jerk though?" he muttered to himself as he looked  
down at the note.  
  
"So, you decided to appear?" said a familiar voice from nowhere.  
  
"Mousse, you dip. Where the hell are you?"  
  
The challenger ignored him and continued to speak. "Heh, I almost  
went home to China to train you know. I realized that martial arts  
wouldn't be enough to beat you though."  
  
"Quit foolin around. I got school tomorrow," snorted Ranma  
irritably as he glanced around for the boy.  
  
"You won't be in any condition to attend school after I'm through  
with you," said Mousse's voice from the shadows. "You see, I went to  
the magic capitol of the world and improved my skills a hundred fold.  
Now, you'll never defeat me."  
  
"Great. Heard it all before, now come on out so I can kick your  
butt. I'm tired," snarled Ranma.  
  
As if in answer to that, two sparkling pyrotechnics appeared on  
either side of the gates of Furinkan. Ranma blinked and turned to see  
that someone was standing with his back to him and his arms spread  
wide. Music began too play in the background from somewhere and the  
strange figure was suddenly bathed in light from a spotlight.  
  
Ranma almost choked at what he saw.  
  
Mousse looked completely different. A pair of outdated sunglasses  
rested on the bridge of his nose, and his hair was now sticking  
straight out in front of his head in a long set of bangs that  
protruded four feet from his forehead. He was wearing a white jumpsuit  
with a small cape, the entire outfit was covered in rhinestones. He  
spun around to face Ranma and curled his lip. "Yer goin down,  
Saotome."  
  
"Good lord!" said Ranma in shock. "What the hell happened too  
you?"  
  
"The king lives on!" cried Mousse as he pointed his finger into  
the air.  
  
"It's Moussvis?" stammered the shocked martial artist as he  
staggered back from the scene.  
  
The small group of spectators who had gathered had yet to react.  
  
"Prepare to die!" said the Chinese boy as he swaggered forward.  
Every once and a while, he'd stop in an unusual pose before moving  
towards his opponent again.  
  
"Look you weenie," started Ranma as he cracked his knuckles.  
  
Mousse rushed forward suddenly, slamming a kick into Ranma's gut.  
"Hoo! Ha!"  
  
The ponytailed boy bent forward in surprise. "What the?"  
  
"Come on!" said Mousse angrily.  
  
"The capitol of magic?" muttered one of the students dumbly.  
  
"Las Vegas," confirmed Nabiki with a small nod. "At least it was  
interesting, even if it would be a rather short fight."  
  
"That does it!" cried Ranma angrily as his aura began to burn  
around him. "The 'King' dies again tonight!"  
  
Mousse never stood a chance, amidst the cries of pain an  
occasional "Hey! Watch the hair man!" would be uttered.  
  
Finally, it stopped. Mousse was laid out across the pavement.  
Ranma snorted and turned away from him.  
  
"You may have won the battle, but my baby will come too me. I've  
got more style than I know what to do with!" said Mousse from the  
ground. "No woman can resist The King. Not even my darlin Shampoo!"  
  
"Good luck then," said Ranma as he waved his hand without looking  
back. The martial artist was already on his way home.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Well, that was pointless," commented Ranma bitterly. "Aren't you  
two done yet?"  
  
Carrot and Dan were still laughing. Ranma was starting to grow  
irritated because it was causing his eyes to water.  
  
"Whatever," grumbled Ranma as he continued to walk towards the  
dojo.  
  
"I thought it was a very nice outfit," commented Pissant. "You two  
should really be more polite."  
  
Their trek home was interrupted by a familiar voice.  
  
"Ranma."  
  
++++++++++  
  
All of them stopped dead in their tracks and turned to face  
Nabiki.  
  
"Huh?" said the boy dumbly as he turned to face her. "What's up?"  
  
"I'm getting tired of you getting in my way," she said coldly as  
she stepped out in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest.  
  
"Huh?" said the boy in obviously feigned ignorance. "What do you  
mean?"  
  
"It was cute at first, but it's starting to cut into my profits. I  
can't accept that," she said firmly. She had a yellow envelope in her  
grasp and handed it to him.  
  
He took it from her and smiled as he looked at the contents. It  
was photos of the two of them making out. "Hey! I remember this!" he  
said cheerfully.  
  
"I'm willing to make them disappear, if you'll stop bothering my  
business," said the girl with a smirk forming on her face.  
  
"Huh? What are you talkin about? Can I get some copies of these?"  
said the boy cheerfully.  
  
"If my father finds out about these..." she said in a warning  
tone.  
  
"He'll be ecstatic. You don't think he really cares which one of  
you I marry do you?"  
  
Nabiki blinked and looked at him for a moment. "You cheated on my  
sister! He'll..."  
  
"Simply switch the engagement. After all, our destined love must  
have been much more exciting since we had to hide it away. Besides,  
Akane and I have an agreement about the whole marriage thing. Neither  
one of us is actually taking this engagement seriously."  
  
Nabiki was almost in shock. This had worked in her favor every  
time she had tried it before. Even the toughest of boys caved in to  
her demands once she presented evidence like this to them. Many  
fearing what their parents would say, while others fearing their  
girlfriends.  
  
"Come on, don't look so surprised. I'm actually a little  
disappointed that you didn't think this through a little better. It  
isn't like you at all," said Ranma as he shoved the photos back into  
her chest.  
  
Nabiki growled and looked down at the ground in disgust. He was  
right, she let her temper get the better of her. That had caused a  
laps in judgement, she screwed up, and he came out on top yet again.  
She glared at his back for a moment and her frown deepened. "Wait a  
minute." She rushed up and grabbed him by his shoulder.  
  
"What? Did you have something else?"  
  
It was also a real turn on.  
  
Ranma froze as the girl grabbed his head roughly and kissed him.  
She broke the kiss and stepped back for a moment.  
  
"Hey! Wait a minute, look Nabiki..." started the boy nervously.  
  
"Oh shut up. I don't want to go out with you," she snorted. "I'm  
sure as hell never going to marry you. So what is the problem?"  
  
The boy blinked and looked at her for a moment. "Problem? What  
problem?"  
  
"Good," she replied as she shoved him in his chest and into some  
bushes. He fell back and vanished from sight. "Men," she muttered as  
she rolled her eyes and went after him.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Wow," said Dan as they sat on the porch the next day.  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
"I feel so violated!" cried Pissant.  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
"Who coulda known?" muttered Carrot. "I told you we should have  
picked her."  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
"I agree with you," said Dan as he rubbed at their back for a  
moment. It was still sore.  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
"She definitely wasn't an amateur, that's saying a lot for someone  
her age," commented Carrot.  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
"We need to talk to someone, we've been raped!" whined Pissant.  
  
"Raped? I was enjoying myself," commented Dan.  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
"Me too," agreed Carrot. "I don't see a problem."  
  
"But, we took away her purity! Now we have to..."  
  
"Nabiki Tendo was anything but pure," snorted Dan casually.  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
"Hey, by the way Ranma. Now we might have gotten Nabiki pregnant,  
just for future reference," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"..." said Ranma.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Hey, it's mom," said Ranma as he looked up and saw his mother  
standing in the doorway.  
  
"Hello," she said with a small bow of greeting.  
  
"Auntie Saotome!" said Akane happily.  
  
"It's good to see you dear," said the woman cheerfully. "Is my  
husband here?"  
  
"Naw, he's still too scared to show his butt around here when you  
come over," said Ranma cheerfully. "I think it had something to do  
with the 'fur coat' incident."  
  
"Oh dear. It seems he's escaped me again," said the woman sweetly  
as she sat down next to Ranma. "I look so good in black and white  
too."  
  
"You'll catch him," said Ranma with an encouraging smile.  
  
"I hope so," she agreed cheerfully.  
  
The Tendos all looked pretty uncomfortable with the conversation.  
It was far from abnormal when the pair had gotten together in recent  
times.  
  
The family had gotten along well at one point. Ranko made her  
appointed visits when the woman showed up, and Genma got more and more  
frustrated. Finally, he announced that they were going to take a trip  
to Jusenkyo, and destroy the curse once and for all.  
  
Naturally, Nodoka had taken offence to this. She'd grown rather  
fond of her 'daughter' and forbade it. After all, in her mind, it was  
the same thing as murder.  
  
Genma loudly voiced his own ignorant opinion of women in general,  
and the effect the demon girl was having on their son. The cherry on  
top of it had been his announcement that the girl had to be destroyed,  
for the sake of the family of course.  
  
Things went downhill from there. Ranma couldn't have been happier.  
  
That bothered the Tendos more than anything else did; Ranma didn't  
even look slightly uncomfortable as his mother pulled out a cookbook  
from China. It was an older book, and detailed several ways to prepare  
panda for human consumption.  
  
Fortunately for them, Nodoka returned home soon enough and left  
Ranma with them once again.  
  
"Boy! What do you think you're doing?" snapped Genma. "You've got  
to tell your mother the truth at once!"  
  
"Why? So we can both be under the knife instead of just you?" said  
the boy calmly as he sipped at his tea.  
  
"Don't be stupid boy, we'll..."  
  
"This is your mess old man. I'm perfectly safe as things are now,  
you would be too if you had kept your mouth shut. If I say anything  
now, especially after playing 'Ranko' for so long, she'd kill the both  
of us."  
  
"That's not the point!" snapped Genma.  
  
"Really? I didn't think you had one," said Ranma lazily. "Pretty  
darn selfish of you to try and drag me along with you to the grave I'd  
say."  
  
"Really Saotome, he's right," commented Soun. "How can the schools  
be united if you're both dead?"  
  
"Tendo?" muttered Genma in shock.  
  
"I'm sorry to be so harsh, Saotome. He is correct though, it is  
better if only you die, and thus our schools will be united and  
continue on. Besides, I'm sure you can work this out with your wife.  
It'll just take a little time."  
  
"I dunno, she seems really attached to that barbecue recipe Mr.  
Tendo," commented Ranma.  
  
Genma began to cry, and Soun tried his best to comfort his friend.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Beryl stood before the dark cloud and bowed deeply.  
  
"So, the generals have escaped us have they?"  
  
Beryl growled, her anger flashing in her eyes, she dared not look  
up at Metallia though.  
  
"We'll just have to destroy them," said the dark cloud coldly.  
  
"As you wish, but it is difficult to gather energy with only  
myself. Your awakening will take more time I'm afraid."  
  
"No," said Metallia coldly. "I have another way."  
  
Beryl finally dared to look up. "What?"  
  
Four dark shadows seemed to melt from the evil energy surrounding  
her. They remained still and hidden in the darkness.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Youma Lords," said Metallia. "More powerful than those foolish  
men who betrayed you."  
  
"I thank you," said Beryl as she bowed even deeper to the thing.  
  
"Do not fail me again, or I shall replace you next time."  
  
"I... understand," said Beryl.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: School, yet again!  



	18. 

Insertion  
  
Part 18  
  
Back to reality.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma smirked as he strolled into the schoolyard of Furinkan; it  
was a relatively normal day for the most part. The evening before was  
an interesting one, but things quickly reverted back to dull normality  
once he'd returned to the dojo.  
  
"What are you so happy about?" said Akane as she noticed his grin.  
  
"You'd probably get mad at me if you knew," he replied with a  
shrug.  
  
The girl blinked and frowned at him. "What's that mean?"  
  
"Secret," he replied as he continued walking.  
  
"Hold villain!" said Kuno as he appeared from around his usual  
spot behind the large tree in the courtyard.  
  
"Heya Kuno," said the boy casually as he raised his hand in  
greeting.  
  
"Disgusting cur! I shall free Akane Tendo from your grasp at  
last!"  
  
"Right, free her, got ya," said the boy as he continued to walk  
away.  
  
"Stand and fight!" snarled Kuno as he watched the boy pass him.  
  
"Naw, not today," said Ranma as he continued towards the doors.  
  
"Very well coward! I see that you run away from my prowess!"  
called Kuno angrily.  
  
"Yeah, run away, right," said the boy as he walked through the  
doors and left him standing in the schoolyard.  
  
Akane watched the scene in confusion, not saying a single word.  
"Wait a minute, you mean...that's it?" she thought to herself.  
  
"Akane Tendo! I would face you then!" said Kuno as he turned too  
look at her.  
  
The girl looked at him and shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe later."  
  
"What?" said Kuno dumbly.  
  
"I don't feel like it," she said as she continued to walk away  
from him.  
  
"I cannot permit this! How can I prove my love to you without  
honorable combat?!" snapped the boy as he ran in front of her and took  
up a combat stance.  
  
Akane looked up at him and noticed something. He looked like he  
was having a panic attack. "I dunno." She continued to walk past him  
towards the school, leaving him standing in his ready pose.  
  
"But...but...I..." stuttered Kuno dumbly. A wind blew across the  
courtyard, blowing a small dust cloud up at his feet. "How...I  
must...Akane Tendo...I...my love...surely I must..."  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma glanced out the window about half way through his first  
period and sighed. "Man, how long is he going to stand there?" Kuno  
was still in the courtyard, standing dumbly in his combat pose and  
muttering to himself.  
  
Akane was simply staring at the wall in front of her with a blush  
on her cheeks.  
  
Ranma turned and noticed this. "What's wrong with you?"  
  
"Mr. Saotome! Is there a problem?" snapped the teacher.  
  
"Um, yeah. Akane and Kuno are acting weird," said the boy as he  
looked up at the man. "What's up Akane? You're actin funny today?"  
  
The teacher stared at him for a moment, not expecting an answer.  
Students usually just looked embarrassed and muttered to themselves  
before becoming quiet.  
  
Everyone in the room was looking at Akane now, and her blushed  
deepened.  
  
"You mean...after all this time. All I had to do was just walk  
away from him?"  
  
Ranma smirked and nodded his head. "Pretty much."  
  
"But...All I had to do was walk away?!" she cried in shock.  
  
"Come on, don't take it so hard," said Ranma as he pat her  
shoulder.  
  
"I can't believe this!" snapped the girl in frustration.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Outside, Kuno finally seemed to understand what had happened to  
him. "Can it be? Akane Tendo has finally realized her love for me, and  
cannot bring herself to harm me any longer? Oh! Weep for joy Akane  
Tendo, for I am coming into your arms at last!" He rushed towards the  
building with his arms spread wide.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma noticed this and turned towards Akane, "Hey, you got  
incoming."  
  
"Huh?" muttered the girl as she blinked at him.  
  
"Akane Tendo! At last you have discovered your love!" cried Kuno  
as he burst into the room.  
  
"I what?" she said in disgust.  
  
"Why else could you not bring yourself to harm my noble personage?  
Truly you have discovered the deep feelings within the depths of your  
heart."  
  
Akane was gripping her desk in frustration. "I'm going to hurt  
him."  
  
"I've got a better idea," said Ranma with a smirk on his face.  
  
Akane looked at him for a moment and he handed her a sheet of  
paper. "Read this when he grabs you."  
  
The girl blinked and took it from him, by that time, Kuno had  
rushed up and took her into his arms. "At last we can finally share  
our love! Come, let us leave this place and date!"  
  
"Um, excuse me..." said the Teacher.  
  
Akane's eyes went wide as she looked at the page in her hand.  
"What? This is..." She felt Kuno squeeze her a little tighter, and his  
hand move a little lower. A dark smile formed on her lips as she  
seemed to catch on.  
  
Kuno blinked as she slapped him across his face. "Wha?"  
  
"EEEEEK! Pervert! Get your hands off me! Help! I'm being  
accosted!"  
  
"But my love!" stammered the boy dumbly. This had never happened  
before. He released her and stepped back with a horrified look on his  
face.  
  
"Sensei! He grabbed my...my...wahhhhhhh!" cried Akane as she  
pointed at the boy and burst into tears.  
  
Every student in the room was staring at Kuno now. Shocked  
expressions on their faces.  
  
"But, I merely wished to convey my feelings of..."  
  
"What was that thing poking me?" screeched Akane as she rubbed at  
her stomach.  
  
"I uhhh..." stuttered Kuno as he began to blush.  
  
"Oh my god! I feel so violated! So dirty!" cried the girl as she  
burst into tears. "Wahhhh! I'll never be clean again!"  
  
Kuno began to realize that there were other people in the room,  
half of them were female and glared at him hatefully.  
  
Ranma was watching the scene in a kind of shock. He never knew the  
girl had it in her, it was complete improvisation now.  
  
"Don't worry Akane, we won't let that pervert touch you again,"  
said one of the girls in the room as she knelt down beside Akane and  
tried to comfort her. Akane turned and cried into her shoulder.  
  
The rest of the girls had begun to throw things at Kuno. "Get out  
of here you pervert!"  
  
"But...I..."  
  
"I'd run if I were you," said Ranma as he looked up at him for a  
moment.  
  
Kuno's eyes rolled into his head and he passed out.  
  
"Guess the shame was too much for him," commented Ranma as he  
stood up and kicked him lightly in the ribs.  
  
"Mr. Saotome, would you be so kind as to take Mr. Kuno to the  
nurse's station," said the Teacher as he finally sat down and gave up.  
  
The boy looked up at him and nodded. "Sure. Come on pervert,  
before you get yourself killed."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma sat in the dojo a few hours later. He was simply standing  
with his aura burning around him in silence.  
  
"What exactly are we doing?" said Ranma.  
  
Carrot sighed and tried to explain it again. "Well, our Kaio Ken  
is nothing more than more than one of us attacking at once. Right?"  
  
"Pretty much," said Dan grumpily.  
  
"So, obviously something happens when we synchronize like that, I  
want to try and dig a little deeper. It's hard to do the Kaio Ken, our  
timing has to be perfect to get it to work."  
  
"So you want to find an easier way," said Ranma with a small nod.  
  
"Right, our powers combined are easily beating the Senshi as it  
is, but if we could find a way to do it in more than just quick  
spurts, we'd have a clear advantage. As it is now, we could screw up  
and take a few hits real easy."  
  
"I won't be a part of this," snorted Pissant.  
  
"Did I ask for your help?" said Carrot irritably.  
  
"Well, no but..."  
  
"Then shut up," said Dan.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Akane walked into the dojo and blinked when she saw Ranma standing  
in the middle of the room. "What are you doing?" She stepped back in  
slight surprise as she realized how large the aura surrounding him  
was.  
  
He paused and looked at her for a moment. "Huh? Nothing, just  
trying to develop a new technique."  
  
"Oh. How is it going?" she said cheerfully.  
  
"Not very well, it's harder than I thought it'd be," he replied  
with a small shrug.  
  
"Okay," she said as she walked over to another area of the room.  
  
"We're going to the office today," said Ranma as he glanced at her  
as she started her kata.  
  
"Huh? Now?"  
  
"No, finish your work out and get dressed first, no real hurry,"  
he said as he walked out of the room.  
  
She nodded and continued to train.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Hello Ranma," said Nabiki as she walked by him on his way back to  
the house.  
  
"Hey, how ya doin?" he said cheerfully.  
  
She narrowed her eyes at him as he passed. As much fun as he was  
to have around, her cash flow had been strained over the past few  
months. "I've got to do something about him." She continued on her  
way, scheming against him as she walked.  
  
"Boy, I want to talk with you," said Genma as he noticed his son  
walking by.  
  
"Huh? What's up?" replied Ranma as he sat down. He noticed that he  
was alone with the man.  
  
"Where have you been going lately. I checked, and you aren't  
working for that old woman any longer."  
  
"Naw, I got another job," said the boy with a small shrug.  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Yeah, we're working for a security company now," said Ranma  
cheerfully. "Akane's doing it too."  
  
"Really?" said Genma with a frown on his face. "You've been  
neglecting your training."  
  
"I'm better than you'll ever be," replied Ranma calmly.  
  
"What?! You'd better learn your limits boy! I..." Genma was on his  
feet, and Ranma appeared behind him before he could move.  
  
"You're blowing steam old man. I could destroy you without  
breaking a sweat. There's more to this than you realize. The four of  
us are more than you can handle."  
  
"Four?" muttered Genma in surprise.  
  
"That's right," said Ranma coldly. "Look, we've got our own life  
to lead, just sit around and be comfortable for a while. I'm none of  
your concern."  
  
"What? Ranma has responsibilities! You can't just..."  
  
"Can't I?" said the boy with his smirk growing wider. "Who's going  
to stop me? You?"  
  
Genma growled and sat down again, Ranma followed suit and smirked  
at him again.  
  
"Where is all this money you've been making going?" he said  
calmly. "I feel I have the right to know what my son has been doing."  
  
"It's where you can't get your hands on it," replied the boy  
calmly. "In a bank account, that isn't in his name."  
  
"What?" said Genma. "Do you really think I would..."  
  
"No, I know you would," replied Ranma coolly. "An old friend of  
mine is helping us out. Trust me old man, this is well beyond your  
tiny little brain."  
  
Genma growled at them for a moment. "You are shaming my family."  
  
"And why not? You were doing such a good job before I came along,  
so I figured it wouldn't hurt to help out a bit. Excuse me, we have to  
go now." Ranma stood up and walked away.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Ready?" asked Ranma as he put on his shades. He and Akane were  
both dressed in their suits.  
  
"Sure, how far away is it?" she asked.  
  
"On the other side of Tokyo," he replied with a shrug.  
  
"How are we getting there?" she said with a slightly weary frown.  
  
"Nephrite, bring us in would ya?" said Ranma as he pressed the  
button on the side of his watch.  
  
"Sure thing boss," said the man from the other side.  
  
"Huh?" said Akane.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAaaaa...." Akane gasped for breath as she finished  
screaming. Ranma calmly stepped off the teleporter and waved at the  
man behind the controls.  
  
She stumbled after him with shock in her eyes. "What? What the  
hell was that? How did?"  
  
"It's just a teleporter, Akane," said the boy as he took off his  
shades and glanced around. It looked like a real office now, most of  
the desks were made of glass and black wood, and several people could  
be seen moving through a few of them. The glass on the teleporter room  
was darkly tinted and they were in a restricted area of the complex  
though. There was a rather unusual lock on the door as well. "Get her  
cleared for the restricted area would you?"  
  
"Right," said Nephrite cheerfully. "This way please."  
  
"Wha? What the hell is this?" she muttered as he led her away.  
  
"This is where you work," said the man with a small shrug. "Come  
on. You know Jadeite and Kuzite right?"  
  
She nodded as the door opened and the two men stood in front of  
her.  
  
"This place is looking pretty good," said Ranma with a smirk on  
his face as he watched the other half of the office bustle around.  
  
"Yes, we hired a few dozen employees for the cover business.  
They're actually working out quite well. We're making money," said  
Zocite. "This is your office."  
  
"Hey, nice," said Ranma cheerfully as he looked around. It was a  
large room with a desk like all the others. One of the Mercury  
computers was set up on the desk as well.  
  
"I'll introduce you to the rest of the staff later. Come on," said  
the man as he led him into another room.  
  
There was a large screen set up in the next room. It showed a map  
of Tokyo and various readouts. "Everything is stable at the moment,"  
said Kunzite as he entered with Akane at his side.  
  
"Ranma, what the hell is this?" stammered the girl in shock.  
  
"I already told you, Akane," he replied with a smirk on his face.  
  
"That was a joke right?" she said nervously.  
  
"I'm afraid not," he said cheerfully. "Come on. Try to pull  
yourself together."  
  
She nodded and straightened herself up as she rubbed her arm.  
"That hurt."  
  
"It's just a blood sample Akane. We need your DNA for the security  
in this area. You're cleared the same as me and the guys," said Ranma  
with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Still," she muttered dejectedly.  
  
Ranma turned towards Kunzite and smirked. "Put em up would you?"  
  
The man nodded and turned towards the console. Five girls appeared  
in various screens along the sides of the map. Each of them was doing  
different things. A girl meditating in front of a flame, a girl eating  
a large meal with her family, a girl in the kitchen, a girl studying  
in her room quietly, and a girl flirting with a boy at a store in the  
mall.  
  
"What? You're spying on these girls? You perverts!" snapped Akane.  
  
"These are the Sailor Senshi, we're just keeping an eye on them  
for security reasons. We don't record them changing or anything like  
that. It's just so we know where they are," said Ranma as he glanced  
at her.  
  
"The Senshi?" muttered Akane dumbly.  
  
"Yeah," said Ranma cheerfully. "Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and  
Moon," he said as he pointed each one out to her. "They don't like us  
much."  
  
"What? Why?" said Akane in shock.  
  
"I'm still not sure about me, it has something to do with a past  
life I think. These gentlemen used to work for the source of those  
monsters they fight all the time. Now they work for me."  
  
Akane said nothing as she stared at him in shock. "But..."  
  
"Relax, we don't want to kill them, but we do have to fight them  
off on occasion," said Ranma with a light smile on his face. "It  
hasn't really been a problem so far."  
  
"Oh," said Akane as she hung her head and turned towards him  
again. "Why are we doing this?"  
  
"Simple. I've learned that I had a past life a few thousand years  
ago. I fought beside these men to defend the Earth. We just changed  
the image a bit, and picked up where we left off really."  
  
"That's crazy!" said Akane. She looked around for a moment and  
hung her head. "Never mind."  
  
"Right, come on. I'll show you the armory," said Ranma as he  
motioned for her to follow.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"What is this place?" she muttered as she looked at the rows and  
rows of weapons lining the walls.  
  
"Weapons, guns, things like that. We've got alternative methods of  
fighting the Senshi and Youma, you however..."  
  
"Huh?" said the girl as she looked at him and blinked.  
  
"I want you to start carrying this," he said as he handed her a  
tiny looking weapon from one of the walls.  
  
"What the hell is this?" she snapped as she took the weapon  
between two fingers.  
  
"Noisy Cricket. It's easy for you to hide," replied the boy with a  
small shrug. "Don't worry, none of these weapons can actually kill the  
senshi. They were actually designed that way."  
  
"I feel like I'm gonna break this thing!" snorted Akane in  
disgust.  
  
"Don't worry, you won't," replied the boy as he calmly walked  
away.  
  
"There's a few rules you have to follow from now on," said Ranma  
as he handed her a small book. "No one knows you work for anything  
more than a security company. I mean no one, not Nabiki, not your  
father, not my father. Break the rules and lose your memory," said  
Ranma as he walked along. "You're a high ranking officer in the  
company, but you follow our orders. You don't have much experience in  
this sort of thing. I feel we could use you though."  
  
Akane nodded as she pocketed the book. "You work in secret, we  
don't exist, you don't fire your weapon in view of the public,  
especially in your civilian identity. You get the idea, it's not that  
hard."  
  
She nodded at this and he handed her a small silver case. "Wear  
these, and keep em with you from now on."  
  
She popped the case open and looked at the sunglasses for a  
moment. "These are...sunglasses?"  
  
Ranma took them from her. "More than that, they're highly durable,  
nearly impossible to break. This switch here activates the cloaking  
device. It hides your true identity, and scrambles all know forms of  
recording. The generic suits help with the technology, but the glasses  
alone should be enough in a pinch."  
  
"Um, right," muttered the girl as she put them on.  
  
"Turn on your glasses and put them on, they make us look older,"  
said Ranma calmly.  
  
Akane did so and frowned as she noticed her reflection. She did  
look older, but more than just the maturity of her clothes. She looked  
about five years older.  
  
"Time to go meet the employees," said Ranma as he opened a large  
metal door.  
  
Akane looked around and gasped. The room was really nothing more  
than an office with about a dozen people wandering around the various  
cubicles. She hadn't noticed it before.  
  
"Good morning, can I help you?" said the woman at the receptionist  
desk who turned to see them.  
  
"Good morning. I'm agent R, and this is Agent A. We're just  
stopping by to check up on my company," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Hikaru Gosunkugi sniffled pathetically on is bed, a large shiner  
present on his eye. "Stupid bullies. Why can't they leave me alone?"  
He continued to sob into his pillow and sat up with an angry frown on  
his face. "I wish I could...teach them a lesson. I wish Akane would  
notice me, if I was going out with her I bet no one would bother me.  
Heck, I just wish I had friends." He rolled onto his back and sniffled  
again.  
  
After a moment he seemed to remember something. He sat up and  
looked at his closet for a moment. "Wait a minute..."  
  
The mask was sitting on the floor, just outside the door.  
  
"I know I put that inside there," he muttered fearfully. He jumped  
up and walked over to it, lifting it into his hands. "What is this  
thing anyway? Is it alive...or..." His eyes caught the strange shining  
inside and he slowly lifted it towards his face. "What's the worst  
that could happen?" he muttered to himself.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
A skinny man with long red hair stood in front of Beryl's throne.  
He bowed to her slightly and smiled as he held up a crystal full of  
life energy. His clothes were bright red, but the uniform was the same  
as the generals before him. "I have brought more power for Metallia."  
  
"Excellent," said Beryl coldly as she raised her hand. The crystal  
floated into her grasp and she smiled at the thing for a moment.  
"Continue your duty."  
  
"When do we get to destroy the Senshi and those traitors? I'm  
getting impatient," said the blue clad general. He was more firmly  
built, with a shock of spiky blue hair on his head.  
  
"Indeed, this game grows boring," agreed the blond woman who  
walked up behind him.  
  
A small boy followed them in, he looked no older than seven. His  
clothes and hair were black. "They're right you know, we aren't short  
on energy any longer."  
  
"I want to be overstocked," replied Beryl calmly. "Those brats  
grow more troublesome each time we encounter them, and the former  
generals are quite resourceful. If they have loosened my control from  
their minds, they will be much more cunning than the drones they ended  
up as."  
  
"It sounds interesting," said the red general with a smirk on his  
face.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Report," said Pluto calmly as Tsuki walked into the room. She was  
sitting behind a desk with a large book in front of her.  
  
"They don't seem to be interested in Genaku much. He's still too  
much for them to handle at the moment," replied the girl with a small  
shrug. "They seem to have accepted it."  
  
"Good, we don't want them getting themselves killed," said Pluto  
with a short nod.  
  
Tsuki furrowed her brow slightly as she sat down. "They also think  
that I'm gay."  
  
"It cannot be helped," said Setsuna calmly.  
  
"I never said I wasn't," replied the girl casually.  
  
"That is not important to me child," said Setsuna as she stood up.  
  
"You were right though, playing clumsy and acting like a ditz did  
make them trust me," said the girl with a smirk on her face.  
  
"Who said you were playing?" retorted Pluto with a slight smirk.  
  
"Okay. So? Even I'm not that clumsy," retorted Tsuki bitterly. "No  
one has that much luck, killing a youma by accident. It's ridiculous."  
  
"You'll grow out of it, Serenity was much like both you and Usagi.  
She was a terrible klutz until she matured fully. Something to do with  
growth spurts."  
  
"I feel bad about spying on them this way," said Tsuki with a  
small frown on her face.  
  
"It is for their own good, and you aren't betraying them," replied  
Pluto calmly.  
  
"I'm going to bed then," said Tsuki as she turned away. She  
promptly walked into the door. After a moment of lying on the ground,  
she stood up and sheepishly rubbed at her forehead. "Oops, forgot I  
closed that."  
  
Pluto sighed and glanced up at her for a moment as she left the  
room. "At least, I hope she grows out of it." She put down the book  
she had been pretending to read and walked over to the time gate with  
a worried frown. The Negaverse had gone silent. She couldn't see  
anything pertaining to the future involving them. "This is not good,"  
she muttered under her breath. Far into the future, Crystal Tokyo  
still flickered in and out of existence, as if it was dangerously  
close to vanishing forever.  
  
Once again, her headache was growing worse.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Nephrite turned towards Ranma and frowned. He and Akane had just  
returned to the back rooms after looking the place over.  
  
"What's up?" said the boy as he took off his shades.  
  
"A strange energy from somewhere in Nerima," said Zocite as he  
pointed at the display screen. A small green light had appeared and  
was moving excitedly down the street.  
  
"Can we get a visual?" said Ranma as he moved up next to the man.  
  
"No, it's too fast to track," said Zocite.  
  
Ranma glanced up and noticed that the green dot was bouncing  
wildly across the streets of Nerima. "A youma?"  
  
"Doesn't fit the energy signature," said Kunzite as he pointed out  
the color. "It's green, unless Beryl found something new, it should be  
red for a youma."  
  
"It's moving towards Juban though," said Nephrite with a sour  
frown.  
  
"It's stopping!" said Kunzite as he saw the green dot freeze  
suddenly.  
  
"Well, let's go say hi then," said Ranma with a smirk on his face.  
  
"What's going on?" said Akane nervously.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma appeared in the street with Akane beside him. "Should be in  
there," he said as he pointed at a small home.  
  
"Give me your lunch money!" cried a booming voice as the door  
exploded outward. A rough looking boy in his early teens rushed out  
the door on his hands and knees, he appeared to have a book bag shoved  
up his ass.  
  
"No! Please!" whimpered the boy.  
  
The thing that followed him out was like something out of a  
cartoon. It had on a long black cape with a collar that rose above its  
head. The clothing was mostly black, and looked like something out of  
a fantasy novel. Leather boots and a loose shirt. It had a mallet over  
its head and glared down at the unfortunate boy with a wicked grin on  
its face. Its head was nothing but a gigantic green face with wild  
eyes.  
  
"What the hell is that?" said Akane in shock.  
  
Ranma just chuckled. "Remember that mask we were guarding in the  
museum?"  
  
She turned her head and nodded silently.  
  
"I told you it was cursed right? Well, you're looking at the curse  
right now."  
  
The thing looked at the pair for a moment and blinked. "Who? Well,  
helloooo!" It rushed up to Akane and took her into its arms. "Mon ami!  
I feel the passion, we were meant to be together cheri!"  
  
Akane promptly flipped the thing over her shoulder and laid it out  
across the pavement. She stepped back in shocked horror as its body  
flattened out across the pavement in an impossible manner.  
  
Ranma calmly pulled his blaster from his jacket and pointed it at  
the thing. "Who are you?"  
  
The thing pulled itself off the ground and shook its head until  
its body reformed. "Huh? Who am I? I'm..." It seemed to ponder the  
question for a moment. It seemed to have a thought and posed proudly,  
pointing its finger into the air. "I am! Okii Atama!"  
  
"Big head?" muttered Akane lamely.  
  
"That's nice," said Ranma as he shot the thing in the chest.  
  
Okii Atama was thrown off of his feet and laid out across the  
ground.  
  
"You saved me!" cried the boy who was clutching Ranma's leg with  
tears in his eyes. He looked down at him and kicked him off. The boy  
was sprawled out across the pavement. Ranma reached down and pulled  
the bag out of his ass with a quick jerk, causing the boy to scream in  
pain.  
  
"You killed it!" said Akane in horror as she stared down at the  
thing.  
  
"It's not dead," said Ranma calmly. He pulled his neuralizer out  
of his coat and looked at the thing's victim for a moment. He put on  
his shades and smiled at him. "Don't worry, you won't feel a thing?"  
  
"What?" said the boy in horror. The light flashed, erasing his  
memory and leaving him sitting dumbly.  
  
"You fell out of your window and landed on a rake in the back  
yard. That's how you injured yourself, now go inside and tell your  
parents so they can get you to a hospital before you bleed to death."  
  
The boy nodded and started to crawl away, the pain too much for  
him to even stand properly.  
  
"Now, back to you. Hand over that mask kid. I don't know who you  
are, but I can't have that thing running around causing trouble. I'm  
sure the rightful owners would like to have it back."  
  
"He's not moving," said Akane nervously.  
  
Ranma stepped forward and stomped on the thing's crotch. It sat up  
and screamed in pain, its eyes bugged out of its skull and its tongue  
rolled out across the pavement.  
  
"Ouch! That hurt you know!" squeaked the thing in a high pitched  
voice.  
  
"Give me that mask," said Ranma coldly.  
  
The thing pulled its face off, revealing a skull underneath its  
skin. He handed his face over to Ranma and grinned. "Here you go."  
  
"Funny," said the boy calmly as he handed it back. "You're making  
a mess out of the pavement though.  
  
The thing looked down and noticed he was still bleeding all over  
the ground. "Oh my, that won't do at all." It spun around and appeared  
dressed in a janitor's uniform and began to mop up the street. "There,  
all clean!" The area on the ground now sparkled.  
  
Ranma frowned and pointed his blaster at the thing's head. "Give  
me that mask, or I'll blow it off your face."  
  
The thing suddenly became angry. "You think you can threaten me?"  
  
Ranma narrowed his eyes and nodded.  
  
"Um, Ranma..." muttered Akane as she backed away from the pair.  
  
"Take this!" cried the thing as a dark power started to form in  
its hands. It crackled angrily between its palms and began to tear up  
sections of the street.  
  
"What the?" muttered Ranma as he stepped back in shock.  
  
"Devoid Matter Spell!" cried the thing as it thrust its hands  
forward.  
  
Ranma tensed to jump away, but paused when he found himself  
standing in the middle of a shower of playing cards that was shooting  
from the thing's hands.  
  
It paused and looked down at the spell for a moment. "Hmm, needs  
work." It laughed madly and bolted down the street.  
  
Ranma growled and put his weapon back inside his coat as he  
watched it go. There was no way he could catch it at the speed it was  
moving.  
  
"Where is it going?" he said into the watch.  
  
"It's vanished," said Nephrite from the other end.  
  
"Come on, we're going back," said Ranma as he turned towards Akane  
and frowned.  
  
"Um, right," muttered the girl. "What the hell did I get myself  
into?" she said to herself as the light swallowed them up.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
TBC... Next time: Attack of the Youma Lords! Can the Senshi hold  
out against a powerful new enemy?  



	19. Insertion Part 19

Insertion  
  
Part 19  
  
Flames of Defeat!  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Mousse strolled into the Cat Cafe and stopped cold in the doorway.  
  
  
Shampoo and Cologne both paused and looked at him as he posed and  
curled his lip. "Hey big momma, The King, has returned."  
  
Cologne was frozen in shock as the boy walked up to an equally  
surprised Shampoo. "Hey, baby. Wanna go somewhere and get to know each  
other?" He grabbed her shoulder as he said this.  
  
"Mousse?" said the girl dumbly.  
  
The boy was looking at his reflection in a painting and combing  
his hair. "Man I'm pretty. So how about it babe?"  
  
Cologne snapped to life suddenly. She charged forward and poked  
Mousse with her staff. "Hateful being! What do you think you're  
doing?"  
  
The boy stood up and ran a comb through his hair again. "Hey!  
Watch the hair!"  
  
"Mousse, I'll ask you once more...what are you doing?" said the  
woman carefully.  
  
"I'm gonna defeat Ranma Saotome, and win the heart of this pretty  
lady!" said Mousse. He then posed again and pointed at her. "Hoo ha!"  
  
"Shampoo, turn away from Mousse," said Cologne with a heavy sigh.  
  
The girl did so, and Mousse arched his eyebrow. "Huh?"  
  
Cologne turned her back on him as well. "You have learned  
forbidden techniques Mousse. I hear by cast you out of the village  
forever."  
  
"Duh?" muttered Mousse as his jaw dropped.  
  
"You must leave now," said the old woman firmly.  
  
"But...I...I'll forget about the stupid techniques!" cried the boy  
in desperation. "You can't do this to me! Please! I'll never wear big  
jewelry or sequence again!"  
  
"It is too late Mousse, the fact that you hold any knowledge at  
all of these techniques is enough. The King is the eternal enemy of  
our tribe. The chaos he wrought upon us when he came to China is still  
remembered as out darkest hour."  
  
"The King?" stammered Mousse in horror.  
  
"Yes, he used his charms to overpower the entire village. Anyone  
under the age of twenty was helpless against him. For a male to hold  
that much power over a woman, it is too dangerous. You are now cast  
out forever Mousse, never lay eyes on Shampoo again."  
  
"But...I...NOOOOOOOO!!" cried the boy as he rushed out the door  
and into the street clutching his head.  
  
"Aiya! Poor Mousse," said Shampoo as she turned back around.  
  
"Perhaps it is for the best child. He is dead to us now, you are  
to treat him as nothing more than a ghost from this day forward."  
  
The young amazon nodded her head and started to go back to her  
work again. She was moving a little slower now though, and seemed  
preoccupied.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome sat at the table in the Tendo home. That in itself  
wasn't unusual, the fact that Nabiki was sitting next to him, watching  
him carefully was.  
  
He paused and glanced at her for a moment. "What?"  
  
"Nothing," she said with a small frown on her face.  
  
"You've been acting weird," he muttered.  
  
"So have you," she replied calmly. "Since the day you came here."  
  
"So what? I'm an unusual guy," he replied with a small shrug as he  
stood up and walked up to his room and left her there.  
  
"A little to unusual," she muttered as she watched him go.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"What?" Pluto looked up at Serenity and scowled.  
  
"I said, you're neglecting your wifely duties," said the Queen  
with a serious looking frown.  
  
"I haven't! I've appeared with that oaf at every state dinner  
and..." she started as she pointed at the man.  
  
He was calmly eating a large leg of meat at a nearby table and  
ignoring the situation.  
  
"But you haven't produced any children," said the Queen with a  
sour frown. "You need an heir."  
  
"I'm immortal! What would I need with..." started the woman.  
  
"If something should happen to you, then we will need a  
replacement," said Serenity with a cool smirk.  
  
"You! You put her up to this didn't you?" snarled Pluto as she  
turned towards Genaku.  
  
"What makes ya think I desire a child?" he replied with a small  
shrug. "I've no use for this union. My opinion isn't relevant though."  
  
"He is correct, this is a matter of diplomacy as much as anything  
else," said Serenity calmly. "Pluto will need an ambassador one day,  
those scientist you've been sending aren't cutting it."  
  
"But...how can I...I won't let that thing touch me!" snarled Pluto  
as she pointed towards Genaku again.  
  
The man blinked and snorted in reply. He then continued to eat.  
  
"That is a part of your duty as a wife," insisted Serenity.  
  
Pluto stared at Genaku in horror. He was still eating like the  
barbarian he was. He was a far cry from attractive, brutish, large,  
and covered in scars from his many battles. He was far from fat, but  
bulky to ridiculous levels, to say nothing of his wild red hair and  
beard. As far as Pluto was concerned, he was as close to a cave man as  
you could get without actually being one.  
  
As if to prove the point, the man gave a loud belch and resumed  
his eating, pausing a moment later to lift half his rear up and let  
out another, more repulsive emission.  
  
Pluto felt her entire face turn red and a sick look crossed her  
face. "You must be joking."  
  
"I am not. There is nothing wrong with Genaku, the Senshi of  
Saturn seems to like him," replied Serenity.  
  
"So let her have him! I will not, and cannot be the mother of his  
child. Even if you threaten me with death!"  
  
Serenity sighed and rested her head in her palm. This wasn't going  
as well as she had hoped. She had thought that they were secretly  
involved, and just couldn't produce. In fact, she expected embarrassed  
sputtering and avoidance of the topic from the both of them.  
  
Genaku stood up from the table and wiped his mouth off with his  
arm before letting loose another loud belch. "In any case, 'tis a moot  
point," he said with a small chuckle.  
  
"What do you mean?" said Serenity coolly.  
  
"'Tis simple your highness. Like all the others involved with the  
game, I am sterile. No heir will ever be produced from me loins."  
  
Serenity blinked and stared at him. "You never told me that."  
  
"You did na ask," he replied with a small shrug. "I must give you  
mah leave. Inspections and all that."  
  
Serenity merely sat on her throne and watched him go. Pluto looked  
up at her and held her breath. Her face began to turn blue as she  
fumed angrily. "That...that...BASTARD!"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Interesting," said Carrot as they seemed to jerk back to reality  
suddenly.  
  
"Whoa. Pluto was pissed," commented Ranma.  
  
"What a horrible man!" said Pissant.  
  
"We seemed to be enjoying that though," commented Dan.  
  
"In any case, this goes a long way towards explaining why Pluto  
hates us," agreed Carrot.  
  
"Really? Doesn't seem any worse than anything else Ranma did to  
her," pointed out Dan.  
  
"Hey! It wasn't me!" snapped the pigtailed boy in retort.  
  
"Yeah, it was," said Carrot calmly.  
  
"Come on, let's go to the office. Nabiki is starting to creep me  
out," said Dan as he looked over and saw the girl watching their room  
with a pair of binoculars from the bushes.  
  
"Wonder what she's on about?" muttered Carrot.  
  
"Maybe she likes us?" said Pissant cheerfully.  
  
"Well, there was the other night, but she doesn't seem to be  
acting like she does," commented Carrot with a small frown.  
  
"She seems suspicious of something," pointed out Dan.  
  
"About what though? There's a lot of things she may have stumbled  
onto," pointed out Carrot.  
  
"We'll deal with it when it comes up," said Dan with a small sigh.  
He closed the curtain in their room and smirked at her before he did  
so.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Damn, that bastard," grumbled Nabiki as she stood up from her  
hiding spot and lowered the binoculars. The boy had looked directly at  
her as he shut the curtains. "I know he's up to something, but what?"  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Hey Akane," said Ranma as he strolled by her office and noticed  
her leaning back in her chair with a book in her hands. "What's up?"  
  
"Three more sightings of that Okii Atama character," she said  
calmly.  
  
Ranma nodded, manage to find him again.  
  
"We stopped trying, he's too fast. Usually gone by the time we get  
there too," replied the girl with a small shrug.  
  
"Right, any reports in lately?" he picked up one of the tabloid  
newspapers on her desk and frowned. "Fire that heals the soul?"  
  
"You read those things?" she muttered in disgust.  
  
"Best investigative reporting on the planet," replied the boy  
calmly. "We should look into this. Seems some sort of spiritual healer  
is healing injuries with magical power."  
  
"What's wrong with that?" said the girl with a small frown.  
  
"Once healed, the cured are reported as being weak for several  
days. As if drained by something."  
  
"You saw that too did you?" commented Jadeite as he walked into  
the room.  
  
"Yeah. Actually helping people, while stealing their energy. A  
brilliant way to disguise an energy gathering operation."  
  
"Kinda wish I'd thought of it," muttered the general with a small  
frown.  
  
"Not something your average youma would think of either," said  
Ranma with a small frown.  
  
"You're right about that," said Jadeite with a small frown. "We've  
been replaced it seems."  
  
"By who, or what?" said Ranma as he narrowed his eyes.  
  
"That guy apparently," said Jadeite as he pointed at a photograph  
of a young man in his twenties. He was thin and gangly, with a shock  
of red hair. The man was dressed in a suit and tie, and was putting  
his hand on the forehead of an unfortunate man in a wheelchair. This  
was taking place in front of a small crowd of worshipers.  
  
"This is an American practice, faith healers," said Ranma.  
  
"Seems harmless," said Akane as she glanced up at the two.  
  
"Come on Akane," said Ranma as he motioned for her to follow.  
  
"Huh? Where are we going?" muttered the girl in confusion as she  
went after him.  
  
"Juban," replied the boy with a smirk on his face. "I think I need  
to have my soul healed."  
  
Nephrite met them in the hallway and held out a belt buckle to  
Ranma. "Here, it's fixed. It might be good for one or two attacks from  
Pluto, but not more than that. The other Senshi aren't using magic  
strong enough to get through though."  
  
"That's good to know," replied the boy with a small nod.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"And with only a small donation, you too can help us spread the  
word of Jesus across the entire world! His healing power fills my  
soul, and I feel revived!"  
  
"Praise Jesus!" cried a few members of the large crowd inside the  
auditorium. Several worshipers passed out in fevers of devotion, or so  
they thought.  
  
The young reverend smirked to himself as he saw the crystal flame  
on top of the large ornamented cross that hung from the wall behind  
him suddenly flare with more energy. It was subtle, and looked like  
nothing more than a fancy light bulb.  
  
"Tonight, we will honor our lord and savior once again! With your  
help, we can truly serve him as his loyal servants!" He strolled  
across the stage dramatically waving his arms about.  
  
The worshipers raised their hands into the air and broke into song  
suddenly as the organ player nearby began to play.  
  
"I want you to touch the screen if you're watching at home. Feel  
that weakening in your knees? That's the power of the lord descending  
upon you! He strengthens your souls! Can you feel it!" He raised his  
hand and pointed it out while bowing his head and closing his eyes.  
  
In the back of the room, Ranma Saotome smirked to himself. "Very  
clever."  
  
"Wow, he's good," commented Akane in awe.  
  
"Very good," agreed Ranma. "We've got to stop him."  
  
"What? But..." Akane looked around, it was a far cry from the  
traditional religions of Japan, but didn't seem to be hurting anyone.  
In fact, earlier he had actually healed three people. The injuries  
were genuine too, this was more than a mere scam.  
  
"He's a Youma," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"Don't be stupid! He's helped those people. You saw them," said  
the girl with a scowl on her face.  
  
"A perfect cover, the energy to do that is nothing compared to the  
energy he's gathered in that crystal up there," said the boy as he  
nodded towards the cross.  
  
"So, we attack them?" said Akane as she noticed the crystal.  
  
"On national television? With a crowd full of people? Don't be  
silly. We should wait until the show is over," said the boy as he  
moved towards the door.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Outside the pair waited in a small cafe near to the large  
auditorium. Ranma had a newspaper in his hands and was glaring at one  
story in particular.  
  
"Is something wrong?" asked Akane.  
  
"Yes," replied the boy as he lay the pages down on the table.  
  
"Mysterious disappearances in Juban! Police baffled! Six young  
girls have vanished!"  
  
"You don't think that has anything to do with..." gasped Akane.  
  
"Most likely," confirmed the boy with a small frown.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Reverend, my mother is very sick..." said the young girl who  
stood in front of a small dressing room. "I was hoping you could  
maybe..." She was pretty, somewhere between sixteen and seventeen  
years old, with long green hair. Her dress was modest, but it was  
clear it hid a very nice figure.  
  
"What is it child?" said the young man as he turned away from his  
dresser and looked at her for a moment with a strange smile on his  
face. "Tell me your name."  
  
"Miaka..." said the girl shyly. A blush crossed her face as the  
man looked at her gently and grabbed her shoulder. He pulled her  
inside the room and closed the door.  
  
"Shameful," muttered one of the women who worked on the spectacle.  
  
"He has the power of the lord in him," said another of the women.  
  
"Still. I don't understand how he could fall to such base  
temptation," said the woman as she turned away from the scene.  
  
"He's just a man, everyone has a weakness," replied the other  
woman as she followed her companion.  
  
+++++++++  
  
Inside the dressing room the man sat across from the girl and  
watched her hungrily. "Tell me child. What is it you want?"  
  
"My mother, she's sick. She's been in the hospital, and can't come  
here. She watches your show, and I've seen you heal people. Could  
you..." The girl was very nervous, but the man's gentle tone seemed to  
calm her.  
  
"Of course I could my child," said the man as he brushed her face.  
"However, there is a price to pay."  
  
"What?" she muttered as she looked up at him fearfully.  
  
"The power inside me, it hungers for things. Certain beastly  
desires, it is required for my healing touch to continue. If you would  
help me feed this desire, I could help your mother." He smiled at her  
for a moment, moving her hair out of her face.  
  
She jumped up in shock and stepped away from him. "But...you are a  
man of the lord! I couldn't..."  
  
"I am a servant of the one who will one day rule this world," said  
the man with a small nod. "However, I require such things in order to  
continue my service to the almighty."  
  
The girl looked up at him fearfully and nodded her head. He turned  
his back on her and she slowly started to remove her shirt, pulling it  
off of her shoulder slowly. She swallowed and closed her eyes, tears  
forming there. "Forgive me mother..."  
  
The red-haired man merely stared forward at the wall, his grin no  
longer human. It was wide, and almost split his face in half. Sharp  
teeth lined his jaws and he flicked off the light in the room before  
turning around to face the girl again. "Don't worry. It only hurts for  
a moment."  
  
"What?" said the fear filled voice.  
  
Outside the dressing room, no one heard the screams, the building  
now vacated completely.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"We're going in," said Ranma calmly as he stood in front of the  
doors.  
  
"All right," muttered Akane nervously as she stood behind him.  
  
+++++++++  
  
The building was completely silent as they strolled through the  
rows of seats. Not a single soul was left inside the entire building.  
  
"Stay close," said Ranma calmly as he strolled up onto the stage  
and glanced around. It was dark, but a few windows still let in light  
from outside.  
  
"Right," said Akane firmly. The nervous edge was gone from her  
voice now. She glanced around and looked up at the crystal. "It's not  
glowing anymore."  
  
"He's probably got the energy with him, if he's even still here.  
He may have returned to the Negaverse to deliver it." He strolled  
behind one of the curtains and into a hallway that led into the  
backstage area of the building.  
  
"What's this?" said Akane as she looked at a few rows of doors.  
  
"Dressing rooms," replied the boy with a small frown.  
  
"Should we check them out?" said Akane as she reached for one of  
the door handles.  
  
"Yup," said Ranma as he turned towards one of them and reared his  
leg back. He paused when something caught his attention. "What is  
that?"  
  
"Huh?" said Akane as she looked at where he was staring.  
  
"A puddle?" she walked over and knelt down beside it. "This looks  
like..." Her eyes grew wide as she staggered back in horror.  
  
"Blood," said Ranma as he narrowed his eyes and turned towards the  
door it was coming from.  
  
Akane drew the tiny weapon from her coat and pointed it at the  
door. Ranma glanced at her and nodded before kicking it in.  
  
A figure slowly stood up and turned to face them. "The service is  
over."  
  
"We aren't here to pray," replied Ranma calmly. "We're here to put  
a stop to this operation youma."  
  
"Oh? Well, if it isn't the new Genaku! I've so wanted to meet  
you," said the shadowy figure as he stepped towards the door and  
paused as he noticed the weapons that were trained on him.  
  
"Well, I'm glad to give you the pleasure. Come on out and we'll  
talk," said Ranma with a slight tensing in his voice.  
  
The light came on inside the room and a blood-soaked man with red  
hair stood grinning at them evilly. The remains of a young girl were  
sprawled out across the ground, her chest was open and most of her  
innards were gone.  
  
Akane stepped back and lowered her weapon in shocked horror. She  
wanted to scream, but the panic was so much that she couldn't.  
  
The man had tears in his eyes as he looked at them sadly. "I have  
sinned!"  
  
"Shit!" barked Ranma as he shot a single blast into the thing's  
chest and jumped away. He grabbed Akane by her arm and pulled her down  
the hall towards the auditorium.  
  
"Ouch," muttered the man as he stood up and noticed the large hole  
in the front of his suit. His chest was unharmed though and he  
chuckled as he stood up.  
  
Ranma spun around to face the Youma once he reached the stage, a  
dark scowl on his face as he prepared to fight. "Akane, stay back for  
now. If you get a clear shot, take it, but don't get between us no  
matter what happens."  
  
"Right," said the girl as she moved into the seating area and took  
cover.  
  
The red-haired youma walked out calmly and glared at Ranma for a  
moment. "Well, now what?"  
  
"Who are you? I don't recognize you," said the boy coldly.  
  
"I am called Takibi," said the youma. "You are Genaku McTome are  
you not?"  
  
"I was," said Ranma with a smirk forming on his face. "I go by  
Ranma these days."  
  
"Well, Ranma. Are you prepared to die?" said the thing as it  
narrowed its eyes at him.  
  
"Not today," replied the boy as a glow began to form around his  
body.  
  
The Youma lord merely smirked, his entire body burst into flames.  
"Come then, let's see if you can escape my power."  
  
Ranma charged forward faster than Akane could see. He appeared  
behind the thing and punched it in the center of its back. Or it  
appeared that way, Ranma's fist passed right through the thing and he  
stopped with a shocked look on his face.  
  
"What the hell?"  
  
"Got ya," replied the Youma from behind him. Ranma was kicked  
away, the flames dissipating as they came into contact with his  
protective shield.  
  
Ranma staggered to his feet and wavered for a moment.  
"He's...strong..."  
  
Akane jumped up from behind her seat and leveled her weapon at the  
thing. Without bothering to speak, she screamed and fired the tiny  
weapon.  
  
The Youma was taken by surprise and flew into the air, the  
remainder of his shirt flew apart as he sailed through the back wall  
of the auditorium.  
  
Unfortunately, Akane was also lifted off of her feet and thrown  
back into the seats. She landed roughly, and passed out as her head  
hit the arm of one of the chairs.  
  
Ranma rushed forward to press the momentary advantage, blasting  
into the thing as it staggered out of the hole in the wall and  
clutched its forehead. "HAAA!"  
  
The youma was forced back, its arms becoming a blur as it blocked  
every strike with relative ease. "You'll have to do better than that.  
I have the power of the almighty on my side."  
  
"Right, the almighty Metallia?" commented Ranma with a dark frown.  
  
"You are a sharp one," replied the youma coolly.  
  
"Let's see your almighty bitch deal with this! Kaio Ken special!  
Katsutenshin Amaguriken!"  
  
The youma gasped in shock as visible shockwaves became apparent in  
the air around the boy's hands. He barely had time to notice it as his  
entire body exploded with pain suddenly. He was thrown into a wall  
again and it crumbled around him.  
  
Ranma fell to his knees breathing roughly. His knuckles were  
bleeding and his hands were badly bruised. "Take...that..." he gasped.  
  
"Raaaahhhhh!" cried the Youma as he stood up and wiped his chin.  
"That really hurt!" he snarled angrily.  
  
"It was supposed to hurt," replied Ranma as he narrowed his eyes  
at the thing. He knew he was in trouble, there was no way he could  
pull off that attack again. The thing wasn't all that badly damaged  
either, other than a few bruises and a busted lip, it seemed fine. "No  
fair! When I come up with a new attack, you're supposed to be  
defeated!"  
  
The youma lord stood up, his hair billowing about as the flames  
surrounding his body suddenly flared up. "You'll die for that!"  
  
"No!" gasped Ranma as a ball of fire formed in the thing's palms.  
He started to move away, but it was to fast. He screamed in agony as  
his shield gave out and his entire body was engulfed in flames. He  
jumped off the edge of the stage and rolled around on the ground for a  
moment.  
  
"Impressive, no one has ever survived that attack before," said  
the Youma Lord as he looked down and saw that Ranma was relatively  
unharmed. He looked a little scorched, but even his suit was still  
mostly intact.  
  
Ranma opened his eyes, an angry scowl on his face as he looked up  
at the youma. "Hello?" he muttered out loud. "Damn, everyone's out but  
me..."  
  
"Who are you talking too?" asked the youma with a slight smirk on  
his face.  
  
"No one, don't worry about it. We're going to do this my way now,"  
replied the boy as he looked up at the youma and smirked. He reached  
behind his back and pulled out two sleek looking firearms.  
  
The youma blinked and cocked his head. "You should know those  
things can't kill me."  
  
"Killing you isn't the plan. I'm gonna beat the shit out of you  
with em," replied Ranma as he leveled one of the weapons on the thing  
and shot it in the chest. The youma was lifted off his feet and sent  
sprawling across the ground.  
  
"Damn you!" it cried as it started to get up.  
  
Ranma jumped back onto the stage and fired another shot, forcing  
the thing to lie on its back again.  
  
"What are you trying to do?" snarled the thing as it tried to get  
up again.  
  
Ranma smirked, and fired a shot into the thing's crotch.  
  
It sat upright with its eyes growing wide suddenly.  
  
"Bye bye," said the boy as he fired a shot at point blank rage in  
its face. The youma was sent sliding across the stage and slammed into  
a wall with its head. The stone cracked, but held this time. Ranma  
walked up calmly as the thing groaned and rolled over onto its back.  
  
"You realize I'm going to destroy you for this," snarled the  
thing.  
  
Ranma said nothing, but started to fire off shots one after  
another into the thing as it lay on the ground. It screamed in pain  
with each blast, but they still did nothing more than pound a few  
bruises into place.  
  
Finally Ranma stopped firing and looked down at the thing for a  
moment.  
  
"Out of ammo?" snarled the thing as it started to rise.  
  
"No. This is pointless though, I'm not going to beat you today. I  
can stop your little operation though," said the boy with a small  
shrug as he replaced his weapons.  
  
"How are you going to do that?" snapped the red-haired youma as it  
finally stood up and leaned against the wall.  
  
"I already have," replied the boy as he jumped off the stage and  
started running up the aisle. He paused long enough to pick up Akane's  
unconscious form, and then bolted for the doors at a full sprint.  
  
"What?" muttered the youma as he staggered towards them. His head  
was clouded though and he fumbled to his knees. When he bent forward  
to stand up again, his eyes caught a small silver object on the  
ground. "What? That's a..." Then everything went red.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Ranma?" muttered Akane as she sat up and saw the boy staring at a  
large vacant lot with what looked like tears in his eyes.  
  
"That was so cool," muttered Ranma as he clenched his fist in  
front of his face.  
  
"Huh?" muttered the girl as she looked around. She was sitting on  
a park bench just outside of the auditorium. Or rather, where the  
auditorium used to be.  
  
"It's gone!" gasped the girl as her eyes went wide.  
  
"Shhh! Anti matter explosion," replied the boy as he put his  
finger over her lips. "Vaporizes any matter it comes in contact with.  
No debris, no mess, and easily contained."  
  
"How are we going to explain this?" stammered Akane as she looked  
up at the vacant lot again.  
  
"Hey! What happened to that building?" said Ranma as he walked  
over to a nearby yakitori vendor.  
  
"Huh? Oh, that. It was demolished last week," replied the man with  
a small shrug. "Musta been old or something."  
  
Ranma turned to face her and pulled his neuralizer out of his  
front pocket a little to show it to her.  
  
"Oh," she muttered flatly. "Can we go home now?"  
  
"Not much else we can do here," replied the boy with a small  
shrug.  
  
Akane was strangely silent as they walked towards someplace where  
they could teleport away without being seen. "What the hell have I  
gotten myself into?" She pulled the Noisy Cricket out of her pocket  
and looked at it for a moment. "Can I really handle this?"  
  
Ranma put on his shades as they rounded the corner and moved into  
an alleyway. He seemed to be having the time of his life. "Ready?"  
  
"I think I am," she said with a small nod.  
  
Ranma blinked, not realizing that she was answering a completely  
different question.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Mousse meets Okii Atama, and gets himself a job? O_o`  



	20. Insertion Part 20

Insertion  
  
Part 20  
  
Weirder and Weirder...  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Mousse sat at a small bar with a drink in his hands. He was  
brooding silently over the new development in his life, and was quite  
possibly the drunkest he'd ever been. He was inside a small casino  
somewhere in Tokyo. The place reminded him of his old sensei's place,  
and he was trying to relax a bit.  
  
"Well, maybe..." he muttered as he looked up at the ceiling for a  
moment.  
  
"Got problems?" asked the bartender as she walked up to him while  
cleaning a glass. She was a pretty woman in her mid twenties with  
short blonde hair.  
  
"Man, do I," grumbled the boy as he looked up at her. She backed  
away, narrowly missing being poked by his four-foot long bangs.  
  
"So? Woman trouble?" she commented with a slight smirk.  
  
"Sorta," grumbled the boy pathetically. "Ya see, I was cast out of  
this crazy Chinese man hater tribe, for learning secret techniques  
forbidden to 'em. Now I can't marry the girl I've loved my whole life,  
and I don't have enough money to get back to my job in Vegas. I'm  
stuck in Japan, with no place to go, spending the last of my hard-  
earned money on booze. Man, this sucks. I-I-I just don't know what ta  
do! It's like, the King is eternally trapped in the Heartbreak Hotel  
baby."  
  
The bartender blinked as she looked at him for a moment. His  
accent was almost flawless. "Hey, you're pretty good."  
  
"Thanks babe, but that don't help me none. Gimme another drink  
would ya honey? The King needs a little help gettin to sleep tonight."  
  
"And I thought that other guy had weird problems," muttered the  
bartender as she walked away.  
  
Mousse blinked at the comment and looked down the bar. "Whoa  
momma!" Sitting a few stools down, with empty stools on either side of  
him was the weirdest looking guy he'd ever seen. He had a gigantic  
green head with no hair, and a long black trench coat. He had a somber  
looking frown on his face and tears were streaming down his cheeks.  
Resting across his shoulder was a ridiculously huge gun of some kind.  
It looked somewhat futuristic, with a long square barrel with some  
sort of lens in it.  
  
Curious, he stood up and sat down next to the man. "Um, what the  
heck is that thing?"  
  
The green headed man turned to look at him. "Huh? Oh, just my  
pneumatic vaporizer. Nothing special." He turned back to the drink  
that was resting in his palm and sighed.  
  
"Why the long face?" said Mousse as he looked down at his own  
drink.  
  
The man turned to look at him, his face was now about four feet  
long. "Is it really that bad?"  
  
"Um...yeah," muttered Mousse as he attempted to adjust his  
glasses.  
  
"Nothing much really, I'm being hunted by men in black suits. My  
parents think I'm gay, I'm in love with a girl who doesn't know I  
exist, and I've run out of old bullies to kill. What about you?"  
  
"Um...nothing much. Just cast out of my tribe, everything else is  
related to that. I can't even afford a peanut butter and nanner  
sandwich after I leave this place."  
  
The man looked at him and burst into tears. "Our lives are so  
pathetic! I think I'm going to turn to a life of crime!"  
  
"Come on now. It can't be that bad," said Mousse as he tried to  
comfort the man. "You could be dead on a toilet somewhere! Or married  
to your own cousin, that happened to my brother. Or even worse! I  
could lose my hair!"  
  
The man looked up at Mousse for a moment. "Huh?"  
  
"Oh, sorry," muttered the Chinese boy as he realized that the man  
had no hair.  
  
"Can...I borrow some of your hair?" said the man pathetically.  
  
"Hey! Don't be gettin all personal buddy!" snapped Mousse.  
  
"Oh. Okay, but still. I've run out of enemies to slay and torture.  
I've laid waste to all those who opposed me, technically speaking, I  
should be ruling the world right now."  
  
"Come on. It's not so bad, some people could never say that," said  
Mousse with a small frown on his face.  
  
"Yeah, but still..." said the man as he hung his head a little  
lower.  
  
"Look man, I'm sure your momma would be proud," said Mousse as he  
pat the man on his back.  
  
"Actually, she hates violence," pointed out the man.  
  
"Err...right."  
  
"I suppose I could become a superhero or something. I mean, it's  
not like I've got anything better to do...it's just that...there's not  
that much crime in Tokyo!" The man burst into tears again. "Why  
couldn't I live in America or something? No! I had to be born into a  
place with one of the lowest crime rates in the world! Waaaaahhhh!"  
  
Mousse seemed to perk up a bit. "Hey! You could fight the Yakuza!"  
  
The man looked up at him with huge shiny eyes. "R-really?"  
  
"Or better yet, those demon things that keep attacking people. You  
could even do both!"  
  
"Y-you're right! I shall become a champion of justice! A beacon of  
light! A hero beyond all heroes! I Okii Atama, shall make my mark upon  
this world at last!" A horse appeared from nowhere, and the green  
headed man leapt onto its back and rode through the doors and into the  
street.  
  
"Whoa Momma! That guy is good!" said Mousse in awe.  
  
The bartender frowned and walked up next to Mousse again. "I  
thought I told that idiot about bringing his animals into my place."  
She turned to face him and smirked. "You want a job? I've never seen  
an Asian guy as good as you are."  
  
"Huh? Whatcha mean?" said Mousse as he turned to look at her for a  
moment.  
  
The woman jerked her thumb up at a small stage on one side of the  
room. "I need something to fill in a spot on the weekend. My old act  
quit a few weeks ago."  
  
"Sure," replied Mousse with a small shrug.  
  
"Welcome aboard then," said the woman with a smirk forming on her  
face. "My name is King."  
  
"Mousse," replied the boy as he bowed to her a little.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Sabotage! Fake Demolition Company Levels Auditorium in Tokyo!"  
  
Ranma smirked as he put the newspaper down and sat back at his  
desk. "I told you it would work out."  
  
Akane frowned at him for a moment and sat down opposite him. "You  
called me in here for something?"  
  
"Yeah, here," said the boy as he handed her a small envelope.  
  
"What's this?" said the girl as she looked at it for a moment  
without opening it.  
  
"Your paycheck. We aren't doing this for free ya know," said the  
boy as he turned to look out the window for a moment. They were fairly  
high up, and it was a good view of the city.  
  
"Paycheck?" mumbled the girl in confusion for a moment. She opened  
it and pulled out the check. After a moment of staring she looked up  
at Ranma. "Um...is this right?"  
  
"Huh? He stood up and looked at it. "Yeah. Is there a problem?"  
  
"No!" said the girl as she stood up and stared at it again. "What  
am I going to do with all of this?"  
  
"Well, it's got to last you two weeks. Don't go spending it all in  
once place," said Ranma.  
  
"Two weeks?" she said as she looked at him again in confusion.  
  
"Yeah, that's when you get paid again," said the boy calmly.  
  
"Oh my," muttered Akane as she stuck the check in her shirt.  
  
"Get with Nephrite, he'll set you up with a bank account," said  
Ranma as he started shuffling a few of the papers on his desk for a  
moment.  
  
"Right. I'm going now," said Akane as she moved towards the door.  
  
"Home already?" said Ranma as he arched his eyebrow a little.  
  
"No, I think I'll pay my sister what I owe her, and then...go buy  
a car or something I guess..."  
  
"Right, have fun," said Ranma as he smiled at her cheerfully.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"You're right, that was funnier than I'd thought it would be,"  
commented Dan as he watched the girl wander off in a daze.  
  
"Told ya," said Carrot.  
  
"What are we gonna do for the rest of the day?" said Ranma  
irritably.  
  
"Train most likely, we've got to think of something that can deal  
with that youma," said Carrot with a small sigh.  
  
"I did well enough when you idiots were out cold," snorted Dan.  
  
"Well, you didn't kill it either," pointed out Carrot.  
  
"Yeah, but it ain't happy," retorted Dan.  
  
"Still, all we've managed was pissing it off. We're gonna need  
something for the next time we meet," said Carrot.  
  
"Can't we just talk to it?" said Pissant with a pathetic whine.  
"I'm sure it's reasonable. It was helping those people after all..."  
  
"Like it helped that girl we found?" replied Carrot firmly.  
  
"Well..." muttered Pissant.  
  
"We're going to kill it," said Dan.  
  
"We shouldn't though, that wouldn't be very nice," insisted the  
pathetic voice.  
  
"And letting it run around and kill anyone it wants is nice?" said  
Carrot.  
  
"Yeah! We can't let that thing just run around wild!" agreed  
Ranma. "We need to train, and that's my department."  
  
"Good, we should get started then," said Carrot as he stood up.  
"We'll go home and get ourselves a change of clothes, then go find a  
nice quiet place to train."  
  
"Right," said Ranma. For the first time that day he sounded  
cheerful.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"Hi!" cried Usagi cheerfully as she noticed Tsuki walking up to  
the group. They were sitting around a table in the eating area of a  
mall.  
  
"Hey guys. What's up?" said the girl as she noticed them and  
walked over. She had several shopping bags under her arm.  
  
"What are you doing here?" asked Makoto.  
  
"Shopping of course," replied the girl with a small shrug. "How  
about you guys?"  
  
"Were just here. I'm not sure why," said Ami as she looked at her  
friends.  
  
"We're wasting time we could be using for more important things,"  
said Rei. Despite the comment she looked content with the situation.  
  
"Just hanging out," said Usagi. "It's fun."  
  
"I hope so, we've been doing it all day," said Makoto.  
  
"We're the only ones who understand this Usagi," said Minako as  
she turned back from watching a nearby table with several boys around  
it.  
  
"Where's Mamoru?" said Tsuki as she glanced around for a moment.  
"It's weird not seeing you dragging him around by his balls in a place  
like this."  
  
Usagi blinked and blushed. "I umm..."  
  
"Ha! Right on the nose!" said Rei cheerfully.  
  
"Mamo-chan likes spending time with me!" said Usagi defensively.  
  
"You don't understand men at all," said Tsuki with a smirk forming  
on her face.  
  
"Oh, like you do?" said Makoto as she rolled her eyes.  
  
"And why wouldn't I?" said the girl with a playful looking smirk.  
  
None of the girls spoke a word. They looked away in embarrassment  
and avoided looking at her.  
  
"Attracting men is an art. You have to learn the finer points of  
it if you want to be successful."  
  
"Usagi seems to be doing well," commented Ami.  
  
"Right, Usagi couldn't find her ass with both hands and a  
flashlight," snorted Rei.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" snapped the girl irritably.  
  
"It means you got lucky," said Tsuki as she sat down.  
  
"Finally! A girl after my own heart!" said Minako cheerfully.  
  
"Pick a man, any man," said Tsuki as she glanced around at the  
crowd.  
  
"That one," said Makoto as she pointed out a particularly cute boy  
hanging around in a far corner.  
  
"Techno geek. Note the 'Microsoft' shirt, somewhat glazed look in  
the eyes, and the totally false lack of interest in any of the cute  
girls passing by. A subtle approach would be best, followed by coming  
on stronger in private. Easy enough really, his kind are usually into  
pornography of some kind."  
  
Usagi stared at her for a moment.  
  
"Take that one," continued Tsuki as she pointed at a rough looking  
boy nearby. "He's a latent homosexual. No interest in any of the women  
around him, he's hiding the fact that he keeps looking at any tight  
male butt that passes by him, watch him for a minute. He'll catch a  
glimpse and then turn away."  
  
Minako blinked as well, Ami looked completely uninterested, Rei  
had a disbelieving scowl on her face, while Makoto shrugged.  
  
"She's right," said Usagi with a sick look on her face as she  
watched the boy watch two men pass by him.  
  
"Wow," muttered Minako. "How about him?"  
  
"Hmmm..." said Tsuki as she watched the boy that had been pointed  
out. He was hanging around with an attractive girl of about his own  
age. He was around eighteen, with long brown hair and a red shirt. His  
thumbs were hooked into the belt loops of his blue jeans and he was  
laughing cheerfully.  
  
Tsuki smirked as she watched him for a moment. "He's got the hots  
for that girl he's with, but doesn't realize she's a lesbian.  
Plus...it's small."  
  
The other girls blushed suddenly and turned away.  
  
"You can tell that?" muttered Ami as she looked up from the book  
she had been reading.  
  
"Well, he is advertising it to the world," said Tsuki with a small  
shrug.  
  
"You mean?" muttered Minako as she turned to look at him again for  
a moment.  
  
"Yup, hard as a rock. Can't tell can you?" said Tsuki cheerfully.  
She sipped at the drink she had bought earlier.  
  
"Can we change the subject?" muttered Usagi as she turned a little  
green.  
  
"I thought you liked talking about boys," said Tsuki calmly.  
  
"We do, but...we're not usually this...well...frank about it,"  
said Ami.  
  
"Too strong huh? Got ya," said Tsuki as she nodded her head and  
smiled. "I'm not used to this kind of stuff. Sorry."  
  
"Not used to it?" said Makoto in confusion.  
  
"There aren't a lot of people where I'm from," said the girl with  
a small shrug.  
  
"Where is that?" said Makoto cheerfully. She remembered what it  
was like being in a new place with new people.  
  
"Pluto," replied Tsuki as she continued to drink.  
  
"Um...Pluto?" said Usagi dumbly.  
  
"Yeah. Just me, and Mistress Pluto," replied the girl with a  
shrug.  
  
"But, you're not from there...right? I mean, you were born here,"  
asked Ami.  
  
"Nope. I was born on Mercury, long time ago," replied the girl  
with a small smirk.  
  
"In your past life?" ventured Usagi.  
  
"Nope," said Tsuki cheerfully. "I wasn't reborn. Been in  
cryostasis for few thousand years though."  
  
"WHAT?" said the girls.  
  
"Look, it's not that hard. I was born before the fall of the  
Silver Millenium. I survived the fall, and got stuck in cryostasis for  
a few thousand years, until you guys woke up. Pretty simple really."  
  
"So...you're from the Silver Millenium?" said Makoto in awe.  
  
"Yup. Let me have some of your fries," said the girl as she took  
some of Usagi's food while the girl was in shock.  
  
The girls were all staring at her, not speaking or moving.  
  
"What? I was one of the backup senshi. You all had apprentices  
back then, I'm just the only one who survived," replied the girl as  
she looked at them.  
  
"Backup Senshi?" muttered Makoto as she seemed to snap out of her  
stupor.  
  
"Yeah, we weren't as strong, but were connected with the planets  
well enough to do in a pinch. Pluto is one of the few planets where a  
backup Senshi has the potential to grow into a full senshi. It was  
sort of a tradition, the old senshi of Pluto would retire, and the  
backup senshi would take over. I think it's only happened like three  
or four times."  
  
"Did you ever meet Queen Serenity then?" asked Usagi.  
  
"Only a few times, she used to pinch my cheek and tell me how cute  
I was. It was annoying. I never liked her much," replied Tsuki with a  
shrug.  
  
"You didn't like Queen Serenity?" said Rei dumbly.  
  
"She was kind of like an annoying aunt, who was more beautiful  
than you, and ran the entire family. You didn't want to hate her, but  
you did. Get it?"  
  
The girls blinked and nodded. Most of them could relate to that to  
some extent.  
  
"Well, I've got to go home now. See ya later," said Tsuki as she  
stood up and looked at her watch.  
  
As soon as the girl was gone the inner senshi turned to face one  
another.  
  
"The Silver Millenium?" muttered Usagi in shock.  
  
"So...do you think she's..." said Minako.  
  
"I dunno, she could be," said Makoto as she blushed.  
  
"She did get those boys dead on," pointed out Rei.  
  
"She also spotted the lesbian girl," commented Ami without looking  
up.  
  
"We aren't even sure if she was right," said Usagi flatly.  
  
"Seems like she was dead on to me," said Minako. "I only wish I  
was that good." She frowned, she was the senshi of Venus! How could  
someone else be better than her at boy watching? It wasn't right.  
  
"Ami is right...I've heard they can spot their own kind," said  
Minako.  
  
"I wonder which of us was like that..." said Rei with a serious  
look on her face.  
  
"Hey... You don't suppose that maybe...Tsuki and one of us  
were..." muttered Minako as she turned completely red suddenly.  
  
"Could be," said Ami as she slowly lowered her book and stared at  
her. "I'd never thought of that."  
  
"She could be secretly pining for one of us!" gasped Makoto.  
  
"I hope it wasn't me," muttered Usagi with a small frown. "I'd  
hate to break her heart. Especially after so long..." She looked upset  
with the idea.  
  
"None of us is safe then," commented Minako. "I'm sure of it! One  
of us was Tsuki's lover in the past!"  
  
"I think you're just letting your imagination run away with you  
again," said Rei. "Look, we aren't even sure if she is."  
  
"It is very possible that she's right though," said Ami as she  
turned her gaze back down to her book again.  
  
The inner senshi became silent, sitting around the table quietly  
for a long time.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"Where are we?" grumbled Ranma as they walked into a vacant lot  
near to the dojo. There had been a light rain, and they were currently  
female at the moment.  
  
"We can practice here," said Carrot calmly.  
  
"Why not the dojo?" muttered Dan.  
  
"Because we don't want to blow the place up," replied Carrot  
calmly.  
  
"What are we gonna do about that thing?" said Ranma seriously. "We  
need a plan of attack."  
  
"Plans usually don't survive first contact with the enemy," said  
Dan flatly.  
  
"Whatever, we need to find a weakness," said Carrot. "Fire seems  
to be his element, so we go with ice, or water. Hell, maybe we should  
just cover him with dirt..."  
  
"This is serious," snapped Ranma.  
  
"I was being serious. Who knows? It might work," said Carrot.  
  
"I think we should go home and have a nice cup of tea. That helps  
us think," said Pissant cheerfully.  
  
"You know, you're not smart enough to trick us into going home.  
Just sit there and shut up if you aren't going to offer anything  
useful," said Carrot.  
  
"Actually, that doesn't sound like a bad idea," said Ranma.  
"Training would be pointless if we didn't think of something first.  
It's obvious being a little stronger and faster isn't going to help us  
much. We've got to find a way to really hurt him."  
  
"That attack we tried could work," pointed out Dan. "It hurt him."  
  
"Yeah, but it hurt us more," said Carrot.  
  
"He's right. We could toughen up our hands, but that might only  
give us a few more shots. It didn't hurt him that much," said Ranma as  
he looked at their palms for a moment.  
  
"Something cold?" said Carrot to himself. "I haven't got a  
clu...wait..."  
  
"What is it?" said Dan.  
  
"I may have something, but we're gonna need that Ghoul's help to  
do it," said Carrot.  
  
"What's that?" said Dan.  
  
"The Hiryu Shoten Ha," said Carrot with a grin. "If you recall, it  
uses an icy blast, and the heat of an opponent's battle aura. Against  
a fire monster, it could be the edge we need."  
  
"So, we go back to the ghoul?"  
  
"We're gonna have to think of something to get her to teach us  
without marrying Shampoo..."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
As if cued by some invisible force, a withered cry echoed across  
the lot.  
  
"Akane!"  
  
"What the?" said Ranma as she turned to face the newcomer.  
  
It was a tiny old man. He jumped forward and reached for her  
breasts, only to find his intended target vanishing from in front of  
him.  
  
"Hey. It's Happosai," said the redhead.  
  
The little old man paused and looked at her. "Pardon me dear. Have  
we met before?"  
  
"You're the grandmaster of the Anything Goes School," said Ranma  
as she smirked and pointed at him for a moment.  
  
"Oh? You seem to know me, but I..." Happosai narrowed his eyes and  
became very cautious.  
  
"I'm Ranma Saotome, son of that idiot Genma," replied the girl.  
  
"Son?" muttered Happosai as he stared at her.  
  
"That's right," said the redhead cheerfully.  
  
Happosai narrowed his eyes for a moment and nodded. "I see. How is  
your father these days?"  
  
"As stupid as ever," replied the girl with a small shrug. "We're  
staying with Soun. Those two are trying to pass off some engagement  
thing onto me."  
  
"Together are they?" muttered the old man with a thoughtful frown.  
  
"Yeah. They claim they killed you, I figured they were to stupid  
to get it right," said the girl as she poked her finger into her ear  
and scratched it for a moment.  
  
"Haw! You got that right!" cackled Happosai.  
  
"Going to kill them now?" said Ranma as she smiled at the old man  
for a moment.  
  
"No. I've got business with them actually," replied the old man  
cheerfully. "I'm not here for revenge though, so don't worry."  
  
"Gee, that's too bad," commented Ranma as she turned and started  
walking away. "Come on, I'll take you to them."  
  
"Too bad?" muttered Happosai to himself. "Lead on!" he cried as he  
leapt forward.  
  
The girl vanished again and appeared beside him. "Keep your hands  
to yourself too."  
  
Happosai blinked and turned to look at her in confusion before  
following again.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
By the time they reached the dojo, the old man was panting for  
breath and almost crawling on the pavement. Ranma was starting to wear  
down as well after repeated use of her secret technique to dodge the  
pervert.  
  
"You're good. That idiot Genma trained you?" muttered Happosai as  
he looked at the gates. He was starting to have doubts about seeing  
his students again, especially if they were involved in training  
someone who could dodge him repeatedly this well.  
  
"I'm a hundred times better than that fat fool will ever be,"  
snorted the redhead.  
  
"Confident too," said the old man carefully.  
  
"Well, they aren't expecting you," said Ranma with a small shrug.  
"I'm not going to pass up seeing the looks on their faces when you  
show up."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"What about that technique?" said Ranma angrily as they followed  
the old man into the dojo.  
  
"Tomorrow," replied Carrot calmly.  
  
"But..." said Ranma.  
  
"Shut up and play along for now. I think I may have found a reason  
for Cologne to train us in that technique without her trying to force  
us to marry Shampoo," commented Carrot.  
  
"Really? What is it?" asked Ranma.  
  
Dan seemed to catch on. "We're looking at him."  
  
Pissant spoke up suddenly. "Why do I get the feeling you two know  
more than you're saying?"  
  
"Now that...is a secret," replied Carrot with a small chuckle.  
  
"I don't like this old man, but you two seem to know him. Ranma's  
never met him either. What's going on?" said the whiny voice.  
  
"Shut up or I'll put out head through this wall," said Dan. "Come  
on. I don't want to miss this."  
  
They walked into the dojo with Happosai and closed the gate behind  
them.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: The best made plans...  



	21. Insertion Part 21

Insertion  
  
Part 21  
  
The best made plans...  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"What are you doing?" muttered the golden haired youma as she  
walked up to her dark haired companion.  
  
"Ah, Tochi. Are you well?" said the young boy as he turned to face  
her. He was sitting in front of a mirror with an image of deep space  
fading in and out of the glass.  
  
"Incredibly bored. Takibi is having all the fun," replied the  
woman irritably.  
  
"Hmm, you'll like this then," replied the boy.  
  
"What is it?" she said as she leaned forward, resting her chest on  
top of his head.  
  
"Did you ever wonder what happened to the imperial fleet? I mean,  
it wasn't destroyed, Serenity didn't have the chance to call it in to  
defend against that idiot Beryl's forces. Where did it go?"  
  
"What?" said the woman as she stood up and looked at him.  
  
"The answer is quite simple really, she sealed it away with the  
Senshi. Those seals are weakening, and now...ahhhh..." The boy's dark  
grin widened as the image suddenly became clear. There was a  
distortion in space, a blue swirl of power. In an instant it was over,  
and several large starships appeared out of nowhere.  
  
"That's it?" she muttered.  
  
The boy frowned at her and snorted. "Don't be silly. I couldn't  
pull them all through, besides, how many do you think we need? Those  
are Destroyer and Galaxy class starships."  
  
They looked like nothing more than seven gray slivers in an  
endless sea of stars. She smiled and nodded at him. "I see."  
  
"The thing is, it's going to be about six months before they  
arrive here," said the boy calmly. "We're going to play along with the  
senile queen until then. Understand?"  
  
She nodded and kissed him on the cheek. "You are a genius, Kuroi."  
  
"Where is Ekitai?" said the boy as he frowned at her and glanced  
around.  
  
"Oh, he's off doing who knows what," said the woman. "You know  
him."  
  
"Yes, he's powerful, second only to me. However, he's too easily  
distracted. That makes him our weakest link."  
  
As if on cue a short pink thing walked into the room grinning  
madly at the other two. It laughed and glared at them with its wild  
black eyes. A sort of tentacle like dorsal stuck up on top of its head  
and it jumped up and down excitedly.  
  
"Really Ekitai," said the woman with a bored expression on her  
face.  
  
The thing's face became serious suddenly. "The humans have become  
quite imaginative. I like this thing they call 'Anime'."  
  
"You're supposed to be watching Takebi," said Kuroi flatly.  
"Making sure that temper of his doesn't make him do something stupid."  
  
"Ha! I'm watching him right now," replied Ekitai flatly. He tossed  
a small piece of candy on the floor and shot a stream of liquid onto  
it from his palm. It grew into Takebi after a few seconds and the fire  
Youma sputtered angrily. "See," commented Ekitai.  
  
"How dare you!" snarled Takebi as he whirled around to face his  
tormentor. Flames danced across his body and he glared at him  
hatefully.  
  
The pink thing's body began to expand as well, and soon a tall and  
fit looking man dressed in blue appeared. He smirked coldly and  
crossed his arms over his chest, pushing aside his long blue hair as  
he did so. "What are you going to do?"  
  
The red haired youma growled under his breath, but backed down.  
  
"Ha! Your failure hasn't been forgotten," snapped Ekitai  
arrogantly.  
  
"I didn't fail. My mission was completed successfully," retorted  
the angry man bitterly.  
  
"It's a moot point, now you've got to figure something else out,"  
said the female youma lazily. "It's not that big of a deal really.  
Those weapons aren't of any real use against us."  
  
"They hurt," snapped Takebi bitterly.  
  
"He does have the potential to harm us," said Kuroi calmly as he  
turned to face them. "That is not acceptable. He must be eliminated;  
Takebi should be well enough to do it now. Have him take Genaku out,  
and get those Senshi while you're at it. They'll make good practice.  
Don't be an idiot, and don't try it when they are together."  
  
"The senshi hate him as much as we do," pointed out Tochi.  
  
"They will work together if properly motivated I think," replied  
the boy calmly. "That is something we don't want. As Beryl has taught  
us, they are resourceful if nothing else. Dealing with them all at  
once isn't advised. Our best bet is to make sure they stay at odds,  
and ensure that they fight each other as much as us."  
  
"And how do we do that?" asked Takebi.  
  
"We don't have to, they're doing it themselves at the moment. I'll  
keep an eye on things though."  
  
"Right," said the three other Youma.  
  
"In six months time, it won't matter anyway," said the boy coldly.  
"The entire planet will simply be cleansed in a hail of fire from the  
heavens."  
  
"Then we can wake up Metallia?" said Tochi cheerfully.  
  
"Why bother?" replied Kuroi flatly. "The planet will be ours, what  
do we need Metallia for? She'll simply put us back where she got us. I  
like being out here, and I'm not going back."  
  
The three other youma blinked in surprise. None of them said a  
word in argument though.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Soun and Genma were staring at Happosai in horror. Behind the  
shriveled old man, Ranma stood with her arms crossed over her chest.  
She was grinning as she watched the expressions on the two men's  
faces.  
  
"M-master!" cried Soun.  
  
Genma stumbled back; pouring a glass of water over his head before  
the old man could notice him.  
  
"Thank goodness you're safe!" cried Soun as he pulled the man into  
a tight embrace. After a moment, he attacked the old man while he was  
still in his grip.  
  
A second later, Happosai stood on top of the beaten Soun smoking  
his pipe lazily.  
  
"This is funny and all, but don't you have something to do here?"  
said Ranma calmly.  
  
"Yes! Of course!" exclaimed the old man as he looked up at Soun  
for a moment. "You come over here too, Saotome. I've got something to  
tell the both of you!" snapped the old man angrily.  
  
"I'm just a cute panda!" said Genma's sign.  
  
"He knows about Jusenkyo pop," replied Ranma calmly as she leaned  
against the wall.  
  
"Traitor!" said the next sign.  
  
"Get your fat butts over here!" snapped Happosai at the two men.  
"Relax, I'm not here for revenge."  
  
The two men seemed to calm at that announcement, and cowered  
before the old man for a moment, bowing deeply. "What is it Master?"  
whined Soun.  
  
"I've come to train my true heir to the Anything Goes School,"  
said the old man as he gave a sagely looking nod.  
  
Ranma stood behind the men, blocking their retreat. She grabbed  
them by their shoulders and held them in place.  
  
"What are you doing, Son?" said Soun.  
  
"Get out of the way boy!" said the panicked Genma's sign.  
  
"I don't think so," replied the redhead with a slight shake of her  
head. "I want to ask you something first old man."  
  
"What is it?" said Genma's next sign.  
  
"Is this really...the great and terrible master? The one you've  
been shaking in terror of for as long as I can remember? The horrible  
demon thing that tormented you for all those years?"  
  
"Yes! Now move!" snapped Soun desperately.  
  
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!" Ranma fell over on the floor clutching  
his stomach. "You're scared of this little wrinkled twerp?"  
  
Happosai glared at the boy for a moment. "What did you call me?"  
  
"You've really got these two idiots terrified of you, you know  
that old man?" said the redhead with a small giggle.  
  
"And they should be!" snapped Happosai as he glared at them.  
"However, they won't be my heir. I need someone younger, and  
gullible...er...smarter."  
  
"Hmmm?" said the redhead with a slight smirk forming on her face.  
  
Soun and Genma were both breathing sighs of relief at that  
announcement.  
  
"Hey Ranma. Who's this?" said Akane as she walked down the stairs  
behind them.  
  
"Huh?" said the girl as she turned to look up at her.  
  
"Who?" muttered Happosai as he turned to see Akane Tendo. "You  
must be...Akane..."  
  
"Yeah. Who are you?" said the girl cheerfully as she paused about  
halfway down the steps. She was dressed in one of her black suits  
again and looked like she was about to go out somewhere.  
  
"Akane!" cried the old man as he jumped forward with his arms  
spread wide.  
  
The girl's eyes went wide as she jumped back and reached into her  
coat.  
  
Ranma jumped back away from the pair. "No! Don't!"  
  
A loud explosion echoed through the home and Ranma stared at the  
smoking hole in the ground dumbly. Akane had been thrown back to near  
the top of the stairs and slowly staggered back to her feet.  
  
Soun and Genma were merely staring at the scene in shock. Neither  
of them could speak.  
  
"You...killed him," muttered Ranma as he looked at the large hole  
in the floor and stared up at her for a moment.  
  
"What was that thing? Was it a youma?" sputtered the girl.  
  
Ranma blinked and looked up at her for a moment. "Um, yeah..." She  
turned towards their parents and frowned for a moment as they merely  
stared dumbly.  
  
"Shit, there goes that plan out the window," muttered the boy as  
he looked at the hole for a moment.  
  
"Master?" mumbled Soun.  
  
"Akane?" said Genma as he looked at the girl for a moment.  
  
Ranma reached into her shirt and took out his neuralizer. He put  
on his shades and Akane did the same. He flashed the two men and  
nodded towards the girl. She put the weapon back in her coat and  
frowned.  
  
"Jeez Akane, you didn't have to punch him so hard," said Ranma as  
she looked directly at the two men.  
  
"Um...sorry..." said the girl with a heavy blush on her face.  
  
"Akane...you killed the master?" said Soun as he slowly stood to  
his feet and walked towards her.  
  
Genma took a moment longer to snap out of his daze and shook his  
head.  
  
"Master?" muttered the girl in horror. "You mean...that wasn't  
a..."  
  
"Oh! You've made your father very proud Akane!" cried Soun as he  
rushed up and grabbed her in a tight embrace.  
  
"What?" said the girl.  
  
"You've freed us from that demon's torment! Oh! To have you as my  
future daughter in law!" said Genma with tears in his eyes. "It makes  
me so proud!"  
  
"Ranma, what's going on?" muttered the girl as she shook her  
father off.  
  
"Nothing, you just killed a demon is all," replied the redhead  
with a slightly faked smile. It was a small white lie, but enough to  
calm her down a bit.  
  
"Indeed!" agreed Soun.  
  
Ranma was in a slight state of shock. His plan had been ruined.  
Now she had to think of another way to beat convince Cologne to teach  
him the technique. She paused and looked up at Akane for a moment.  
"I'm gonna go change."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Several moments later Ranma was walking down the street with a  
frown on his face.  
  
"That wasn't a demon was it?" asked Ranma.  
  
"No. Losing Happosai isn't that big of a loss, believe me,"  
replied Carrot. "He was evil, and a real pervert."  
  
"We should have done something. He didn't deserve to die!" cried  
Pissant.  
  
"Yeah, he did," said Dan calmly. "We're not going to tell Akane  
what she did, she'd break down. We do need to do something so that it  
doesn't happen again."  
  
"We'll worry about that later. Right now, we've got to find a way  
to get that ghoul to train us."  
  
"We could just tell her what we need," said Dan.  
  
"That would compromise too much," commented Carrot.  
  
"Why?" muttered Pissant in confusion.  
  
"What? We just walk in and tell her we want to kill some fire  
monster? Get real," commented Ranma.  
  
They paused in the middle of the sidewalk and blinked. "You know.  
I never thought of that. It's not a bad idea," said Carrot dumbly.  
  
"What?" said Ranma in confusion.  
  
"We don't need to give her the particulars of the situation,"  
explained Carrot. "Just tell her that some fire demon is trying to  
kill us, and we weren't able to kill it with what we knew. She still  
wants us to marry Shampoo, so that would be enough to make her help  
us. It would be a shame if we were to die."  
  
"Let's go to the Cat Cafe then," said Dan as he started moving  
foreword again.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki Tendo was in a state of shock. She was stepping out of her  
room when she saw her little sister blow away some shriveled up little  
troll. As soon as it had occurred, she had jumped back into her room  
before anyone noticed and watched the scene play out from a crack in  
her doorway.  
  
Now, she simply sat with her back against her door staring at the  
wall. "What the hell was that?" she mumbled to herself.  
  
Ranma, it had to be. But what though? She wasn't sure she wanted  
to know all that much anymore. The two had started talking about  
demons, and then did something to her father that made them forget  
what they had just seen. "I've got a feeling I'm in over my head on  
this one."  
  
Still, it involved her sister. Plus there was the thing that drove  
her, the little voice in the back of her mind that just had to know.  
"I'm going to get to the bottom of this." She swore it silently to  
herself, taking care not to finish the statement with: "If it's the  
last thing I ever do."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma was walked up to the Cat Cafe and looked up at the sign.  
"Well, we're here."  
  
"Not much of a place for your end, but that's also fitting in a  
way," said a voice from the rooftops.  
  
Ranma looked up and growled. "Takibi?!"  
  
"Yes. I thought it would be wise to finish you off," replied the  
youma arrogantly as he stared down at the boy and smiled. He was  
standing on the edge of the roof.  
  
"Didn't have enough last time?" snapped the boy as he moved into a  
combat stance.  
  
"I intend to pay you back for every blow," replied the thing  
coldly as his body burst into flames.  
  
"We're not wearing the shield," said Ranma to himself. "We're in  
deep shit."  
  
Takibi jumped down onto the street. Even the hardened residents of  
Nerima knew enough to vacate the streets. Soon Ranma was standing  
alone with the thing.  
  
"We're not strong enough to beat him yet. We've got to get away,"  
he thought as he spread his feet a little and grit his teeth.  
  
"Die," said Takibi as he charged forward.  
  
Ranma was thrown back by a burning right hook and landed in a pile  
of garbage. He rolled away from a jet of flames from the thing's hands  
and pulled out his weapons.  
  
"Not this time," said Takibi coldly as he shot a concentrated beam  
of heat that struck the weapons.  
  
Ranma screamed in pain as he was forced to drop them and backed  
away.  
  
Takibi smirked as he melted them where they lay on the pavement.  
Within moments there was nothing more than a glowing red spot on a  
boiling puddle of concrete. "Now. You will not escape me."  
  
"Shit!" muttered Ranma as he backed away slowly.  
  
Takibi vanished and appeared behind him, thrusting his elbow into  
the boy's back. Ranma lashed out with a quick kick that merely bounced  
off of the youma harmlessly.  
  
"Not so much bite this time," said the thing coldly.  
  
Ranma rolled across the ground, putting out the flames on his back  
before he jumped back to his feet. "I'm not so easily killed."  
  
"That's why I'm going to enjoy this so much," replied the youma.  
  
Ranma rushed forward punching and kicking at the thing at top  
speed. His Kaio Ken attack barely allowing him to even stay close.  
  
Takibi chuckled as he dodged and blocked strikes, causing the  
boy's clothes to burn as he attacked.  
  
Ranma ignored the flames and jumped back. "Eat this! Moukou  
Takabishi!" A beam of energy shot from his hands and the youma  
vanished. The wall of a nearby shop was destroyed.  
  
"Damn! He's too fast!" snarled Ranma as he spun around just in  
time to catch a punch aimed at his face.  
  
"You're nothing. This isn't even sporting anymore. I think I'll  
just kill you and be done with it," said the Youma coldly.  
  
"Katsutenshin Amaguriken Special!" cried Ranma as he launched his  
strongest attack at the thing.  
  
Takibi was thrown into a wall and screamed in rage. "Damn you!  
That hurts!" he snarled as he jumped up again. He paused and looked  
around for a moment. The boy was gone. "I see..."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma staggered against a wall in a nearby alleyway and gasped for  
breath. He was beaten and burned. It wouldn't take long for Takibi to  
find him if he started looking. He glanced down at his watch and  
frowned, it was charred and broken. "Shit. We've got to keep moving  
and hope he doesn't look for us."  
  
"I wouldn't worry about that," said a new voice.  
  
Ranma turned to glare at the newcomer. "You!"  
  
Tsuki stepped out of the shadows and smirked at him. "You're hurt?  
Too bad."  
  
"What the hell do you want?" he snapped at her angrily.  
  
"Nothing much, I'm just going to finish you off. You're a threat  
to the future. I can't allow that," replied the girl coldly.  
  
Ranma stared at her. "You think you're strong enough to kill me  
alone?"  
  
"Normally no. I just got lucky and watched you fight with that  
monster back there. I never expected to actually find you today."  
  
The boy growled at her and staggered. "Damn."  
  
"You barely have the strength to stand up, much less fight me off.  
Lucky break for me."  
  
"Do you really have what it takes to take someone's life?" replied  
the boy coldly as he glared at her.  
  
She smirked and pulled a long sword from some magical pocket in  
space. It was huge, the blade was about five feet long and at least  
three inches wide at the base. It was also glowing with a red energy  
of some kind. "Let's find out."  
  
Ranma fell onto his back as he tried to step back and stumbled  
over a bag of garbage. He glared at her, staring her directly in the  
eyes.  
  
She smiled as she pointed the sword at his neck and slowly moved  
forward.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"It can't end like this!" snapped Carrot angrily.  
  
"We've got to do something!" said Dan desperately.  
  
"We can barely move," said Ranma tensely.  
  
"Pissant. You're the only one not hurt, can you get us out of  
here?" said Carrot desperately.  
  
"Huh?" muttered the voice.  
  
"Do something you idiot! You weren't fighting that thing with us!  
You can still move!"  
  
"I won't hurt her," said the voice calmly.  
  
"Then don't! Just get us the hell out of here!" snapped Dan.  
  
"I can't move the body like you three can," replied the voice  
calmly.  
  
"Shit!" said Carrot as the blade touched their throat. "Can you  
use that chi of yours to heal us? Maybe we can escape!"  
  
Tsuki had frozen, her face growing very serious as she stared them  
directly in the eyes.  
  
"Maybe..." said the voice nervously.  
  
"We promise we won't hurt her! Just get us the hell out of here!"  
snapped Dan.  
  
Pissant went silent, and a warm energy began to form around them.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"He hurt Mistress Pluto," said Tsuki to herself as she stared into  
the eyes of Ranma Saotome. She could see the mixed emotions of anger,  
fear, and anxiety in them. "He's beaten my friends, tormented them,  
and even threatens the future." She poked the sword a little further  
down, forcing him to lower himself all the way to the ground. A small  
trickle of blood ran down his neck.  
  
She looked deep into his eyes, not noticing the white glow forming  
around his body.  
  
"I can't do it."  
  
"Huh?" said the boy dumbly.  
  
"I can't kill you..." she said with a frown forming on her face.  
"I don't know why."  
  
The boy breathed a sigh of relief and the glow slowly faded from  
around him. She didn't appear to notice this. He laid his head back  
against the pavement and seemed to relax a bit.  
  
"That doesn't mean I can't get rid of you," she said with a smirk  
forming on her face.  
  
"What?" said the boy dumbly as he looked up at her face again.  
  
"I call upon the power of Pluto, as a defender of the time gate. I  
banish you into the past, too far to harm the events leading into the  
future of our world. I'll send you back a few hundred years or so,  
that should be enough."  
  
A staff shaped like a key appeared in her hand and she smiled at  
him coldly.  
  
"Shit!" said the boy as the white glow formed around his body once  
again.  
  
With a flash of light, he was gone. Nothing but a few small wisps  
of vapor gave any indication that he was ever there.  
  
Tsuki frowned and looked at the staff for a moment. "It seemed  
stronger than it should have been."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
On a nearby rooftop, Takibi smirked to himself as he watched the  
scene play out. The young senshi vanished onto the shadows leaving him  
alone.  
  
"It looks like she did my work for me. Those generals are no  
threat to me," he chuckled as he turned away. "With only those  
pathetic senshi and the generals in our way, victory is assured. Heh."  
  
  
There was a small burst of flames, and he vanished as well.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Let me get this straight chap. I've got to get you a shrubbery  
before you'll let me pass?" said Ryoga as he arched his eyebrow and  
stared at the tall knights who stood in front of him. He was in a  
forest somewhere and really had no idea about the location.  
  
"Nee!" cried the knights before the largest one.  
  
"That is correct," said the head knight.  
  
"No," replied the boy darkly as he narrowed his eyes at them.  
  
"Oh come on. Please?"  
  
"I'm going through these woods, and you can't stop me," he said  
coldly as he started walking.  
  
"I shall say 'nee' to you again!" warned the knight.  
  
"Blow it out your arse," replied the boy as he walked through the  
middle of the knights. They parted and let him through.  
  
"Well, that wasn't very nice," said the large knight with a frown  
on his face.  
  
"Nee!" cried his cohorts in agreement.  
  
Ryoga calmly went on his way, a deep frown on his face as he  
walked. "Just you wait Ranma. I'll find you soon enough."  
  
He walked into a swirling vortex of some kind that had appeared in  
front of him, not even seeming to notice as he did so.  
  
"Well, can't say I didn't warn him," commented the knight with a  
shrug as he watched this.  
  
"Nee!" agreed the others. The vortex closed after they had spoken  
the word and left them alone in the forest.  
  
"Ooh! A traveling salesman!" cried the large knight as he noticed  
another victim walking through the woods towards them. "Places  
everyone!"  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Next Time: Trapped in the past!  
  
  



	22. Insertion Part 22

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy not very far away...  
  
  
Insertion  
  
Episode 22  
  
A New Hope  
  
It is a time of great tension. The Moon Kingdom is in a power  
struggle against an evil faction from a nearby solar system known as  
the Intergalactic Federation. Diplomatic missions have not gone well,  
and war seems eminent.  
  
The evil Galactic Forces of Dark Valdis are converging for battle,  
in order to strike against the Moon Kingdom. Spies have brought vital  
information back to Queen Serenity in the hope of stopping the  
invasion before it becomes a conflict that destroys the fragile peace  
of the System. Along with unconfirmed reports of a super-weapon that  
could sway the balance of power.  
  
Mindful of spies within her own empire, the Queen sends her own  
daughter, the Princess Serena with a message to the Galactic Imperial  
Fleet, lead by Admiral Jadeite.  
  
The young princess was intercepted by enemy forces on her way to  
her transport on Earth, and now flees for her very life. Escaping to  
the surface of the planet, she is now chased by the evil forces of the  
Intergalactic Federation...  
  
+++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome stood looking up at the sky. He'd been in this new  
place for almost two weeks now and had yet to meet a single soul. He  
was in a desolate place, surrounded by desert on all sides. Still,  
there was enough to sustain him. He stared down at the spiral he had  
drawn on the ground and frowned.  
  
He was dressed in a black pair of pants, and had a white button up  
shirt on with the sleeves rolled up. They had developed a dark tan  
since arriving in the new place as well.  
  
"You're sure about this?" muttered Dan as he looked at it.  
  
"Well, I think we've got that 'Soul of Ice' thing down. The spiral  
is the only other part we need to learn," replied Carrot with a small  
shrug. "Unfortunately, without a sparring partner..."  
  
"Right," agreed Ranma.  
  
"We don't even know where we are, and you're worried about this  
stupid technique?" said Pissant.  
  
"If we find a way back, we need to be ready," replied Ranma.  
  
"We need to toughen up too, we aren't fast enough to get this to  
work easily," said Carrot with a small frown. "He's faster than us,  
and we're going to take a few hits at least."  
  
"He's right," said Dan.  
  
"What's that noise?" commented Ranma as he forced them to look at  
the horizon. A cloud of dust could be seen moving towards them in the  
distance. It was too small to be a sandstorm though, and several  
sparkles could be seen reflecting off the surface of some metal.  
  
"Some kind of car?" said Carrot as he raised their hand to shield  
his eyes.  
  
A whining hum became more audible as the things approached. It was  
obvious there were several of them. They were all moving at high  
speed.  
  
"Visitors," said Dan with a small frown.  
  
Their forms became clearer as they closed in at high speed. There  
was one large vehicle, and seven smaller ones. They were all hovering  
above the sand and blasting forward.  
  
"It's a chase," said Carrot as he noted energy bolts being fired  
at the larger craft. "What the hell?"  
  
"Get ready," said Ranma.  
  
"That big one isn't returning fire, I don't think it's armed,"  
commented Dan.  
  
"Pirates?" asked Carrot.  
  
"Could be," said Dan.  
  
"Oh no. This is very bad," whined Pissant.  
  
The smaller vehicles were like bikes with jet engines attached to  
them. The larger ship looked somewhat like a boat with a flat bottom.  
They were blowing huge clouds of dust up.  
  
"What do we do?" asked Ranma with a slight tensing in his voice.  
  
"Hopefully they won't notice us," said Dan.  
  
Carrot had pulled something off of their belt and was holding it  
ready. It was a long rod made of metal, they had it on them when they  
were transported, but didn't get the chance to use it in the battle  
before.  
  
"They're heading right for us," said Ranma as the things moved  
closer. They blasted by him, blowing up a cloud of sand in their path  
as they roared through the area loudly.  
  
"Shit!" cried Dan angrily as they shielded their face. They spun  
around to watch the group move off.  
  
"Two of them are circling back," said Carrot as he noticed two of  
the bike like hovercraft break off of the main group and turn back  
towards him.  
  
A four-foot long blade of red light shot from the metal rod and he  
readied himself in a kendo stance.  
  
"Here they come!" said Ranma.  
  
The men were dressed in black uniforms of some kind. The bikes had  
long front ends with foils attached to the tips for steering. They  
also had a laser mounted just below the foils. One of the bikes fired,  
and Ranma moved the blade at impossible speeds, blocking the shots  
with the blade and sending them ricocheting away. The two vehicles  
passed him on either side, blowing up a gust of wind that knocked him  
off of his feet.  
  
The boy rolled back onto his feet as they circled around for  
another pass.  
  
"Get close to that one," snapped Carrot as he edged them closer to  
where one of the bikes would pass.  
  
"What? Are you crazy?" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Do it!" agreed Dan.  
  
The bikes passed by again, shooting another volley of laser blasts  
at him. The blade worked in a blur once again, preventing any of the  
shots from striking. As the one nearest to them moved by, the other  
side of the weapon came to life, creating a double bladed weapon.  
There was a spray of blood as the man fell in half. His bike continued  
on with his lower half, and slowed quickly before crashing into the  
sand a short distance away.  
  
The remaining bike turned around again for another pass, it slowed  
to a stop though a good distance away from them. It fired off a few  
shots, and Ranma simply ignored them. They hit the ground around him  
kicking up sand. He simply stared the man down coldly.  
  
"I'm going to try something," said Carrot with a frown forming on  
his face.  
  
"What?" muttered Ranma.  
  
Carrot simply smirked as he reached out with his chi. "If I can  
make a chi ball, I think I can do this too."  
  
"What are you doing?" muttered Dan as he felt the power doing  
something.  
  
"No! Stop it!" cried Pissant as he suddenly realized what was  
going on.  
  
The biker was lifted up off of his bike by an unseen force. He  
grabbed at his neck desperately and kicked his feet as he slowly  
choked in mid air.  
  
"Whoa!" muttered Ranma in shock.  
  
Carrot gave a grunt of effort, and the man's head popped off of  
his shoulders. He blinked as the body slumped to the ground. "Oops,  
too much..."  
  
"No kidding," said Dan in awe. "Man, that was cool."  
  
"Yeah, I'm tired though. That was much harder than I'd thought,"  
said Carrot weakly.  
  
Ranma ignored them and turned to look off in the distance at the  
slowly fading dust cloud. He turned back towards the bike and frowned.  
  
"What the hell are you thinking about?" said Dan.  
  
"We're goin after em," said Ranma as he started to jog towards the  
vehicle.  
  
"What? No way! Do you have any idea how to pilot this thing?"  
snapped Dan.  
  
"Yeah. I used to have one," said Ranma calmly as he straddled the  
hover bike and started to flip switches.  
  
"Oh," said Dan dumbly.  
  
"At least we know there's people here," said Carrot cheerfully. "I  
get the feeling this is about to get even more interesting though."  
  
"You enjoy things like this too much," said Pissant.  
  
They shot forward like a bullet, leaving the dead men where they  
lay.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
The howl of the bikers behind them was all they could hear.  
"Princess! Stay low!" cried one of the three men around her.  
  
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" screamed the girl desperately as she ducked below  
another bolt of light. One of the men fell off the side clutching at  
his chest. "NO!"  
  
"What are we going to do? All the bodyguards are dead!" cried one  
of the men desperately as he looked at his only remaining companion.  
  
"We've got to get away!" snapped the other man desperately as  
small explosions rocked the ship as more laser fire hit it. Luckily,  
the ship was made to take a bit of punishment, and the weapons they  
were using where relatively low level.  
  
"What the hell?" said the pilot as he looked on the horizon.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Up ahead, I see some canyons! Maybe we can lose them in those  
rocks!" cried the man.  
  
"Go then!"  
  
"Do something!" cried the princess as she cowered on the floor of  
the ship.  
  
"Don't worry princess, we'll get a...AAAAAAA!" another of the ships  
crew fell away, leaving only the pilot.  
  
"We're not gonna make it!" cried the man desperately as he looked  
over his shoulder.  
  
Another shot struck the ship, and it lurched forward suddenly,  
impacting on the ground and flipping over itself several times as it  
tore itself apart along the ground.  
  
The princess had been thrown out early and was lying face first on  
the ground. The pilot hadn't been so lucky, the ship exploded in a  
ball of fire a short distance away as she looked on in horror. The  
bike gang buzzed past her and she staggered to her feet. "I've got to  
get out of here!" She turned and ran towards the rock formations  
nearby, hoping for some cover. The bikes had turned around already,  
and the first few bolts of laser fire exploded around her. They closed  
in towards her, one in particular bearing down on her directly. "No!"  
she gasped as she realized that they had no intention of taking her  
alive.  
  
The bikes buzzed by her again and she fell to the ground from the  
force of their passing. She looked up and gasped as she saw the one  
that had been heading towards her spinning out of control before he  
slammed into a pillar of stone and exploded. She gasped as she saw the  
steering foils lying in the sand in front of her, cut off neatly. A  
shadow loomed over her and she looked up.  
  
A boy of about sixteen years old was sitting on one of the bikes  
with his hand extended down. He was wearing strange glasses with a  
tint too them much to dark for her to see his eyes.  
  
"Who?" she muttered.  
  
"Come with me if you want to live," said the boy with a stony  
expression on his face.  
  
She took his hand and he pulled her up behind him. "Hold on."  
  
"Who are you?" she muttered.  
  
"Talk later, run now," he replied as he noticed the bike gang  
moving towards him. He opened up the engine and blasted forward into  
the canyon.  
  
The princess squealed in fright as they passed over and through  
the narrow passageways of the canyon at top speed. Ranma's expression  
was cold as he stared forward without looking back.  
  
The bike gang had followed and showed their skill by keeping close  
behind him. Occasionally they would be sprayed with stones as a  
careless blast exploded nearby.  
  
"Hold on tight," said Ranma.  
  
"Huh?" muttered the girl in confusion.  
  
The boy made a sharp turn off the side of a cliff and kicked the  
rear of the bike out, turning it sideways in mid air. The vehicle  
shifted and landed directly next to the opposite wall, barely managing  
not to slam into the side of the smaller crack they had just dove  
into.  
  
Two of the bikers managed to duplicate the maneuver. The other two  
slammed into the wall and exploded in a ball of flames.  
  
After a moment, the canyon widened suddenly into an open field,  
there were a few rock formations scattered around, creating natural  
bridges and tunnels.  
  
Ranma frowned as he noticed a particularly small portion of stone.  
It was a small pillar with a hoop at the top; it was just large  
enough. "Duck."  
  
"Huh?" muttered the princess as she looked at him for a moment and  
then turned her eyes forward. "No! You're crazyyyyyyy!" she screamed  
as they blasted through the loop.  
  
One of the others made it through; kicking on his air brakes to  
slow his decent he turned and followed them as they moved back into  
the narrow passageways again. The other was nothing more than a  
flaming pile of debris.  
  
Ranma growled as the man pulled up beside him, he reached out for  
the princess and grabbed her hair. The girl squealed in pain and fear  
as the man tried to lift her out of her seat.  
  
There was a snapping noise followed by a distinctive hiss. The man  
looked from the girl and back down to his chest. He was still holding  
on to her hair and she stared back at him as he finally noticed the  
blade of red light that was sticking through his chest.  
  
He released the princess and Ranma turned the bike off to the  
side.  
  
The other merely screamed as he tried to correct his own steering.  
It was too late, and he exploded as his vehicle slammed into the wall  
of the canyon.  
  
Ranma slowed and looked back for a moment as he realized that all  
the attackers were beaten.  
  
"WOOOOOW! That was so cool!" exclaimed the young princess  
excitedly.  
  
Ranma turned to look at her and did a double take. "Usagi?"  
  
"Rabbit? Where?" said the princess as she looked around.  
  
"Never mind, we're leaving," he said as he brought the bike to  
life again and drove them away.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"So, um. Who are you?" said the young blond girl as she looked up  
at her mysterious savior. They were sitting around a small campfire as  
the sun set in the distance.  
  
"I'm Ranma Saotome. Who the hell are you?" said the boy as he  
looked at her.  
  
"You mean...you don't know?" said the girl dumbly.  
  
The boy shook his head for a moment and grinned at her.  
  
"I am the Princess Serenity! Heir to the throne, ruler of the  
Galaxy, Future leader of its armies, and soon to be leader of the  
Senshi. My friends call me Princess Serena, but you're a commoner, so  
Your Highness will have to do."  
  
"Hey. I got news for you Serena. You're leading two things right  
now. Jack and Shit, and Jack left town," said the boy sourly.  
  
"Huh?" said the girl as she stared at him for a moment. This was  
not how dashing heroes were supposed to act.  
  
"Look, I've got to find some place to dump you off so you can get  
back to wherever it is you belong. Got any ideas?"  
  
"I can't go back! I have to go to Mercury!" said the princess.  
  
"Right. I'll just fly us there with this bike," replied Ranma  
flatly.  
  
"But, you've got to help me! I mean..."  
  
"Look. I'll just take you back, and you can use that royalty stuff  
to get yourself a ride to wherever you're supposed to go. How's that?"  
said the boy cheerfully.  
  
Serena was perplexed. This guy wasn't being very romantic at all.  
Things like this just didn't work this way, there was a certain way  
these things had to be played. He was screwing it up.  
  
"I think I saw a sign for a town a few miles away. We can make it  
there tomorrow," he said as he looked out at the horizon. "Then I can  
dump you off with the authorities, and go on my own way. I've got  
things to do."  
  
"Aha! He's already on a quest!" said Serena as she smirked to  
herself. "Are you trying to find someone or something?"  
  
"Huh? Naw. I've got to train," said the boy cheerfully.  
  
"Train?" muttered Usagi dumbly.  
  
"Yeah. I've got a lot to learn before I can go back to where I  
belong. Then I can kick that guy's ass!" said Ranma as he clenched his  
fists. "I'd better beat up that little brat while I'm at it. That  
witch, how dare she do that to me!"  
  
Serena blinked, the boy was laughing to himself. He almost looked,  
well, evil. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, I'm fine," he replied as he sat down. "I'm goin to  
sleep. Goodnight." He pulled his blanket over his body and rolled away  
from her. Within moments he was snoring loudly.  
  
Serena simply stared at him, it was the most horrible sound she'd  
ever heard. "This is my prince charming?" She thought back to the  
young Endimyon. "Well, he is a flake...but he doesn't seem all that  
bad right now." She sighed and lay on the ground. "I guess I'd better  
sleep too."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"What?" Serenity gasped in shock as one of the Senshi bowed before  
her.  
  
"The princess never arrived at her destination. We found the  
bodies of her bodyguards and some unknown men. There wasn't much  
left," said Jupiter as she stared at the ground.  
  
"My daughter?" said the queen as she stood up with her hand held  
over her mouth.  
  
"Not found. Possibly kidnapped, or ..."  
  
"Find her! Bring her back to me at once!" snapped the queen.  
  
"Of course," said the woman as she looked up at her queen with a  
frown burned onto her face.  
  
Serenity turned towards one of her attendants. "Contact Pluto, I  
want to know everything she knows about this."  
  
"Don't bother," said Setsuna as she walked into the room and  
stared at them for a moment.  
  
"You said nothing of this," said Jupiter coldly as she glared at  
the girl.  
  
"I knew nothing of this. Something clouds the stream of time,  
something is not right. I cannot see what it is though," replied the  
Senshi of Time calmly.  
  
"So?" said Serenity.  
  
"So, I cannot see your daughter's possible fates, it is dark to  
me," replied the woman coldly. "I will inform you if I learn more, do  
not summon me until then. I cannot be distracted this way."  
  
Serenity nodded and turned towards Jupiter. "Find her, bring her  
back to me, at any cost."  
  
"As you wish," said Jupiter as she bowed to the woman deeply.  
+++++++++++++  
  
"What is this place?" muttered Serena in disgust as she held her  
nose and stared at the dusty buildings below them.  
  
"Tal Shitar. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and  
villainy," replied Ranma flatly.  
  
"Oh," muttered the girl in surprise. "What are we doing here?"  
  
"Well, we're going to need a ship to take us to the moon," replied  
the boy with a smirk.  
  
"The moon?" said the girl dumbly.  
  
"I'm not turning you over to anyone here. Any other town would  
take us three days to reach. The moon is a four hour trip for most  
ships, maybe seven if we can get on a barge for cheap enough."  
  
"So, it's the fastest way do dump me off?" muttered Serena  
irritably.  
  
"Hey. You've got it," said the boy with an oblivious smile.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"What's your business here?" said a rough looking guard at one of  
the gates that entered the spaceport. Ranma was sitting on his bike  
with Serena behind him. She was wearing a heavy brown cloak to hide  
identity.  
  
Ranma waved his hand in front of the man's face and smirked.  
"These aren't the droids you're looking for."  
  
"What? What the hell are you talking about kid?" snorted the man  
angrily.  
  
"It's nothing, private joke," said the boy with a small chuckle.  
"We're looking for transport to the moon. You know of a place where we  
can find it?"  
  
"There's a commercial liner in the next town. Three days away,"  
said the man flatly.  
  
"I'm in a bit of a hurry. I'd rather not pay commercial fare  
either," replied the boy with a small shrug.  
  
"Try that place," said the guard as he pointed out a small dirty  
looking bar.  
  
"Right," said the boy calmly as he pulled away.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"You're selling the bike?" said Serena dumbly as she watched him  
take the money from a group of teens.  
  
"That's right, it's worth the price of a trip to the moon at  
least," said the boy with a shrug. "Probably three or four trips  
honestly."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Well, let's go find ourselves a ride then,"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"What's your business here?" said the rough looking guard as he  
looked down at his clipboard as someone else drove up to his gate in a  
land speeder.  
  
"That's none of your concern," said the icy voice in reply.  
  
"Huh?" said the guard as he looked up. He sputtered in shock for a  
moment and bowed his head. "Forgive me!"  
  
Jupiter nodded as he opened the gate and stared foreword. "This is  
the closest spaceport, and the most likely place where they'd try to  
take her off planet." Her thoughts were cut off as she glanced around  
and noticed the large number of bars. There were probably hundreds of  
smugglers and shifty traders. Any of them would be willing to  
transport the kidnapped princess for the right price.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"So, you're looking for passage to the moon?" said the green  
haired woman who sat across from them. She looked to be in her early  
twenties and had hair that fell down to the middle of her back. She  
was very pretty, except for the eye patch that covered her eye. She  
was wearing a white shirt and tight black pants with a blaster at her  
side.  
  
"That's right. We'd like something quiet," said the boy with a  
smirk.  
  
"Well, that's the trick isn't it? It's going to cost you something  
extra," said the woman coldly.  
  
"Sure," said the boy with a small shrug. "But how much extra?"  
  
"5,000," said the woman as she sat back in her chair.  
  
"I'll hire you for 4,000," said the boy calmly. "I know I can find  
someone here who will gladly do it for 3."  
  
The woman smirked at him, "Deal. My name is Hanna."  
  
"I'm Ranma Saotome, and this is Serena," replied the boy calmly.  
"When are you leaving?"  
  
"Well, we should be ready any time now. It's a cargo ship, I run  
interplanetary freight mostly. Exotic foods, things like that."  
  
"Huh?" muttered Serena. "I thought you were a smuggler or  
something."  
  
"Ha! Ha!" laughed the woman as she threw back her head and gave a  
rough snort. "Sorry Honey. I'm legit, taking passengers isn't illegal  
you know."  
  
"Oh, sorry," replied the girl with an embarrassed blush.  
  
"Sorry to disappoint honey, but how many corn fields do you see on  
Mars?"  
  
"None of course," replied the girl.  
  
"But they eat corn don't they?"  
  
"Um, yes..."  
  
"Well, how do you think it gets there. There's a few smugglers  
here, but this is mostly a shipping port." The woman pat her on the  
back and smiled gently. "You got to quit readin all those fantasy  
programs kid. I'm in dock three. Meet me there in a few minutes and  
I'll be ready."  
  
"Right," said Ranma. "Serena, you go with her. I'm gonna go buy  
some supplies. We'll have a bit of traveling to do once we reach the  
moon too."  
  
"Huh?" said the girl in surprise.  
  
"We aren't going to land at the palace. The spaceport is on the  
other side of the moon," said Ranma calmly. "It'll probably take us  
two days to reach it when we get there."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"This is it?" said Serena as she looked at the large craft in  
front of her.  
  
"Not very impressive?" said the woman with her eyebrow arched.  
  
"Well, I don't really know what I was expecting," admitted the  
girl.  
  
"It's a fast ship," replied the woman with a small shrug. "She may  
not look like much, but she's got it where it counts."  
  
"Right. Is it safe?" muttered Serena flatly.  
  
"I'm still here aren't I?" replied the woman with a slightly  
annoyed frown.  
  
"Oh, I guess so then," replied the princess cheerfully.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"I'm getting traces of her DNA, fairly new," muttered Jupiter as  
she scanned the space port with a binocular shaped scanning device.  
"She's still here."  
  
Ranma walked out of a nearby store with a bag over his shoulder  
and blinked. There was a large area of clearance around the woman, and  
she was easily recognizable. "Jupiter?" he muttered dumbly.  
  
She looked at him with a strange device of some kind and slowly  
lowered them. The smile on her face was not nice at all. "So, you have  
her then."  
  
"Hey! This is great!" said the boy cheerfully as he started to  
walk up to her.  
  
She jumped forward, an arc of energy forming in her hands as she  
dove towards him. "Where is the princess!?"  
  
"What the?" he gasped as he jumped back.  
  
"You will pay for your insolence," she said as she slowly stood up  
and glared at him. In her hand was a war hammer made out of  
lightening.  
  
"Hey! Hold on a minute!" he sputtered as he backed away from her.  
"I'm trying to..."  
  
"Die! I don't need you to find her!" she snarled as she charged  
forward.  
  
Ranma moved before she could react. A blade of red light met her  
weapon and she gasped in surprise.  
  
"Cool off!" snapped the boy as he shoved forward with his hand. He  
didn't even touch her and she was thrown back into a bucket of water.  
  
The senshi of Jupiter screamed in pain as the liquid reacted to  
her powers.  
  
Ranma cursed under his breath and dashed towards the spaceport.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Well, a girl has to defend herself right?" said Hanna as she  
hugged the large barrels of the lasers on the underside of her ship.  
  
"I guess so, but why so big?" she said.  
  
"Honey, these aren't for shooting people ya know. This is for  
other ships."  
  
"Oh," said the girl with a small frown. Naturally she had seen  
warships, but this seemed like a little much for a ship as small as  
this one.  
  
Ranma burst through a doorway and rushed up to them.  
  
"Huh?" muttered Hanna.  
  
"Go! Now!" cried the boy as he rushed up to them.  
  
"What the?" muttered the woman dumbly.  
  
He rushed by and pulled them both into the ship bodily.  
  
"What the hell are you doing?" snapped the woman as she jerked her  
arm away from him.  
  
"We've got to get the hell out of here! Right now!" said the boy  
as he stared at her.  
  
"Why should I?" snapped the woman in retort.  
  
"Hey! It's...Jupiter?" Serena's face went from pleased to  
uncertain in a matter of seconds. "What is she doing?"  
  
"Trying to kill me!" snapped Ranma angrily.  
  
The Senshi was walking through the crowd of people shocking anyone  
who moved in her way with a field of energy around herself. She looked  
up at the ship that her target had disappeared into and scowled even  
deeper. "You won't escape."  
  
Ranma swallowed as he read her lips. "The Jupiter I know sure as  
hell isn't this strong!" he thought.  
  
"What the hell have you gotten me into!?" snapped Hanna in shocked  
horror.  
  
"Go!" snapped Ranma angrily as he took the seat next to her. She  
worked furiously at the switches and started the engines.  
  
"Shields are up!" said Ranma, "Weapons on line." His panic  
suddenly turned into a cool smile.  
  
"What the hell are you...NO!" cried Hanna.  
  
Ranma turned the laser turrets and fired a few blasts into the  
doorway where Jupiter was approaching from. It shattered and crumbled  
down, blocking the senshi's path.  
  
"My career is over!" cried the woman as they lifted off. "I'll  
never run freight again! Waaaaahhhh!"  
  
"This is so cool," said Serena cheerfully. She removed her hood  
and leaned over the shoulders of both pilots.  
  
"Um, is that who I think it is?" said Hanna as she noticed the  
girl's face and hair finally.  
  
"Yup," replied Ranma.  
  
The doorway he had blocked off shattered back open suddenly.  
Jupiter was standing with the hammer in her hands and glaring  
hatefully at the ship as it lifted off. "No you don't!" she screamed  
as she raised her hand. A bolt of power came down from the sky,  
narrowly missing the ship as it blasted upwards.  
  
She glared at them as they flew away and frowned. The hammer in  
her hand vanished and she turned to walk back to her own ship.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!" cried Hanna as they finally broke  
through the atmosphere of the planet.  
  
"Relax would you? We got a way," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"What the hell is that?" said Hanna as she noticed something  
really large approaching them. It was between them and the moon.  
  
"It's a battle cruiser, a little one," replied Ranma calmly as he  
began to work some of the controls on the ship. "I'm bringing the  
shields up to the front."  
  
"We've got to get the hell out of here!" said Hanna desperately.  
  
"Why? Hail them, I'm sure they'll be more reasonable than Jupiter  
was," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"Um, okay..." the woman reached for the communication controls.  
She was stopped when the ship suddenly jolted.  
  
"What the hell are they trying to do?" muttered Ranma as he saw  
another volley of laser fire blast towards them. "They're trying to  
kill us!"  
  
"Um, we should probably run away," said Serena nervously.  
  
"Can't you tell them to stop or something?" said Hanna as she  
stared at the princess.  
  
"Oh. Oh yeah," said Serena with a thoughtful look on her face.  
"I'll just tell them to stop..."  
  
"We just lost communications," said Ranma with a sour frown.  
  
"What?!" cried the two women.  
  
"Oops, there goes the shield," said the boy as he watched the  
power readout drop. "We're doomed."  
  
"Fuck this!" screamed Hanna as she pulled a set of levers on the  
console.  
  
"What was that?" said Serena dumbly. A split second later, she was  
thrown off of her feet and slammed into the back wall of the cabin.  
  
Ranma smirked as the stars outside the cabin suddenly became lines  
of white light. "Well, this is certainly interesting."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"What happened?" said the young Endimyon as he stood on the bridge  
of the cruiser and glared at the captain.  
  
"A warp drive in a ship that small?" muttered the man in shock.  
"That's..."  
  
"It's an interplanetary freighter. Of course it has a warp drive,"  
said the young prince flatly.  
  
The captain sputtered in shock. "We used standard practice for a  
ship that size, incapacitate the shields and take out the engines."  
  
"The only problem is, you're used to dealing with small class  
fighters," commented the boy calmly. "Now Serenity is who knows where.  
If you don't find my fiancee, I'm going to have your command taken  
away Captain."  
  
"Yes my lord!" said the man as he jerked his arm up in a salute.  
  
"Don't worry Serena. I'm coming," said the boy to himself as he  
ignored the man and looked out over the stars.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
  



	23. Insertion Part 23

My name is Ranma, and I am insane.  
  
Near as I can figure it, the year is somewhere around 10,000 BC.  
I'm stuck on an interstellar spaceship, probably waiting to die.  
  
It all started with that damn spring. Jusenkyo, the training  
ground of cursed springs. It awoke something, something dark.  
  
It got into my head and it went bad, now I've got three idiots  
living in there besides me. Then, they took over my life.  
  
We started a secret organization to protect the earth, fought with  
Youma and Senshi alike. Doing pretty good too. Then the Senshi got us  
back.  
Big time.  
  
"You know Ranma, I'm starting to regret letting you watch that  
movie," said Carrot flatly.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Dan.  
  
"Well I'm bored, can't we train or something?" muttered Ranma in  
retort.  
  
Carrot looked around; they were barely able to stand inside the  
ship, much less anything else.  
  
"Oh, right," muttered the boy irritably.  
  
"All right, what's the sit-rep?" said Dan with a small sigh.  
  
"Well, we're in the past, looks like the Silver Millenium," said  
Carrot. "We appear to be in the middle of some sort of conflict. Which  
is good."  
  
"Good?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Sure. You know how these things go. Soon we'll be up to our ass  
in explosions and fights," said Carrot.  
  
"I'm game for that," commented Dan.  
  
"If I'm reading this right, we'll have all kinds of little side  
adventures. Probably get shot at a lot, have to rescue the princess a  
few times, and then end up in a massive space battle against a huge  
starship that threatens to destroy an entire planet."  
  
"That doesn't sound very fun," said Pissant nervously.  
  
"Don't worry, you'll get into it," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"You forget who you're talking to," said Dan.  
  
"Oh. Right," muttered Carrot.  
  
"Ouch!" they all cried at once as something hit them on the side  
of their head.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"I said hand me that wrench!" snapped Hanna angrily as she stuck  
her head out of the small trap door in the floor below them.  
  
"Sorry," grumbled Ranma as he reached out with his hand and the  
correct tool floated into his grasp. "Here."  
  
The woman was too busy to notice this as she was currently working  
on a part of the ship's engine. "Tell me what happened again?"  
  
"This ship wasn't designed to jump that suddenly. We knocked out  
the warp driver when you almost got me killed!" snapped the woman  
bitterly.  
  
"Oh, you really should get a regulator for that," said Ranma as he  
peered down at the mess of wires below.  
  
"Not all of us can afford things like that!" snapped the woman.  
  
"You should relax more," commented the boy with a small frown as  
he looked at her angry face.  
  
"Are you out of your mind? I've got an intergalactic princess on  
my ship! I'm being hunted by every military in the system! I'm just a  
working girl trying to make ends meet! I shouldn't have to deal with  
this crap!"  
  
"Let me get this straight. You're on what's probably the biggest  
adventure of your life, rescuing a princess no less, and you're  
bitching because of your lousy job?" said Ranma flatly.  
  
"I like my crappy job damn it!" snapped the woman as she glared up  
at him. "I was happy, content! Until you came along and made me one of  
the most wanted criminals in the Universe!"  
  
"Um, you guys should come up here," said Serena as she stuck her  
head around the corner for a moment.  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Now what the hell is it?" snarled Hanna angrily.  
  
++++++++++  
  
The pair walked into the cockpit and frowned at what they saw.  
  
"Bloody hell," muttered Hanna.  
  
"Hey, that's a battle cruiser, a big one too," said Ranma as he  
saw the large ship bearing down on them.  
  
"What are all those little things?" said Usagi as she noticed  
several smaller objects coming out of the hull of the ship. They  
looked like little gray triangles.  
  
"Fighters," said Ranma calmly as he sat down at the console.  
  
"We're gonna die!" said Hanna desperately.  
  
"You're almost done fixing that right?" asked Ranma as he looked  
back at her for a moment.  
  
"No!" she snapped.  
  
"Better get moving then," he replied with a shrug.  
  
"Gahhh! What the hell are you planning?" said the woman as she  
grabbed the back of his shirt.  
  
"I'm betting they won't ask any questions either, at least not  
until they blow this ship apart first."  
  
"That's not good right?" muttered Serena nervously.  
  
"No it isn't," replied Hanna with a defeated look on her face.  
  
"Here they come," said Ranma as he turned on the ship's engines  
and shot forward into the first formation of fighters. They broke  
apart, firing lasers at them as they moved by. They were almost  
triangular in shape, but with a flat nose. They were also somewhat  
wedge-shaped.  
  
Ranma spun the ship on its axis and put the engines on full. "Sit  
down and strap in."  
  
Serena did so without question, a cheerful smile on her face as  
she buckled herself in.  
  
"Don't look like you're having so much fun. You're gonna piss the  
captain off," he said without looking back at her.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Hanna worked desperately as the ship lurched violently around.  
Occasionally it would shake from a blast from some of the lasers fired  
by the fighters outside; it was remarkably rare though.  
  
Tears flowed down her face as she worked. "My life is over, I'm  
gonna be a criminal forever!" Another explosion sounded outside,  
signaling the demise of yet another of the Imperial fighters.  
"Wahhhhhh!"  
  
The ship jolted again and she jerked her head up just in time to  
miss a toolbox falling on her. She blinked and looked around for a  
moment. "That wasn't a laser blast. Something hit us!"  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"What the hell is going on up here?" snapped Hanna as she rushed  
into the cockpit.  
  
"Asteroids," replied Ranma calmly as he pointed at the floating  
field of rocks outside. The star fighters were still buzzing about and  
shooting at them, but were much harder pressed to keep up. They were  
still on the outer edge of the field, and the large starship was  
closing in on them.  
  
"We're...doomed. They've got us cornered now," said the woman as  
she hung her head in defeat.  
  
"I wouldn't say that," said Ranma calmly as he turned the ship.  
  
"What the hell are you doing you crazy son of a bitch!" screamed  
the woman as she clutched the back of his chair.  
  
"Going in," said the boy calmly.  
  
"Wait. Did you just say that we're flying into an asteroid field?"  
said Serena as she turned to look at him.  
  
Ranma just nodded as he piloted through several of the larger  
stones.  
  
"She's right! You are nuts!"  
  
"Well, they'd be crazy to follow us," he replied.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"What the hell are they doing?" said the captain on the bridge of  
the battle cruiser.  
  
"Sir...they're going into the asteroid field!" said one of the men  
below him at one of the workstations.  
  
"Those crazy sons of bitches! They've got the princess on that  
ship! Go after them! Stop them!" cried the captain. "Get me a readout  
of the makeup of that field!"  
  
One of the men was already doing it. "Sir, that field is mostly  
iron and...carantium."  
  
"What?" said the captain in shock. "Tell those pilots no firing! I  
want those weapons locked!"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma was whistling to himself as he turned the ship and narrowly  
missed being crushed by two large asteroids that collided, crushing  
one of the fighters behind him. He wasn't paying much attention to  
what he was doing, because he was looking at a readout on the screen  
in front of him. "Hey, this is a carantium field. Neat."  
  
"What?" said Hanna as she turned to look at him. Her face had gone  
completely white.  
  
Serenity was siting quietly next to them. She had an iron grip on  
the dashboard and was simply staring foreword in terror at the chaos  
outside.  
  
Hanna opened her mouth to speak and almost passed out as the  
surface of one of the asteroids passed no more than a foot above them.  
One of the fighters tried to follow and was destroyed by a protrusion  
from the stone.  
  
Serena spoke up suddenly. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but what's  
carantium?"  
  
"High explosives," replied Ranma casually. "Heh. I knew all those  
hours of 'Wing Commander' would pay off one day." He turned to look at  
the pair for a moment and smiled cheerfully. "I'm gonna move closer to  
one of the big ones."  
  
"Closer?" stammered Hanna. She finally slumped to the ground.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Your Highness! We have cornered the ship, but they have entered a  
large asteroid field, and we dare not go after them..."  
  
Serenity's holographic image narrowed its eyes at the man and she  
scowled. "I want that ship Captain, not excuses."  
  
"Yes, Your Highness," he muttered nervously. "They must have been  
destroyed by now though. There isn't much we can do..."  
  
"They are alive Captain. I know my daughter has not died yet.  
Bring her back to me."  
  
The transmission ended, leaving the unfortunate man standing there  
alone. He swallowed and turned back to the entrance to the bridge.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Where am I?" muttered Hanna as she looked around at where she was  
lying.  
  
"Bout time you woke up," snorted Ranma calmly. He was sitting on  
the counter in the living area of the ship. It was a small room with  
about four beds lining the walls, and a small table. There was also a  
kitchen area about four feet wide on one wall.  
  
"We're alive?" gasped Hanna in shock.  
  
"Yeah. You never told me you had Anti-matter missiles," he said  
with a lopsided grin.  
  
"What?" she stammered dumbly.  
  
"I found 'em earlier. You had them hidden under one of the secret  
panels along the floor. I thought you weren't a smuggler?"  
  
"I'm not, but I go through deep space sometimes. They're illegal,  
but Pirates tend to leave you alone if they know you've got them." The  
woman blushed and turned away from him for a moment. "Where are we  
anyway?"  
  
"Inside one of the bigger asteroids," said Ranma with a small  
shrug. "I think your warp driver is a little more than burnt out. We  
need a new one. Let's see if we can find a disturbingly convenient  
place nearby where we can get it fixed." He motioned for her to follow  
and walked over to a computer screen at the table.  
  
Hanna blinked and nodded as she stood up and walked over next to  
him.  
  
"Hey! Lando!" said Ranma cheerfully as he pointed at a spot on the  
screen and grinned.  
  
"It's just the name of a comet," she replied flatly.  
  
"I know, it's sort of a private joke," he replied with a small  
shrug.  
  
"Where are we anyway?" she muttered angrily.  
  
"Well, our jump brought us to the outer rim of the Solar System,"  
said Ranma with a small shrug. "We're in the orbital ring of Pluto,  
but the planet is on the other side of the solar system right now."  
  
"Are there any space stations near here?" she muttered as she  
typed a few buttons on the keyboard and frowned suddenly. "Yes.  
Karin."  
  
"Station?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"No, he's the name of this guy I know," she said with a small  
blush on her face. "He's on this station, it's a sort of resort near  
Uranus's orbit. We should be able to make it."  
  
"Told ya," said Ranma as he looked at Serena and smirked.  
  
"How did you know that?" muttered the girl as she handed him a few  
bills. "Are you some kind of psychic or something?"  
  
"Nope. Seeing the future is hard. Always in motion is the future,"  
replied Ranma with a cheerful smirk. He turned towards Hanna next.  
"Can we trust this guy?"  
  
"No, he's a jerk, and a pervert, but he is an old friend. He  
should help us out," said Hanna with a small frown. "He's also our  
only option."  
  
"Well, I guess we should go then," said Ranma with a small nod.  
"We'll wait here a few hours and see what we can do with it until  
then. They should stop searching after a while, thinking we were  
destroyed or escaped."  
  
++++++++++  
  
"It has been too long my Queen, they must have been destroyed by  
now. We can find no trace of them," said the Captain nervously as he  
looked at the image of the Queen again.  
  
"No. They are alive still," she replied calmly.  
  
"Then they have escaped. They could have been lucky enough to get  
through the other side of the Asteroid field and warped away. We'd  
have no way of knowing."  
  
"Very well, Captain," replied the woman coldly. The transmission  
ended again and the man breathed a sigh of relief. He had halfway  
expected her to order him to send his ship into the field with the  
fighters.  
  
"Sir! We've found them!" cried one of the crew as he walked onto  
the bridge.  
  
"What?" gasped the man in shock.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Shit!" cried Ranma angrily as he flew through the increasingly  
dense field of stone. Hanna was beside him, sitting uselessly at the  
co-pilot's station.  
  
"Where did you learn to fly like this?" she muttered with a little  
jealousy in her voice. Three fighters had been destroyed behind them.  
  
"I had a long time to learn," replied Ranma calmly as he dove  
downward along the surface of a particularly large asteroid. He  
pointed forward and smirked. "There! It's starting to clear up!" He  
pushed the engines to full once again and shot ahead of the swarm of  
fighters behind him. Many of the pilots were quite skilled, and had  
managed to make it through the field with them.  
  
"They're still after us!" cried Serena nervously.  
  
"Not for long they aren't," said Ranma as he suddenly stopped the  
ship and spun it around on its axis.  
  
"What are you doing?" muttered Hanna as she looked at him for a  
moment.  
  
"This!" cried Ranma as he flipped the safety cover off of one of  
the buttons and jammed it down. A missile blasted from the front of  
the ship. As it streaked away he spun the ship around again and shot  
forward as fast as it would go.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" cried Hanna and Usagi as they realized  
what he had just done. There was a bright explosion behind them, it  
missed all the small fighters and went into the field.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"What the hell is he shootin at?" commented one of the men as he  
watched the missile go by. That was when he realized that the shot had  
gone directly to where it was intended.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
The captain of the battle cruiser looked on in horror as the light  
slowly engulfed the entire asteroid field. "No..." He turned towards  
the crew and started screaming. "Evasive maneuvers! Evasive  
maneuvers!"  
  
The entire ship was rocked and thrown violently as the explosion  
finally reached them. After a long moment the shaking stopped and the  
bridge hands slowly staggered to their feet.  
  
"Damage report," muttered the captain.  
  
"Sir. We aren't going anywhere for a while," said one of the men  
as he looked at the screen.  
  
"What?" said the man angrily.  
  
The man stepped away from his station and allowed the Captain to  
move in. The engines and a small portion of the rear end of the ship  
on the readout was now covered in red. "What's that?"  
  
"That's the part of our ship that isn't there anymore, sir."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Man, that was so cool," said Ranma happily as they moved away  
from the scene at high speed. The blast had narrowly missed them and  
he was laughing and cheering as they rocketed away. After a moment he  
paused and turned to look at the pair beside him.  
  
Hanna was frozen with tears streaming down her face. "I'll  
never...my life is over! I'm doomed to be on the run forever!"  
  
"Are we...still alive?" muttered Serena as she began to feel her  
body as if to check.  
  
"Man, you guys gotta lighten up a bit. So, where is this place  
anyway?" He turned towards the woman and smirked.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Deep in space, a small ship floated aimlessly. Inside, Sailor  
Jupiter sat against the pilot's seat with her arms crossed in front of  
her chest and her eyes closed. The screen in front of her suddenly  
came to life, bathing her face in green light. She opened her eyes and  
frowned at what she saw. "So, that's where you went," she commented.  
"Give me a readout of any spaceports near that area."  
  
It was a short list. Jupiter smiled and uncrossed her arms.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"They wouldn't have shot at us if you didn't insult them!"  
screamed Hanna angrily as she stepped out of her ship with Ranma and  
Serena. The pair were both wearing long brown cloaks that hid their  
identities.  
  
Ranma looked at her and blinked. One of the patrol ships that had  
escorted them to their landing port flew by overhead. It had two round  
engine ports, and a long nose that stuck out in front of them. The  
cockpit was at the base of the nose, nestled in-between the two engine  
ports. "Look at it. Tell me that doesn't look like a giant..."  
  
"Greetings," said a tall and rather bishonen looking man who  
strolled up to them. He had guards on either side of him, they were  
armed with rifles and wore black body armor. The man himself had long  
blonde hair and a pastel colored purple shirt with a long cape on his  
shoulders. "Welcome to my humble place of business."  
  
Ranma's face suddenly became very serious as he stared at the man  
for a moment.  
  
"Hi Karin," said Hanna with a small sigh. "I need some help here.  
My warp driver is out."  
  
"Of course," said the man cheerfully. "Seeing as we're old  
friends, I'll only charge you half the usual rate."  
  
"Huh?" said the woman in surprise.  
  
"Not good," commented Ranma coolly.  
  
"What do you mean?" said Serena in confusion.  
  
"The way she reacted to him saying that? He's up to something,"  
replied the boy calmly. "Stay close to me, don't wander off."  
  
The princess blushed and immediately latched onto his arm.  
  
"Not that close," he said as he looked at her for a moment. "I  
might need to use that arm."  
  
She smiled sheepishly and let him go. "Well, at least it's  
something."  
  
"What's up?" said Hanna as she stepped back with them as Kairin  
led them through the bustling halls of the spaceport.  
  
"He's up to something. I can smell it," said Ranma coolly.  
  
"He's always up to something. That's why we broke up," said the  
woman with a sour frown. "He's probably just thinking I came crawling  
back to him or something."  
  
"No, it's more than that," replied the boy calmly.  
  
"What are you? Some kind of psychic?" she grumbled angrily.  
  
"I don't need to be to see that man is up to something," groused  
Ranma irritably.  
  
"Well, he's fixing the ship. So don't complain," she commented as  
she turned to look at him for a moment.  
  
"Are you sure?" said Ranma flatly.  
  
"There's men working on it now. See for yourself," said Hanna as  
she pointed out one of the windows they were moving by. Sure enough,  
there were several men moving about the ship with equipment.  
  
"Ah, here we are. I thought you might like a bit of refreshment  
while you waited," said the man cheerfully.  
  
The doors opened and a man dressed in a long black cape stood up  
on the other end of a long table. He had short spiky brown hair, and a  
long scar running at an angle across his face. "We would be honored if  
you would join us," he commented.  
  
Ranma merely smirked and nodded his head. "See, told ya."  
  
"Valdis!" gasped Serena in horror as she recognized the man.  
  
Hanna growled and turned towards Kairin. "You! You set us up!"  
  
"They arrived before you did," replied the man with a small shrug.  
"I had no choice."  
  
"You've been looking for us?" asked Ranma as he watched the black  
clad man for a moment.  
  
"That fool Serenity sent a description of your ship out across the  
entire galaxy," said the man coldly. "We've been keeping an eye out  
for you since then. Luckily, we stumbled across you on your way here.  
After hearing about what you did to that Imperial Battle Cruiser, we  
thought it might wiser to set up an ambush here."  
  
Several guards appeared outside the doors to the room and they  
closed, leaving them trapped inside with the two men.  
  
"What do you get out of this?" snapped Hanna as she looked at  
Karin.  
  
"Why it's fairly simple. My business is undisturbed by this little  
war, and I get to keep your ship."  
  
"Bastard," she growled.  
  
Ranma raised his hand and she grew silent.  
  
Valdis smirked and looked at Serena for a moment. "I've heard  
quite a bit about you my friend. You took out a group of our best  
assassins, and have been leading the Imperial forces around by their  
tail ever since you saved the young princess."  
  
"Then you know it isn't wise to be sitting in the same room with  
me this way. It might hurt," replied Ranma coolly.  
  
"Hmmm, that's not important any longer," said the man with a small  
shrug. He raised a small blaster from under the table and fired two  
shots.  
  
Ranma's hand shot up and the two bolts struck his hand harmlessly.  
The blaster flew out of Valdis's hand and landed in Ranma's.  
  
"What?" gasped the man in shock.  
  
Ranma was merely smirking at him, after a moment, he dropped the  
blaster onto the ground and jumped up from his seat holding his hand.  
"Damn! That really hurt!"  
  
Hanna had the weapon in her hand a moment later and trained it on  
Karin.  
  
"Now, darling. You know I would never do anything to hurt you! I  
was going to have you stay here, as part of the deal!" he cried.  
  
Hanna narrowed her eyes and shot him in his face.  
  
Valdis was now very nervous, he edged back in his chair slowly.  
  
Ranma raised his hand and the chair moved back up against the  
table, trapping the man where he was. "You know, you've got no idea  
what you're dealing with do you?"  
  
He shook his head violently as he stared at the man in horror.  
  
"What should I do with you now? You wouldn't have lasted long  
against the Imperial army anyway. This is pathetic. You should have  
had armed guards in the room with you. It was stupid to bring us in  
here alone."  
  
"You'll never get out of here alive," said the man as he narrowed  
his eyes at them. "My guards have this place surrounded. Surrender  
now, or..."  
  
"Surrender?" said Ranma with a small smirk forming again. "Why  
would we do that? I mean, we've got the perfect hostage."  
  
"No!" muttered the man as he began to shake visibly. He looked  
down at himself as he wet his pants and stared at the trio with  
pleading eyes.  
  
"This is the great Lord Valdis?" muttered Serenity in disgust.  
  
"I hope not," muttered Ranma irritably.  
  
"You'd be correct then," said a voice from a speaker within the  
room. "This pathetic fool is nothing more than a double. A face for  
the masses to see."  
  
"You must be Valdis," said Ranma as he looked around.  
  
"Yes, I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you," said  
the voice casually.  
  
"Name's Ranma," replied the boy.  
  
"Well, I'm certainly impressed. Guards, kill them all."  
  
The door opened and a mass of black armored men trained their guns  
into the room.  
  
"Well shit," muttered Ranma as he looked at them.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  



	24. Insertion Part 24

Insertion  
  
Part 24  
  
Escape!  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Jupiter sat in the cockpit of her ship with a cold frown on her face. The space station loomed before her silently as she powered down her thrusters and floated towards it for a moment.  
  
Two of the security ships closed in on either side of her a fair distance away, one of them hailed her and she acknowledged them with a flip of a switch. "What?"  
  
"Ah, we are honored by your presence, to what do we owe this visit?" asked a voice that obviously wasn't the pilot of that ship. It was probably relaying a message from the head security office of the complex.  
  
"None of your business, stay out of my way," she replied as she turned the switch off again and fired up her engines. She turned and watched the two security ships move away from her. A small blush formed on her face as they banked away rather quickly. "Who the hell designed those things? They look like giant..."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma was standing with his lightsaber in his hand. A girlish scream was the only sound in the room after the rather short confrontation. He turned to see the Valdis impersonator screaming with his knees pulled up to his chest. The man seemed to notice the boy was looking at him, and that the shooting had stopped. He suddenly calmed and looked around, surprised that he was still alive.  
  
"Well, I'm impressed," said Valdis's voice from the speakers in the room.  
  
"Make sure you remember this when we really meet," said Ranma coldly. He turned and stabbed the speaker in the ceiling, silencing the voice. "That guy sounds like James Earl Jones," he commented as he turned away.  
  
Serena and Hanna were both staring at him in shock. He had deflected a hail of laser fire with his blade, and killed every guard with their own fire.  
  
Ranma turned off the blade and started walking out the door. Serena and Hanna simply stood still, not daring to move. After a moment Ranma stuck his head back in the room. "There's more of them coming you know. Come on."  
  
That snapped them out of their stupor and they followed him out into the hallway.  
  
"How did you..." muttered Hanna as she nervously approached his back.  
  
"Wow! That was so cool!" exclaimed Serena sunnily.  
  
Ranma looked at her and hooked his sword back onto his belt. He stooped down and picked up one of the weapons the soldiers had used. It looked somewhat like a pump shotgun, but it was completely black and obviously didn't fire bullets. "Both of you grab a weapon."  
  
Serenity immediately did so, and Hanna reluctantly followed. "Hey. You know how to use that?" asked the woman as she turned towards the young princess.  
  
"Don't be silly. Marksmanship is one of the classes I have to take every day," replied the girl with a small shrug.  
  
"Oh," said Hanna dumbly. "So now what?"  
  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders. "Back to the ship I guess."  
  
"Lead on," said the woman. She gave a small wave of her hand, pushing the responsibility off on him.  
  
"Huh? You mean...you don't know the way back either?" said the boy as his eyes went wide with surprise.  
  
"No," replied the two girls in unison.  
  
Ranma pushed them up against the wall as a group of armored men marched by in the hallway just in front of them. "Great. This place is probably crawling with those creeps too."  
  
"So what do we do?" snapped Hanna angrily.  
  
"Sneak around until we find where we parked. Man, this is worse than going to the mall," said Ranma as he glanced around the corner.  
  
"The mall?" said Serenity dumbly.  
  
"Yeah, at least when you lose your ride there, people don't try and kill you," explained the boy.  
  
"Oh," muttered Serena. It was obvious she had no clue what he was talking about.  
  
"Let's go," said Ranma as he motioned for them to follow.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Jupiter stepped off of her ship and frowned. The craft that had escaped her on Earth was sitting right next to her own. Service men shuffled around the craft aimlessly, working on repairing something inside. She snorted and started walking into the complex.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Well, we can see it at least," said Hanna as she looked out of one of the windows and stared down at the ship for a moment.  
  
"That's comforting," commented Ranma as he glanced around nervously. "Can we get to it though?"  
  
"I think I see a way," muttered Hanna. "It's a bit longer than the way we came though."  
  
"Better get moving then," said Serenity cheerfully.  
  
"Will you quit it! We could be killed!" snapped Hanna as she glared at the girl. "How can you be so cheerful?"  
  
"Sorry," said the princess sheepishly.  
  
"Quit complaining," said Ranma.   
  
A group of armored men turned the corner and jumped in surprise. "There they are!"  
  
Ranma turned as the men raised their weapons and fired a few shots, taking three of them down. "Get to the ship! I'll hold them off and catch up!"  
  
Hanna and Serena nodded and broke into a run as laser blast began to buzz by them. Ranma screamed angrily and fired back, keeping their accuracy down, and taking a few out as well.  
  
Serena gasped as a large metal door suddenly slammed down between them. "No! He's..."  
  
"Gone! There's nothing we can do," said Hanna as she pulled on the girl's arm and forced her to keep moving.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma blinked as he realized that his planned escape route had suddenly vanished. "Oh hell." He turned and noticed that more and more of the armored men were starting to appear in the hallway. "We need to leave now..." he told himself as he slowly moved towards another passageway to his right.  
  
He dove into the hall just as several laser blasts flew by, the second he was through, and another blast door came crashing down. "Well, we aren't going back that way. Looks like they tried to box us in." He glanced around at his new surroundings and frowned. It was a dark narrow hallway with no extra passageways. Obviously some kind of maintenance passage. "We need to leave, getting caught in a place like this would be a bad idea."  
  
He started jogging down the long and slowly sloping hallway. Along the way he tripped a few times over large wires and tubes that ran along the ground. He finally reached the end after a few minutes and found himself on a raised platform in a dank and mist filled room. The floor glowed orange through the metal grates that made up the walking surface. He looked around in confusion for a moment before the door shut behind him again. "Great, we aren't leaving that way."  
  
After a moment of wandering around looking for another way out, a strange crackling noise caught his attention. He swallowed and slowly turned around.   
  
Standing at the top of a stairway, a glowing war-hammer made of lightening in her hand, was the Senshi of Jupiter. She had a cold scowl on her face as she looked down at him. "Where is the princess?"  
  
"Actually, I was just trying to find her," said the boy sheepishly as he grinned at her dumbly and scratched the back of his head.  
  
"I suppose I'll just have to get rid of you, and find her myself then," said the Senshi coldly as she pointed the weapon at him.  
  
Rather than pull out his lightsaber and face off against her, Ranma held up the rifle and pumped the handle. A pinging tone, followed by a high pitched whine suddenly filled the room as his face grew completely serious. "Come get some."  
  
Jupiter charged and swung the hammer, only to be blown off of her feet as Ranma fired the weapon and hit her dead in the chest. She lay flat on her back for a moment and slowly rose to her feet. "You should know that won't kill me."  
  
"No, but I bet it stings like a bitch," replied Ranma coldly.  
  
Jupiter screamed in rage and jumped into the air over the boy's head. He trained the weapon on her, firing into the air as she passed over him and finally managed to tag her just as she landed. Jupiter was sent sprawling again and slowly stood up.  
  
"I've had enough of this," snorted Jupiter angrily as she grabbed the grating. Electric power surged through the floor. The senshi frowned as her target dropped his weapon and jumped straight up into a large set of tubes and pipes. "Impressive, most impressive."  
  
Ranma landed with his lightsaber in his hand, eyeing her coldly as one of the blades came to life. "Look lady, I've got places to be."  
  
Jupiter readied her war-hammer and smirked. "It's not everyday I meet someone who isn't afraid to go toe to toe with a senshi. Let me show you just how stupid that is."  
  
Ranma charged, hacking at her with the blade. She blocked with the handle of her weapon and the two energies collided showering sparks on the combatants. They broke apart and slashed at one another, blocking each other's strikes and countering skillfully.  
  
After a short time, Ranma forced Jupiter to step back. "Release your anger! Only your hatred will destroy me!"  
  
Jupiter snorted and spun around in a wide swing that took the pigtailed boy completely by surprise. His lightsaber clattered across the grating, with his left hand still attached to it. His eyes went wide with shock and he clutched at the stump. Falling to his knees he screamed in anger and pain.  
  
"Now. I'll ask you again. Where is the princess?" said the Senshi coldly as she pointed her weapon at him. It crackled angrily, tiny bits of his flesh still burning where the handle had taken the hand off.  
  
Ranma was looking at the ground and holding his stump against his chest. The wound was burned shut, and there was no blood. He slowly rose to his feet and turned his eyes up at her. "You fucking dike. You cut off my goddamn hand!"  
  
"If you're lucky, I'll only cut off one more part of you," she replied icily. "Where is she?"  
  
"Playtime is over bitch," said the boy as he glared at her.  
  
"Wha?" Jupiter's face went blank as he said this. An unseen force lifted her off of her feet and threw her across the room.  
  
Ranma was standing and glaring at her hatefully, an aura of angry power surrounding his body. His hair was blown around by an unnatural wind as he slowly stalked forward. "I'm going to make you pay for that hand bitch."  
  
Jupiter staggered back onto her feet and glared at him. "What the?"  
  
He reached out his hand and the lightsaber flew back into his open palm. Both blades came to life this time, but he stopped moving towards her.   
  
Jupiter growled and formed her own weapon in her grip again.  
  
The boy merely smiled at her and turned his head slightly. One of the small machines that filled the room ripped itself out of the floor and floated in mid air.   
  
Jupiter gasped and readied herself. The machine flew forward and she prepared to knock it out of the air, but the metal box that struck her from behind threw off her aim, and she found herself taking two hits. She turned to swing in retaliation, only to have something hit her on her undefended side again. She staggered against the wall and stumbled for a moment.   
  
"One question. Are you my father?" said Ranma as he stared at her.  
  
"What?" muttered the senshi in confusion.  
  
"Then die," he said as the wind that seemed to surround him suddenly picked up.   
  
The invisible force threw Jupiter back yet again, this time she slammed into a large machine that took up most of the center of the room. She screamed in rage, electric power coursed through her body as she found herself breaking through the thin metal plating outside the machine. Wires and conductors reacted with her power and flooded her entire body.  
  
Ranma merely stood watching for a moment and then turned away. She was obviously still alive, but out cold, and probably to hurt to bother him again for a while.  
  
"Hey, it's the exit," he told himself weakly as he found the door where Jupiter had entered the room.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"How the hell was I supposed to know?" gasped Hanna as she dashed down the hallway in a full sprint. Serena was just behind her, trying desperately to keep up.  
  
"You led us into the cafeteria!" snapped the princess irritably.  
  
They turned a corner and found themselves looking at a wall.   
  
"Oh shit," said Hanna as she backed away.  
  
"They've got us!" cried Serena desperately. The sound of a large group of men coming towards them suddenly filled the hall.  
  
"We're doomed," said Hanna weakly as she slumped down against one of the walls.  
  
Serena blinked as she peered at the dead end for a moment. "What's that spot?"  
  
"Huh?" muttered the woman as she looked up. There was a glowing red spot on the wall. Just as she started to move in for a closer look, a long, red, glowing rod poked through the wall, narrowly missing her nose. "Eep!"  
  
Serenity looked on in awe as a large hole was cut into the wall in a few seconds. The carved out portion slammed forward between them, slamming into the ground with a loud clang.  
  
"Damn! This isn't it either!" snapped Ranma as he stepped through and looked around. His left arm was tucked into his side and the lightsaber was in his free hand.  
  
"You!" gasped Hanna in awe.  
  
"You saved us again!" cried Serena.  
  
"Huh? Saved you?" muttered Ranma in confusion.  
  
As if in answer to that, a huge group of armored men rounded the corner firing their weapons at anything in front of them.  
  
Ranma's eyes went wide as he saw this and he stepped back into the hole again. "Crom!"  
  
Hanna and Serena pulled at him and they ran into the passageway.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Jupiter woke up with a small groan. Sparks were shooting from the wiring that surrounded her as she slowly sat up and looked around. She was sitting inside of a rather large machine. "What the hell is this thing?" she muttered irritably as she stood up and dusted herself off.  
  
As soon as her body came out of contact with the wires, the entire room went dark. "Oh hell."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma paused and looked around in confusion. Serena and Hanna both panicked and grabbed each other screaming.  
  
"Shut up!" snapped the boy as he looked at them. "What the hell happened?"  
  
"Power failure," said Hanna. The dock was just ahead of them and they moved towards it through the confused crowd that had formed.  
  
"That's bad right?" said Serena.  
  
"The station isn't going to last very long without power," replied Hanna. "Whoever did this took out the auxiliary systems too. The entire space station is going to freeze over in a few minutes, after that..."  
  
"What? It'll explode?" joked Ranma.  
  
"Well, yeah. There's nothing to contain the energy in the reactor without some sort of power flow to the containment unit. If the emergency lights aren't even on, then..."  
  
"You're joking right," deadpanned Ranma flatly.  
  
"I don't hear any emergency sirens, no announcements, nothing. This place is completely dead," said Hanna.  
  
"Oh boy," muttered Ranma as he started running towards the docks. The people around them seemed to realize what was happening, and they all panicked.   
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"Hey, the station is going to explode," announced Ranma as he walked onto the deck of the ship and looked around at the three men who were working on the warp driver.  
  
"What?" said one of the men dumbly.  
  
"We're leaving right?" said Serena cheerfully as she sat down in one of the seats.  
  
"If any of you guys have family on board, or want to get off. I suggest you do so now," said Hanna as she walked by them towards the cockpit.  
  
The men looked at one another for a moment in confusion. The engines of the ship roared to life, and all three of the scrambled towards the door.  
  
"Hey, they left their tools," muttered Ranma as he sat down and grimaced.  
  
"Are you coming?" said Hanna as she noticed that he wasn't moving towards the cockpit.   
  
"Nope, sorry. I gotta take care of this first," he said as he raised his severed hand and showed it to them.  
  
Hanna gasped and staggered back in shock.  
  
Serena's eyes went wide. "What happened?" she cried sympathetically.  
  
"Senshi of Jupiter," replied the boy calmly as he pulled the first aid kit off the wall and pulled out some bandages. "Hurts like a bitch too."  
  
"What?" muttered Hanna dumbly as she watched him wrap the stump with bandages.  
  
"Don't we have to leave now?" he said as he paused long enough to look up at her.  
  
"Gah! The explosion!" cried Hanna as she rushed back into the cockpit.  
  
Serena was watching the boy calmly wrap his arm in a sort of fascinated horror. This wasn't the way the stories she'd heard went. The handsome hero was supposed to be invincible against evil, and protect the beautiful princess from the forces of darkness. Ranma was not what she'd expected her handsome hero to be. She nodded her head and closed her eyes, promising herself that she'd ensure that he'd get what he deserved. After such an ordeal, he'd be so disappointed if she didn't marry him. Endimyon was a flake anyway. He'd get over it.  
  
Ranma looked up at her with a confused frown. She was thinking about something, but he had absolutely no clue what.  
  
Finally, they lifted off and blasted into space.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Jupiter calmly walked through the chaos towards her ship. The station was shaking violently and huge pieces of it were falling into the panicking mob that tried to make it to the escape pods. There weren't more than a hundred people left on board, but they were all massed around the central area where the pods were.   
  
She turned to look at them for a moment. Luckily, the escape pods had their own power systems. Her ship was only a short distance away though; she calmly pushed through the crowd with ease, shocking anyone who dared bar her way with the aura that surrounded her body.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"What is that?" muttered Ranma as he stepped into the cockpit with Hanna. His arm was wrapped up and hung from a sling.  
  
"Federation Destroyer," replied Hanna calmly.   
  
The ship was a huge black warship. It was shaped like a large oval with several smaller ovals attacked to the base. It was also still attached to the shattering space station. It slowly moved away from the growing ball of flames after a moment and turned away from the doomed base.  
  
"They're too busy trying to escape the explosion to notice us," commented Ranma. "Where can we go? The new Warp Driver is in, but it's not completely installed yet. We need someplace quiet where we can spend a day or two completing repairs."  
  
"Uranus," said Hanna calmly. She pointed at the nearby planet indicating that they were already on the way.  
  
"This looks like a good port. It's small, but close to a larger city," said the boy as he pointed to one of the screens.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"What the hell is this?" snapped Hanna as she looked around at the hovels that surrounded her ship. "This isn't a space port."  
  
"No it isn't," replied Ranma calmly.  
  
"Then why did you tell us to land here?" snapped the woman angrily.  
  
"Because they'll be looking for us at a space port," replied Ranma calmly. "Use your head."  
  
Hanna blinked and opened her mouth to say something. She seemed to think about it and changed her mind. Without a word she turned back into the ship and left Serena and Ranma standing outside.  
  
"Are we going somewhere?" said Serena cheerfully.  
  
"I am, I guess you're coming with me," replied the boy with a small shrug.  
  
"Where are we going?" asked the girl as she watched Ranma open one of the cargo hatches on the outside of the ship. He stepped inside and pushed out a small land speeder.  
  
"Into that city. It'll take a few hours, and she'll have time to fix this stupid ship," he said calmly as he hopped onto the floating bike. "Hop on."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Serena simply stared at Ranma as he came out and flexed his new arm a few times. The operation had taken about an hour and a half. He reached down and grabbed a metal cup from the a small table in the waiting room and crushed it easily. He nodded with a stone-faced expression as he looked at his hand for a moment. "Kakko-ii."  
  
"Huh?" muttered Serena dumbly.  
  
"Bet you thought I would say something else huh?" said the boy with a slight smirk on his face.  
  
Serena shook her head for a moment and sighed. "Are we ready to go back now?"  
  
"I suppose so," replied the boy with a shrug.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Where the hell have you been?" snapped Hanna as she tapped her foot and glared at the pair as they rode up to the ship.  
  
"I had to get a new arm," said Ranma as he showed her his new hand.   
  
Hanna blinked. "What? How did you? Do you have any idea how much those cost?"  
  
"I certainly hope so, I just bought one."  
  
++++++++++  
  
Six months later...  
  
"Mah bill?" muttered Genaku as he looked at the letter that had been placed in his hand.  
  
"Yes sir," replied the young soldier in front of him. "According to this, several thousand credits were taken from your account on Uranus. To buy a prosthetic arm I believe."  
  
"What?" snarled the general as he rose to his feet and slammed his hands onto the table.  
  
The soldier shuddered under the gaze and stepped back. "I'm sorry sir. They're demanding payment!"  
  
"So, this credit company believes that they can make demands of Genaku McTome do they?"  
  
"Apparently so sir," said the young soldier.  
  
"Where are their central offices located?" said the general as he stood up to his full height.  
  
"On...Venus I believe," said the man as he looked down at the letter for a moment.  
  
"I want a full planetary scale assault prepared. We'll make sure this doesn't happen again."  
  
"Yessir," muttered the young soldier dumbly.  
  
Two weeks later, the infamous assault on the planet Venus occurred. Meril, Meryl, and Marril financial was wiped off the face of the galaxy forever, and Genaku McTome never received so much as a phone bill for the rest of his life.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Back in the present, Ranma looked around at the villagers that now surrounded the ship. "What the heck are they doing here?"  
  
"You come from the sky, you are the prophesized hero who will save our village from the terrible evil," said a creepy looking old guy who walked up to them. He had dark skin and an unusually large nose, a shock of white hair encircled the large bald top of his head.  
  
"Who the hell are you creepy old guy?" asked Ranma as he looked at the man for a moment.  
  
"I don't know. They've been here since you left. I can't get them to leave," muttered Hanna.  
  
"Um, what do they want?" said Ranma as a large group of old women surrounded them and started to touch him and Serena reverently.   
  
Hanna was also targeted, she spun around and punched one of the men suddenly. "Hey! Watch where you grab!"  
  
"You have come from the sky to deliver us. You will go to the ancient palace of Dakran, where the evil sleeps. There, you will find..."  
  
"Wait a minute, this is starting to creep me out," said Ranma as he put his hand up and interrupted the man. "You want us to go to this temple to stop an evil cult, rescue your children who've all been kidnapped, and bring back some sort of mystical stone. Right?"  
  
"Yes!" exclaimed the creepy old guy happily.  
  
"Wow!" gasped Serena. "How did you know that?"  
  
"I'm seriously considering filing a lawsuit against Lucas Arts when I get back to my own time," muttered Ranma.  
  
"What?" muttered Hanna as she looked at him for a moment.  
  
"It's nothing," said Ranma cheerfully as he waved the comment off. He turned back to the creepy old guy and grinned. "Sounds like fun. I'm game."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Next Time: Ranma Saotome and the Temple of Doom.  
  
  



	25. Insertion Part 25

Insertion  
  
Part 24  
  
Ranma Saotome and The Temple of Doom.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Shit!"  
  
Ranma blinked as he walked with Hanna and Serena towards the  
temple the villagers had directed them to. They were walking in a  
relatively barren area along the edge of a steep cliff. There was  
nothing but small weeds and dirt for miles ahead of them. The evil  
looking temple loomed over them on a mountaintop in the distance.  
"What's up?"  
  
Hanna was on her hands and knees, peering down a small hole in the  
ground. "I dropped my keys!"  
  
"Huh?" said Serena dumbly.  
  
"They fell down this hole," grumbled the woman as she peered down  
the crack in the earth at her feet.  
  
"Reach down and get them," said Ranma with a small shrug.  
  
"I can't see them...this is really deep too!" said the woman in  
frustration.  
  
"We can't get back on the ship without them can we?" said Ranma  
with a scowl forming on his face.  
  
"No," replied Hanna flatly.  
  
"Great," muttered the boy as he sat down in the dirt for a moment.  
"I guess we dig."  
  
"Where's that cave go?" asked Serena as she noticed a man sized  
hole in the ground about a hundred yards away.  
  
"I dunno," said Ranma with a small shrug. "Let's find out. I'd  
hate to dig all the way down there just to find out we could have  
walked to them."  
  
"That doesn't seem like such a good idea," muttered Hanna.  
  
"So stay here then," replied Ranma with a small shrug as he stood  
up and started walking.  
  
"I'll go with you," said Serena cheerfully.  
  
"Come on then," said Ranma as he waved her towards him.  
  
"Fine! I will stay here then!" snapped Hanna irritably as she sat  
down in the dust with her arms crossed over her chest.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Just inside the cavern, Ranma pulled a flashlight off of his belt  
and flicked it on. "Stay close, we don't know what's in here."  
  
"We don't?" muttered Serena nervously as she clung onto his back.  
  
"No, we don't," said Ranma as he pushed her away a little. There  
was a wall of cobwebs ahead of them, and he brushed them aside and  
paused. "You know, this is the wrong movie."  
  
Inside the cavern was an ancient and crumbling ruin of some kind.  
Statues were crumbling away with time, and roots and cobwebs hung from  
the ceiling overhead.  
  
"What?" asked the girl in confusion.  
  
"It's nothing," he replied calmly as he continued forward. "Look,  
maybe you should just wait outside. This place looks like it might  
have a few traps set up in it, and I'm not sure if they still work or  
not."  
  
"No way! It's creepy out there!" said Serena as she backed away a  
little.  
  
"And you don't think it's creepier in here? There's nothing  
outside but dirt," said Ranma as he turned to look at her in surprise.  
  
"Well, you're not out there..." said the princess with a small  
blush forming on her cheeks. "And then there's that really weird  
looking building on the mountain..."  
  
"Right, come on then, and don't touch anything unless I say," he  
said with a small defeated sigh.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Outside, Hanna pulled a small box from her traveling bag. "I'm  
hungry she muttered as she started to open it. She paused when she  
felt something brush up against her leg. Slowly, she turned her eyes  
down and screamed in terror at the huge insect that was beginning to  
crawl up her leg. She tossed the box into the air and jumped back,  
firing several shots with her blaster and vaporizing the insect, along  
with about a foot of the ground around it.  
  
After a moment, she paused and looked down at where she had  
dropped her lunch. "Shit!" She peered down the hole once again and  
groaned in frustration. "This just isn't my day."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma and Serena found themselves walking down a narrow hallway  
with several small windows along one wall, they were very high up, and  
shone down on the hallway giving a small amount of light to the room.  
  
"Wait!" said Ranma as he pushed Serena back against the wall,  
preventing her from moving foreword.  
  
"What is it?" she muttered fearfully.  
  
"Stay out of the light."  
  
"Okay," muttered the girl with a confused looking frown.  
  
Ranma stuck out his hand into one of the light beams and...nothing  
happened. He pulled his hand back and sighed with relief. "False  
alarm."  
  
"Okay," replied Serena as she walked along behind him cheerfully.  
  
They reached the end of the hall without incident and Ranma turned  
towards the hallway again. "I could have sworn..."  
  
Several walls of spears poked out of the wall along their path,  
just in front of the light beams.  
  
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" cried Serena in alarm as she jumped onto  
his side and clung to him.  
  
"Oh, I guess this place is kinda old," said the boy with a small  
shrug as he continued foreword.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
A moment later, they found themselves looking at a small  
bottomless pit.  
  
"How are we gonna get across this?" muttered the princess.  
  
"Huh?" Ranma lifted her up into his arms and hopped across easily.  
"That's how."  
  
"Oh," said the girl with a heavy blush on her face as he put her  
down. "Are we coming out this way too?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"Probably," he replied with a small shrug.  
  
They walked into the next room and paused. There was a small  
golden statue, a box, and a set of keys all sitting on a pedestal in  
the middle of the room.  
  
"Well, that was easy," said Serena as she started foreword.  
  
"That's what scares me," said Ranma as he shoved her into the wall  
again.  
  
"Could you stop that?" said the princess with a small frown on her  
face.  
  
Ranma looked at her and picked up a large broken piece of wood  
from the ground nearby. He placed it on one of the diamond shaped  
tiles that lined the floor and pressed down slowly. It gave way, and a  
split second later a small dart was embedded into the wood.  
  
"On second thought, do that whenever you feel like it," amended  
the girl.  
  
"Right," replied Ranma with a small smirk. "I'm going to get those  
keys, you wait here."  
  
Just as he started to step forward, a terrifying sound met his  
ears. It ran chills up his spine and he backed away from the room.  
  
"Niyou."  
  
The sound was repeated several times as about a dozen cats started  
to walk out onto the floor fearlessly.  
  
"Is something wrong?" asked the princess.  
  
"Cats...why'd it have to be...cats?" muttered Ranma as he edged  
back towards the door. He turned towards Serena and smiled weakly.  
"Look, you're gonna have to go get those keys."  
  
"Me?" said the girl in shock.  
  
"I have this little problem with those things out there ya see,"  
said the boy nervously as he pointed towards the cats.  
  
"You mean those kitties?" muttered Serena in wonder.  
  
"Shut up and go get the keys!" snapped the boy as he glared at her  
for a moment.  
  
"But...I'll get stuck by those darts," she replied nervously.  
  
"Look, just don't step on any of the tiles shaped like that. The  
other ones are all safe," said Ranma as he pointed at one of the  
diamond shaped stones.  
  
"Oh. I guess I could..." said the girl nervously. She took a  
tentative step forward and started on her way. After several moments,  
she was standing in front of the pedestal.  
  
She picked up the keys and looked at the statue for a moment. It  
was a golden cat with jewels for eyes. "Pretty!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Don't touch that!" warned Ranma.  
  
Serena looked back at him and shrugged her shoulders as she put  
the keys into her pocket. Then she saw the box. "What's this?" She  
lifted it up into her hands and opened it.  
  
Ranma winced, but managed to keep silent as she picked it up.  
After a moment, nothing happened and he breathed a sigh of relief.  
"So? What is it?"  
  
"I dunno. Food," she replied as she showed the open box to him.  
"What should I do?"  
  
Ranma looked at the contents and shrugged. "Leave the statue, take  
the cannolli."  
  
"Okay," she replied as she whirled around to head back.  
  
Ranma's jaw dropped as her hair flew in a wide arc, and knocked  
the statue off of the pedestal. It shattered on the ground, revealing  
it to be nothing more than cheap ceramics.  
  
"Oopsie," said Serena as she looked at what she had done.  
  
A low rumbling filled the room and Ranma cursed under his breath.  
"Run you idiot!"  
  
"Huh?" muttered Serena as she looked up and saw the wall beginning  
to collapse behind her. "EEEEEKKK!" she cried as she tore across the  
floor.  
  
Darts whizzed by as she rushed back towards Ranma. Occasionally,  
an angry sounding yowl would sound as the projectiles struck one of  
the animals.  
  
Serena finally made it and rushed into Ranma's arms. "I did it!"  
she cried.  
  
"Yes! Ten points!" cried Ranma as he raised his arm into the air.  
  
"Huh?" muttered the girl in confusion. She turned to see all  
twelve of the cats were lying on the ground with darts stuck in them.  
"Oopsie," she repeated.  
  
"Come on!" cried the boy as he pulled her along behind her as the  
temple started to crumble around them.  
  
They rushed into the next room and Serena looked up at Ranma  
again. He picked her up into his arms again and she hugged his neck  
tightly. Once he landed on the other side she refused to let go and he  
continued to run forward as the wall threatened to close them into the  
room. He moved into the next area of the temple and looked back. "I  
think we missed something."  
  
"Why are you stopping?!" cried the princess as she kicked her feet  
in alarm.  
  
"Oh. Right," said the boy as he started forward again, rushing  
through the hall of spears again. Once on the other side he paused and  
looked back over his shoulder. "Three, two, one..." All the spears  
shot out from the wall again.  
  
The temple seemed to have calmed now, and Ranma put the girl down.  
"We should be all right from here. No, wait... there's something  
else..."  
  
"What is it?" she muttered nervously.  
  
Another rumbling started and the pair looked back to see an  
oversized smoothed down boulder rolling down on them from the ceiling.  
  
"That," said Ranma as he grabbed her hand and started to pull.  
They rushed through the hall as the huge stone bore down on them,  
making it to the entrance just ahead of it.  
  
"I don't want to dieeeeeeeee!" cried Serena as Ranma lifted her  
into his arms and jumped out of the exit.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Hanna blinked as she stared down the hole. There was a lot of  
muffled noise coming from down there and she struggled to hear what  
was happening. "What the hell are those two idiots doing down there?"  
She suddenly paused and blushed. "It couldn't be! He wouldn't! She  
wouldn't!" She put her face up against the hole, and...promptly got a  
face full of dust as a huge geyser of it shot up from the hole.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Well, that was pointless," said Ranma as he sat up from where he  
had landed. Serena was lying across his lap, a look of fear still  
etched onto her features.  
  
The girl seemed to come to life all at once, latching onto his  
neck and bursting into tears. "You! You saved me!"  
  
"Hey! Cut that out," snapped the boy as he pulled her away. "Let's  
just go. All right."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Well, here we are. Now what?" said Hanna as she looked at the  
pair.  
  
"We could go up to the palace...or we could take that suspicious  
looking cave over there. The one with the keep out sign, and the  
painful screaming and whip cracking coming out of it," said Ranma as  
he laid out their choices.  
  
"What are we gonna do? Go up and ask them if they have an evil  
cult living under their palace?" said Hanna snidely.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Hiya!" said Ranma cheerfully as he adjusted the gray ball cap on his  
head and smiled at the man who answered the door.  
  
"Who are you? Do you have an appointment?" said the stuffy looking  
man in a turban.  
  
"No. We're exterminators," said Ranma cheerfully. "We got a call  
about an evil child stealing cult in your basement."  
  
"Pardon?" said the man in confusion.  
  
"Yeah. You gotta take care of these infestations fast, or they  
rise up and make the villages miserable. So, where's the door to the  
basement?" Ranma walked in with the two girls directly behind him.  
  
"Um...this way?" said the confused looking man as he led them into  
the home.  
  
"I can't believe this worked," muttered Hanna dumbly.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"This is the basement," said the man as he crossed his arms and  
glared at them. "We don't have any evil cults as you can plainly see.  
Now I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."  
  
They looked around and saw nothing more than a wine cellar.  
  
Ranma looked at the man and paused. "This is the palace of the  
Thugee isn't it?"  
  
"No," replied the man with a small sigh. "That place is on the  
bottom of the mountain. You take a right at the cave at the base. They  
keep taking the road sign down. This is historical Al'shira. No one  
lives here, and I'm a tour guide."  
  
"Oh," said Ranma dumbly. "Well, sorry to bother you then."  
  
"Quite," replied the man in irritation.  
  
Ranma conked him on the head and sent him into the dust. He fell  
on his face out cold.  
  
"Why did you do that?" asked Hanna.  
  
"He might be in league with the evil cult. I don't want him  
warning them that we're coming."  
  
"Oh," said Serenity.  
  
"Come on," said Ranma as he walked towards the stairs.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma looked up at the imposing temple that was carved into the  
side of the mountain. There was about a dozen guard milling about the  
front with blasters at their sides. "Well, let's go," he said as he  
pulled the large shotgun like weapon off of his back.  
  
"Wait! What the hell are you doing? You're just going to walk up  
there and start shooting?" snapped Hanna as she grabbed him by his arm  
and stopped him.  
  
"Well...yeah kinda," he said as he looked at her. "That was my  
plan anyway."  
  
"But...we'll die," said Serenity nervously. She was holding a  
weapon much to large for her and scuffed her feet in the dirt.  
  
"Come on, these are lousy minions. They never shoot good," said  
Ranma cheerfully as he cocked the weapon.  
  
The group paused as the guards began to toss glass bottles into  
the air and shoot them. Not one of them missed.  
  
Ranma looked at the two women and shrugged. "Okay. New plan."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"This is your plan? Go in the back way and start shooting?"  
grumbled Hanna as she hid behind the cover of a few boulders with  
Ranma and Serenity.  
  
"Yeah. Catch em by surprise," he said cheerfully. "I'm gonna scout  
ahead, you two wait here."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
A short time later, he turned a corner stealthily and blinked as  
he found himself standing on a set of railroad tracks. "Huh?" he  
muttered dumbly as a small light formed a short distance ahead of him.  
  
A small mining cart was speeding towards him. The occupant was  
screaming madly in terror as he rocketed towards the boy.  
  
Ranma blinked once, and fired his weapon at the base of the  
vehicle. It flipped over several times in the air before crashing down  
into the ground rather loudly. He winced and looked around, after a  
moment nothing happened and he breathed a sigh of relief. He walked  
over and kicked the former occupant of the cart, he had been flipped  
out when the boy had first stopped it.  
  
It obviously wasn't human. It jumped up, two huge floppy ears on  
its head moving erratically as it looked around nervously. The thing  
had a duckbill and leathery skin. "Ohhhhh..."  
  
"What the?" muttered Ranma as he lowered his weapon and stared at  
it for a moment.  
  
"You! Yousa saving me! I berry berry grateful! Mine being Jar..."  
  
Ranma screamed and ignited his lightsaber, hacking the thing in half  
where it stood. "No freaking way!"  
  
Hanna and Serena rushed up behind him. "What was that noise?" said  
Hanna.  
  
"You killed it!" cried Serena as she looked at the thing's remains.  
  
"Had to be done," said Ranma calmly as he closed the saber and  
hooked it back onto his belt.  
  
"Didn't seem very hostile to me," muttered Hanna.  
  
"Trust me," said Ranma as he looked at them. "It -had- to be  
done."  
  
The pair shrugged their shoulders and started walking after him as  
he moved off.  
  
"I thought I told you two to stay put," he muttered as he looked  
back at them for a moment.  
  
"Well there were all these guards, and you weren't there, so I..."  
started Serena.  
  
"Never mind, just come on," said Ranma as he moved into one of the  
caves.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"What is this?" said Serena as she looked down off the edge of the  
small cliff into a large open room filled with men in loincloths  
bowing to a huge skull like shrine.  
  
"Some kind of ritual I guess. Either that, or a mass tanning booth  
of some kind," replied the boy as he pointed at the lava pit between  
the worshipers and the shrine.  
  
"I like that first one," said Serena.  
  
"I think so too," agreed the boy cheerfully.  
  
"Ugh, you'd think with all this mining, they could afford some  
decent clothes," said Hanna in disgust.  
  
A huge squealing animal was brought onto the shrine by about four  
men. They pulled it over to a large metal harness of some kind and  
latched it in.  
  
While this was going on, three other men walked into the room with  
small stones in their grasp. They were smooth, and had crescent moon  
symbols on the front of them. They began to glow as they came closer  
to one another.  
  
"What are those?" said Hanna.  
  
"I've heard of stones like those. When they're brought together,  
the diamonds inside them are said to glow," said Ranma with a small  
nod.  
  
"Diamonds?" muttered Hanna as she looked back at him.  
  
"I heard it was crystals actually," said Serena.  
  
"Something like that," replied the boy with a small shrug.  
  
"Don't get me all excited like that!" cried Hanna angrily.  
  
A man dressed in a long dark cape, with a scary looking horned  
skull hat on walked onto the shrine. He raised his hands into the air  
and glared out at the crowd before him for a long moment. "Our task is  
complete! Rejoice!"  
  
He ceremoniously walked over to the animal in the cage and took  
out a small bowl of something. He dipped a small brush into the  
substance and began to paint the animal with strange, messy, swooping  
motions. "Praise be to she who will deliver us into prosperity!"  
  
The cage was turned sideways, and the animal began to squeal  
loudly as a pit opened up underneath it. Two large men lowered the  
animal down slowly into the heated lava below. The stopped when the  
squeals stopped and locked the chains where they were hanging. The  
animal was several hundred feet above the surface of the heated lava.  
  
A great cry of triumph roared from the worshipers in the crowd.  
They jumped up and started dancing excitedly. Several long poles were  
brought out, and the men began to dance excitedly.  
  
"What the hell?" said Ranma in confusion.  
  
"Some sort of sick ritual?" muttered Hanna.  
  
"No, it's a..."  
  
"Luau, for the managers of the project," said a voice from behind  
them.  
  
Ranma turned and fired a single shot. A large man in a turban  
jumped back and raised his hands in alarm. He had been standing behind  
them watching the scene purposefully.  
  
"The one for the security force is next week. The workers had  
theirs last night!" muttered the man fearfully.  
  
"Who are you? What's going on here?" snapped Serena as she stepped  
foreword.  
  
"Princess Serenity!" cried the man fearfully. "I had no idea you  
were here to visit! Please forgive me!" The man bowed deeply to them  
and Ranma lowered his weapon.  
  
"What the hell?" he grumbled as he watched the man prostrate  
himself in front of them.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"They told you that we were an evil cult who stole their sacred  
stone, and enslaved their children?" muttered the well-dressed man who  
sat across from them at an elegant looking table in a dinning hall.  
  
"Well, yeah," said Ranma flatly. "We just came to check things  
out, and that's when we found your little party."  
  
"Well. I'm very disappointed then. We contracted their children to  
work in the mines. They sold them to us, along with their sacred  
stones. It wasn't our fault they wasted the money."  
  
"You contracted the children?" said Hanna in disgust.  
  
"The tunnels we use are very small, the children are well fed and  
rested. We are not a slave force after all. Their quality of life here  
is better than the village they came from. They were all returning at  
the end of the week anyway. We only wanted them for a month or so, we  
needed the extra hands, and none of the adults were willing to work  
here. All of them sent their children instead."  
  
"An entire village of Genma Saotome," muttered Ranma in shock.  
  
"Who?" said Hanna as she turned to look at him.  
  
"It's nothing," he replied. He then turned back towards the man  
again. "What are you digging for anyway."  
  
"We found what we were looking for actually. The three sacred  
stones are an ancient power that was sealed away millennia ago, by one  
of the distant relatives of the young princess and the queen. Serenity  
wanted us to find them for her, when the three stones are broken, and  
the crystals inside brought together, they form a powerful magic  
crystal."  
  
"The Silver Imperium Crystal," said Ranma with a small nod.  
  
"Yes, I see you've heard the legend," said the man with a cheerful  
smile.  
  
"Of it yes, I've never actually heard the whole story though,"  
replied Ranma with a small shrug.  
  
"The whole story is a family secret," explained Serenity  
cheerfully. "No one knows it but the queen and princess of the moon."  
  
"To protect the location of the crystals. General Nephrite will be  
here in about a week to retrieve the crystal, and return it to the  
queen," said the man cheerfully. "I must say, it was a surprise to  
find you visiting us."  
  
"Yeah, well, we've got to get back soon. Places to be and all  
that, we've got a bit of work to do before we take off though."  
  
"I'll arrange for a transport for you," said the man cheerfully.  
  
"That'd be nice," said Hanna. "It was a long walk."  
  
"By the way...Why didn't we just take the landspeeder?" muttered  
Serena as she suddenly seemed to think about it.  
  
"Ummm..." said Ranma as he tried to think of a reason.  
  
"ARRRGGGHHH!" cried Hanna as she hit her head on the table in  
frustration.  
  
"I must say. I've heard rumors that the princess was missing. I'm  
greatly relieved that they aren't true," said the man as he smiled at  
the young girl for a moment.  
  
"Heh. Well, thanks," said Serena nervously with a blush forming on  
her face.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Ready?" said Hanna as she sat back in the cockpit of the ship and  
started the engines.  
  
"Let's just get out of this place," said Ranma with a heavy sigh.  
  
"Where to next?" said Serena cheerfully.  
  
"Well, you said you were going to Mercury right?" said Ranma with  
a small sigh.  
  
"Yup!" replied the girl cheerfully.  
  
"I guess we might as well head that way. They won't be expecting  
us there." Ranma pointed at the spot on the star chart and smirked.  
"We'll just drop you off there, you can do your little mission, and  
that'll be the end of that."  
  
"Right," muttered Hanna as she pulled back the controls. The ship  
jumped into light speed and threw them all back into their seats  
suddenly.  
  
"Hey. I just thought of something," muttered Ranma dumbly.  
  
"What's that?" grumbled Hanna.  
  
"We could have just left her with that guy, Nephrite would have  
given her a ride home, and...AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!" He hit his  
head on the control panel in frustration.  
  
Serena merely smiled blissfully.  
  
"You asshole! Why didn't you say so sooner!" cried Hanna.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Senshi, we don't need their scum," commented one of the  
commanders on board the flagship of the imperial fleet. He paused and  
looked up to see a shorthaired blonde woman glaring down at him. The  
pathetic man swallowed and scurried away.  
  
Queen Serenity paced in front of the short-skirted warriors. Seven  
of the nine women were present. "Jupiter alone has been unsuccessful.  
I want you to find my daughter and bring her back, alive."  
  
Neptune turned and looked at her for a moment.  
  
"No disintegration," said the queen firmly as she paused in front  
of Uranus.  
  
"As you wish," replied the woman icily.  
  
"The senshi who is successful will be rewarded once they return  
quite handsomely. I want my daughter back, I don't care what you have  
to do to get her back to me alive and unharmed."  
  
"What of the threat from the Federation?" asked Mars as she looked  
at the woman.  
  
"I have someone working on that as we speak. Nephrite is currently  
on a mission for me that will ensure our victory. He will return at  
the end of the week."  
  
Mercury nodded at this and looked over at Venus for a moment.  
  
"Now go, and don't come back without my daughter," said the Queen  
as she turned away from them.  
  
"Bitch," muttered Mars under her breath as she followed her fellow  
Senshi out of the room.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  



	26. Insertion Part 26

Insertion  
  
Part 26  
  
Titans  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Space the final frontier. These are the voyages of the time traveler Ranma. His continuing mission to seek out new techniques and fiancees. To boldly go, where no man really wants to!"  
  
"Oh, you're a real riot," deadpanned Ranma as they floated in the middle of the spaceship. "How's the gravity coming along?"  
  
"Still busted, she hasn't come up for a while," said Dan as he turned their attention towards the opened hatch where Hanna had disappeared almost an hour before.  
  
Serena was sitting at a table nearby; she was playing with something just below the tabletop. Occasionally it would clack together and she would frown in slight frustration.  
  
"This is kind of nice," said Pissant cheerfully.  
  
  
"It is a new experience," agreed Carrot. "Never thought I'd be flying through space this way."  
  
"Well, here she comes," said Dan as he noticed Hanna coming up through the hatch.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"We need to land again," said the woman as she floated towards the cockpit.  
  
"Something else is broken?" whined Serena.  
  
"This isn't a military ship or a yacht. I have to fix this stuff myself," snapped the woman irritably.  
  
"Great, let's find a port then," mumbled Ranma.  
  
"We should be close to Jupiter, the base on Titan is low key, and pretty much independently operated. We shouldn't find any trouble from the military there," said Hanna.  
  
"Great, I've heard that before," said Ranma.  
  
"So we're going to another spaceport then?" said Serena.  
  
"Looks like it," said the boy with a small shrug. He paused and noticed the girl fumbling with something. "What are you messing with anyway?"  
  
Serena shrugged and put three crystals on the table. "I managed to get them out of the rocks they were sealed in. It wasn't very hard, the seal was an old one from my family."  
  
"Where did you get those?" said Ranma dumbly. His face had gone completely white.  
  
"That guy gave them to me. He said he felt better about me taking them or something," replied the princess cheerfully.  
  
"Ah..." said Hanna as she froze and stared at her.  
  
"What?" muttered the princess in confusion.  
  
"You idiot! They already think we kidnapped you!" snapped Ranma. "Oh man..."  
  
"This is bad right?" said Hanna as she looked at him fearfully.  
  
"Now they're going to think that we took her as some sort of plot to get our hands on those things," said Ranma as he hung his head.  
  
"Oops," said the princess sheepishly.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"The Silver Imperium Crystal is gone?" Serenity stared at Nephrite's holographic image coldly.  
  
"It seems that it was given to those who have taken the princess hostage. They arrived here just before I did," said the man with a small frown on his face.  
  
"Given?" asked Serenity.  
  
"I gave it to the princess," said the Chancellor's image as he appeared before Serenity. "She did not appear to be in any danger. I had no way of knowing..."  
  
"We sent out a message to the entire galaxy chancellor. You disappoint me," said Serenity coldly. She raised her hand up and clutched at the air for a moment.  
  
The man looked at her in confusion for a moment. "Pardon your highness, but...what are you doing?"  
  
The Queen's image made a slight jerking motion and she stared at something off to the man's right. Finally, one of the two guards standing by the doorway seemed to understand. He walked up and started to choke the chancellor to death.  
  
"Find my daughter, get me that crystal!" said Serenity as she turned to glare at Nephrite for a moment.  
  
"As you wish," replied the man with a slight bow.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Here we are," said Hanna as she docked the ship on one of the raised circular platforms that surrounded the large building.  
  
"So, what's the plan?" asked Ranma as he looked out onto the surface of the moon. It was pretty barren, mostly a lot of mountains and dirt. The spaceport itself was very busy though, and he could see a road that went off into the distance, towards one of the large cities that resided on the moon.  
  
"You two are going to leave while I fix this," said Hanna irritably as she shoved them towards the doors to the ship.  
  
"Huh?" muttered Serena dumbly.  
  
"Come on, we're going into the spaceport to waste a few hours," said Ranma calmly as he caught on.  
  
++++++++++  
  
On the other side of the spaceport, a sleek looking starship landed on one of the pads. Several men scurried about nervously with a stuffy looking diplomat hurriedly moving towards the ship as the front end opened downward. Three women walked down the ramp and onto the port, all of them dressed in the uniform of the senshi.  
  
"What an unexpected surprise," said the old diplomat as he bowed his head slightly in greeting. "To what do I owe this honor?"  
  
The lead senshi stepped forward and simply looked at him for a moment before continuing on her way. She had short cut blonde hair and seemed somewhat distracted.  
  
"Are you sure?" asked the second senshi as she turned to look at the third for a moment. She had shoulder length aqua colored hair and seemed a bit friendlier in demeanor, but not by much.  
  
The last senshi had short dark blue hair. She gave a small nod and frowned. "This would be the best port to contact Valdis's forces for pick up. It's run independently, and is open to commerce from all across the Universe. Any other port would be under the control of the parent planet closest to it."  
  
"So, they have completed their mission, and will come here for pickup?" said the second senshi coldly. "Why not just fly there themselves?"  
  
"In a ship that size? With half the Imperial Fleet after them? Don't be stupid, Neptune," said the last senshi with a small snort.  
  
"Don't underestimate them either, Mercury," replied the woman tensely. "They escaped Jupiter, and disabled a battle cruiser with that little starship of theirs. They have proven themselves to be quite resourceful, it's almost a shame we have to kill them."  
  
"Come on, before Uranus leaves us behind," said Mercury as she started after their companion, leaving the diplomat standing there dumbly.  
  
"Alert the security forces, there's something going on here," said the old man as he turned towards one of the honor guard that had come with him. "I'm not certain I want to find out what requires the attention of three of those women."  
  
"Sir!" said the guard in unison as they filed away quickly.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Serena giggled as she stared down at the three crystals in her hands for a moment. The remains of a meal was spread out between them and they were in the middle of an open area of the complex. Several small restaurants lined the walls along the area, with a few shops and stores nestled between them.  
  
"What?" said Ranma as he turned his attention towards the girl.  
  
"They like you!" she said as she held the crystals up to him. The three gems were glowing slightly, but not enough to attract a lot of attention.  
  
"Huh?" he muttered dumbly.  
  
"The crystals, they say they like you," said the girl cheerfully.  
  
"You talk to them?" he said dumbly.  
  
"Sort of," she said with a small shrug. "It's not the same as talking really."  
  
"Oh," he said as he looked at the three rocks for a moment. "What would they like me for?"  
  
"Separate, but whole," she said with a slightly confused frown. "Whatever that means. They say that you're like them. Any idea what that means?"  
  
"Yeah," said the boy as he looked away and took a drink from his cup.  
  
"Well?" said Serena after a moment of silence.  
  
"It's none of your business," he said flatly.  
  
"What now?" said Serena as she stood up. They had been wandering around for about two hours before they decided to eat.  
  
"Back to the ship I guess. She should be about done," said the boy with a small shrug.  
  
The girl looked slightly disappointed but nodded in reply. "Here," she said as she handed him one of the crystals.  
  
"Huh?" he said dumbly.  
  
"She likes you more than the others. I guess you can hold her for a while," said the girl cheerfully.  
  
"She?" muttered Ranma with a small frown.  
  
"Yeah, she," said the princess.  
  
"Great. Another love sick woman," muttered the boy under his breath as he shoved the crystal into his pocket.  
  
"Huh?" said Serena. It was obvious that she hadn't understood what he had said.  
  
"Nothing, come on."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Yo! Hanna! You done with that thing yet? Or are we gonna have to hang around for a bit longer?" Ranma strolled onto the landing pad and paused. "What the?"  
  
There were about twenty soldiers standing around with their weapons trained on him and the princess. "Well, I told you they'd be here," said Mercury as she strolled out from behind the ship.  
  
"Get behind me," said Ranma as he shoved the young princess back.  
  
"Release Princess Serenity at once," said another female voice as Neptune moved up behind him.   
  
Uranus walked out wordlessly beside her and smirked.  
  
"Okay," said Ranma as he relaxed his stance.  
  
Everyone blinked in surprise and looked at one another. "What?" said Mercury.  
  
"I said 'okay'," he repeated.  
  
"No! Leave him alone!" snapped Serena angrily as she stepped between him and the senshi.  
  
Uranus walked up and took the girl by her arm, pulling her away from the boy.  
  
"So, this is all you are in the end?" said Mercury as she nodded towards the guards. The moved in and surrounded him. One of the men slammed his rifle butt into the back of his head and sent him to the ground. He lay perfectly still on the ground.  
  
"No!" cried Serena. "Don't hurt him! What do you think you're doing?"  
  
The princess slumped to the ground as Mercury shot some sort of small beam at her from a small weapon. "She's been reprogrammed. It's obvious," commented Mercury as she looked at the girl for a moment. "Take her to our ship."  
  
"What of these two?" said Uranus as she stood over the fallen Ranma for a moment.   
  
"I think we should bring the Queen a small gift," said Neptune with a cold smile.  
  
"We should kill them, they've caused quite a bit of trouble so far," countered Uranus.  
  
"No. We need to find out about the Imperium Crystal," said Mercury as she glared down at him. "I've got a way we can transport them without too much trouble after that."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Where am I?" muttered Ranma as he looked around. He had not really been knocked out, but played along so far.   
  
"You're awake," said Mercury as she looked at him for a moment. Two large men were holding him up by his arms. It had taken them a moment to move him at all; his body weight had forced them to use four men to move him. "You must be from Jupiter, or a planet with a similar mass. Tell me, where is the Silver Imperium Crystal?"  
  
The boy blinked and looked at her for a moment. "So that's why you didn't kill me."  
  
"Correct. Now, tell me what I want to know, and I'll make sure that you live long enough to make it to trial."  
  
Ranma merely smirked at her. "Where's Hanna?"  
  
"You mean that lovely young pirate we took into custody? She's still alive, for the moment."  
  
"Alive where?" said Ranma coldly.  
  
"I'll ask the questions here," replied the woman as she nodded towards the two men.   
  
Ranma's eyes went wide as they leaned him forward and held him over a bucket of liquid.  
  
"With every question you don't answer, that water gets colder. It won't ever freeze either, soon it will be cold enough that we'll just shatter your skull like glass," said the woman as she glared at him.  
  
"Water?" muttered Ranma dumbly.  
  
The men dunked him head first into the liquid.  
  
"Now..." Mercury was cut off as her two guards were thrown away suddenly.   
  
Ranma fell to the floor, thrashing wildly as she clutched her left arm. There was a tearing sound, and blood began to seep from under her sleeve. The young redhead screamed in pain as the prosthetic was ripped away from her arm and clattered to the ground.  
  
"What the?" muttered Mercury in shock.  
  
The girl was knocked out cold from the pain and simply lay on the floor.  
  
"Damn," muttered the senshi as she realized that she probably wasn't dealing with a human.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma woke up a short time later and looked around. Two guards were holding her up, and Hanna was beside her. They were in a mist filled room with a large hole in the center of it. Various machinery lined the walls of the area.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" muttered Hanna as she looked at the redhead for a moment. She looked beaten and worn out from torture.  
  
"It's me, Ranma," muttered the girl as she looked around the room. "Are we being frozen?"  
  
"In carbonite, for transport," said Hanna with a small-confused looking nod. "You're Ranma?"  
  
"It's a long story," replied the girl with a slight nod.   
  
"I see they took your arm," said Hanna as she noticed the missing limb.  
  
"How do we know this won't kill them?" said Neptune as she looked at her two companions.  
  
"We're going to test it on the woman first. He may be more inclined to talk after he sees what we're planning for him," replied Mercury coldly. She motioned with her hand and Hanna was brought foreword.   
  
Several midgets worked around her, removing her handcuffs and preparing the equipment.  
  
Ranma merely watched helplessly as they lowered her into the pit slowly.  
  
"I hate you," said the woman as she looked at him for a moment.  
  
"I know," he replied.  
  
The machine came to life and a cloud of super cold mist rose up from the floor. Ranma looked away and growled as the slab of carbonite with the woman inside was brought up from the floor. It slammed onto the ground with a loud finality and he looked down at it for a moment.  
  
His arm was throbbing in pain, and he felt incredibly weak from the blood loss. It was all he could do to keep standing, much less fight back. He could only hope that Serena would be able to convince them to release him once they made it to the Moon again.  
  
The small men began to prod him towards the hole and he hung his head in defeat. Uranus was wearing his belt with the blaster and lightsaber on it, and he couldn't even create a battle aura. In short, he was screwed. "Looks like this is it," he muttered.  
  
That was when he felt a warm glowing sensation in his pocket. He blinked in surprise and looked down. He was shrouded in the mist, and the senshi couldn't see it. "I know they searched me...is it still there?" he thought to himself for a moment. He reached into his pocket and found nothing, then he felt something begin to form inside his hand. A small hard crystal. Power began to flood him, and he felt completely refreshed. He looked around excitedly and a cold smile began to form on his lips as the floor slowly began to move downward.  
  
"Kaio ken."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Where am I?" muttered Serena as she sat up and looked around at her surroundings. She was lying on a small soft bed, inside one of the rooms on the senshi's starship.  
  
"Serena, thank goodness you're safe!" said a familiar voice.  
  
The princess blinked and turned to see Endimyon sitting on the end of the bed. "What the heck are you doing here?"  
  
"I've been searching across the galaxy trying to find you! Are you all right? Did they hurt you? I'll have them all put to death!" exclaimed the boy excitedly.  
  
"I'm fine! Go away now," said the princess irritably.  
  
"The senshi are taking care of those savages right now, don't worry," said Endimyon as she moved to her side and took her hands.  
  
"They are not s... Okay, so maybe they are, but that's what makes them exciting!" said the girl defensively.  
  
"Exciting?" said the prince as he looked at her dumbly for a moment. "What are you talking about? I traveled all this way with the senshi so I could save you and..."  
  
"You save me?" said Serena as she glared at him for a moment. "You mean you tell the senshi to go save me, and then run up after it's over. They would have been here if you weren't with them you twit!"  
  
"But...but...but..." stammered the boy in shock.  
  
"I don't need you to save me! I was having the time of my life until you showed up!" snapped the girl as she snatched her hands away from him. "Now get out of my way! I have to go save them!"  
  
"It's too late, the senshi are already forcing them to tell where they hid the Crystal!"  
  
"No dummy. I have to go save the senshi from Ranma," said the girl as she rolled her eyes and walked out of the room.  
  
"Hey! You can't just leave!" cried Endimyon as he stood up to follow her.  
  
"Hey! You're right. I gotta play this part right," said the girl as she turned to face him again.  
  
"Huh?" said Endimyon as she hefted a vase over her head and slammed it down on top of his head. He promptly slumped to the ground.  
  
"Now that I've defeated my captors, I must sneak away to find my true love!" She scurried away into the hallway of the ship.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Meanwhile, in another time...  
  
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the Sailor Senshi," said Takibi as he stared down at the group of girls that rushed up into a rather gruesome scene. There were dozens of dead bodies, burned and charred around the room. The youma had someone's leg in his grasp and took large chunks of meat out with his teeth as he looked down at them.  
  
"My god! What's he doing?" said Jupiter in horror.  
  
"This is horrible!" cried Sailor Moon as she backed away from the thing.  
  
"I wonder what I should do with you? Barbecue? I already had some of that today..." The man jumped down in the middle of them.  
  
"You won't touch them monster!" cried Tuxedo Mask as he tossed a rose at the evil monster's feet. He appeared from the rafters and jumped down to face the thing.  
  
"That's an old trick, I can do it better," said the Youma Lord as he waved his hand. About a dozen roses made from flames shot from his palm and struck Tuxedo Mask, luckily he managed to move his cape up defensively. Unfortunately, the flaming roses exploded. He was sent into the air over the senshi's heads and landed badly on the ground.  
  
"No time for speeches! We need to act!" cried Sailor moon.   
  
  
Takibi appeared in front of her before she could finish speaking the sentence. It was as if he had just vanished and reappeared in front of her. He smiled as she backed away and punched her dead in the face.   
  
The girl was thrown back, and landed next to the fallen Tuxedo Mask.  
  
"We can't beat him!" growled Mars as she looked at the thing hatefully.  
  
"Well, you know what they say about barbecues. They never get old," he raised his arms and a whirlwind of flames appeared around him. They spread out towards the senshi, who merely braced themselves for the attack.  
  
"Do it now!" cried an unfamiliar voice.  
  
"What?" snapped Takibi angrily as he turned towards the source of the noise. He screamed in anger as his attack suddenly stopped. A blue light struck him in the chest and spread across it, creating a sheet of ice. "Damn!" snarled the monster as he vanished in a small swirl of flames.  
  
"Who are you?" said Sailor Moon as she slowly rose to her feet.  
  
A young girl about their own age with short cut black hair simply stared at them for a moment indifferently. In her hands was a silver rifle of some kind. "My name is A, and I don't exist." She held up a small silver device and smirked.  
  
"No! Don't look at it!" cried Mercury as she closed her eyes. The other senshi followed her lead.  
  
Akane frowned as she noticed this and put the device away. "What should I do?"  
  
A male voice answered her from her earpiece. "Maybe we could use them. They don't seem to be hostile towards you."  
  
She nodded and looked at the girls again for a moment. "I work for Ranma Saotome, or rather, I used to work for him."  
  
"Ranma?" said Jupiter angrily.  
  
"We don't have time to be fighting amongst ourselves," snapped Akane angrily. "It's obvious that we have a common enemy. We can't handle them alone, this weapon hurts him, but it won't kill him. You barely survived this time. We can help each other."  
  
"What did you mean by, 'used to work for Ranma?'" said Mercury.  
  
"He's gone missing, no one has seen or heard from him in a week," replied the girl with an angry looking scowl.  
  
"That's bad...right?" said Venus nervously as she looked towards her friends.  
  
"He's the one who came closest to actually beating these things. All we've managed to do is set up traps, and maybe drive them off that way. They're too fast for us to fight directly," said Akane as she eyed the girls for a moment.  
  
"So, you think we should work together?" said Mars with a distrusting frown. "Why should we trust you? What have you got to benefit from this?"  
  
"I could have let him kill you," said the girl flatly. "If you don't want our help, fine. Stay out of the way, you're not strong enough to take these things on."  
  
"And you are?" said Venus snidely.  
  
"We've had more success than you have. We can't kill them yet, but we'll find a way," replied the girl calmly. "Besides, this is more than just a random attack to kill and gather energy. Our information tells us they're up to something big. They aren't attacking like they could be, especially considering all the success they've had recently. Their plans aren't getting bolder, they're getting smaller."  
  
"That's good, right?" said Venus.  
  
"It means they're probably distracted by something," said Mercury. "Or they've almost got enough energy to do whatever it is that they're planning."  
  
"Either way, it looks bad for the both of us," agreed Akane.  
  
"So what do we do?" muttered Tuxedo Mask painfully as he looked at the new girl for a moment.  
  
"Whatever we can, and hope it's enough," replied the girl as she pumped the weapon and looked at them coolly.  
  
++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  



	27. Insertion Part 27

Insertion  
  
Part 27  
  
The Federation Strikes Back!  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Serena ran through the crowd in the shopping area of the space station. She knew that she had to hurry, or it would be too late. The senshi had no idea what they were dealing with. Ranma had given up so easily that they would think she wasn't much of a threat.  
  
Briefly she had wondered why he gave up so easily. After a moment it had dawned on her. Ranma had no idea what they had done with Hanna. After she found out, she'd probably fight them in an attempt to rescue herself and the woman.  
  
Something about that worried her though; Uranus and Neptune were not Jupiter. They were possibly the third and fourth most powerful senshi, and were easily the most dangerous. "I've got to hurry, before they kill each other!"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Uranus watched the cloud of super cold mist rise up from the floor as the freezing chamber roared to life. She stepped forward across the grated floor with the other two senshi standing behind her. The chamber slowly rose up from the floor, revealing an empty block of carbonite.  
  
"What?" muttered Mercury as she walked up beside her fellow senshi. "Where?"  
  
"Surprised?" said Ranma as she appeared in front of her face with a wild looking grin.   
  
Mercury staggered back, and the girl struck her with a super hard blow to her face that sent her sprawling across the ground. Ranma seemed to vanish from sight and appeared on the other side of the room before the senshi's companions could react.  
  
"Take her friend and get back to the ship. Return Serenity to her mother," said Neptune as she eyed the girl coldly. "We'll handle this."  
  
Uranus nodded and stepped up beside the woman.  
  
Mercury shook her head as she rose to her feet and moved over to the slab of carbonite. She pressed several buttons on the controls on the sides and it slowly rose from the floor. Without another word, she pushed it out the door and left the trio alone. They were in a stand off.  
  
Ranma was putting her belt back on; none of the senshi had even seen her take it back. She looked up at them and smiled again. "I've tried being nice about this, but you just had to screw that up. Now we're going to do this my way."  
  
"And what way would that be?" said Neptune as she narrowed her eyes at the girl.  
  
"I'm gonna kick your scrawny, leggy, little asses, take back my friend, and then blast out of here on the ship I came in on," she replied.  
  
"You're not strong enough to beat us," said Neptune with a haughty looking smirk.  
  
Ranma vanished and appeared in front of the woman, her fist deep into her gut. She slumped forward onto his shoulder and coughed as she attempted to get her breath back. Before Uranus could retaliate, the girl moved away, causing Neptune to fall to her knees.  
  
"You'll pay for that," said Uranus as she stalked foreword.  
  
"I've been hearing a lot of that lately," she replied calmly as she simply put up her fists and glared.  
  
Uranus brought up her palm and shot a small blast of power at her opponent. Ranma didn't move, or so it seemed. The blast seemed to pass right through her. This caused the senshi to halt her foreword motion suddenly. "What the?"  
  
"What's the matter?" said the redhead coldly. "I'd love to stay and play with you ladies, but I've got to go and catch your friend before she flies off with my pal there."  
  
Neptune and Uranus stood side by side, both of them realizing at once that this girl was much more than they had been expecting.  
  
"Worlds Shaking!"  
  
"Deep Submerge!"  
  
The attacks were never completed. Ranma appeared between the two of them in a double kick that slammed into both of their guts. After that, the redhead merely pounded the two women into the ground. She moved too fast for them to counter, and was far too relentless for them to recover from the initial attack.  
  
"Give Jupiter a message for me. The next time I see her, I'm going to take her hand," said Ranma coldly as she walked out of the room.  
  
The two senshi slowly rose to their feet and the redhead whirled around in the doorway. She raised both her hands up and snarled at them. "Stay down!"   
  
Both women were thrown onto the floor again. Sections of it curled up around them, pinning them both down.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Mercury calmly walked onto the senshi's ship. She was pushing the frozen woman in front of her calmly and holding the side of her face to ease the pain that was forming there. She turned and looked down the ramp as it slowly rose up closing the ship.   
  
"I hope they make that bastard suffer," she said with a small frown.  
  
The ship slowly rose off the landing pad and into the sky, leaving the planet behind.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Serena frowned as she stumbled onto the landing pad that held Hanna's ship. It was silent, and there were no people running around at all. "Well, this is it."  
  
"Serena?" said a familiar voice from behind her.  
  
"Oh no," said the princess as she slowly turned around and saw him standing there.  
  
"Why did you hit me? What's going on here?" said Endimyon as he walked up beside her.  
  
"You were following me?!" snapped the girl in shock.  
  
"Of course I was! What the heck is this thing?" he turned to look at the ship for a moment. A disgusted look crossed his face and he stared at it. "What a piece of junk!"  
  
Serena blushed and stood between him and the ship. "Look. Just go back to wherever you came from! I'm fine! I've already got a ride to where I'm going, and I don't need your help!"  
  
"I can't do that! I have to stay with you! Come back with me...I..." he paused and looked up at the sky for a moment. "No! Where the heck are they going?"  
  
Serena blinked and noticed that the senshi's ship was taking off already. "Damn it," she muttered as she looked at the young prince in frustration.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma frowned as she watched the starship rise into the air. She had made it there just in time to see it spin around in the air and rise into the sky. After a moment, the ship blasted forward leaving him standing there dumbly. "Bloody hell. Now I have to go get her!" He sighed and hung his head, at least he had managed to get rid of Serena safely.   
  
++++++++++++  
  
Five minutes later...  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"  
  
"Who is this girl?" said Endimyon dumbly as he looked down at the redhead for a moment.  
  
"I dunno," replied Serena as she poked at Ranma with her foot. The girl had screamed at them and then passed out.  
  
"Maybe she's one of those fan types?" said Endimyon with a cheerful looking smirk. "You know, we are royalty. Perhaps she recognized us and was overwhelmed?"  
  
"I don't think that was the right kind of scream," said Serena as she looked at him in frustration.  
  
"What the hell are you two still doing here?" said Ranma as she suddenly sat up and punched Endimyon in the face.  
  
"Ouch! Wench! How dare you strike the..."   
  
Ranma decked him again and glared at Serena. "What are you still doing here?"  
  
"Who the heck are you?" cried the princess fearfully.  
  
Ranma blinked and seemed to remember something. "I'm...Ranma. It's kind of a curse..." He had briefly considered lying to the girl, but he didn't have time to deal with it at the moment. If he lied now, he'd have to explain everything later. "Come on. We have to go!" she snapped as she grabbed Serena by her arm and started to drag her towards the ship.  
  
"Wait! What about him?" said the girl as she looked at Endimyon's prone form.   
  
"What about him?" said Ranma as she continued to pull at her arm.  
  
"We can't just leave him here!" said the girl in reply.  
  
"Yeah. We can," said Ranma as she stopped and looked at her for a moment.   
  
"But..."  
  
"Two of the Senshi are still here, he'll be fine," said Ranma as she pulled on the princess's arm a little harder. "We have to catch that ship. They've got Hanna now."  
  
"Oh," muttered the princess with an uncertain frown. "Okay."  
  
They moved onboard the ship and the hatch slowly began to rise.  
  
At that moment, Endimyon woke up. "Serenity!" he cried as he jumped to his feet and dashed forward.  
  
"Come on! Close damn you! Close!" cried Ranma as she jammed the button to close the door repeatedly.  
  
Endimyon jumped and managed to slide through the crack just in time.  
  
"Damn," grumbled Ranma irritably.  
  
"So...you're really Ranma?" said Serena as she ignored the scene and looked up at the redhead for a moment.  
  
"Yeah. It's a long story that we don't have time for right now. I just got cursed, that's all."  
  
Serena frowned, she could see it. The girl was amazingly cute, but somehow looked exactly like him. Even her hand was gone. She paused and blinked. "I thought you fixed that."  
  
"Had an accident," muttered the redhead as she jumped into the pilot's seat and started to flip switches.  
  
Serena nodded and closed her eyes in thought. It was the perfect set up. Her handsome hero was cursed, surely her virtuous and pure, true love's kiss would break the horrible spell. She was a princess after all, maybe he was really a prince and didn't know it? After he saved them all from certain doom, she would reward him with a kiss of pure love! That was how it worked after all, then they would get married and live happily ever after.  
  
"Where are we going?" muttered Endimyon pathetically as he walked up behind Ranma and peered over her shoulder.  
  
Ranma merely raised her hand and backhanded him in the face. "Everyone sit down and shut the hell up."  
  
He fumbled for a moment and crawled away on his hands and knees. Serena watched this and blinked. She was starting to feel sorry for him. "I told you to stay behind."  
  
The sky slowly darkened, and a sea of stars appeared before them as they broke through the atmosphere.  
  
"Where's that ship?" grumbled Ranma as she looked at one of the screens and frowned. "There..." she pointed at a large blob that had appeared on the radar.  
  
"That's too big," commented Serena as she looked at it.  
  
"Say...you're right," muttered Ranma in confusion. He paused as three more large objects appeared on the radar screens. "What the?" He looked up and gasped.  
  
Directly in front of them, was four Federation battle cruisers.  
  
"Oh shit," said Ranma.  
  
"Now what?" cried Serena fearfully.  
  
"Running would seem to be the best option," said Endimyon as he managed to stand up and looked out the window.  
  
"Somebody give bright boy a cigar," snorted Ranma as she jammed the controls foreword.  
  
"I'll have you know I have attended the best military schools in all of..."  
  
"Do you really want me to smack you again?" said Ranma as she turned to look at the boy for a moment.  
  
Endimyon fell silent.  
  
"Okay, here we go," said Ranma as she fixed her eyes foreword. Several dozen small gray dots had begun to appear from the sides of the large ship. Ranma looked at the pair. "You two know how to operate laser turrets?"  
  
"Of course!" said Endimyon curtly.  
  
"Get your ass moving then! You take topside!" snapped Ranma as she smacked him on the side of his head again.  
  
"Ouch! Stop that!" cried the boy as he scurried away.  
  
"You, take the bottom turret," said the redhead as she looked at the princess.   
  
"But I don't know how to..."  
  
"Figure it out!" said Ranma as the first wave of fighters passed by them. The ship rocked as laser blasts impacted on their shields.  
  
Endimyon appeared in the doorway and sat down in one of the chairs.  
  
"What the hell are you doing here?" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Manning the lasers won't do us any good now," said the boy calmly.  
  
"Why the hell not?" snapped Ranma. Just then, the ship jerked foreword. "What was that?"  
  
Serena pointed at the radar screen with a fearful look in her eyes. The redhead's gaze turned downward and she blinked. More than half the screen was covered in a huge green blob.   
  
"That would be the federation flagship. It's right over us," said Endimyon as he rubbed at his temples for a moment. "We're caught in their tractor beam."  
  
"Damn it all!" cried Ranma in frustration.   
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Mercury ground her teeth in frustration. She had barely escaped with her life. The Federation forces had been waiting in space. As luck would have it, they had no idea who she was. By the time they had figured it out it was too late, and she had jumped into lightspeed.  
  
"Take over the controls," she said to the captain of the ship with a disgusted snort.  
  
"Yes Ma'am," replied the man firmly.  
  
"I'm going to check on the princess, set our course directly to the Moon."  
  
"As you wish," said the man placidly.  
  
She stepped off the bridge and paused, the doorway to the princess's chambers was open, and the room was empty. There was nothing more than a shattered vase in the middle of the floor. "What the?"  
  
Moments later, an anguished scream of frustration would have been heard hurtling through the cosmos, if sound could travel through the void that is.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
The door to the small freighter opened up on the deck of the mighty starship. Rows of soldiers stood firmly in place just outside as a huge armored figure strolled down the center isle towards the ship. The armor looked almost like that of a European Knight, but it was jet black and made of some material other than metal. A deep booming voice echoed through the chamber as the figure spoke.  
  
"So, we have captured them at last," he glanced around for a moment and surveyed the ship from a short distance outside.  
  
A few seconds later, several soldiers led the trio of teens out from the inside of the ship. The group was being held at gunpoint, but the soldiers weren't carrying any of Ranma's discarded weapons.  
  
"Ah, we meet at last Princess," said the armored man as he strolled up to the young Serenity.  
  
"Keep your hands off of he..."  
  
The soldiers blinked in surprise as Ranma smacked Endimyon and shut him up. "Calm down, you'll get us all killed."  
  
"I had wanted you killed Princess, but I think that you and your friends might be more valuable alive," said the man coldly.  
  
"You must be the real Dark Valdis," said the girl as she stood up to him bravely.  
  
"Yes. It was thought that a softer, more public persona would go over well with my people. Thanks to the boy...where is the boy?" Valdis paused and looked around.  
  
"These three were the only ones aboard the ship," replied one of the soldiers calmly as he approached the man and bowed respectfully.  
  
"No matter," said Valdis as he glanced at the trio. "I'll take the Silver Imperium Crystal Princess. Your mother is quite foolish. She keeps sending transmissions across the galaxy to be intercepted by my spies. Without it, she has no defense against my ultimate weapon."  
  
Serenity struggled for a moment, but the small pouch that held the two crystals was easily taken away. Valdis clutched them in his grasp and turned towards his soldiers. "Take them away!"  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"Hey Red, you got a new cell mate," snorted the guard as he shoved Ranma into the small holding cell. The handcuffs binding her wrists fell away, leaving her standing in the middle of the room dumbly for a moment.  
  
The pigtailed girl turned and grinned dumbly at the woman sitting on a small metal bench across from her. She looked to be in her mid twenties, and had long red hair. "Welcome," said the woman somberly.  
  
"Whoa," muttered Ranma as she looked the woman up and down for a moment. She was a total babe. "Well, I guess we're stuck together then?"  
  
"For the rest of our lives," agreed the woman. "Not that it's that long of a time."  
  
"So, what are you in for?" said Ranma as she sat down on the bench on the opposite wall.  
  
"Being too smart for my own good," said the woman as she turned away.  
  
"Oh," said the pigtailed girl in confusion.  
  
"How about you?"  
  
"I was with Princess Serenity when they caught her," replied Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"So. They've gotten that far have they?" said the woman in disgust.  
  
"Not sure what you mean. It was kind of a fluke, and it's a long and involved story," replied the pigtailed girl with a slightly embarrassed flush on her cheeks.  
  
"Well, all we have is time," said the woman as she sat up. She seemed to perk up a bit now that she had something to pass the time for a short while. "Who are you by the way?"  
  
"Oh. I skipped the introductions didn't I? My name is Ranma, I'm the greatest fighter in the Universe."  
  
"Well. I'm impressed. You sure are cheerful for someone who's about to die. They're going to execute us in a few days you know."  
  
"What? Me die? No way! These jerks don't realize that I'm just playing along for the moment."  
  
"Confident too, I like that. My name is Washuu," replied the woman with a sly looking smirk on her face.  
  
"Huh? Washuu? As in the Greatest Scientific Genius in the Universe Washuu?" said Ranma dumbly as he stared at the woman. After a moment it clicked, it was her adult body, but definitely her.  
  
"What? Who told you that?" asked the woman as she sat up and stared at her for a moment.   
  
"Huh? It's nothing. I've just heard of you, that's all," said the pigtailed girl with a devious looking smile forming on her face.  
  
"Well, I guess you could say that," agreed the woman with a slight smile forming on her face. "I've certainly never met anyone as smart as me."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Washuu was looking at Ranma with a shocked expression. "You expect me to believe that?" The girl had told her everything, starting from her rescue of Serena in the desert on Earth.  
  
"Why would I lie?" said the girl with a small shrug of her shoulders. "I've got no love for the senshi, and I'm about to die. Right?"   
  
"Not to hear you talk," countered Washuu.  
  
"Anyway, it's no big deal. I've got enough problems, I'm gonna bust out of here pretty soon. I'll take you with me when I go. How's that?"  
  
"If you can manage it, I'd appreciate it," said Washuu with a smirk forming on her face for a moment. It was obvious that she thought the girl was just blowing off steam.  
  
"Well, what's your story?" said Ranma cheerfully. It was obvious that she was enjoying this.  
  
"Huh? Oh, I just built the Planet Smasher," said Washuu with a small wave of her hand.  
  
"What's a 'Planet Smasher?'" asked Ranma dumbly.  
  
"It's a laser beam that was designed to destroy a planet. I was working on it with one of my students. Valdis found out about it, kidnapped me and had me design one for this ship. After I was done, he stuck me in here to kill me. That way it, and its weaknesses are kept secret."  
  
"That makes sense in an odd way," said Ranma with a small nod.  
  
"Yeah well...what are you doing?" Washuu blinked and turned her head away. The girl had just dropped her pants.  
  
"God this is gross, feels weird too," said Ranma as she made a face and started to play around with...it.  
  
"What are you doing!?" cried Washuu in embarrassment.  
  
"No matter how evil your guards are in the military. There are certain places they don't check thoroughly when they first find you. They may check more later on, but at first they're all nervous and just brush it."  
  
"What?" said Washuu dumbly as she turned to see the girl pulling a six inch rod out of herself.  
  
"I told you I was escaping. I've got to go pick up my friends, get back to my ship, and blast my way out of this place." Ranma flipped her wrist, and the small rod became about two feet long. The pigtailed girl flipped several switches along the side and turned it along its axis to adjust a few things before she pulled her pants back up and turned towards the door. "You ready to go?"  
  
Washuu nodded numbly as two blades of energy suddenly came to life on either side of the weapon. "Wait. Can you get these off of me?" She held up her hands and smirked. There was a strange set of handcuffs over her wrists. Both of her hands were encased in a pinkish energy field. "I'll be able to help more if you do."  
  
Ranma sliced them off neatly and they fell away, freeing the woman's hands.  
  
"Great! Now I can hotwire this baby and get us..."  
  
Ranma just looked at her for a moment and hacked the doorway in half. It fell to the ground and the girl walked out into the hallway.  
  
"Or we could just do that..." muttered Washuu as she followed.  
  
A moment later, Ranma walked back into the cell and over to the small sink in the wall. "Just a second!" she said as she saw Washuu poke her head back in with a confused look on her face.  
  
Ranma turned on the water and waited for a moment before dunking her head under the flow. He emerged a moment later as a man and smirked. "This'll confuse the hell out of 'em."  
  
"Hey. That's a neat trick," said Washuu as she stared at the scene for a moment.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Endimyon woke up in his cell with a throbbing pain in his head. The last thing he remembered happening was a memory he'd treasure for the rest of his life. The cute redhead, took one of the weapons off of her belt and folded it up into its most compact form. She then dropped her pants and inserted it inside herself while they were being pulled on board the enemy ship. He'd gotten a nosebleed and nearly passed out. He could vaguely remember Serena screaming at him and then a lot of pain on top of his head. Everything after that was just a fuzzy blur.  
  
"Where the heck am I?" he muttered as he slowly opened his eyes. He looked around at his surroundings and wondered why he felt so warm.  
  
"Tiny like," said the huge man who had his arms wrapped around the boy's naked torso.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Serena frowned as she sat in her cell. She knew her prince would come and save her soon. It was the wait that was the worst part. "How long are you going to make me sit here Ranma?" she groused angrily as she folded her arms and held her breath in frustration.  
  
She cocked her head and heard Endimyon crying again. "That dope. Why is he such a crybaby? I sure am glad Ranma came along, or I'd never have known what true love was!" She posed dramatically in the middle of the room and swooned. "Oh! Come and rescue me my prince! I await your gallant rescue!"  
  
At that moment, the door in front of her erupted in sparks and she screeched as she jumped away. It fell away in two parts and clanged to the ground rather loudly.  
  
Ranma stuck his head into the room and frowned at her. "Come on Meatball Head! Are you coming or not?"  
  
Serena rushed after him and pouted. "You're screwing up your lines again!"  
  
He looked at her and started down the hallway towards the exit.  
  
"Wait! We're forgetting Endimyon!" said Serenity as he passed by the boy's cell door.  
  
"We are?" said Ranma as he scratched his head and looked at her dumbly.  
  
Serena held her breath and tapped her foot on the ground as she pointed at the door.  
  
Ranma sighed and rolled his eyes. "Oh all right. Fine, we'll save him too. I guess..."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome was standing in the middle of a room full of dead guards and broken security equipment. The battle with the guards had been remarkably short and would have been shorter if Ranma had not been laughing through the entire fight.   
  
As it was, he was hunched over one of the consoles with tears in his eyes and beating his stump against the side of it.  
  
"It's not funny damn it!" cried Endimyon with a huge flush on his face.  
  
"Hee hee! Please! Help me please!" cried Ranma as he grabbed the boy's leg and mimicked the pleas he had received upon entering the room. He hadn't mentioned exactly the scene he had found the boy in to Washuu or Serena. As much as he disliked the boy, even he wasn't that cruel.  
  
"What happened to you in there?" said Serena as he looked at the prince for a moment in confusion.  
  
"It's...nothing..." stammered the boy as he blushed heavily and turned away from her.  
  
"We're wasting time. It won't take them long to figure out that something is wrong here," said Washuu impatiently as she glared at him.  
  
Ranma looked up at her and smiled. "You know. You're right. We can't just walk around the ship dressed like this you know. We need disguises." He managed to fight back his giggles long enough to say that and promptly fell into another fit.  
  
"Where are we going to get disguises?" asked Endimyon dumbly.  
  
Ranma stopped laughing and raised his eyebrow at the boy. "Look around on the floor."  
  
Serena paused and suddenly realized what the boy was talking about. "You mean we have to wear dead people's clothes?!"  
  
"That's right," said Washuu with a small disgusted looking frown. "Come on, we'd best start getting dressed."  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  



	28. Insertion Part 28

Insertion  
  
Part 28  
  
Into the belly of the beast.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma and his crew stood around in a small group just outside the holding cells, blending in with their surroundings as they pretended to stand guard around a set of doors.  
  
"So, what's the plan?" said Washuu through the communicators in their helmets. They were all on a private channel.  
  
"We need to get back to the ship," said Endimyon.  
  
"No, first we need to disable their tractor beams, find out where we are, and then get back to the ship," corrected Ranma. "Plus, we need to find a way to get far enough away to jump. We can't just fly out the front door and expect to get away. This thing has hundreds of fighters on it."  
  
"That sounds hard," muttered Serena nervously.  
  
"Not so much. Finding out exactly where we are shouldn't be too hard. Washuu should be able to help locate and disable the tractor beams, getting out I'll handle," said Ranma with a smirk forming under his helmet.  
  
"Who are you anyway? Where's that girl?" said Endimyon in confusion. "We should help her too."  
  
"I'm that girl, that's all you need to know right now," said Ranma firmly as he started to move away down the hall. It was a dull metal that looked like every other passage within the ship.  
  
"What?" said Endimyon dumbly.  
  
"Me her, same person," said Ranma as he looked at him for a moment. "Get it?"  
  
"No," replied the boy.  
  
"Too bad, let's go," said the pigtailed boy.  
  
"What about the crystals?" said Serena nervously. "We can't just leave them with him."  
  
"He doesn't have the whole thing. You only had two of them remember? I've still got the third one," said Ranma as he turned to look at her. "We can worry about that later. I don't really think we can get to him without getting ourselves killed."  
  
Serena nodded and followed the group through the passageways. "I can't see a thing with this helmet."  
  
"Cut the chatter, we've got company," said Ranma as he stiffened up and started walking in a more military fashion. The others followed suit and they moved by a large group of armed soldiers.  
  
"The docks are that way, and the tractor beam controls are this way," she pointed down two different hallways.  
  
"Good, they shouldn't be to far apart. You two go find the docks and wait somewhere nearby. Washuu and I will disable the tractor beam."  
  
"Right," said Serena and Endimyon as they started to move towards the docks.  
  
Ranma paused and looked up at one of the signs above a nearby doorway. "What's this?"  
  
"Armory," said Washuu.  
  
"Great," said Ranma as he cheerfully walked into the room.  
  
"Hey! Who are you? You're not authorized in here..." said a gruff sounding voice. A familiar humming sound promptly silenced it.  
  
"What are you doing?" said Washuu as she stuck her head in just in time to see him jumping over a counter and half of the officer in charge of the room. Several other soldiers were lying around dead as well.  
  
"When I said we would disable the tractor beam, I didn't mean shutting it off," said the boy as he began to pull dozens of small objects off of one of the shelves and put them into a large bag he had taken as well.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"There it is. Now what?" said Endimyon as he looked at Serena for a moment. They were standing just outside the docking area in one of the doorways.  
  
"You two!" said one of the men in an officer's uniform.  
  
"Yessir?" muttered Endimyon as he stiffened up and turned to face the man.  
  
"Come with me, I've got a job for you," said the man sourly as he motioned for them to follow.  
  
The pair looked at one another and shrugged before following him.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Well, what now?" muttered Washuu as she turned back to Ranma and frowned at him. The controls to the tractor beam were sitting in the center of a long thin bridge. There were several guards standing around the unit as well.  
  
Ranma looked at her and walked out onto the bridge. "Follow me."  
  
"I hope you know what you're doing," grumbled the woman as she did so.  
  
Ranma raised his hand in greeting to the guards and they moved towards him with their weapons trained.   
  
"Who are you? Are you authorized to be here?"  
  
"Yes, we're here to run an unscheduled maintenance check on the tractor beam," replied Washuu.  
  
"Huh? I'm gonna have to clear this," said the lead guard as he relaxed slightly.   
  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders and looked at Washuu for a moment. "So much for that plan."  
  
"What?" said the guards as they raised their weapons again.  
  
Ranma simply raised his hand and shoved foreword. The men were all pushed off the edge of the bridge and tumbled into the bottomless pit below them. One of the men caught the side and fumbled desperately to pull himself back up.   
  
"You never said you could do that," commented Washuu.  
  
"You didn't ask," replied Ranma as he kicked the man in the face, sending him plummeting after his comrades. "Can you disable this so they can't just turn it back on? I'd rather not use the explosives yet."  
  
"That wouldn't be a good idea, they'd definitely know we're here," agreed Washuu as she moved towards the console and cracked her knuckles.  
  
"Well, can you?"   
  
"Please, this is child's play. You didn't call me the Greatest Scientific Genius in the Universe for nothing you know," she said with a smirk forming on her face. "Just give me two minutes, and they'll never be able to turn this thing on again."  
  
"Take your time. If someone comes along, I'll let you know. Just pretend to stand guard until they leave."  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Endimyon struggled as he hefted another barrel over his shoulder and hauled it over to the growing pile on the other side of the dock. There were three other soldiers doing the same thing with him, while Serena watched them with a clipboard in her hands.  
  
She smirked as she pointed down at her fiancee. "You there! Speed it up! I have to have all of these moved by 1300!"  
  
"You heard her!" cried one of the officers as he cracked a laser whip at the boy and nailed him across his back.  
  
"Augh!" said the boy as he almost fell over. He struggled to get his balance back and staggered away. "How could you do this to me Serena!" he lamented silently as he continued to struggle.  
  
The princess sighed and looked up at the stack she had to move. It was easily a thousand barrels.  
  
"Don't we have machines that can do this?" groused Endimyon as he looked up at the next officer to whip him mercilessly.  
  
"Yes. Now get moving!" replied the man coldly as he cracked the whip again and sent him on his way.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Well, that's that," said Washuu as she completed her task. "Those idiots will never get this thing working again."  
  
"All you did was work on the keyboard," said Ranma as he stared at her for a moment.  
  
"I reversed the polarity of the tractor beam. It'll shoot anything it tries to catch miles away in an instant, the energy reaction will also blow the coils off of the magnets. It'll destroy itself."  
  
"Cool," said the boy as he looked up at the machine for a moment. "Come on, we'd best get out of here."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
About an hour later, Ranma walked away from a row of fighters on the docks and moved back behind a set of barrels where Washuu was hiding.   
  
"Are you done?" asked the woman as she turned to look at him for a moment.  
  
"Yeah. We'll wait a few minutes before we leave," said Ranma as he relaxed where he had stopped.  
  
"Wait? What for?" said Washuu dumbly.  
  
"Till Endimyon is finished with those barrels," replied the boy as he chuckled at the scene that was playing out on the other side of the dock.  
  
"I'm surprised they haven't discovered that we're missing yet," said the woman with a confused frown. "Especially with all those people you've killed so far. I must admit you scared the pants off that officer when you made him tell us where we were."  
  
"They know we're here, but they're keeping it quiet. Trying to let us think we're getting away with it," said the boy casually. He looked at the back of his hand for a moment and sat up.  
  
"So what does that mean?" said Washuu as she turned to look at him.  
  
"It means that there's a garrison of guards waiting for us to make a break for the ship, they know where we're going," said the boy casually.   
  
"So how do we get there?" said Washuu with a smirk forming on her face.  
  
"I already set up our distraction," said the boy with another shrug.  
  
"Should we really wait until he's done?" said Washuu as she peered at the others for a moment over the barrel.  
  
"Naw. That'd take hours. I'm just waiting for the right moment to set it off," said Ranma with a small chuckle. "I wish we could wait though. This is funny."   
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Endimyon blinked as he found himself flat on his face suddenly. The barrel in his hands rolled across the ground carelessly and he looked up to see the soldiers running around in a panic.  
  
"What's happening?" muttered Serena as she picked herself off the ground and turned towards the disturbance. One of the fighters had suddenly exploded without warning. It was a flaming pile of debris and the men around them were rushing to find out what happened and assess the damage. The fighters were on long, conveyer belt type, hangers that hung near the ground in a row along one wall.  
  
Ranma and Washuu strolled out next to them still dressed in their uniforms. "Well, come on. It's time to go," said the boy calmly.  
  
"That was your distraction?" grumbled Washuu. "I could have done better."  
  
"Naw, that was just something to catch their attention," said the boy cheerfully as he started walking towards the ship.  
  
They approached the two guards standing in front of the ramp and saluted them. "We're here to relieve you," said Endimyon as he walked out in the front of the group.  
  
Both men looked at one another and raised their weapons. "It's them!"  
  
Ranma sighed as he smacked the boy in the back of his head and sliced the weapons the men had trained on them in two with one swift motion. "Come on nimrod."  
  
The group rushed aboard the ship and Ranma closed the ramp, as they were doing this about two dozen soldiers rushed out from a nearby hallway and started firing at them.  
  
"Turn on the shields!" cried Ranma as he rushed up to the cockpit. The ramp closed just before the soldiers could make it onboard.   
  
Washuu rushed up next to him and blinked as she noticed the men outside setting up a rather dangerous looking missile. "That's not good."  
  
"Relax," said Ranma as he pulled out a small remote detonator from his clothes and pushed down a large red button.  
  
The ship rose into the air as the conveyor that held the fighters suddenly exploded, sending many of the ships crashing to the ground. Those that weren't destroyed were trapped where they hung, unable to launch from the broken machine.  
  
"Endimyon, go man the laser turret," said Ranma sharply as they exited the dock of the ship and flew out into space. "You know how to operate one of those?" he asked Washuu.  
  
"Of course," she replied sharply.  
  
"Well get to it, this isn't the only dock on this monster. I've only slowed down response by a minute or two at most," he said as he gunned the engines and blasted foreword.  
  
The ship rolled downward and managed to put some distance between themselves and the huge starship.   
  
"Where are we?" said Serena as she looked around outside, hoping to find some sort of planet or landmark.  
  
"About a million miles from Saturn," replied Ranma as he jerked his thumb back. "Here they come."  
  
Outside several small round ships with knife four knife-like wings protruding from the sides blasted by and fired at them.  
  
The ship rolled, turning sharply back towards the huge starship. Laser fire erupted from the turrets and rocked the ship as they began to exchange fire with the fighters.  
  
"Not good, it didn't take them as long as I thought it would to get out here," said the boy as he grit his teeth and turned straight into the path of the huge starship.  
  
"What are you doing?" gasped Serena.  
  
The passing bolts of energy fired by the larger ship rocked the ship and Ranma smirked. "I've got an idea."  
  
"What? Getting us blasted into pieces?" cried the princess as she clutched the dash in terror.  
  
"No. I'm going to get us into tractor beam range," said the boy calmly.   
  
"You're giving up?" gasped Serena.  
  
"Not a chance," said the boy stonily as he rolled to avoid another wave of fighters.   
  
"What's that light mean?!" cried Serena as she noticed a blinking light on the console.  
  
"Our shields are about to fail," said Ranma as he turned sharply and moved directly towards the hull of the huge ship. "What's wrong? Why aren't they trying to grab us?" Two of the small fighters exploded as Endimyon and Washuu destroyed them with the lasers.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Valdis stood watching the battle from the window of the bridge and made no sound. "How many?"  
  
"Our count is twenty sir. All dead," replied a nervous looking officer. "That figure doesn't include the seven fighters they've managed to destroy so far.  
  
"Damn! We've just lost two more!" cried a frustrated looking officer nearby.  
  
"Destroy them," said Valdis coldly.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Damn! They aren't taking the bait!" growled Ranma as he buzzed the huge starship just along the hull on its side. Several of the defensive cannons were destroyed, but little else could be accomplished.  
  
"What do we do?" whimpered Serena.  
  
"If we jump to lightspeed, we might burn out the driver again. Plus we haven't had time to set coordinates. We could be shot anywhere in the galaxy." said Ranma as he turned away from the ship. He paused and blinked for a moment. "That's it!" he cried with a small chuckle. "Hold on Meatball Head, it's gonna be a bumpy ride." Ranma turned away from the ship and stopped suddenly, jamming the control's back to spin the ship in a fixed direction.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Sir! They're preparing to jump!" said one of the officers as he recognized the maneuver.  
  
"No! Grab them now! Don't let them escape!" cried Valdis angrily.  
  
"It looks like an emergency jump. There's no way they could have set coordinates while moving around like that," commented one of the officers nearby. "A risky gamble."  
  
"More favorable than the certain death they face if they remain. This boy impresses me," said Valdis.  
  
"We've got them sir!" cried one of the officers. "Tractor beam locked...on..." His voice died away as he watched the ship blast foreword suddenly. There was a loud explosion within the ship and alarms began to sound everywhere.  
  
"What happened?" snapped Valdis angrily as he whirled around to glare at the man.  
  
"The tractor beam! It's been destroyed!" said the man dumbly. "It's a failure sir! Something happened..."  
  
Valdis whirled around and stalked out of the room silently. "No. I do not believe this to be a failure. This boy is far more clever than I had thought." His mind turned as he stepped into the lift and watched the doors close.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Yeeeeehaaaaawwww!" cried Ranma as the entire ship vibrated violently as they were sent rocketing into space by the reversed polarity of the tractor beam.  
  
Serena screamed and clutched the arms of her chair desperately.  
  
Finally, after several minutes of the violent shaking, Ranma turned on the engines to full again and they slowly began to steady.  
  
Serena slumped down in a dead faint and Ranma chuckled as he sat back and relaxed while setting the coordinates to their next destination.  
  
Endimyon lurched into the cockpit with a sick look on his face and almost fell to the ground. "What happened? Are we dead?"  
  
"Nope," said Ranma without looking back at him.  
  
Washuu followed the boy in and sat down while grinning at the pigtailed boy. "You're interesting."  
  
"Thanks. I get a lot of that," said the boy as he continued to work.  
  
"You also passed my test. You're smarter than you seem. I guess I'll help you then," continued the woman as she looked down at what he was doing.  
  
"Thanks...I think," said the boy as he finally looked up at her.  
  
"What now?" grumbled Endimyon.  
  
"Mercury," said Ranma as he turned back towards the console again.  
  
"What? Why there?" muttered the boy dumbly.  
  
"Now that...is a secret," said Ranma as he turned on the lightspeed engines suddenly.   
  
Endimyon screamed as he was thrown back into the wall by the sudden jolt.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Akane stood in front of a rather disturbing scene. The senshi were lying around on the ground, and everything around them was burning. They were inside an old abandoned warehouse on the harbor.  
  
"Damn!" she growled as she backed away from the intimidating figure standing in the middle of the flames.  
  
Kunzite was standing beside her with the melted remains of their weapons lying on the ground in front of them. "So? Now what?" he asked her.  
  
"We can't just leave them here," said Akane as she looked down at the senshi.  
  
Mercury woke up and pushed herself up with her arms. She groaned painfully and stared at Takibi for a moment. "You won't get away with this."  
  
He pushed her back down with the heel of his boot and sneered. "I already have. Soon you'll all be dead, and we'll rule this pathetic rock forever."  
  
"We'll never allow that," said Akane as she stepped foreword. Her mind worked desperately for a way out of her current situation. Most of the senshi wouldn't be waking up for a while, and the rest of her team was dealing with the Youma Lord's minion outside. It was a rather intimidating snake made of fire, and it was resistant to their freezing weapons.  
  
"I guess I'll just have to get rid of you then," said Takibi as his grin widened to inhuman proportions. Rows of sharp teeth appeared inside his mouth and he licked his lips with a reptilian tongue.  
  
Akane backed away from him in shock.   
  
"Akane!" cried Neprhite as he charged in with Jadeite behind him. The pair were still smoking from their fight outside.  
  
"Well. I never expected you pitiful weaklings to defeat that monster," commented the Youma as he turned to greet them. Both men stopped cold and stepped back.  
  
"We didn't," said Jadeite with a disgusted looking frown.  
  
"What?" said Takibi with a small surprised frown.  
  
"Bwahahahahahaha! Never fear young maidens! I have come to save you!" cried a voice from the rafters.  
  
Everyone looked up. Standing on one of the support beams was a huge overly muscular figure. He was dressed in white tights with red boots and had a ridiculously oversized cape flapping in an imaginary breeze. "I, Okii Atama, have come to save you!"  
  
The man jumped foreword extending his arms and legs as if to fly. He dropped like a rock.  
  
Takibi frowned and glared down at the flattened figure for a moment. "What the hell is that?"  
  
Okii Atama stood up and shook his entire body for a moment, shaking off the flattened appearance. His bald green head had a mass of fake green hair in the front of it shaped like a heroic looking curl, and his chin was much larger than was humanly possible. "Forgot, can't fly," he muttered. "No matter! For I am a super hero!"  
  
"Pathetic," snorted Takibi as he blasted the thing with a ball of flames.  
  
Okii screamed in pain and fell to his knees.  
  
"Now, where was I?" said Takibi as he turned towards Akane again.  
  
The girl was still staring at the newcomer with a rather surprised face.  
  
"That wasn't very nice," said Okii as he appeared next to Takibi.  
  
"What?" said the Youma in shock as he turned to see what looked like a giant burnt out match standing next to him. The thing spun around for a moment and its appearance changed. It was now shirtless, with huge bulging muscles and black skintight pants. Two bandoleers of ammunition were slung across his chest, and two huge weapons had appeared in its grasp. The things had dozens of barrels on them.  
  
"This is..." said Takibi as he backed away and stumbled over the fallen Sailor Mars.  
  
Okii curled his lip and turned his head while screaming. The barrels exploded with noise and explosions. After a long moment, he was waist deep in spent shells and tossed the weapons aside with an angry looking sneer. "I'm your worst nightmare."  
  
Takibi was standing next to what was left of the wall, little more than a portion of bricks that was shaped exactly like him. He blinked and turned around. "Is this some kind of joke?" he snarled angrily.  
  
"No, this is. Bye now," said Okii as he handed the man a pie with a poorly hidden bomb inside it.  
  
Takibi tried to toss it away but was blown back, knocking over the portion of wall that remained behind him. He stood up and growled. "I'll destroy you for that."  
  
Okii was now dressed in a simple looking dogi, his overly muscular body replaced by a much slimmer one. "Many have tried, all have failed."  
  
Takibi screamed in rage and charged foreword.  
  
"What the hell is that thing?" said Nephrite in shock as he watched the battle.  
  
Takibi and Okii seemed to vanish and reappear in various parts of the room. Okii was always just out of reach in some sort of insulting position, mooning the Youma, flexing his muscles, he even managed to kiss the thing on the nose. Finally, Okii stuck out his tongue and Takibi caught it and pulled back hard.  
  
"Bleh? Hry! Rt Go!" said Okii as the tongue stretched out more than seven feet.  
  
"What the?" mumbled Takibi as he looked down at the protrusion for a moment. "This is ridiculous!"  
  
"No, those pants are ridiculous," countered Okii.  
  
Takibi looked down and found himself wearing a hideous pair of plaid golf pants. He let go of the tongue reflexively and jumped away. "How is he doing this to me? I'm the most powerful being on this planet!"  
  
There was a loud clang that filled the room and Takibi lurched foreword as Okii whapped him over the head with a gigantic frying pan.  
  
The youma staggered foreword with a large lump forming on the back of his head. He growled angrily and vanished in a burst of flames.  
  
"What happened to the snake?" muttered Akane after a moment of silence. She looked towards Nephrite.  
  
The man shrugged.  
  
"Here, have a balloon animal little girl," said Okii as he handed her a string. Not knowing what to say she accepted the string and looked up. On the end of it was the inflated body of the dangerous serpent. It was quite dead and no longer burning.   
  
"See. It's a snake!" said Okii cheerfully.  
  
"Right. Who are you?" said Akane as she blinked and let the dead youma go.  
  
"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you!" said the man excitedly. He bent her over and kissed her full on the lips.  
  
Akane reacted in an instant, flipping him over her shoulder and into one of the walls.  
  
He was flattened into a paper-thin form and stuck there.  
  
"What the hell are you doing?" cried the girl in shock as she wiped her mouth.  
  
"I was just trying to be nice," said the thing.  
  
"Well don't!" snapped the girl angrily.  
  
"We don't want to get on his bad side," warned Nephrite.  
  
"Oh, don't worry about that. I always help the pretty girls," said the thing cheerfully as he waved his hand at them from the wall.  
  
"Should we...catch it?" muttered Jadeite as he realized that it was just sitting there.  
  
"Maybe it will help us?" said Kunzite as he looked at where it was stuck.  
  
"No thanks. I work alone," said the thing stoically as it jumped off the wall and changed its appearance again. It was wearing a dark cape and cowl.  
  
With that said, it shot off in a blur of green and left them standing there in the burning building.  
  
"Come on, we've got to get out of here," said Nephrite as he heard the sound of sirens in the distance.  
  
"What about them?" said Akane as she looked over and saw the senshi slowly collecting themselves.  
  
"We'll be fine," said Jupiter as she helped Sailor Moon to her feet. "We've done this sort of thing before."  
  
"Right, watch yourselves. Don't try to take it on alone again, we almost didn't make it this time," said Akane with a short nod.  
  
"A lot of good it did us," commented Mars quietly.  
  
Akane paused in the doorway, she didn't let on that she had heard the comment. "Come on."  
  
The men followed after her out of the building.  
  
"Bring us back Zocite," said Nephrite into his communicator.  
  
"Ranma, where are you?" said Akane as she looked up at the sky for a moment before vanishing.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
In the shadows, Tsuki stood silently. "The image of Crystal Tokyo is fading. Could she have been wrong about him? This can't be..." She turned and walked into a porthole that opened up behind her. She took a final look back, desperately hoping that she hadn't made a terrible mistake.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  



	29. Insertion Part 29

Insertion  
  
Part 29  
  
Mercury  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
A long, long time ago, in a galaxy not so far away...  
  
Insertion  
  
Episode 29  
  
Mercury  
  
Princess Serena is returning to the planet Mercury in an attempt to rescue her friend Hanna from the clutches of the Senshi of Mercury.  
  
Little does she know that the entire Imperial Armada is combing the solar system for them, diverting much needed manpower from the defense of vital planets from the grip of the evil Galactic Federation.  
  
Dark Valdis, the leader of the federation now begins his plans to bring the Moon Kingdom to its knees, by destroying Serenity and her entire Moon along with her...  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
A space shuttle blast through space, moving towards the damaged flagship of the Federation as the crew works to repair it.  
  
The captain of the small shuttle flips a small switch over his head and began speaking. "Command station, this is ST Three-twenty-one. Code Clearance Blue. We're starting our approach. Deactivate the security shield."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Inside the ship a soldier sitting behind a large console nodded and replied. "The security deflector shield will be activated when we have confirmation of your code transmission. Stand by. You are clear to proceed."  
  
"We're starting our approach," said the shuttle captain over the comm. system.  
  
"Inform the commander that Lord Valdis's ship has arrived," said a nearby officer.  
  
"Yes sir," replied the console operator as he turned and started to work again.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Rows of soldiers stood in ranks as the ship slowly landed inside the docking bay. They all moved to attention as the Admiral of the ship walked confidently through the path that led to the shuttle's opening ramp. As soon as the ramp touched the ground, the massive armored figure of Valdis strolled down it, looking around at the soldiers for a moment.  
  
"Lord Valdis! I take it your plans went well?"  
  
"You may dispense with the pleasantries, Commander. I'm here to put you back on schedule," replied the man coldly.  
  
"I assure you, Lord Valdis, my men are working as fast as they can," replied the smaller man.  
  
"Perhaps I can find new ways to motivate them," said Valdis.  
  
"I tell you, the ship will be completely operational as planned," said the officer.  
  
"She does not share your optimistic appraisal of the situation," replied Valdis.  
  
"But she asks the impossible. I need more men," replied the man nervously.  
  
"Then Perhaps you can tell her that when she arrives," said Valdis.  
  
The man's eyes went wide and he staggered back. "She's coming here?"  
  
"That is correct, Commander, and she is most displeased with your apparent lack of progress," said Valdis calmly.  
  
"We shall double our efforts!" exclaimed the officer.  
  
"I hope so, Commander, for your sake. She is not as forgiving as I am," replied Valdis as he started to walk away.  
  
The man swallowed and pulled at his collar for a moment before turning towards the troops.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Mistress Mercury. Someone to see you," said a female attendant who stood in the doorway to the Senshi of Mercury's throne.  
  
The woman was sitting silently, brooding on a long couch like bed. Several muscular men stood around her, all chained to the walls and bedposts. Various dignitaries and others milled around the room while soft music played in the background.  
  
"I cannot be bothered," replied the Senshi coldly.  
  
"But, he just barged in and..." stammered the woman. She was shoved aside rudely as a figure strolled into the room. He was holding a long staff and was dressed in dirty brown clothing. One of his arms was a dull metal arm with sharp looking claws instead of fingers. A rather unusual looking helmet covered his head with a red crystal slit for his eyes.  
  
"Who are you?" asked Mercury calmly as her security force surrounded the man. She sipped at a cup of wine lazily and gave him a passing glance.  
  
"I'm a bounty hunter," replied the man with a small snort. "I've come for the reward on these two."  
  
Serena and Endimyon walked into the room behind her with nervous looking smiles on their faces. They both waved to the woman and hung their heads.  
  
"What?" muttered Mercury as she looked at them for a moment dumbly. She dropped her glass and stared at the stranger. "How did you get your hands on these two, scum?"  
  
"It's my business," replied the man stonily.  
  
She looked him up and down for a moment, suspicion filling her head for a moment. "Very well, come join us for a time. You shall have your reward shortly. Take those two to a room, watch them closely."   
  
The man merely nodded his head and looked around the room for a moment. The dignitaries were easy to find, but hidden among them were several other fighters of considerable skill. A few of the men and women were battle hardened and bore the scars to prove it. "So. I'm not the only one who has heard of this reward."  
  
"I haven't yet announced it to the public. How did you learn of it?" asked Mercury as she stood up and looked him up and down.  
  
"I have good sources. Information like this is mostly useless once it becomes public knowledge," replied the man calmly.  
  
Mercury nodded, it made sense. The information wasn't well guarded, and had been planned for some time. Serenity had tried to keep her missing daughter a secret up until this point, but her desperation had overwhelmed her. She had given in and consented to allow contractors outside the military in on the hunt.  
  
"What of those who captured these two?" said Mercury as she turned away from him.  
  
"Still alive. I couldn't kill him," replied the man calmly.  
  
"I see," said Mercury with a short nod. She left him alone and walked back to her couch. One of the chained men was dancing in front of her within a moment. "I suppose these others still have work."  
  
The hunter moved over to a quiet corner and watched the crowd. After a moment, he noticed something in the corner of the room. A slab of carbonite hung from one wall like a trophy. Hanna's figure was frozen inside, still frozen in the act of flipping off Ranma with a snarl on her lips.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Late that evening, Mercury stood in front of a holographic image of the Queen.  
  
"You have her?" said the image quietly.  
  
"Delivered by a bounty hunter earlier, she does not possess the Silver Imperium Crystal," said the senshi with a short nod.  
  
"Damn," muttered the Queen. "Valdis has grown strong. It may be the edge we need."  
  
"There is nothing we can do. I only hope that he has not gotten his hands on it," said Mercury coldly.  
  
"Very well, I shall come and retrieve my daughter, personally," said Serenity as her image faded.  
  
"At last, we can focus on the enemy," said Mercury with a slightly relieved frown.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
The room was silent, and empty. That is accept for the bounty hunter. He stood in the middle of the room and looked around nervously. He knew that Mercury probably knew who he really was, but that didn't matter. He'd managed to rid himself of the two unwanted royalty, and now he knew where Hanna was. If this thing went as planned, he'd be out of here with her after a somewhat climactic battle with the woman.   
  
"Okay, we should be able to free her before she shows herself," said Carrot as he eyed the frozen woman for a moment.  
  
"I wonder if she's still pissed at us?" commented Dan as he noticed the look on Hanna's face and the finger she had pointed at them.  
  
"Probably," muttered Ranma. "You sure we're gonna get caught?"  
  
"Pretty sure, this whole adventure has been pretty predictable," said Carrot with a small shrug.  
  
"We still owe you an ass kicking for that whole arm episode, Carrot," said Dan irritably.  
  
"I didn't see any of you pointing it out," snapped Carrot in retort. "If any of you knew that would happen, you should have said something!"  
  
"He's got a point," agreed Pissant.  
  
"Stay the hell out of this whiny boy!" said Dan.  
  
"Come on, let's get this over with," grumbled Ranma as he moved them over to the side of the frozen Hanna. He flicked a switch on the wall and the statue slid out of the wall and onto the ground on a mechanical arm. It wasn't quiet, but it was the only way to get to the controls on the side short of ripping a hole in the wall.  
  
"Let's see. How did Washuu tell us to do this?" muttered Carrot as he began to work the controls on the side.  
  
They stepped away as the carbonite around Hanna's face began to melt away.  
  
++++++++++  
  
The woman slumped to the ground looking quite dead after she had peeled away from inside the block of carbonite. Ranma bent down, peering at her for a moment through the visor of his helmet.  
  
The woman suddenly woke up with a start, taking in a quick gasp of breath. Ranma grabbed her and steadied her in her arms. "Just relax, you're free of the carbonite." His disguise distorted his voice. Hanna reached up and touched him in his face, her hands obscured by the helmet. "Shhh. You have hibernation sickness."  
  
"I can't see," said the woman dumbly.  
  
"Open your eye fool," replied Ranma curtly.  
  
Hanna blushed as she did so and looked at him. "Where am I?"  
  
"Mercury."  
  
"Who are you?" she muttered in confusion.  
  
"Someone you hate," said Ranma with a smirk on his face as he removed his helmet.  
  
"You!" she gasped in shock.  
  
"Come on, we're getting out of here. I'm gonna have to help you walk," he said as he hefted her arm over his shoulder and helped her to her feet. He paused.  
  
"What's wrong?" muttered Hanna dumbly.  
  
"Nothing. It's just that...something should happen here. I know it."  
  
"Like what?" she asked in confusion.  
  
"It's nothing, come on," he replied as he pulled her out of the room without incident.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma moved silently through the halls, dodging guard patrols on occasion as he helped Hanna limp back towards the exit.  
  
He paused suddenly while walking on a balcony like hall. It was just over a large room where a meeting was taking place. He dove down to the ground, pulling the woman down with him.  
  
"Ouch! What is it?" whispered Hanna harshly.  
  
Ranma moved over to the ledge and peered down into the room. There were three fuku-clad women sitting around a table, talking amongst themselves. "Senshi. I hate these chicks."  
  
Hanna whapped him on the back of his head. "Pig."  
  
"Come on, quietly," he muttered as he began to crawl away. He paused when their voices floated up to him.  
  
"The princess is in her room, under guard," said Mercury calmly as she looked at her two companions, Uranus and Neptune.  
  
"What of that boy?" asked the aqua haired senshi coldly.  
  
"The man who brought her to me said he was unable to defeat him," replied Mercury.  
  
"I want him," said Uranus coldly.  
  
"We all do, but we have more pressing matters. Valdis is planning something," said Neptune as she pointed down at a star chart that was sitting in the middle of the table. "He's gathering his fleet together, and ours is still spread across the galaxy."  
  
"Serenity was a fool to do this. Even if it was her daughter that was missing. An heir can be replaced," said Uranus.  
  
"It's a moot point now. What is he doing? He's not fool enough to attack the Moon directly. That fleet won't be enough. Ours is twice that size, we have a match for it waiting for him around the moon."  
  
Ranma started crawling foreword again, leaving them behind. "They don't know about it yet," he commented.  
  
"Know about what?" said Hanna.  
  
"Valdis's flagship has a laser on it strong enough to destroy a planet," said Ranma as he stood up after crawling out of sight of the women.  
  
"What?" gasped Hanna.  
  
"Serena should be able to tell them," said the boy as he strolled foreword calmly. Hanna had regained enough of her balance that she could walk without help. They were still forced to move slowly because of her weakness though.  
  
"So what are we going to do?" muttered the woman as she followed closely behind him.  
  
"Get the hell out of here," said Ranma as he turned.  
  
"Sounds like a good idea," said Serena cheerfully from directly in front of him.  
  
Hanna had to grab his mouth to keep him from screaming. He calmed down after a few seconds and glared at her. "What the hell are you doing here?" he whispered harshly.  
  
"Going with you!" said the girl with a frown forming on her face.  
  
"No! You're staying here!" he snapped. "I'm sure your mother is sending someone to pick you up!"  
  
"The kingdom is in danger! I can't just stop now! I've got to save it!"  
  
"So save it! Tell your mother what he's planning!" snapped the boy as he glared at her. "You're not going anywhere!"  
  
"I have to do more! We have to stop him!" cried the girl angrily.  
  
Ranma put his hand over her mouth and made a frustrated face as he tried to restrain himself from decking her for a moment. "Look. I'm not going to try and fight an armada of starships in a stupid little freighter! You need an entire fleet. You know, like the one your MOTHER HAS!" he whispered harshly as he shook his fist at her.  
  
"No way am I staying here with those women!" said Serena as she glared at him for a moment. "You can take me with you, or I'll scream that you've come to kidnap me again."  
  
Ranma narrowed his eyes at her. "You wouldn't."  
  
The girl sucked in a breath and he put his hand over her mouth again. "You can't come with me! Look, I promised to take you to Mercury, and you're here now. Leave me alone! Please?" he pleaded.  
  
"Serena. Why did you hit me over the head again?" said Endimyon as he staggered into the hallway rubbing a huge lump on his head. He paused and noticed Ranma standing beside Hanna and Serena. "Oh no. Not again! Can't we just stay here?" said the boy with a defeated look on his face.  
  
"Yes!" replied Ranma and Hanna.  
  
"No!" grumbled Serena with her arms crossed in front of her chest.  
  
"Are you done arguing yet? They know you're here," said Washuu as she appeared out of a doorway that materialized in thin air just in front of them.  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma as he looked at her for a moment.  
  
An alarm sounded, the hallways of the building suddenly began to flash with a red light as the footsteps of guards filled the hallways.  
  
A group of them rounded the corner and pointed at them. "There they are!"  
  
"Shit!" cried Ranma as he dove into the doorway Washuu had created. The redhead stepped aside and smirked.  
  
Serena dove in after him with a triumphant smile on her face. "Wheeee!"  
  
"No!" wailed Endimyon as he was forced to follow.  
  
Hanna staggered through the door last and it closed and vanished.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
In an instant they were inside the ship and rushing to their places. "Who's this?" said Hanna as she jerked her thumb at Washuu and sat down to rest behind a table.  
  
  
"I'm the greatest scientific genius in the universe," replied the woman as a holographic keyboard appeared in front of her.  
  
"When did you get that?" said Ranma as he noticed it on his way to the cockpit.   
  
"I've always had it. It's a part of me. Why do you think they had my hands bound that way when they had me captured?" replied the redhead calmly as she continued to work. "By the way, there's a large vessel approaching. We might want to leave."  
  
"Right," replied Ranma as he rushed into the cockpit.  
  
After a moment, the ship rose into the air and blasted into the sky.  
  
Serena sat down beside Ranma and smiled cheerfully.   
  
Hanna staggered in behind them and leaned against the back wall. She noticed the metal arm on Ranma's stump and blinked. "That's new."  
  
"Washuu made it for me, it's temporary," he replied calmly as the sea of stars appeared in front of them. "Oh hell. That's the Imperial flagship," grumbled the boy as he noticed the gigantic starship in front of them. It had just come out of lightspeed.  
  
Serena stood up from her seat and stared at it for a moment. "My mother's on that ship."  
  
"What? That's crazy. Why would the queen come here..." said the boy as he turned to face the girl.   
  
Serena pointed at herself and grinned.  
  
"Oh."   
  
"We're being hailed," said Hanna as she pointed at the communications switch. It was blinking.  
  
"Sure, we'll just tell the queen that we're taking her daughter for a while. I'm sure they wouldn't blast us into submission," countered Ranma angrily. "Damn it! Why the hell couldn't you just stay behind!?"  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Serenity looked out the window of the flagship from the bridge. She was standing above the bridge crew on an observation deck. After a moment of watching the tiny ship she paused. "Serena."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
On board the smaller ship, Serena paused and looked off into the distance. "Mother?"  
  
Inside her head she heard the woman's voice. "Serena, come back to me."  
  
"No mother. There's something I have to do. Please don't come after me."  
  
"Serena," said the woman's voice again.  
  
"Who's she talking too?" muttered Hanna with a bewildered look on her face.  
  
"The queen," replied Ranma as he buzzed the side of the gigantic starship and turned away sharply.  
  
"Mother. I can't come back yet. I've got to get the crystals back first! Valdis has them!" said the girl with tears forming in her eyes.  
  
"Serena?" said the woman's voice in confusion. "Come back here this instant young lady! I won't allow..."  
  
"Sorry mother," said Serena as she jumped foreword and shoved the lightspeed controls foreword.  
  
"What the?" muttered Hanna as she looked up from the navigation console. "Hey! I haven't finished ye..."   
  
The woman was cut off as they blasted foreword into the stars.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
"You lost my daughter," said Serenity as she looked down at the three senshi kneeling before her.  
  
"She attacked the men guarding her and took them by surprise," said Mercury placidly.  
  
Serenity slapped her across her face and then continued to pace back and fourth in front of them. "You've failed me. Anyone else in your position would be put to death."  
  
The senshi all hung their heads a bit lower, not daring to speak.  
  
"My daughter has informed me that Valdis possesses the Silver Imperium Crystal. He will probably assault the moon directly."  
  
"What?" gasped Neptune in shock. "Highness, that's foolish. He wouldn't stand a chance against..."  
  
"With the Silver Imperium Crystal, he has the power to wipe us out!" snapped the woman angrily as she glared down at her. "You had better hope he has not yet learned to harness its power."  
  
The senshi looked one another in horror.  
  
"My daughter believes it is her duty to retrieve them," said the woman as she looked at the trio for a moment.  
  
"What? But she was kidnapped!" said Mercury dumbly.  
  
"Perhaps she was," said Serenity coldly. "We cannot worry about that now. I do not believe whoever she is with intends to harm her. She did not sound distressed," said the Queen icily. "Endimyon is with her as well."  
  
The trio bowed their heads in shame again.   
  
"Now. We must call the armada together, they intend to attack us, of that much I am certain."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Washuu sat with Ranma inside her personal lab, a subspace dimensional gateway that she had created within the ship led to it.  
  
"So, how's the new arm coming?" he asked as he sat down next to the woman and looked inside a glass tube that held the new appendage.   
  
"It's finished," replied the scientist cheerfully. "I'll put it on now if you like. It will change with you."  
  
"Thanks," said the boy as he gave her an appreciative nod.  
  
"While you're here, I'd like to get a few samples as well," said the woman with a sly looking grin.  
  
"What kind of samples?" said Ranma as he arched his eyebrow at her.  
  
"We'll worry about that later," said the woman with a small wave of her hand.   
  
"Right," said Ranma as he looked away and glanced around the room.  
  
Washuu started to work, pulling the arm out of its tube and removing the one he currently had on. "So now where are we going?"  
  
"Valdis is going to Earth, I figure we should be far away from the fighting. There isn't much we can do to help. I'll return the princess after the fighting is over."  
  
Washuu looked up at him for a moment and smiled. "You're wrong. There is something we can do."  
  
"What's that?" said Ranma as he looked at her in confusion.  
  
"I made a few modifications to the ship of course. But that's not what I mean," said the woman. She reared her head back and cackled.  
  
"So. What do you mean?" asked Ranma as he narrowed his eyes at her.  
  
"I know the weakness of that weapon. If we don't help, he'll only need one shot to destroy the moon."  
  
"So, that means we're the only hope," said Ranma with a disgusted look forming on his face. "Great. Just frickin great."  
  
"You got it," said Washuu cheerfully.  
  
"I would have been upset with myself if I'd missed the fighting anyway," said the boy with a casual shrug.  
  
Washuu nodded cheerfully. "I figured you for the type."  
  
"Whatever," grumbled Ranma as he looked away from her with a blush on his face.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
About an hour later, Ranma had his new arm, and Washuu had decided to collect.  
  
"Is all this really necessary?" grumbled Ranma as he found himself suspended above the ground by several metallic arms. He had an odd looking device on his head as well.  
  
"Well, I need to get energy readings. But the get up is just fun for me," replied the woman with a small shrug. She jammed a needle into his arm and took a blood sample as well.  
  
"Ouch!" snapped Ranma in surprise. "Are you done yet?"  
  
She looked up at him and the arms lowered him to the ground and released him. He stumbled foreword and removed the ridiculous looking headpiece.  
  
"Great. Can I go now? We should be coming up on Mars soon," he said as he looked around for the door.  
  
"Not for at least three hours," she replied calmly. "Besides, there's still one more sample I'd like to get."  
  
Ranma turned to face her again. "What is it now?" He jumped back and almost fell over one of the lab tables.  
  
Washuu was standing in a very revealing teddy, and holding a plastic jar in her hand. "Don't worry, this one doesn't hurt a bit."  
  
Ranma looked her up and down and relaxed a bit. He looked at the jar and then at her again. "I don't have to fill that up do I?"  
  
She blinked in surprise and then looked at the jar for a moment. After a moment, she just smiled and grabbed him by the front of his shorts.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"Um. I wonder what's taking him so long. The old arm didn't take this long," grumbled Serena as she looked at the door to the lab. She'd tried several times, and it still led to the bathroom.  
  
"Well, it is special," said Endimyon with a small shrug as he sat beside her. "Maybe since it's custom, it takes longer?"  
  
"I suppose so," said the princess as she hung her head.  
  
"Man, I've got a splitting headache," grumbled Hanna as she stumbled by them and grabbed a bottle of pills from a first aid box. She took a few and sat down with them at the table, the scowl on her face deepened as she glared at Endimyon.  
  
"What?" he muttered.  
  
"Prince of Earth, huh?" she muttered.  
  
"Um yeah," he said nervously.  
  
"What's the penalty for kidnapping you?" said the woman with a slight twitch in her eye.  
  
"Um. Death I think," he replied, obviously not really understanding what she was asking.  
  
"Figures," she said as she stood up and walked back into the cockpit again. "Man I hate him."  
  
"What was that about?" said the boy as he looked at Serena in confusion.  
  
"Got me," said the princess with a shrug.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Stood on the deck of the Galactic Federation's flagship. The men stood in military fashion around him, all at full attention as the ramp lowered on the shuttle in front of him.  
  
He bowed deeply with the several officers behind him.   
  
A shadowy figure strolled out of the small ship and looked down at him. She was wearing a heavy cloak that hid her features away. "Rise my friend."  
  
"The repairs will be completed on schedule," said Valdis as he walked in stride with his master.  
  
"You have done well, Lord Valdis," said the woman.  
  
"Thank you, my master," replied the man with a slight nod.  
  
"Soon we will crush the pathetic Empire, and the galaxy will belong to me," said the woman with a small chuckle as she continued to walk.  
  
"Will you be remaining with us, master?" asked Valdis.  
  
"No. I shall return. It is too soon to reveal our plans just yet," said the woman coldly.   
  
"As you wish," replied Valdis placidly.  
  
The woman turned down a corridor on the ship with several of the high ranking officers to inspect what they had done, leaving the armored man standing alone.  
  
He watched her walk away and turned away. "Witch. Soon I shall rule all, and you will be nothing more than a memory." He opened his palm and the two small shards of crystal he held began to glow. "I am now more powerful than you could possibly imagine." He chuckled to himself and strolled away.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next time: The End of the World!?  



	30. Insertion Part 30

Insertion  
  
Part 30  
  
The End of the World.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Washuu smirked as she strolled onto the cockpit of the small ship as it rocketed through space. "I hope we don't miss much." commented Ranma as he glanced back at her.  
  
"Where are we going?" muttered Serenity dumbly.  
  
"Back to Earth," said Hanna.  
  
"Isn't that where Valdis is going?" said Endimyon nervously.  
  
"Somebody give this kid a cigar," said Ranma as he leveled a small glare at the boy.  
  
"That's crazy!" cried the boy in shock.  
  
"Yay!" said Serena cheerfully as she threw her arms into the air.  
  
"I doubt if you'll be cheering when we get there," said Ranma as he turned to look at her for a moment.  
  
"We'll be killed in this piece of junk!" cried Endimyon in terror.  
  
"Hey!" snapped Hanna as she turned to look at him for a moment.  
  
"Oh relax, I upgraded the shields, and the weapons systems a bit," said Washuu with a small wave of her hand. "Plus, I know the weakness of the Flagship. I did design it after all."  
  
"You what?" muttered Endimyon as he stared at her for a moment.  
  
"We should have plenty of time, the main cannon takes a half hour to charge. I designed it that way on purpose," said the woman cheerfully.  
  
"That might help us, if we knew when and where they were going to be there," said Ranma flatly.  
  
"You forget! I am the greatest scientific genius in the universe. They'll be there in half an hour," replied the woman with as she waved the comment off.  
  
"So that gives us..." said Hanna as she appeared to think about it.  
  
"Five minutes from the time we get there! No problem! Plenty of time!" said Washuu as she raised her fist in triumph.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Serenity sat on her throne, a deep frown etched onto her features as she contemplated her situation. Things were not going well for her at all, her daughter was somewhere in the galaxy with an unknown, the crystal was lost to her and in the hands of her enemy, and finally, an attack was eminent.   
  
A small man dressed in rich looking robes walked into the room and bowed to her deeply. "Highness..."  
  
"So, he had come?"  
  
"Yes highness," replied the man as he glanced up at her feet for a moment. There is a large fleet on the other side of the planet Earth. "What is your command?"  
  
"We fight, I will not surrender my kingdom to that madman, better to destroy it," she replied simply.  
  
"Highness?" muttered the small man in confusion.  
  
"Valdis is not the head of this evil. There is a much darker force at work here," replied the queen. She stood up and smoothed her gown down a bit. "Perhaps we will find a way, it will take a miracle to save us now."  
  
"General Genaku awaits orders, as do Admirals Jadeite and Nephrite. Kunzite and Zocite are both on the outer rim, to defend Pluto should the need arise, as you have ordered."  
  
"No, they are there to destroy Pluto should the need arise," replied the woman as she walked by the tiny man and left him bowing in the middle of the room.  
  
The senshi of time appeared in the room after she had left and looked down at the man for a moment. "Go."  
  
"You wish to speak with the queen?" muttered the man dumbly.  
  
"No, be gone. I am here because something about this battle...is unknown," replied the woman quietly. "What is this force I cannot see?" she muttered to herself as the man scurried away.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Admiral, our orders are to engage," said an officer aboard one of the command ships in space.  
  
Jadeite nodded grimly. He was sitting in a chair in the center of the bridge and looked almost casual as he leaned to one side and propped his head up with one arm. He had been briefed on the situation already. "You have your orders then, commander."  
  
"Aye sir," replied the man as he moved away.  
  
A small screen flashed to life on one of the arms and he saw Nephrite's face. "You heard our orders?"  
  
Nephrite nodded grimly. "General Genaku has been sent to Earth, to defend it rather than the moon."  
  
"I imagine he is quite unhappy with that," said Jadeite calmly.  
  
"Cussing up a storm as we speak," said Nephrite with a small chuckle.  
  
"Yer damn right I am! I'm not goin!" snarled a familiar face on another screen just below the first one.  
  
"Obey your orders, general," said the queen's voice from the comm. system.  
  
"I've got no use fer this pathetic rock!" snarled the man angrily. "Ye blasted woman! I'll be of more use on the moon with ye!"  
  
"No," said Serenity before she cut off the communication.  
  
Jadeite smirked as he imagined the man's face turning red.   
  
"Fighters sir!" cried one of the officers on the bridge. "Coming around the orbit of Earth!"  
  
"My god. There's hundreds of them," commented one of the other officers from his own station.  
  
"A number we can easily match," said Jadeite coolly as he nodded at the man.  
  
"Sir!" replied the first officer as he carried out the unspoken command. He leaned into a microphone and began giving orders to the crew.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Valdis stood on the deck of the Federation command vessel. His cold stare hidden by his dark armor. The only new addition was the two small crystals that were now attached to the clasps on his long black cape. He watched his fighters move around the horizon of the planet towards the fleet he could not yet see. The sleek looking craft were moving in formation, an intimidating sight for anyone they were moving towards. "And so the moon falls."  
  
"Well Lord Valdis?" said one of the officers with a confident smirk.  
  
"Tell the other ships in the fleet to move in to attack. We need time to charge the main gun," replied the man calmly as he continued to stare out into space.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
The imperial fighters swarmed out into space, moving in almost the same fashion as the opposing side as they moved to intercept them.  
  
"Red leader here, lock and load gentlemen. We're about to get hot and heavy," said the wing commander of one of the fighter groups.  
  
"Blue leader here, you heard the man boys, time to kick some ass," replied another wing commander.  
  
"Gold leader, Roger that," said yet another one.  
  
"Let's go to full thrust gentlemen, they're in sight. Let's show em what these babies can do," said the red leader as he turned his afterburners on and shot foreword.  
  
The enemy fighters buzzed by them, shooting their lasers and starting the battle.   
  
The leader of the red squadron turned sharply and blasted one of the smaller fighters with his own nose-mounted lasers. "First blood is ours boys!"  
  
"Damn! These things are fast!" cried one of his wingmen as he shot just over the man's cockpit blasting his lasers at one of the small round ships.  
  
"Shit!" said the wing commander as he realized that one of the deadly ships was on his tail.  
  
It was suddenly very obvious that the small round ships were much faster and more maneuverable than the wedged shaped fighters of the imperial forces.  
  
"Blue leader here, don't try and outrun these bastards! You're gonna have to out fly em boys!" He buzzed the side of one of the enemy command ships as it appeared from the other side of the planet. Two of the enemy fighters slammed into the hull of the massive beast, doing little damage in the process.  
  
"Red three, this is red three! I'm in trouble!" cried one of the wingmen. "I've been blind sided...I can't..." The transmission cut off as a ball of fire appeared in space.  
  
The leader of the red squadron sighed and closed his eyes for a split second as he realized that that was probably far from the last of his men who wouldn't be coming home this time.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Orders sir?" said one of the officers on board one of the three large command ships in the Federation fleet.  
  
The captain was a wiry man with a slicked back gray hairdo. He frowned and looked out at the battle for a moment. "Stay clear of the moon, concentrate your fire on the other capital ships."  
  
"We're not going to attack the moon sir?" said the officer in surprise.  
  
"No, Lord Valdis says he has something special planned for them," said the man stoically.  
  
"Aye sir," replied the officer as he returned to his station. "All hands, fire when ready. Target capital ships, repeat, target capital ships."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Jadeite gripped his chair as he glared at the ships moving towards his own fleet.  
  
"They destroyed one of our cruisers sir!" cried one of the crew as the entire vessel shook from laser fire.  
  
"Destroy them!" screamed Jadeite in frustration.   
  
"Shields at twenty percent!" cried the officer.  
  
"Increase foreword firepower!" snarled the Admiral as he gripped the arms of his chair a little tighter.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Valdis snorted as he watched the battle from a small screen to the right of the large window that looked out into space. He snorted and turned to look at the planet that still obscured his view directly. "We may not even have to use the cannon."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"We're dropping like flies out here!" cried the red leader as he flew through the hail of fire and missiles that blasted through space. Explosions surrounded him in the vacuum of space, burning only for a few seconds before the void snuffed them out.   
  
"I got one of the bastards on my tail! I need assistance!" cried one of the wingmen desperately.  
  
"Shake him! I can't get to you!" he replied. "You can do it!" He paused as a strange battle cry suddenly rang across the airwaves.  
  
"YEEEEE HAAAAAWWWWW!"  
  
The fighter chasing his wingman exploded and a large round and flat ship blasted through the explosion. It fired from the laser turrets mounted on the top and bottom of the ship and two more of the ships exploded.  
  
"Imperial fleet. This is the Mikon Taka calling. You boys look like you could use some help!" said a male voice as the ship spun around on its axis and changed directions in an instant. Three more of the enemy fighters exploded.  
  
A huge response sounded across the airwaves as a few of the men cheered as the ship weaved through the fighters and blasted anything that wasn't wedge shaped.  
  
"Who the hell is that?" muttered the red leader dumbly.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"I got one!" cried Serenity from her position on one of the laser turrets.  
  
"That's great kid! Don't get cocky!" replied Ranma from the cockpit.  
  
"Um...where's the command ship?" asked Endimyon as he continued to shoot from the opposite laser turret.  
  
"Probably hiding on the other side of Earth," replied Washuu. She was sitting just behind the copilot's seat. Hanna was next to Ranma and appeared about ready to pass out.  
  
Ranma turned on the communications switch. "Gentlemen, I'm gonna need a few volunteers."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Are you receiving this?" said Nephrite as he ignored the violent shaking of his ship as the larger starships blasted one another. They were in a defensive perimeter around the moon, but still a fairly good distance away from it.  
  
Jadeite's signal was wavering, but still there. "I am. What the hell is this?" he replied.  
  
"Your highness?" said Nephrite as he flipped another switch.  
  
"I'm receiving it," said Serenity quietly. It was obvious that the she was not taking it well.  
  
Ranma's voice was being broadcast across the airwaves. "...the command ship has something called a Planet Smasher on it. It's a big laser that does exactly what it sounds like. I know how to take it out, but I'm gonna need some cover. We've got about five minutes before it finishes charging and that damn thing rounds the horizon and blows the living shit out of the moon."  
  
"That's crazy!" cried one of the men fighting.  
  
Jadeite clenched his fist and flipped one of the switches on his console. "Red leader, take what's left of your men and follow him."  
  
"Sir?" said the man dumbly.  
  
"You heard my orders," said the man firmly.  
  
"Yes sir," said the man dejectedly.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"What the hell?" said the red leader as they suddenly came into a quiet area of space. There were no ships flying around of any kind. Ranma had managed to pull three fighters away from the fighting. All that remained of a ten-man squadron.  
  
"It's dead here. There's no other ship!" groused one of the wingmen.  
  
"Buddy, you've got a lot of ne..." agreed one of his copilots. He suddenly cut himself off as the massive starship appeared in front of them, circling the horizon. "Look at the size of that thing!"  
  
"They're probably expecting us boys. Let's not disappoint them," said Ranma. He flipped off the communications switch and looked down at the timer on the console. "One minute," he muttered.  
  
"Not enough time," said Washuu.  
  
"What do we do?" muttered Hanna.  
  
"Why's it so cold in here?" asked Serena from below them.  
  
"You're right, I'm freezing," said Washuu as she suddenly realized why she was so uncomfortable.  
  
"Sorry. I got excited," said Ranma sheepishly.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Not enough time? That's not possible!" said Dan angrily. "The moon is still there in our time!"  
  
"Not if we don't do something," said Ranma.  
  
"Can we go home yet?" whined Pissant.  
  
"We've got to calm down, we're going to freeze everyone on board if we aren't careful," said Carrot.  
  
"Hey, if it's this cold," said Ranma as he looked thoughtful for a moment.  
  
"It won't work, there's nothing out here to throw at it. No heat in space," countered Carrot. "And no wind."  
  
"Damn," grumbled Ranma.  
  
Carrot turned his head and smirked as he looked outside. "I've got an idea. All of you, drop the temperature as low as you can. We've got to make it as cold as possible in here."  
  
"What?" said the others in unison.  
  
"Just do it! Trust me! It may buy us the time we need if it works!" said Carrot.  
  
"If not?" asked Dan.  
  
"Then we'll be short one moon and a mess of senshi when we get back," replied Carrot.  
  
"I think I'm getting airsick," said Pissant nervously.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Damn. Not enough time," said Ranma after he flipped on the comm. switch. "Red leader, take your group and hang back, I think I can buy us some more time to hit that thing. We're not going to make it as is."  
  
"What? The hell! We've..." started the man.  
  
"We've got less than one minute before that thing fires. Fall back and wait for me!" snapped Ranma. The Mikon Taka dove away from the huge ship and suddenly righted itself as a strange red glow began to surround it.  
  
"What the hell is he doing?" muttered the red leader as he watched in confusion and pulled up and away from his headlong course into the enemy ship's path.  
  
"He's drawing a circle?" said one of the wingmen. "No. It's a...spiral?"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"You may fire when ready commander," said Valdis as he turned to face his gunnery officer.  
  
"Aye sir," he replied as he turned to his station. "Fire at will!"  
  
Valdis smirked as the nose of the starship opened, and a ball of power began to form. His smirk faded slightly as he turned to see something odd forming off to the side of the ship. "What is that?"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"What the hell are you doing?" cried Hanna desperately as she rubbed her shoulders. "Stop fooling around!"  
  
Washuu grabbed her shoulder and shook her head. "No. I know what he's doing, and it's going to work."  
  
"I'm getting dizzy!" whined Serena.  
  
Endimyon would have said something similar if he wasn't hunched over the side of his laser turret.  
  
"Hey! You're going to clean that up, buddy!" cried Hanna as she noticed it.  
  
"Just a little more!" said Ranma as he continued to fly in a tighter spiral.  
  
"Ranma! We're out of time!" said Washuu.  
  
"Got it!" cried the boy triumphantly as he pulled the ship up sharply and performed a vertical barrel roll. "Hiryu Shouten Ha!"  
  
The ship was suddenly jolted violently as the atmosphere of the planet Earth suddenly jumped up and out in a tight funnel. It remained in the center of the blast, out of harms way. Valdis's ship wasn't so lucky, it took the attack on the side of the hull and was spun violently to the right.  
  
"Oh shit!" cried Ranma as the huge laser beam on the front discharged. The beam tore through the atmosphere and actually grazed the North American continent briefly. The boy looked back as both attacks died down. "Did I just create the Grand Canyon?" he muttered to himself.  
  
"That was...cool..." said Hanna as she looked at him in shock.  
  
"Yeah. It was, wasn't it?" said the boy as he turned and grinned at her.  
  
"What the hell was that?" cried red leader over the comm. system. His two wingmen cheered in the background.  
  
"No time to explain. We've got to take this thing out!" cried Ranma as he put his thrusters on full.  
  
"We're on your tail," said one of the wingmen excitedly.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"Fire!" snarled Jadeite as his lasers ripped into the side of one of the enemy ships, finally breaking through its shields. "Torpedoes! Blow it apart!"  
  
  
"Aye sir!" said one of the men from his station.   
  
Two small balls of light erupted from the ship and slammed into the Federation starship's engines. The entire vessel exploded, shattering completely and sending debris across the battlefield.  
  
"Got ya!" snapped Jadeite as he pumped his arm.  
  
"The battle is turning!" cried one of the men at another station. "We're driving them back, sir!"  
  
"Don't assume anything until the battle is won!" replied the man as he pushed his hair back and sat back down in his seat. "Next target, commander."  
  
"Aye, sir," replied the man.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Where is this weakness?" asked Ranma as he flew along the side of the gigantic ship. The three smaller vessels rushed along beside him, keeping the numerous laser turrets off of him.   
  
"Right there," said Washuu as she pointed at an unusual looking spot on the starship.  
  
Sitting near the back of the hull was a large set of neon signs.  
  
"Shoot me here!" "Weakness!" "Vulnerable spot!" "Easy kill! Shoot here!"  
  
"What the hell?" said Hanna dumbly.  
  
"It's pretty simple really. I wired the entire ship, so that it wouldn't work unless these exact signs were in place," said Washuu with a shrug. "They also can't shield it, or the laser will overheat. Another intentional design flaw. In fact, I'd rather you destroyed this thing. It's embarrassing to make something so flawed. Even if I did do it on purpose."  
  
"No wonder they wanted to kill you," said Ranma as he looked back at her for a moment.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Sir! There are four enemy ships that have penetrated our defenses! They're moving towards it sir!" cried one of the officers.  
  
"No! That can't be! How did...Washuu!" Valdis turned and looked at the screen in front of him in horror.  
  
"What do we do?" said one of the commanders nervously.  
  
"I won't let it end this way!" snarled Valdis. "How long till the cannon is up again?"  
  
"Twenty eight minutes sir!" replied the officer numbly.  
  
"I see," said Valdis coldly.  
  
"What do we do sir? They're on top of it!"  
  
"We die, like men," replied Valdis as he turned away and started to walk off the bridge.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Outside the gigantic starship, Ranma Saotome fired a single antimatter missile into the exhaust port for the giant laser weapon.  
  
The four tiny fighters blasted away as the gigantic starship burst into a huge flash of light.  
  
The battle was over.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma landed the ship on the moon and lowered the ramp. They were inside the landing dock of the palace, Serenity and Endimyon both rushed out of the ship and onto the ground again, stopping to kiss the ground for a moment before standing up and realizing that there were hundreds of men looking at them. After a moment they broke into cheering.  
  
"That was one hell of a show," said the red leader as he walked up to the man with his hand extended.   
  
"Thanks. I did my best," replied the boy with a smirk on his face.  
  
"My name is Wedge, I've never seen piloting like that before," said the man as he smacked the boy on his shoulder.  
  
"Well, I hope you two have that whole adventure thing out of your system," said Ranma as he looked at the prince and princess for a moment with a small frown on his face.  
  
Serena nodded violently, with Endimyon in full cooperation.  
  
"Well, here I am. Arrest me, put me to death. Just get it over with," said Hanna as she turned to one of the guards that had approached the ship.  
  
The man looked at her dumbly for a moment and shrugged before turning away without a word.  
  
"Well, that was certainly interesting," said Washuu as she stepped off the ship.  
  
A new set of guards pushed past the crowd of cheering pilots and approached the group.  
  
"Her Highness, Queen Serenity, has granted the crew of the Mikon Taka an audience with her. Please follow us," said the lead man as he pulled out a ridiculous looking scroll and read it out loud.  
  
"I'll see you around kid," said Wedge as he pat him on his shoulder and walked off into the crowd with his men.  
  
"I guess so," said Ranma with a smirk on his face.   
  
++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next time: The Final Battle?  
  



	31. Insertion Part 31

Insertion  
  
Part 31  
  
The Final Battle.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma stood in the throne room with Hanna and Washuu. The young prince and princess were not in the room with them.  
  
"So, you are the boy who has been dragging my daughter across the galaxy," said the woman calmly.  
  
Ranma blinked and looked at her for a moment. "Hey. Wait a minute..."  
  
"I should put you to death for that," continued Serenity as she looked at the trio for a moment. "However, you have saved my kingdom."  
  
"Huh?" said Hanna in surprise. She had been hanging her head waiting for her death sentence.  
  
"Hold on! I've been trying to get rid of her!" said Ranma defensively.  
  
Serenity stopped and looked at him for a moment in surprise. "Pardon?"  
  
"I haven't been dragging your daughter anywhere lady! She's been dragging me!" replied the boy curtly.  
  
"Insolent fool!" cried one of the guards that stood around them angrily.  
  
"Cool off," said Ranma as he turned his head and threw the man across the room without touching him. He then turned back towards Serenity. "Look. I was trying to bring her back the whole time. Those crazy senshi of yours kept trying to kill me every time I tried!"  
  
"Did they?" asked the woman as she gave him an even gaze.  
  
"You're damn right they did! Do you have any idea what we went through to get her back here? Those crazy bitches kept trying to kill us!"  
  
Serenity smirked very slightly. She'd never seen anyone with enough gall to call the senshi a group of 'Crazy Bitches'.  
  
"My understanding is that you attacked them, however, my daughter seems to like you for some reason," she replied as her smirk fell away into a scowl.  
  
"I haven't figured that out either," muttered Ranma as he scratched the back of his head for a moment.  
  
"It seems she has become quiet enamored with you. I wonder about many things, what is your relationship with my daughter?"  
  
Ranma paused and looked at her for a moment. "Huh?"  
  
"She's quite adamant, from what I understand, she believes you to be some sort of hero. Destined to rescue her from her captors," said the woman, as she looked him up and down for a moment.  
  
"Hero? Me? I guess so. I mean, I did save the moon and all," he replied dumbly.  
  
Hanna snorted in disgust. "I knew it, the pervert."  
  
"So, it is true then. You and my daughter..."  
  
"Hey! I didn't touch nuthin!" cried the boy, as he finally seemed to get where she was going. "I behaved myself the whole time!"  
  
Washuu coughed into her hand.  
  
"Well, maybe not the whole time," admitted Ranma. "I didn't do nuthin to your daughter though."  
  
Serenity breathed a small sigh of relief. He seemed sincere.   
  
"Look lady. I've got things to do. I'm trying to get home, I didn't want for any of this to happen," he said as he looked up at her.  
  
"Home?" muttered Serena as she narrowed her eyes at him.  
  
"Yeah. Look, I ain't from around here. I got stuck on Earth a while back when I ran into your daughter. Things just sort of got worse from there," he said sheepishly.  
  
"That would explain a lot," admitted Serenity. She secretly became very worried. Was it possible that there was an entire planet of beings able to fight against her senshi?  
  
"Can I go now? I'm glad your kingdom is saved and all, but I've got things to do back home," said the boy, as he looked her in the eye again.  
  
"How do you plan to do that?" inquired the queen.  
  
"I'll find a way," said the boy calmly.  
  
"I was planning on helping him with that," said Washuu as she gave him a small wink.  
  
"Who are you?" asked Serena as she looked at the woman for a moment.  
  
"Washuu, the greatest scientific genius in the universe!" exclaimed the woman proudly.  
  
Serena smirked, she doubted if the woman could match some of the scientists on Mercury.  
  
"Highness," said Jupiter as she strolled into the throne room. All of the other senshi save Pluto and Saturn walked in behind her. She paused when she noticed the trio standing in front of the woman. "You!"  
  
Ranma turned and narrowed his eyes at her for a moment. "Hello."  
  
"What is he doing here!?" demanded Jupiter as she moved into a combat stance. The other Senshi quickly followed suit. All of them had angry scowls on their faces.  
  
Ranma turned and lowered his left arm. A compartment opened up inside the forearm and a long slender rod slid into his hand. In an instant a blade of red light appeared from his lightsaber. He pointed it at Jupiter and frowned. "You owe me an arm, lady."  
  
"That's enough!" commanded Serenity.  
  
Ranma snorted and glanced back at her, shutting down the blade and returning it to the inside of his arm.  
  
"Your Highness?" muttered Jupiter as she looked at the woman in shock.  
  
"You're in danger!" exclaimed Mercury as she stepped foreword.  
  
"I asked him to come before me," replied the woman as she looked at them coldly. "You will all refrain from any hostility. This instant," she said firmly.  
  
"But..." stammered Neptune dumbly.  
  
"Who is this guy?" muttered Mars as she stared the boy down.  
  
"He has saved the kingdom, and will be granted a full pardon," said Serenity as she looked at them. "As will his friends."  
  
Hanna passed out on the ground where she stood.  
  
Uranus stepped back in shock. "What?"  
  
"You heard her," said Ranma as he turned to face the queen again. "Thanks."  
  
She nodded at him and turned to the throne again.  
  
Ranma was about to turn to walk away with Washuu and Hanna when he paused. An odd sensation started on his right wrist. He looked down and saw a small crystal protruding from just below his hand. It glowed and he felt an unusual sensation sweep across his body. "What? I'd almost forgotten you were there..." Before he finished muttering another, more urgent, sensation swept across him. "What the hell is that?" he exclaimed.  
  
Everyone in the room turned to look at him.  
  
"What is this force?" gasped Serenity as she swooned on her throne.  
  
Overhead, the ceiling exploded inward, raining a shower of debris down on them from above. Floating in mid air, was Valdis. A sphere of energy covered his body and he glared down at the group from above. The steel supports bent and warped downward from his entrance and he glared at them all madly.  
  
"Well. It seems I am victorious after all," said the man coldly.  
  
"Valdis!" cried Uranus as she started to rush foreword. The other Senshi followed just behind her.  
  
The man merely chuckled and raised his palm, throwing them into the wall on the other side of the room and restraining them there. "Heh. Pathetic."  
  
Ranma stepped back as the man floated into the middle of the room and landed between him and the queen. "You! But...you died!"  
  
"You don't believe that pathetic explosion was enough to destroy me do you?" asked the knight coldly as he turned to look at the queen. "Well, it seems you've lost. I will take control of the moon, and then the entire galaxy."  
  
She staggered to his feet and stared him down coldly. "I shall never allow that!"  
  
"You can't stop me," he replied as he raised his hand. A ball of power formed there and he blasted it at her.  
  
"No!" snarled Ranma angrily as he dashed foreword and intercepted the blast.  
  
Serenity put up her arms defensively and screamed. She paused when nothing happened and slowly opened her eyes. They went wide as she saw the boy standing in front of her. "How can this be?"  
  
Ranma was holding the ball of power back with his hands. He was straining and struggling to keep his grip on the ground as the ball of power pushed against him. With a grunt of effort he tossed the ball upward, it exploded into the ceiling, sending another shower of debris into the room.  
  
Washuu realized that it might be a good time to hide and pulled Hanna over to a corner nearby to where the senshi were pinned to the wall.  
  
"Impressive, most impressive," commented Valdis.  
  
"You haven't seen anything yet," said Ranma as he growled at the man.  
  
"You can never match my power," said Valdis as he floated off the ground and rose into the air.  
  
Ranma narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself. "He can fly. Can we do that?" He looked back at where the queen was sitting, she was obviously still in shock. He looked back up again to see the man preparing another blast. "Sink or swim, Ranma." He slowly rose from the ground and blasted upwards to meet Valdis in the air.  
  
Unfortunately, he pushed a little too hard and slammed into the ceiling, creating another shower of small stones from the crater he had made. "Ouch."  
  
Valdis laughed out loud as he saw this and tossed the ball of power in his hands up at him. Ranma dove suddenly, narrowly missing the energy ball. It exploded, covering more of the ground below in large stones.   
  
"Damn," muttered Ranma as he floated wobbly in the air for a moment before seeming to catch on. "Okay, I think we got it."  
  
"Who are you talking too?" said the armored man.  
  
"None of your business!" cried Ranma as he blasted foreword and slammed his fist into the man's armored gut.  
  
Valdis lurched and tried to counter with a blow of his own, Ranma had moved away though. He paused and glared at the boy for a moment. "I felt that. That shouldn't be possible."  
  
"You're goin down," said Ranma coldly.  
  
The pair seemed to vanish in thin air, appearing at various points in the room locked in combat.  
  
"That's not possible!" gasped Jupiter from her place on the wall.  
  
The other senshi were to shocked to speak as they watched the battle above them. Uranus turned her eyes away in disgust. "He was only playing with us all this time!"  
  
Ranma and Valdis appeared high above them again, locked in a contest of strength. After a moment, they exploded apart, both of them streaking down to the ground again. Two huge craters were created in the floor where they had landed and they stood squatting and glaring at each other for a long time.  
  
"What kind of power is this?" muttered Serenity as she looked at the young boy who was fighting off Valdis, and the power of the Silver Imperium Crystal. She slowly rose to her feet and looked at them as they faced off. "This isn't possible!"  
  
Finally, Valdis spoke. He was still squatting inside the crater he had made in his landing. "The ground...it is hard."  
  
Ranma nodded his head, and squeaked a reply. "Yeah."  
  
"We will continue our battle, but not do that again," said the armored man  
  
"Right," agreed Ranma as he started to stand upright slowly.  
  
Valdis charged and they met in mid air again.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Damn it! We can't overpower him!" said Carrot as they fought off Valdis. "We're barely able to keep up with him using the Kaio Ken! At this rate, we'll tire out before he will! He's got twice the power we do!"  
  
"We're more skilled though, we can beat this guy!" said Ranma confidently.  
  
"Not the way we're going now. We need a plan," said Dan.  
  
"We need help. We've gotta release those Senshi!" said Carrot angrily.  
  
"How?" said Ranma.  
  
"Pissant! I need some of that power you've got," said Carrot as he moved them away from the armored man.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"What is he doing?" grumbled Valdis as he noticed the boy building a chi blast. "Pathetic!" snarled the man as he noticed how under powered it was.  
  
"It's not for you," said Ranma coldly.  
  
"What?" muttered the dark figure as he saw the boy throw a the white ball of energy down at the senshi.  
  
The women screamed, or closed their eyes and waited for the end. It exploded across them and they were engulfed in a huge flash of light.  
  
"What are you doing fool?" snarled Valdis as he looked at the boy.  
  
"I never liked them," said Ranma with a rough sounding snort.  
  
"Is that so? You're strong, perhaps you would join me then?" said Valdis as he crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
"Naw, I'd rather die," said the boy with a snort.  
  
"So be it," said the man.  
  
"World Shaking! Deep Submerge! Venus Love Me Chain! Mars Fire Arrow! Aqua Illusion! Thunder Wave! " cried all the Senshi at once.  
  
Valdis snorted as he turned and was struck by the brunt of the attacks. He was thrown through the roof and outside.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
The light faded from around the senshi and they stood in defensive positions, unable to do anything against the attack.   
  
"What happened?" muttered Mercury as she looked at her hands for a moment. "We can move!"  
  
"What was that?" stammered Jupiter.  
  
"I feel so...refreshed," said Neptune in wonder.  
  
"Worry about what he did later," said Uranus as she glared up at the battle. "He's obviously in trouble. He wouldn't have freed us if he wasn't."  
  
"Attack him!" cried Mars angrily.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"What happened?" muttered Serenity as she looked over and saw Ranma staring at his wrist. The boy paused and smirked at her for a moment. "Is it over?"  
  
"No, we've just managed to piss him off," said the boy with a small frown. "I've got an idea, but I need them to distract him while I build enough power to pull it off. I also need them to lure him to an area of the palace you don't mind losing."  
  
"Losing?" stammered Serenity in shock.  
  
"Think you ladies can handle that?" said Ranma as he turned towards the Senshi.  
  
"How much time do you need?" asked Uranus coldly.  
  
"I'm not sure. You'll need to spread out so he can't pin you down that way again. Hit and run, don't try and take him out. You're not powerful enough."  
  
The women all nodded grimly and rushed towards a nearby exit.  
  
Serena rushed into the room with Endimyon beside her. A large group of guards entered as well. "Your Highness! Cried one of the men in panic."  
  
"Mother!" cried Serena.  
  
"Serena! Are you all right?"  
  
"What's happening?" said Endimyon as he rushed to the queen's side as well.  
  
"I've got to go, there's not much time," said Ranma as he shot into the air and out one of the holes in the ceiling.  
  
Pluto walked out of the shadows and frowned.  
  
"What are you doing here?" snapped Serenity as she looked at the woman. "Get out there and help them!"  
  
"I cannot," said Pluto calmly as she returned the queen's gaze.  
  
"Why not?" growled the woman as she glared at her.  
  
"He is the anomaly I have been feeling. He is from the future," replied Pluto calmly.  
  
"What?" said Serenity in shock.  
  
"The reason I am unable to see him, is because our futures' are directly related. I cannot witness this battle," she replied coldly. She vanished into a porthole and looked back at Serenity. "I do not believe he will lose."  
  
The queen nodded and looked out through one of the holes in the ceiling. She gasped when she noticed a bright light overhead. "What is that?"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Nearby, in a large courtyard of the palace, the battle raged on.  
  
Valdis slammed his fist into Mercury's gut and she was thrown back across the surface of the moon, bouncing along the ground as she rolled.  
  
"You're no match for me. Give up this pathetic battle," snarled the man as he glared at the women. They were all sprawled out across the ground, many of them were having trouble moving.  
  
"How much more time does he need?" grumbled Neptune.  
  
"We must give him as much as he needs," said Uranus as she struggled to rise to her knees. "He is our only hope." Her tone was almost disgusted as she said this.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
In the air above them Ranma floated with his eyes closed. "More time! We need more time!"  
  
"They're still holding out," said Dan as he opened one of their eyes for a moment and allowed them to peek.  
  
"The crystal is helping us, but its still taking to long," commented Carrot. "Come on, we need more!"  
  
"I wish I could help!" said Pissant.  
  
"You can, keep a watch out for him. If he notices this we're screwed," said Ranma.  
  
"He's right, you need to be our eyes, we can't waste concentration watching the fight," agreed Carrot.  
  
"Right!" said the voice.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
The senshi were on their last legs, they were beaten and tired. They stumbled over one another, all trying to fight as best they could.  
  
A voice rang out across the courtyard, calling out to all of them.  
  
"Evil power who threatens my family and friends! I cannot allow this travesty to continue! On behalf of the entire galaxy! I shall punish you!"  
  
"Highness?" muttered Mars in shock.  
  
"No. Serena!" gasped Uranus as she looked up from her place on the ground and saw the young princess. The girl was dressed in a senshi uniform and stood on top of one of the walls with a cold scowl on her face. "I shall protect my one true love, and defend my home to the death monster!"  
  
Valdis turned towards the girl and laughed out loud. "Who might you be?"  
  
"I am Sailor Moon! You're going down Asshole!" screamed the girl as a wand appeared in her hand and she thrust it foreword. A blast of pink energy slammed into the armored man's chest, throwing him back a bit.  
  
The other senshi looked at one another for a moment in shock at the girl's words. They then rose to their feet, all of them had determined looks on their faces. "We will not be defeated!" cried Neptune.  
  
"You already have been!" snarled Valdis as he waved his hand. An arc of invisible energy threw all of the girls back.   
  
Serena screeched and landed on her behind. Suddenly a new voice echoed across the area. "That's all I need! Get the hell out of there!"  
  
The senshi looked up and gasped.  
  
Valdis slowly turned his head and growled. "What is this?" He paused when he realized that the sun was unusually large. His eyes narrowed and he staggered back in shock. "Impossible! You're nothing to me! See how powerless you truly are!"  
  
Ranma merely nodded as he glared down at the dark clad figure. "Roger that. Genki Denma!" The huge orb of power over his head was the size of a three-story building, it rocketed down and slammed into Valdis.  
  
The man grabbed the ball of power and tried to push back, he was slowly pushed into the ground though, and grunted in effort as he tried desperately to escape. It was too late though, and the ball exploded, taking about a fourth of the huge palace grounds with it. He screamed in pain and was engulfed in the light.  
  
Ranma sighed and hung his arms in pain. He slowly floated to the ground to where the senshi were standing and watching the explosion in awe. They had barely managed to move far enough away in time.  
  
"What was that?" gasped Uranus.  
  
"Soul Bomb," replied Ranma with a smirk on his face. He looked incredibly tired.   
  
Serena rushed up and grabbed him in a rough hug. "You're safe!"  
  
Ranma looked down at her for a moment and chuckled. "So, you're one of these crazy chicks now?"  
  
"Um. Yeah. Mom sort of passed it down to me, about ten minutes ago," she said sheepishly.  
  
"Great. Let's get back," said Ranma as he started to stagger back towards the palace.  
  
"Right," agreed the senshi.  
  
Ranma suddenly lurched foreword with a shocked look on his face.  
  
The senshi jumped away and gasped. Valdis had appeared with his fist in the boy's gut.  
  
"No way!" cried Neptune in shock.  
  
"Begone!" snarled Valdis as he waved his free arm and threw them all across the ground.  
  
"Didn't work," muttered Ranma as he leaned against the man's armor.  
  
"That hurt. You're going to pay for that," snarled Valdis as he shoved the boy to his feet and backhanded him in the face.  
  
Ranma sailed across the surface of the moon and slammed into the wall of the palace. He went through it and staggered to his feet again.  
  
"No!" he muttered in horror. "I don't have anything left to throw at him!"  
  
Serenity stood up on her throne as the boy was sent crashing through the wall of her throne room. He stood up and looked at her, panic clear in his eyes. "She said you wouldn't lose," muttered the woman to herself.  
  
"I'm not dead yet," said Ranma as he turned to face the black armored figure as he walked through the hole in the wall calmly. Ranma searched around the room desperately, looking for anything that might help him.  
  
"Your attack was strong, but the power of the crystals protect me from any harm," said the man coldly.  
  
Ranma narrowed his eyes at the man and frowned. "That's it! We've got to get them away from him somehow!"  
  
Valdis snorted. "You are to weak to defeat me. You can barely stand, and you have no power left."  
  
Ranma looked up at the ceiling, and smirked. It was a long shot, but it might just work.   
  
Valdis snarled and charged at him, rather than counter, Ranma started to take hits as he backed away.   
  
"So, you've given up?" snarled the armored man angrily.  
  
"No, and you fell for it," said Ranma with a cold smirk on his face. "HIRYUU SHOUTEN HA!"  
  
Valdis was thrown into the air violently, he struggled against the wind that tore through the ceiling above him and into the sky. He jerked to a stop suddenly and screamed in pain from inside the whirlwind. The man looked down and saw a steel beam that was jutting through the ceiling jutting through his chest.  
  
"I feel nothing, the power of the crystals protects me from..."  
  
Ranma appeared just in front of him with a cold smile on his face. The boy grabbed the two crystals and pushed off of his chest with his feet, ripping them free of the armor.  
  
"No!" gasped Valdis in horror. He jerked violently and slumped foreword, hanging dead where he was speared.  
  
The whirlwind died down and Ranma fell from the ceiling and landed on the floor flat on his back. He chuckled and opened his palms, which now had all three crystals in his grasp. "Got ya," he said before he passed out.  
  
Serenity stood up from where she was and staggered over to his side. "Is he...?"  
  
Washuu walked up next to her and smiled as she looked at the readout on the screen of her computer. "No. He's just exhausted, the fall didn't even break anything."  
  
The queen nodded and stood up with a relieved smile on her face. "I see."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Somewhere, deep in space...  
  
"So, Valdis has failed us?" said the cloaked figure as she stood in front of a crystal ball and frowned.  
  
"It is of little consequence. The power of the Silver Imperium Crystal has been weakened for eons to come by the battle, and the Moon Kingdom's defenses will take years to repair completely," said a voice from all around the figure.  
  
"So. That means that it will be ripe for the picking," said the cloaked figure with a smirk forming on her face.  
  
"Valdis and his army have served their purpose. Now it is only a matter of destroying Serenity and her Kingdom forever," said the voice.  
  
"Soon, I shall rule all," said the cloaked woman as she removed her hood.  
  
"No Beryl. I shall rule all," corrected Metallia from the shadows.  
  
"As you say," said the woman placidly as she bowed her head a little.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma woke up several hours later in a soft bed and groaned as he sat up. "Man. That was really cool."  
  
He looked around and frowned when he saw Hanna sitting in a chair looking at him thoughtfully. She nodded to him and frowned. "I still hate you."  
  
"That's nice," he replied as he stood up and noticed that he was only wearing a pair of boxers.  
  
"Serenity says she's going to send you home. You're well enough to go anytime you like," said the woman with a small thoughtful looking smile on her face. "Thanks to that crystal of hers."  
  
"Took it back did she?" said Ranma as he looked at his palms for a moment.  
  
"Of course. There was some speculation on why you had it in the first place," said Hanna with a small shrug.  
  
"Back to the shipping business?" said Ranma as he smirked at her and noticed she was wearing what appeared to be a military uniform.  
  
"No. I'm piloting the personal transport of Princess Serenity from now on."  
  
"A promotion then. Good job," said Ranma with a small smirk as he got dressed.  
  
"I suppose. They won't let me use my ship anymore," she said flatly. "It's being put in a museum somewhere on the other side of the moon."  
  
"Good," said Ranma with a nod. "Where's Washuu and the Princess. I should say goodbye at least."  
  
"Washuu left for Mercury. Serenity sent her there. Seems she's a professor at some famous science academy, and a lot of Mercury's scientists went there. I haven't heard too much more about it."  
  
"Good for her then," said the boy with another nod.  
  
"Ranma. I'm glad you're going home and all. You've earned it, but if I ever see you again. I'm going to kill you," said the woman as she looked up at him.  
  
"Roger," said Ranma with a small salute.   
  
++++++++++++  
  
"So, you're leaving?" said Serenity as she looked at the boy for a moment.   
  
He nodded and smirked as he saw Serena and Endimyon standing off to the side. "I've got to get back. I was sent here while fighting a powerful monster. I can't just leave it there."  
  
"So, you are a defender of your world then?" asked Serenity with her eyebrow arching slightly.  
  
"That's right. I protect the Earth, ten thousand or so years in the future," replied the boy with a smirk on his face.  
  
"I see. I wish you luck on your journey," said Serenity as she held up a small bottle of liquid. "To return to your own time, take this liquid and say the words Klatu Verata Nictu."  
  
Ranma blinked and looked at the small vial. "You're kidding right?"  
  
"No. Use it and you will return to your own time wherever you are at the time," said the woman with a small nod.  
  
"Using it here wouldn't be a good idea then," said Ranma to himself. He looked up at her and smiled for a moment before he bowed. "Thank you for your help." He turned and walked out the door and into the hall.  
  
"Wait!"  
  
Ranma paused and turned to see Serena rushing up to him from the throne room. "What's up princess?"  
  
"You're sure you can't stay?" said the girl with tears starting to form in her eyes.  
  
"Yeah. Sorry," he lied. "I've got friends counting on me back home. I have to go," he said with a gentle smile.  
  
"I was hoping..." muttered the girl to herself.  
  
"Who knows, ten thousand years is a long time Serena. Maybe we'll meet again?" said the boy as he looked at her for a moment.  
  
"I...I know we will!" exclaimed the girl.  
  
Ranma had to hold back a chuckle. That was uncannily accurate. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll make a great queen one day!" It was a lie, but he didn't feel like telling her that she'd die before that day came. As tempting as it was for some of them.  
  
"You think so?" said the girl.  
  
"Yeah," he said with a slightly nervous tone to his voice.  
  
The girl rushed up and grabbed him around his neck, kissing him full on the lips for a long moment.  
  
He blinked in surprise when she broke it and shook his head. "Huh?"  
  
"For good luck! Goodbye!" she said as he turned and rushed down the hall with tears in her eyes. "...my love..." she whispered to herself as she rushed for her room.  
  
"What the hell was that about?" muttered the boy dumbly.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
In the Museum, Ranma smiled and nodded at the curator for a moment.   
"You say you left something inside?" asked the stuffy looking man after a moment.  
  
"Yeah," said Ranma as he watched the ramp come down. "This isn't on display yet?" They were inside a large underground hangar with various other ships lining the wall. Most of them older military models.  
  
"No. It won't go on display for a few more years yet," said the man with a chuckle. "We'll keep it as is for a couple of years. Then after the government releases the full report on the battle we'll put it up when we create a new wing on the museum."  
  
"When's that supposed to happen?" asked Ranma as he looked at the man.  
  
"About five years from now, they're still looking at plans for the new additions. Government takes forever to decide these things. You know how it is," said the man with a shrug.  
  
"Great," said Ranma cheerfully. He walked into the ship and pulled out the small bottle of liquid. He downed it and looked around.  
  
"You sure about this?" muttered Ranma inside their head.  
  
"Course. I know that movie by heart! Not even I could screw this up!" said Carrot cheerfully. "Klatu Verata Nict...Achoooo!"  
  
There was a flash of light inside the ship, and the boy was gone.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
A year later, Beryl attacked and destroyed the Moon Kingdom.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: The Return!  



	32. Insertion Part 32

Insertion  
  
Part 32  
  
The Return  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma woke up, a throbbing pain inside his head as he slowly picked himself up off of the floor in the pitch-blackness.   
  
"Where are we?" muttered Carrot as he glanced around and saw no light.  
  
"I dunno," replied Ranma painfully.  
  
"Our head hurts," grumbled Pissant.  
  
"No shit," countered Dan softly. "What the hell is this? I can't see!"  
  
"There's no light moron," said Carrot as he tried to focus his eyes and found himself unable to make out any shapes in the darkness. "Literally. I can't see our hand in front of our face." They all felt a sharp pain across their face and fell flat on their back.  
  
"Did you see that?" said Dan irritably.  
  
"Asshole! I'll kill you!" snapped Carrot as he punched himself in the face to retaliate.  
  
"Ouch! Quit it you jerks!" snapped Ranma as he tried and failed to stop them from beating on one another.  
  
"We don't know where we are!" whined Pissant. "We could be anywhere!"  
  
"I know where we are," grumbled Carrot as he sat up and stopped fighting. Dan decked him, but he didn't retaliate and rubbed at his jaw in irritation.  
  
"Where?" said Ranma.  
  
"We're onboard the Mikon Taka. The same place we were when we left," said Carrot. "We need to find the damn light switch."  
  
"So...we're on the moon then?" asked Dan.  
  
"Yeah," replied Carrot. "Hopefully ten thousand years or so in the future, around the time we left," said Carrot.  
  
"I think it was..." Ranma paused. "Where are we standing?"  
  
"I dunno, we were sort of moving around a lot," said Dan.  
  
"Great! You got us lost!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Oh shut up, how hard can it be to find one little light switch?" said Carrot irritably.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Two hours later...  
  
"HA! This is it! We've found it!" cried Carrot in triumph. He flicked the switch he'd managed to grope on and blinked as he heard the toilet flush. "Damn it!"  
  
"Well, at least we know where we are now," offered Pissant. Their shins and forearms were covered in bruises and scrapes from fumbling around the ship for the past few hours. "We should be able to find a switch in here. There's a light in here!" cried Carrot as he fumbled along the wall again.  
  
"Great..." grumbled Dan. For once, everyone was in about as good a mood as he was.  
  
"Aha!" said Carrot in triumph. There was a bright flash of light, followed by a popping sound.  
  
"I suppose the lights are all bad after ten thousand years," said Ranma in defeat.  
  
"I um...guess so. We probably shouldn't raid the kitchen either, now that I think about it," said Carrot.  
  
"At least we know we still have power!" said Pissant cheerfully.  
  
"How badly did this thing degrade over the years?" said Ranma with a fearful tone in his voice.  
  
"Not too much. There's no real atmosphere, so no real reason for anything to degrade that way. Most of the time, stuff like that is caused by things in the atmosphere," said Carrot.   
  
"Let's see...there were extra light bulbs in the supply closet...that was over there somewhere..." Pissant looked in a general direction, based off their position in the doorway to the bathroom. "It might take us a while, but we should be able to change the bulb at least. That'll give us some light."  
  
"If they haven't all gone bad. There's an atmosphere inside here you know," said Dan irritably.  
  
"Yeah, but it should be relatively stale, no new air in or out in ten thousand years," pointed out Carrot. "It's like we're walking around inside an ancient tomb."  
  
"You people do realize that we have to turn life support on or we'll suffocate in a few hours," said Dan.  
  
"Damn it," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"How hard could changing one little light bulb be?" asked Carrot.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Four hours later...  
  
"Hokay, here we go," said Carrot in a gasping breath as he stumbled out of the bathroom. The light was now on, and there were dozens of other bulbs scattered around on the ground, most of them broken. The glass crunched under their feet as they moved.  
  
"Now, we go up to the cockpit and try to turn on the power right?" said Dan.  
  
"Right," said Carrot.  
  
"It's getting hard to breathe," muttered Ranma.  
  
They managed to make it and sat down in the pilot's seat. "This is going to suck if this doesn't work," commented Carrot as he began to flip switches on the console.  
  
There was a grating sound, and the vehicle sputtered violently.   
  
"Oh man," muttered Ranma as he hung their head.  
  
Carrot frowned and smacked the console. The ship came to life in an instant, and the sound of machinery working began to float from below them.  
  
"Yes!" cried Carrot as he pumped his arm.  
  
"We don't need gas for this thing do we?" said Dan as he looked for some sort of fuel indicator.  
  
"Naw, it runs off of some sort of energy crystal. It's good for about fifty thousand years or so," said Ranma as he pointed the gage out to him. It was reading almost full.  
  
"Well, now that we're back in business, let's go home," said Carrot as he started the engines and tried to turn on the exterior lights. There was a flash like in the bathroom, and still total darkness outside. "Crap."  
  
"Hey, stuff gets old," said Dan with a small shrug. He reached down and pushed a red button.  
  
"No! You idiot!" cried Ranma as he tried to stop him. It was too late though, and a concussion missile blasted out of the front of the ship. It knocked out a wall and didn't explode, instead it merely skipped across the surface of the moon for a few thousand yards and sputtered to a start.  
  
"What? It worked didn't it?" asked Dan defensively.  
  
"There's other ships in here moron. If that went off, it might have killed us all," said Carrot. "Our shields aren't even up, we don't even know if they work or not yet."  
  
"At least we can see now," commented Pissant. The hole wasn't large enough for the ship to fit through, and they had to open the hangar doors.  
  
"Hope the space suits still work," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"Yeah, well. Come on, we'd best get started," said Carrot as he stood up and walked towards the airlock.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
"Well, there it is," said Dan as he looked up at the sky and saw the Earth in orbit overhead. They had just shoved aside one of the large hangar doors that kept them enclosed.  
  
Carrot smirked as he looked at it and turned back towards the ship. "Shall we go?"  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
The lights inside the ship were now all replaced and they stood looking at the interior for a moment. "Everything seems to still be intact," commented Ranma. They had just climbed out of the engine compartment and had done some checking around. Ranma's memories of his past life had helped a bit, but the basically had no idea what they were doing. Genaku had some knowledge, but he wasn't a mechanic. Everything seemed to be in order though. Nothing looked broken at least.  
  
"Good," said Carrot with a small nod.   
  
"This place is so dusty," said Pissant with a huge frown.  
  
"We'll clean it up later, I'm hungry," said Ranma.  
  
"He's right, the ship might not survive a trip back to Earth anyway," said Dan.   
  
"I don't remember there being any fluids or anything," said Ranma. "We should be all right."  
  
"Yeah, well let's go find out," said Carrot as they turned towards the cockpit again.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Hey, where are we gonna land?" asked Carrot after they were about halfway to the planet.  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Well, we can't exactly park this thing in front of the dojo you know," said Carrot irritably. "We haven't built a landing pad at headquarters so that's out."  
  
"He's right," said Ranma in shock. "Where the heck are we gonna park this thing?"  
  
"Hey. I think I've got an idea," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Tenchi Masaki rushed out in front of the small cave within the shrine. He scurried away excitedly, holding the sword hilt in his hand. He was screaming bloody murder and stumbled on the ground as he ran away in terror. "Wha? What was that?" he muttered to himself as he looked at the shrine. "From now on, I'm doing whatever grandpa says, no questions asked!" He calmed down a bit and sighed. Finally standing up, he started to move towards his home, hoping desperately that he'd forget what had just happened to him. He wouldn't though, in a few hours he'd probably be having a nightmare about it or something.  
  
It was around this point that a huge flat spaceship roared up the side of the mountain and hovered just above his head. He stared up at it and blinked. "Oh man. What else can go wrong?" With that, he promptly fell flat on his back and passed out.  
  
The ship landed on the ground on top of the boy and the ramp came down letting the ship's only occupant out onto the shrine grounds. "I hope they don't mind me parking here."  
  
An old man walked calmly out of the temple nearby and arched his eyebrow at the boy who had landed on top of his grandson. "I hope you have a good reason for landing here my boy."  
  
"Huh? Oh, Hi. Is Washuu here?" said Ranma as he turned to face the man for a moment.  
  
"Pardon? I'm afraid I don't know who you mean," said the man calmly.  
  
Ranma scratched the back of his head and frowned. "Dang. Could have just dumped this on her," he muttered as he looked up at the ship for a moment. "Guess she isn't here yet."  
  
"Who are you? What do you want here?" said the old man as he eyed them carefully.  
  
"Oh. Hi. I'm Ranma, you're Yosho right? Crowned Prince of Jurai in hiding? Sorry, I thought a friend of mine might be here. She's expected in the next few months according to the anim...er, I mean the Gates of Time. To be honest, I'm not sure about the exact date, for her showing up, or when I am now."  
  
"Time Gates?" said the old man as he calmly walked up beside the boy.  
  
"Yeah. You know, the ones on Pluto? Sorry to trouble you and all," said the boy sheepishly.   
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," said the man firmly.  
  
"Look, you're grandson has passed out, if that's what you're worried about. I know who you are, and to be honest, I don't really care," said the boy as he stared at the old man for a moment. "Just one question..."  
  
"Yes?" said the man as he frowned at the boy.   
  
"Why did you let Tenchi wake up Ryoko? I never did understand why," said the boy as he looked at the sleeping teen where he was lying underneath the starship for a moment.  
  
Yosho frowned and sighed. "Her sentence is up. Even I cannot hold her forever, and according to the laws of Jurai, she has served her term."  
  
"Oh. Cool. Anyway, I guess I've got to find another place to dump this thing," said Ranma as he looked up at the starship and sighed.  
  
"You are from the future?" said Yosho as he eyed the boy carefully.  
  
"Naw. I'm from here, but I've just had a rather interesting adventure in the Silver Millenium. From what I understand, your people used to have good relations with them. It's no real concern of mine though," said the boy with a shrug.   
  
"You may park your ship behind the mountain if you wish, please do not leave it in my yard," said the old man as he turned and walked back into the temple again.  
  
"Yeah. Sorry about that," said Ranma sheepishly again.  
  
Tenchi slowly sat up and shook his head. "Man. I just had the strangest..." He promptly hit his head against the bottom hull of the ship and fell back on the ground on his behind. "What the?!"  
  
Ranma looked at him and smirked. "You might want to get out from under there, I'm taking off, and this thing kicks up a lot of dust."  
  
"Ah! Aliens!" cried Tenchi as he scurried away in terror and dove into the woods that surrounded the shrine.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Who was that? Shouldn't we erase his memory or something?" asked Ranma nervously as they sat behind the controls of the ship.  
  
"Naw. In a few weeks, he'll be used to stuff like this. He's not human anyway, he's part alien. A planet called Jurai," said Carrot calmly as the ship rose into the sky.  
  
"Huh? What's he doing here?" asked Ranma in confusion.  
  
"His grandfather moved here a few thousand years ago or so. Beat some space pirate called Ryoko, sealed her up, and decided to stay. They shouldn't be a problem for us or anything. This is how we already knew who Washuu was."  
  
"You mean?" asked Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Yeah. Another Anime," snorted Dan.  
  
"He sure seemed nice," said Pissant.  
  
"You mean when he was running in terror? Or when he passed out?" said Carrot.  
  
"Um, I guess I wouldn't really know would I?" muttered the voice sheepishly.  
  
"Right, Let's just park this thing all right?" said Dan irritably.  
  
"Where to after that?" asked Ranma.  
  
"The dojo, we've got to explain where we've been to everyone," said Carrot with a small sigh.  
  
"What's the excuse?" asked Dan.  
  
"Emergency training trip I suppose. We could just say we were attacked by some weird Youma that sent us into the past for a while too. That'd be close to the truth," replied Carrot with a shrug.  
  
"Plus we've got to talk with the guys, and explain to them too," said Ranma as he hung his head. "Man, this sucks."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Akane was in trouble. They were in the middle of a largely empty stadium and Takibi was wiping the floor with the senshi yet again. They were burnt and charred as they attempted to get him where he needed to be.  
  
"Damn him! He's not cooperating!" snarled Jadeite as he sat beside her. They were hunched behind a detonator as the senshi tried to move him over the trap door on the stage. The stadium was set up for a concert later that day, some pop idol was going to sing there. Takibi had planned on attaching another of his energy sucking crystals to the sound system, while his cute blonde youma girl sang her songs and acted like a focus point.  
  
"He's almost there, just toying with them," said Jadeite coldly as he glared over one of the seats that hid them from view.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"Damn! We're not even hurting him," said Mars painfully as she glared at the red-haired man who grinned at them.   
  
"We've got to try! We can't just let this go on!" said Sailor Moon bravely as she struggled back to her feet.  
  
Takibi's smile turned into a harsh looking frown. "You know, this has been fun. I'm getting a little sick of this game though. I think I'll just get rid of you this time, for good."  
  
"What?" said Mercury. It was as far as she got, the youma merely nodded to the tiny blonde girl in front of him.  
  
The girl was dressed in a frilly pink dress that would have to be frosted to look any sweeter. She giggled girlishly and snapped the microphone in her hand like a whip, using the chord. It wrapped around Mercury's neck and she pulled hard, throwing the girl on the ground roughly.  
  
The others tried to move to the girl's rescue, but Takibi created a wall of flames to block them that rose ten feet into the air. They could still see him standing over the girl on the other side though. He put his heel into her back and ground her shoulder down. "My, my, my. I wonder if you'll be as sweet as this little flower was?" He indicated the young blonde and leaned into her. "It was hard making a youma to look and sound just like her. You should have seen the looks on her parent's faces when their sweet little girl slit their throats."  
  
"Monster," muttered the girl painfully as she tried her best to stare up at him. "You won't get away with this!"  
  
"Who's going to stop me? You?" snorted the youma in amusement.  
  
"I'll do my best!" cried Mercury as she stood up and threw him off her shoulders with a grunt of effort. He stumbled back, only slightly surprised by the act. The smaller youma was forced back to keep him from falling on top of her. At they same instant, they both stepped over the trap door.  
  
"Now!" cried Akane.  
  
Jadeite activated the detonator and a column of light erupted from the ground, consuming both youma completely. They both screamed in pain, and the little girl was vaporized. Takibi, however, didn't even look scratched.  
  
"No way!" cried Akane in shock as she stumbled back.  
  
"That had enough force in it to vaporize a small island!" said Jadeite in horror.  
  
"That really hurt," snarled Takibi angrily as he glared at the girls in front of him angrily.  
  
"What? It didn't kill him?!" cried Jupiter.  
  
"No! We won't be defeated so easily!" said Sailor Moon sternly as she pointed at it.  
  
"Usually I'd run away now," said Takibi coldly. "But that was just too close for comfort. I'm afraid I'm going to have to call my bluff this time, and get rid of you girls for real. You were amusing until now."  
  
The senshi backed away, realizing that they were in serious trouble.  
  
Takibi grabbed Mercury by the back of her head and lifted her off the ground.  
  
The girl screamed as he began to squeeze her head, the others could hear her skull beginning to crack under the pressure. The girl thrashed around desperately, trying to escape his grip. "Any last words?"  
  
"You won't get away with this," said Mercury.  
  
"Attack!" cried Mars as she pointed at the thing. There was little she could do against it, but the others might be able to harm it enough to get it to release her friend.  
  
"But Mercury!" said Sailor Moon in shock.  
  
"She's dead anyway if we don't!" said Jupiter as she raised her hands into the sky. "Do it!"  
  
The other girl's nodded, and steeled themselves. There was little chance for success, but they would go down fighting.  
  
Takibi smirked as Mercury suddenly stopped moving, a trickle of blood ran down her forehead as she watched her friends prepare to strike. "I wish...I could have done more..."  
  
Out of nowhere a blur slammed into the Youma's side. Mercury was thrown into the air and slammed down on the ground rather roughly.  
  
Takibi snarled and whirled around to see a disturbingly familiar face grinning at him. "You! Finally decided to show up and die with your friends?"  
  
"I will not allow this to go on!" said Tsuki as she pointed at him with the Time Staff. "You may be strong and fast, but there's no way you'll win. You're too evil to go on living!"  
  
"You're not strong enough to kill me," said the thing with a chuckle as it leered at her. He rushed foreword and Tsuki bent down as he vanished and reappeared with his hand in her gut.  
  
"Tsuki!" cried Sailor Moon in shock.  
  
Takibi turned to smirk at her, shifting the girl's body as well.  
  
Usagi gasped and stepped back in horror. Takibi's hand had gone completely through the girl. "No!"  
  
The youma pushed her off his arm casually and licked the blood off hungrily as he stared down at the dying girl. "Heh. You're as sweet as that child was. Perhaps your friends will taste as good as well?"  
  
Tsuki looked up at him, she was clearly in shock, but not yet dead.  
  
"I don't think you'll ever find out," said a new voice.  
  
"Eh?" said Takibi with a snarl on his face as he turned. "You shouldn't be here..."  
  
Ranma looked up at him and smirked. He was walking through the flames that now surrounded the stage. A white glow surrounding his body as he walked up to the thing calmly. "I took a little trip. You'll have to excuse me for being late." He casually shoved Takibi aside and grabbed Tsuki, lifting her up into his arms he carried her off the edge of the stage. "I should leave you for dead girl. You've been a pain in my ass since you showed up."  
  
The girl closed her eyes and passed out finally, the loss of blood and damage to her innards finally too much to bear. He set her on the ground just off the stage and stood upright. He nodded as he saw that the wound had closed up, there was still a scar, and he couldn't spare the energy to heal her completely just yet. He turned towards the senshi and smirked. "Take her and get going."  
  
Sailor Moon nodded dumbly and rushed over to the girl's side. Jupiter had Mercury in her arms as she passed by him. "Who are you? What are you planning?"  
  
"You'll see. If you really want, you can hang around. It'll be one hell of a show," said the boy calmly as he watched the youma closely.  
  
Takibi was watching them closely, trying to gage the boy. He was different, stronger. How much stronger was the question. "I should have killed you when I had the chance."  
  
"Too bad you didn't. I'm gonna kick your ass now," said Ranma as he stepped onto the stage and moved into a combat stance.  
  
"Ranma!" cried Akane from the stands. She rushed up with Jadeite beside her.   
  
The man grabbed her shoulder, stopping her from proceeding. "We can ask him later. We can't hang around," said the man as he glared at the boy for a moment in confusion.  
  
"Hey. I've got one hell of a story for you when I get back," said Ranma as he noticed them. He put up his fists.  
  
"It had better be one hell of a story you jerk!" snapped Akane.  
  
"He won't be around to tell you. I'll just wipe you all out next time," said Takibi as he stood waiting for Ranma. He looked slightly cautious, and had not moved to attack yet.  
  
"Shall we get started?" asked Ranma as he watched the youma carefully.  
  
Takibi's body burst into flames, he merely nodded.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"What the hell are they doing?" said Jupiter as she turned to see the pair staring at each other in the center of the stage. They had taken cover behind some of the seats to check on their wounded friends.  
  
"Waiting for the other to make the first move," said Akane as she watched the scene for a moment.  
  
"What are we going to do? Mercury doesn't seem hurt to badly, but Tsuki isn't breathing well," said Sailor Moon as she looked the two girls over. "I don't know if I can..."  
  
There was a flash of light behind them, and Sailor Pluto stepped out. She looked the scene over for a moment and frowned. "Tsuki...I told you not to..." She sighed and lifted the girl off of the ground, ignoring the others completely. "She will live. Do not worry yourselves. That boy, will not." She looked at the fight for a moment before vanishing again.  
  
"What?" said Akane in shock as he turned to see Ranma still facing off against the youma.  
  
"We should help him!" said Venus with a stern look on her face.  
  
"What can we do?" said Akane as she turned to glare at her. "He's strong enough to beat all of you at once."  
  
"We can stay out of his way, that's what," said Jadeite. "There's nothing else. If we see an opportunity to strike, we take it. Even if he loses, the youma may be weak enough for us to finish it off after the fight."  
  
Akane shuddered at how cold blooded that sounded, but it was also the only real way they could help at all.  
  
Both combatants seemed to vanish and reappear at various places in the stadium as if to illustrate this point.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"You've gotten stronger," snarled Takibi as he met Ranma in mid air and locked arms with him. The boy ignored the flames that burned around the youma and smirked.  
  
"You haven't," he replied.  
  
"I don't need to. You haven't even seen half of my power yet," snarled the thing as he shoved the boy back. Ranma was taken by surprise, and the youma attacked, pounding him relentlessly.  
  
"Shit!" said Ranma in shock as he found himself slamming painfully into the stage, shattering the raised platform completely. He slowly stood up, shaking boards and dust off of himself. "Damn. He's stronger than we thought he'd be."  
  
Takibi appeared behind him and grinned. "You have no idea," he kicked the boy in his back, sending him crashing through the standing side supports on one side.  
  
Ranma managed to stand despite himself and ended up in a large clear area off to the side of the stage.  
  
Takibi landed in front of him calmly and went onto the assault immediately. "Here I thought you might be stronger. What a fool I was."  
  
Ranma immediately went on the defensive, backing away from the thing in a slowly closing spiral. "You haven't beaten me yet."  
  
"You couldn't harm me if I let you," snapped the thing in retort.  
  
"Oh yeah?! Take this! Hiryuu shouten Ha!" Ranma raised his arm into the air and released the sleeping dragon.  
  
Takibi's eyes went wide in shock as he felt a freezing sensation cover his entire body, his flames died away in an instant and he was thrown into the air like a doll.  
  
Ranma smirked as he watched the slowly freezing youma become nothing more than a speck inside the winds of the attack. "Got ya!" He staggered for a moment under the force of the winds and paused. "This thing is huge!" he realized that his attack was much larger than it should have been. "What the hell?" He raised his arms to protect his face as he slowly began to lose his footing. Just before he was lifted off his feet, the attack died down. He was standing alone in the middle of the destroyed stage, a huge patch of grass torn from the ground around him. The base of the attack was easily thirty yards in diameter. "No way!" muttered the pigtailed boy as he glanced around.  
  
Akane was rushing down from the stands. "You...did it!"   
  
The senshi were approaching as well, but with a much more cautious attitude. "Yes. He did," said Jupiter quietly.  
  
"Yeah, well..." said the pigtailed boy as he looked up at the sky for a moment. "He hasn't come down yet. He'll probably be pretty mad when he does."  
  
"You mean...he's not dead?" asked Venus in shock.  
  
"Nope, that blast should have weakened him though," said Ranma. "It's a freezing attack, so it should have hurt him quite a bit." He turned and smirked at them. "I'm afraid this isn't over quite yet."  
  
Ranma nodded up at the sky and the others looked up and quickly moved away. A huge ball of flames crashed to the ground nearby. It burned brightly, creating a column of flames. Takibi slowly rose to his feet where he stood inside the fire and glared at Ranma.  
  
"I'm impressed. I may leave some of you to bury just because of that," he said coldly.  
  
Ranma frowned and moved into a combat stance again. "You've got to kill me first."  
  
"I plan on it. Now you'll find out why I'm a youma lord," said the man as his body began to swell.  
  
Ranma stared in shock as the skinny man began to grow, expanding into a ten-foot tall lizard with red scales. It looked like some sort of dinosaur, three claws with an opposable thumb in the center of the wrist. Its body was a deep crimson, with darker stripes running along its back. On top of its head was a sharp looking crest of spiked flesh that rose into the air for a moment before flattening against its skull.  
  
"Oh shit."  
  
The thing charged foreword, grabbing him by his leg as he attempted to jump away and slamming him into the ground repeatedly like a giant club. After a moment it flung the boy over its head and sent him flying across the field. Ranma came down in the debris of the stage, his body was lifeless and looked flailed about as it came down and bounced once before stopping behind a small portion of the stage out of view.  
  
Takibi curled its lips at the others, they backed away slowly. Terror clear on all of their faces. It roared angrily and slowly began to move towards them with slow steps.  
  
"We can't win," said Jadeite.  
  
"We're not dead yet!" said Sailor Moon with a small frown on her face.   
  
Akane nodded grimly, "We've got to get away, but I can't just leave Ranma like this. We've got to get around him and get to him."  
  
"Running away would seem to be our best option," said Jupiter nervously.  
  
Takibi roared again and they were slowly backed into the bleachers.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"That hurt," said Carrot as they lie on their back.   
  
"Can we move?" asked Ranma.  
  
"No..." muttered Dan painfully.  
  
"We've got nothing left," said Ranma in frustration. "There's nothing we can do!"  
  
"Wish we still had that crystal we had when we were fighting Valdis," said Dan. "I think I can move our hand."  
  
"What about the Spirit Bomb?" asked Ranma.  
  
"No good, we need to much time. There's no way the others will distract him long enough," said Carrot as his mind worked desperately. "I've got an idea, but it's a long shot."  
  
"What is it?" asked Ranma desperately.  
  
"Remember that technique we abandoned? The advanced Kaio Ken?" asked Carrot.  
  
"That move?" gasped Ranma. "We might not be able to go back. Once we do it...""  
  
"Only you two have enough training to pull that off," said Dan. "I'll admit I'm not upset with the idea of having one less voice in hour head."  
  
"Think we can do it?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Do we have a choice?" asked Carrot.  
  
"I guess not," said Ranma as he managed a painful nod. "Well, it's been nice working with you guys."  
  
"Yeah, see you on the other side," said Carrot. He sounded almost cheerful.  
  
"I love you guys," whimpered Pissant.  
  
They began the Kaio Ken technique, combining their power together at the beat of their hearts. This time, they went further, combining their ki completely.   
  
Carrot smirked. "It's working. Just a little more..."  
  
Ranma said nothing, and merely closed their eyes.  
  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Takibi hissed at the group angrily as they spread out and began to move in different directions, giving him multiple targets. They all knew it was mostly useless, they couldn't run away. The monster was too fast for them to escape.   
  
All of them paused as an explosion of light erupted from where Ranma had fallen. Takibi turned his head and ignored his prey for a moment in favor of this new distraction.   
  
Ranma Saotome slowly stood up and began to float off the ground. A golden aura surrounded his body and his hair had changed to the same color. He had a dark smile on his face and he turned to look at the beast. He balled his fists and screamed as the aura exploded outward, his hair stood on end and seemed to grow slightly larger somehow. He relaxed and hung there for a moment staring at Takibi. He raised his hand in front of his face and smirked. "At last, I am the prince of all saiyans once again."  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Takibi vs. Super Ranma!!  



	33. Insertion Part 33

Insertion  
  
Part 33  
  
Super Ranma vs. Fire Dragon Takibi  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"What the hell?!" gasped Akane as she looked at Ranma in shock.   
  
"What!?" snarled Takibi in a low hissing voice as he glared at the boy.  
  
Ranma chuckled and landed on the ground, his aura died down, but the golden hair and more muscular frame remained. "You're not the only one who can transform monster. Now you'll see what I'm really made of." He removed the remains of his shirt by tearing it off of his chest and smirked. He knew he'd be stronger and faster this way, but it had exceeded his expectations beyond what he had anticipated. His power hadn't doubled like he had thought it would, it had quadrupled. "Let's have some fun."  
  
Takibi snarled and turned towards him, bearing his fangs and claws as he charged.   
  
Ranma met the charge by flying towards him head on.  
  
"Come on! Show me what you've got!" he sneered.  
  
"Die!" snarled the monster.   
  
Ranma stopped just in front of him and suddenly flew backwards, keeping just ahead of the thing, and dodging it's strikes at point blank range.  
  
"You'll have to do better than that!" cried Ranma as he slammed his fist across the thing's jaw.  
  
Takibi was thrown into the remains of the stage off to the side by the blow. It staggered back to its feet and shook its head. "This isn't possible! There's no way you're as fast as me!"  
  
"You're overconfident," said the boy casually as he eyed the thing for a moment and landed again.  
  
"You're just blowing off steam boy! You'll never beat me!" snarled Takibi as it jumped to its feet and reared its head back. A ball of fire flew from its jaws as it snapped its head foreword again.  
  
Ranma remained where he was and swatted the ball away casually. It flew into the stands and exploded, sending a shower of debris in every direction.  
  
Takibi snarled and stepped back. "That was interesting."  
  
"You haven't seen interesting. I'm only at half my full potential," said Ranma as he watched the thing for a moment.  
  
"What?" said the lizard as it jumped foreword. "You're bluffing!"  
  
"No way!" muttered Usagi as she watched the battle. "That's only half strength!?"  
  
"He's playing with it!" gasped Jupiter as she realized what was happening.  
  
Takibi slashed at Ranma desperately, the battle was far too fast for the others to really see in more than in passing glimpses. "I will not lose to you! You're nothing but a human!"  
  
"I'm more than that," said Ranma as he kicked the thing in its chest.   
  
Takibi grunted in pain as he slammed into the ground. It rose to its feet again and glared at him. "He's so strong! This shouldn't be!"  
  
Ranma appeared in front of him and hit him with a hard right in his muzzle. The thing's neck snapped backwards and it toppled onto its back. Ranma backed away as it rolled backwards and flipped onto its feet.  
  
The pigtailed boy put up his fists and smirked. "Give up?"  
  
"No way!" snapped the monster.  
  
The boy shrugged his shoulders casually and blasted foreword into a kick. Takibi's claw shot up and he grabbed the boy's leg. "Ha! Too slow this time! Die!" He tried to slam his opponent into the ground again, but instead of surprise, Ranma had a smirk on his face.  
  
"Got ya," said the boy as he twisted in midair and slung the monster into one of the concrete walls just below the stands.  
  
Takibi stood up and snarled again. "What are you?"  
  
"Ally to good, nightmare to you," said the boy as he frowned suddenly.   
  
"You're just a human! I am the most powerful being on this planet! You'll never win!" roared the creature.  
  
"I'm through playing with you Takibi. It's time I finished you off," said the boy coldly. "For everyone you've murdered, I'm going to destroy you now."  
  
"Give it your best shot!" snarled the monster as he readied himself.  
  
Ranma didn't respond; he merely shot foreword with the force of a bullet. Takibi backed up into the stands, blocking desperately as the boy's relentless attack pummeled his body anyway. Finally, Ranma vanished from in front of him and reappeared behind him, kicking him downward again.  
  
The beast was blasted back through the stands, carving a path through the bleachers as he rocketed back into the ground.  
  
Ranma smirked at him, floating just above him as the thing began to move inside the crater his landing had created. "You fool. I am the weakest of my kind. You're power is nothing to the others. They will destroy you."  
  
"I'll make sure to tell them that when I send them to see you in hell," said the boy as a ball of golden energy appeared in his palm.  
  
Takibi tried to jump up and attack, but Ranma's blast was too fast, and too powerful. The entire stadium shook from the force of the blast as the thing was shot back into the ground again. Finally the light subsided and Ranma stood alone, staring down at a smoking skeleton inside the huge blast crater that was now present where the monster had once been. He snorted and turned to face the others.  
  
The senshi backed away nervously as he approached calmly and looked at Jadeite and Akane for a moment.  
  
"You were late," said the man with a smirk on his face.  
  
"I got sidetracked," replied Ranma with a shrug. "How are things here?"  
  
"Not good since you left," replied Akane as she frowned at him. "The senshi have been working with us, and we've got some help from that green headed guy."  
  
"The Mask, huh?" said Ranma as he looked at the group of girls for a moment. All of them except for Usagi backed away a little more. He pointed at Jupiter and frowned. "You owe me an arm lady."  
  
"Huh?" muttered the girl in confusion.   
  
"Where are the others? I don't see tux boy around either," commented Ranma as he looked around for a moment.  
  
"He was hurt," said Usagi sadly.  
  
"Still alive?" asked Ranma casually.  
  
"Yes," said the girl nervously.  
  
Ranma didn't respond to that and turned towards Akane again. "Well, here I am."  
  
"Just in time, as usual," commented Jadeite with a small snort.  
  
"I'll see you guys back at headquarters later on," said Ranma as he gave them a small nod.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma landed on the rooftop of the building that housed the headquarters of the MIB. He looked out over the rooftops for a moment and sighed. "Well, we're definitely back."  
  
"You two still there?" asked Dan.  
  
"Yeah, but there's only one of us at the moment," said the new being. "I'm not sure, but I feel a little weird."  
  
"Huh?" asked Pissant in confusion.  
  
"Something's happening," said Dan as he felt something as well.  
  
Ranma fell to his knees, a weakening feeling coursing through his body suddenly. "What the?"  
  
"You all right?" asked Dan as he took control and made them stand again.  
  
"What the hell?" said Carrot. "We're back...to normal..."  
  
"How?" asked Ranma in confusion.  
  
"I'm not sure," replied Carrot. "Maybe merging together like that is kind of like mixing oil and water. It doesn't last very long?"  
  
"We'd to well to remember that in the future," said Dan.  
  
"Maybe we can make it last a while, we should work on it. If that thing wasn't bluffing, and we transform back at the wrong time..." said Carrot.  
  
"Right," said Ranma with a slightly nervous edge to his voice.   
  
"Come on. Let's go inside, we've got some explaining to do," said Dan.  
  
"It sure feels good to be home," said Pissant cheerfully.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"I could have stayed in the past. I could have even been king!" said Ranma as he pushed a shopping cart through a department store with Akane and Nephrite following behind him. "But, my place is here. So I drank the juice, said the words and here I am." He had decided to buy some larger clothes to fit his new form for his training. Rather than wait until he explained things to the others, he'd just left. Nephrite and Akane were impatient and decided to tag along.  
  
There was a flash of light in front of them. The Senshi of Pluto stepped out and glared at him. "I thought as much. So that was you."  
  
"Huh? Oh. Hi," said Ranma as he looked at her for a moment.  
  
The other people in the store paused and stared at the woman as she faced off against the trio. "Hi? That's all you have to say?" asked Pluto.  
  
"What else do you want?" replied Ranma with a shrug.  
  
"Did you say the words right?" said Pluto as she glared at him for a moment.  
  
"Well, maybe I didn't say every little syllable no, but basically I said em, yeah. Basically..."  
  
Pluto turned completely red. "You idiot! Do you have any idea what you've done?" She pointed the time staff at him threateningly.  
  
"Um...Ranma?" muttered Akane nervously.  
  
"I thought I was just buying a new shirt," replied the boy in confusion as he looked into his cart.  
  
"Crystal Tokyo is gone! When you misspoke the words you summoned an army of creatures to this world! It will be changed forever!"  
  
"You did that?" asked Nephrite as he looked at Ranma for a moment.  
  
"I guess so. How bad could it be? I mean, I can take a stupid army of creatures," said Ranma casually.  
  
There was a commotion near the registers, a strange energy crackled across the people standing in line and sent them flying away.  
  
A small fuzzy creature stood between two racks of assorted candy on either side of the register with its back to them.  
  
"What the hell?" said Ranma as he shoved Akane and Pluto aside.  
  
The small creature turned to face him and glared at him for a moment. Power crackled across its hide as it stared him down and gave a horrifying call.  
  
"Chuuuu!"  
  
Ranma stepped back and was thrown off of his feet by a bolt of power that blasted from the tiny rodent. He was thrown into the sporting goods section of the store, behind a counter of weapons.  
  
"We must destroy it!" said Pluto from where she was sprawled across the floor.  
  
The tiny rodent turned to look at them and jumped up and down excitedly. "Pika!"  
  
"What is that?" gasped Akane.  
  
The animal abruptly stopped jumping as a gunshot rang out across the store. The ground at its feet shattered and it looked up to see Ranma standing on top of a display with a rifle in his grip.  
  
"Sir. I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to leave the store," said the boy calmly.  
  
The rodent hissed at him and backed away slightly. "Pikachu!"  
  
Ranma tossed the weapon into the air and jumped onto another display that was on wheels. It rolled foreword and he caught the rifle he had procured and began to fire shots at the creature. It jumped around excitedly, dodging the bullets.   
  
The pigtailed boy jumped down off of the display as the creature bounced off a trampoline and into the air over his head, showering the room with electricity. The boy fired into the air at the thing as it passed over him.  
  
Finally, just over his head, the creature seemed to explode in a rather messy shower of gore. The hindquarters fell to the ground and twitched for a moment.   
  
Ranma smirked as he twirled the weapon around on his hand and put it in the leather holster at his side.   
  
"Moron," commented Pluto. "If you had stayed in the past, I would have destroyed you. You also wouldn't have screwed this up, and we'd all be a lot happier."  
  
Ranma grabbed her and leaned her down. "Hail to the king, baby." He promptly kissed her full on the lips and then dropped her on the ground.  
  
She sat there for a moment working her mouth in silence.  
  
"Come on, Akane," he said as he pushed his cart through one of the registers.   
  
Nephrite followed behind the girl, chuckling the whole time. He paused and looked down at the senshi for a moment. "Hasn't changed a bit, has he?"  
  
Pluto screamed in anger and vanished in a flash of light.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Somewhere, deep in the wilderness of Japan...  
  
A flash of light formed in the middle of the woods. A tiny figure stepped out and looked around for a moment. She adjusted the backpack on her shoulders for a moment before stepping towards the city.   
  
Unknown to her, another figure stepped out of the porthole just after she left. He was taller, and dressed in a business suit. "Now where am I? Oh bother," said Ryoga as he sighed and realized he was in the middle of the woods again. Moments before, he had been indoors.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
The next day...  
  
Ranma was lying on his back under the Mikon Taka. It was parked in the woods on the mountain that housed the Masaki shrine. A thick book was beside him, and various tools were spread out across the ground. He was working on something on the ship and cursing every once and a while before flipping through the pages of the book again.  
  
"Let's see, this goes here right?" he muttered to himself.  
  
"No moron! It goes there!" he replied to himself out loud while smacking himself over his head.   
  
"Ouch! Okay! Jeez," he replied again. "What about this?" he asked himself.  
  
"Here," he replied to himself while pointing at the innards of the ship.  
  
"Okay," he answered and started working again.  
  
He paused and looked up. A woman's head was poking from the underside of the ship watching him intently.  
  
"Hiya," said the woman. She had long, spiky, cyan colored hair.  
  
"Oh. Hello," he answered as he blinked at her.  
  
"Is this your ship?" she asked as she phased through the hull and sat down next to where he was lying, hunching over just below the hull.  
  
"Yup," he answered dumbly. "You must be Ryoko."  
  
"You know me?" she answered in suspicious looking surprise.  
  
"Yup, 'scuse me," he reached for a tool near where she was sitting and looked back at his work again.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked. "Who are you talking to?"  
  
"I'm talking to myself, and I live here," he said as he looked at her for a moment.  
  
"On the mountain?" she asked as she peered at him with a small frown on her face.  
  
"No. I live in Nerima, but I don't have a place to park this thing. I got old man Masaki's permission to leave it here for a little while."  
  
"Oh," said Ryoko dumbly. "How do you know who I am?"  
  
"Everyone's heard of A class criminal Ryoko," replied the boy as he leveled his stare at her.  
  
"I've been here a while kid, you'd better have a better explanation than that," said the woman coldly.  
  
"There's an old legend that goes with this mountain. It talks about a demon that was slain by a great warrior named Yosho. It coincides with the disappearance of the Jurai Crowned Prince Yosho, and the A class criminal Ryoko. It doesn't take a genius to figure the rest out. I ran into Tenchi Masaki yesterday just after he released you."  
  
"You mean, you know who I am? You're not scared?" said the woman as she peered at him for a moment.  
  
"Yes, and no," said the boy with a sour looking frown forming on his face.  
  
"Well. I suppose I can forgive you this time. If you could do me a favor," said the woman with a rather unusual smirk on her face.  
  
"The reason I'm fixing this ship is because it isn't working right now. I can't take Princess Ayeka back to Jurai," said the boy as he turned to look at her.  
  
"Hey, you seem to know an awful lot for an Earthling buddy," said the woman with a slightly angry tone.  
  
"Yeah, well. It's my job to know these things," he said with a shrug. "Besides, who the hell doesn't notice a Juraian Cruiser descending on your planet in the middle of the night?"   
  
"Your job?" asked Ryoko with an even more confused frown.  
  
"I keep track of people like you on this planet. You're currently under the protection of Jurai, however indirectly that is. So, you're legal I suppose."  
  
"I didn't know Earth had a police force like that," said the woman as she looked at him.  
  
"A lot can happen in... seven thousand years? Is that what it was? I forgot," said the boy as he looked thoughtful for a moment.  
  
"Something like that," said the woman with a shrug. She lost interest and floated back into the sky, by passing through his ship.  
  
"Man, what a crazy chick," said Ranma as he shook his head and went back to work. He promptly smacked himself again. "No! It goes here!"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Later that day...  
  
"How are you feeling Mamo-chan?" asked Usagi as she stood at the foot of her boyfriend's bed. She had a bouquet of flowers in her grip as she looked at him for a moment.  
  
"I've felt better," he replied a little sourly. He was lying on his back, covered in bandages and casts. The only thing not covered by one or the other was his head. "If it wasn't burned, it was broken basically."  
  
"You poor thing," said the girl sympathetically.  
  
He turned his head away in self-disgust. "I can't believe I was so careless. I let him get his hands on me and it was all over. You barely got away in time..."  
  
"I know, we all think you were very brave," insisted the girl as she sat down beside him. "Mamo-chan. I've got good news."  
  
"What is it?" he asked with an interested look on his face.  
  
"We got it, it's finally gone," she said cheerfully.  
  
Mamoru sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. Hopefully things will get back to normal. How did you..."  
  
"We didn't," replied the girl. "That man who used to beat us all up all the time came back. He destroyed it, with his bare hands."  
  
Mamoru looked visibly shaken at this. "He what?"  
  
"I don't think he's evil. I think that woman is wrong about him. He seems familiar somehow," said the girl as she looked away from her boyfriend.  
  
"I think he seems familiar too, but he's..." Mamoru looked up and went pale.  
  
"Hiya," said Ranma as he walked through the door of the room. "Well, don't you look like hell?" He had a cheerful looking smile on his face as he strolled across the room.  
  
"What are you doing here?" stammered Mamoru as he looked at the boy in shock.  
  
"I heard you went and got yourself hurt, so I thought I'd stop by and laugh at you for a little while," said Ranma with a casual shrug.  
  
"You came to visit him?" said Usagi dumbly.  
  
"Sure. Why not?" said Ranma as he looked at her for a moment. "So, how is my favorite punching bag doing today?" He put his hand on one of the raised legs and Mamoru groaned in pain. "Oh. Sorry," said the pigtailed boy as he moved his head.  
  
"No better than when you put me in here," snarled the man as he glared at the boy.  
  
"Hey, you and those crazy chicks kept attacking me for no reason. What was I supposed to do? Let you kill me?"  
  
"Sorry," said Usagi sheepishly. "We don't have to fight anymore do we?"  
  
"Not if you stop trying to kill me," said Ranma as he glanced at her for a moment. "Really, Princess, I thought you were better than that. Following that idiot Pluto around like a dog on a leash."  
  
"Who's an idiot?" snapped Pluto as she came into the room with Tsuki by her side.  
  
"Tsu-chan! You're all right!" cried Usagi as she jumped up and hugged the girl roughly.  
  
"Hiya!" said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"What's he doing here?" asked Tsuki as she glared at the boy for a moment hatefully.  
  
"Leaving I hope," said Pluto coldly.  
  
"Come now Setsuna, let's be civil. There are sick people here," said Ranma as he tapped Mamoru's leg for emphasis. The man gave another set of painful groans in reply to this.  
  
"You are a threat to the future. I will see you destroyed, with or without their help," said Setsuna coldly as she glared at him.  
  
"Bah! The future," snorted Ranma in disgust. "This one a long time have I watched. All her life has she looked away...to the future, to the horizon. Never her mind on where she was. Hmm? What she was doing. Humph!" Ranma poked Pluto in the chest to emphasize this and turned away from her. "Bah!"  
  
Pluto simply stared at him in shock. She worked her mouth for a moment before turning red with anger yet again, and storming out of the room in a huff.  
  
"Sorry Usagi, Mamoru, I gotta go now," said Tsuki sheepishly as she followed after her mistress.   
  
Ranma smirked after they left and nodded his head. "Too easy they make it at times."  
  
"Why are you talking like that?" asked Mamoru dumbly.  
  
"It's nothing. I've seen what I wanted to, I'll leave now," said the boy as he walked out the door.  
  
"See, he's not so bad," said Usagi. It was easy to tell something was bothering her though.   
  
A roar of laughter started in the hall just after the door closed and slowly faded away as Ranma left.  
  
"Yeah, he's a great guy," commented Mamoru with a sour frown.  
  
Usagi wasn't paying much attention though. "Princess? Where have I heard that voice before?" she thought to herself.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"So, Takibi has failed us?" said Metallia as Beryl stood in front of her shrine.  
  
"Yes, he was destroyed by a powerful fighter..."  
  
"It is of little consequence. The others are still gathering energy more quickly than I had anticipated. They will be to late to stop us," said the evil thing coldly. "Destroy him if you can. Otherwise, it is a problem that can be easily ignored for the time being."  
  
Beryl frowned at this. "If he could be turned, he would be a powerful ally."  
  
"Can it be done?" asked Metallia.  
  
"He shall join us, or die, my master," replied Beryl as she bowed deeply.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next time: Ranma Saotome vs. The Army of Cuteness.  
  



	34. Insertion Part 34

Insertion  
  
Part 34  
  
Ranma Saotome vs. The Army of Cutness  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma looked down at his watch and smirked. "Hey, It's time," said the boy cheerfully as he sat down in front of the TV and turned it on.   
  
Akane sat down next to him and frowned. "You convinced them?"  
  
"They think I was off on a training journey after being beaten by that youma," said the boy with a casual shrug. It had surprised him how easily it had been to convince everyone of where he'd been. "I told them I got into a fight with it, and that it was too strong. So I just went off for a week or two to train until I could beat it."  
  
Genma and Soun had exclaimed how brave the boy had been and immediately agreed to a wedding to celebrate. Nabiki seemed to accept it on face value as well, not questioning him after he'd returned and given the rather simple explanation. That struck him as odd, but he decided not to dwell on it at the moment. After he'd beaten both men into submission he'd gone on as he'd always had.  
  
"What is this anyway?" asked Akane as she looked at the screen for a moment.  
  
"Dragon Ball Z," said the boy cheerfully as he watched his show.  
  
Akane watched with him for a moment and suddenly started making choking noises. It was the episode where Goku was fighting Frieza. Her eyes went wide as the saiyan's friend died, and Goku suddenly exploded with rage, changing into the first level of Super Saiyajin. "What the hell?"   
  
"What?" said the boy as he looked at her for a moment. She had stood up and was backing away from him.   
  
"You've been using techniques from an anime?!" she exclaimed in shock.  
  
"Oh. You didn't know?" said the boy cheerfully as he looked up at her.  
  
"That's..." she blinked and sat down.  
  
"Well, I suppose it's a little odd, but it's worked so far," he replied with a shrug. "No big deal really."  
  
The girl just nodded and sat down next to him again. She suddenly found this show to be very interesting.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"So, you've returned," said Hotaru calmly as she looked at Ranma and smirked.  
  
"Hey. What's up?" said the boy as he squat down next to her. "What are you still doing up, Saturn?"  
  
Hotaru's eyes went wide and she stared at him dumbly. "He knows about us?" whimpered the little girl's slightly scared voice in confusion.  
  
Ranma blinked and looked at her for a moment. "Oh boy."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Several moments's later, Hotaru had finished her explanation.  
  
"So, you've been like this for a week or so?" said the boy with a small sigh.  
  
"That's right. I was able to speak with her a few days ago," said Saturn with a short nod. "I've been picking up her training."  
  
"Mistress Nine?" asked the boy as he eyed her for a moment cautiously.  
  
This caused a look of shock across the young girl's face.   
  
"Oh, still there is she?" said the boy with a smirk on his face. "I was hoping you'd managed to get rid of her."  
  
Hotaru frowned and looked away from him. "It started after you let us touch that chi ball."  
  
"Oh?" said Ranma as he looked at them for a moment.  
  
"Yes, we were...healed," said Saturn calmly. "We were in pieces, to merge with the young girl when the time came. However, whatever that ball was made of, it made us whole again. Now we're all stuck here, inside the one body."  
  
"Still planning on raising Pharo 90?" asked the boy as he leaned back and relaxed on the ground, lying across the yard.  
  
"Of course, you can't stop me," sneered Hotaru as her face suddenly changed into a mask of hatred.  
  
"I'll bet I can," replied the boy with a shrug.   
  
"Well little Hotaru, it seems you've gotten more interesting," said the boy as he smirked at her and sat up. "I'll tell you a secret."  
  
The girl's face suddenly changed again, becoming somewhat shy. "What?"  
  
"Remember when I told you that I was different? That I had a special power?" His eyes shined with amusement as he looked her over for a moment.  
  
The girl nodded nervously, blushing profusely.   
  
"I'm just like you. I've got people in my head too," said the boy as he put his finger up to his lips and winked at her.  
  
"R-really?" stammered the girl as she stepped back from him.  
  
"Yup, there's four of us," said the boy as he smirked at her. "Don't worry. It's not as bad as it seems. We don't always get along, but we manage."  
  
Hotaru nodded and tears welled up in her eyes. "I thought I was crazy!"  
  
"Well, most people would say that. It's best if you don't tell other people about it," said the boy with a small shrug. "Only my dad knows, and I kinda wish I hadn't told him."  
  
"Oh," said the girl nervously. "Should I tell my daddy?"  
  
"No," replied Saturn coldly, changing the girl's voice and mannerisms again.  
  
"That probably wouldn't be a good idea," agreed Ranma. "I'm sure he loves you, but he might get scared and try to help you. He'd do what he thought was right, but that wouldn't be good for you as you are now. He'd take you to a doctor and try to help you."  
  
"Huh?" stammered the girl in shock.  
  
"Well, the thing is. Most people who hear voices, or think they have more than one person inside them are crazy. You and I are special. You see, we really do have other people inside us. So trying to help us like that would be good for most people, but not for us. It's better if we keep it a secret."  
  
"Oh," said the girl as she seemed to understand.  
  
"This grows tiresome," said Nine as she took over and glared at the boy.  
  
"Well then. It's time we started training then," said Ranma as he stood up to his full height and smirked at her. "Today we're going to do something special. I'm going to teach you how to take advantage of your new state."  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Saturn as she looked up at him for a moment.  
  
"It's a technique I like to use myself, I call it the Kaio Ken," said the boy as he smirked at her. "With you in the body, I can start teaching you more advanced techniques. You're already a fighter, and you can help little Hotaru with her meditation techniques."  
  
"What need to I have of this?" snapped Nine as she glared at him. "I could destroy this planet, once I take over completely."  
  
"You don't seem to understand your situation lady," said Ranma with a small chuckle.  
  
"What do you mean?" said the angry looking girl as she stepped back.  
  
"You're never going to merge with Hotaru now. When I healed you, I made you three separate entities. Meaning that you'll always have these two with you, and you can't ever leave that body again."  
  
Nine's face fell suddenly and she stared at him. "You're lying!"  
  
"He's not," said Saturn coldly.   
  
"Besides, who the hell in this group can't blow up a planet? Big deal. I could do it if I wanted to," snorted the boy as he turned away from her.  
  
Nine was staring at the ground in horror, she grit her teeth and gave a grunt of effort, attempting to detach herself from Hotaru for a brief moment. It wasn't working. "What have you done to me?"  
  
"Aw, too bad. Well little student, it's time we got started," said Ranma cheerfully. The look on his face promised much pain in the future though.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"An interesting development," said Carrot as he walked home by himself a few hours later.  
  
"Well, what do we do now?" asked Dan.  
  
"We've got other problems now. Like that army of evil we woke up. We've got to figure out what we can do about it," said Carrot with a small shrug.  
  
Out of nowhere, Tsuki jumped at them while swinging the Staff of Time in a wide arc.  
  
He moved his head slightly, dodging the strike lazily. The girl continued to press her assault and twirled the staff around her body, jabbing and slashing at him with it. Each strike was dodged without much effort and he smirked at her lazily.   
  
"Die!" cried the girl hatefully.  
  
"Is there something you want?" he asked calmly.  
  
Tsuki snorted in disgust and stopped her assault. "I'm supposed to give this to you." She handed him a letter and turned away, vanishing into a vortex.  
  
He blinked and looked at the letter for a moment before opening it. It was sealed with Pluto's crest in a large blob of wax. He broke the seal and started reading.  
  
"Genaku. Leave Saturn alone,  
  
As this is your mess, you're going to clean it up. There is a gateway to the world where these creatures come from in the woods just north of Tokyo. They are preparing to invade, but have not yet crossed over. Go and stop them, because I'm not going to do it for you. Get moving you lazy bastard!  
  
Pluto."  
  
Ranma sighed and tossed the letter into a nearby trashcan. "In other words, there's nothing she can do about it, and she's hoping we can find a way," said Carrot lazily.  
  
"Sounds about right to me," said Dan with a small snort.  
  
The group paused as a beautiful gajin woman with long blonde hair appeared in front of them. She smiled and watched them for a moment.   
  
"Hello," said Carrot as he arched his eyebrow at her and smirked.  
  
"We don't have time for this!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"There's always time for this, you're starting to make me think that you're gay or something," said Dan with a small snort.  
  
The woman walked up to them and smiled, rows of fangs now evident inside her mouth.  
  
"What the?" they stammered as they backed away into a combat stance.  
  
"Relax," she replied calmly. "I'm here to help you...this time."  
  
"So, you're match boy's replacement are you?" said Ranma as he relaxed his stance a little.  
  
"Something like that. My name is Tochi," said the woman as she offered her hand.  
  
Ranma looked skeptical, but accepted it. "The pleasure is all yours, I assure you."  
  
She arched her eyebrow slightly and then laughed. "Well, always the charmer I see."  
  
"So, you've found out about our invading friends have you?" said Ranma as he looked up at the castle again.  
  
"Yes. It is in both of our interests to rid ourselves of these...things," said the woman with a frown forming on her face.  
  
"Something's going on at that mountain, I'm not sure what it is, but I'm betting it's related to our new friends," said Ranma with a shrug of his shoulders. The mountain he was looking at had a dark cloud over it. Resting on the peak was a large castle. Now it was nothing more than a museum, but it had once been the palace of one of the feudal lords a few hundred years ago. "I'm going to check out something related to that. I'll call you if anything comes up."  
  
"We seem to think the same," agreed the woman as she looked up at the palace. "I was going to investigate myself, but having someone along would be useful. I'm not sure what I'll find up there."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"We're detecting something," said Kunzite as he looked up at the large map display inside the headquarters of the MIB. There was a purple dot of light blinking on one of the screens.  
  
"What is it?" said Akane as she kicked her feet off of her desk and stood up. She walked over and leaned over the man's workstation. He was typing on the controls of the map and had a frown on his face.   
  
"Unknown, it's in the air, and doesn't match a youma energy pattern, or any known alien life form," replied the man as he looked at her. "An unknown."  
  
"So now what?" asked Jadeite as he walked over from his own desk and sat down on the edge of the console.  
  
Akane smirked at him and put her shades on. "Let's go say hello."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Ranma," said Akane's voice from his watch.   
  
"What's up?" asked the boy as he answered her casually.  
  
"We've got an unknown life form," said the girl. "I'm taking Nephrite to check it out."  
  
"Where at?" asked the boy with a small frown.  
  
"It's near to Nerima, south of it," said the girl.  
  
He nodded to himself. "I'm on the other side of Tokyo, taking care of some business. Get Jadeite, he's nearby to it."  
  
"Right," said the girl.  
  
"Careful kid, there's a lot going on," said the boy as he looked up towards a nearby mountain.  
  
"Think it's one of those things Pluto warned us about?" asked the girl.  
  
"Very likely, watch yourself," said Ranma.   
  
"Right, watch yourself boss," said the girl.  
  
"Same to you," he replied. He turned off the communicator and frowned at the castle. "Something's up."  
  
"Well handsome, what's the plan?" asked the blonde woman who stood next to him. She had an evil looking smirk on her face as she looked him over.  
  
"I don't trust you," he answered calmly. "Come along if you like, but don't expect me to help you if you get into trouble."  
  
"Very well, I shall extend the same courtesy," she replied calmly as she turned towards the path that would lead them to the place.  
  
"Right," grumbled Ranma.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Akane looked around in the small wooded area where the signal had led them. "It's in here somewhere."  
  
Jadeite frowned and nodded. The other two had interrupted his lunch and he wasn't in the best of moods. "This had better be good."  
  
Akane paused and noticed Nephrite was leaning against a nearby tree almost lazily. "I don't see anything. Did we miss it?"  
  
There was a long birdlike call. The trio tensed up suddenly and looked around. Whatever it was, it sounded very big.  
  
"There!" whispered Akane as she pointed up into the trees.  
  
Sitting on one of the larger branches, was a huge dinosaur like creature. It looked like it was made out of stone almost, and it's long beak snapped open before it gave another call.   
  
"What should we do?" muttered Nephrite as he looked up at the thing.   
  
"Kill it," replied Akane as she took the shotgun like weapon she was carrying off of her back and cocked it.  
  
"It looks like a youma, but..." commented Jadeite.   
  
"You're right, it feels different," agreed Nephrite. "Come on." They both pulled similar weapons out and moved up beside Akane. The girl was already training her weapon on the thing.  
  
"Got ya," said the girl as it came into her sites.  
  
Without warning, it jumped into the air and swooped down.  
  
The force of its passing threw the trio back as it dove and soared into the air just over their heads. It rose higher and higher into the sky, giving another sharp birdlike call.   
  
"Damn it!" cried Akane as she started to run after it.  
  
"After it!" cried Jadeite as he started to run.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Inside a quiet store in a shopping mall, there were several people browsing at clothes. The large glass window in behind them largely ignored. No one saw the huge beast swooping down on them from above. It shattered through the glass and rolled across the store, scattering shoppers and displays in its wake. It shook its head as it regained its footing and looked around, giving another call before it scurried away into the store.  
  
Two people had just emerged from the bathroom and stood looking at the scene dumbly. The open door behind them billowed smoke as they exited and stared at the creature for a moment.   
  
The skinny redhead with long hair turned towards his companion, a bearded man in a trench coat and smacked him on the chest.   
  
"Fuck! I told you that was some good shit!"   
  
His silent companion took a small bag from his pocket and looked at it for a moment. He then nodded and put it back into his pocket before nodding in agreement.  
  
"Come on man, let's go over to the panties section and see if we can find some fuckin babes," said the skinny boy as he started to wander off.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
A black car screeched to a halt just outside the main entrance to the mall. Akane stepped out with her two companions and looked on as people poured out of the entrance. "I think we've found it."  
  
"Right," commented Jadeite. He opened the trunk and took out three weapons. They were all pump shotguns. "We won't be able to use our weapons in here, too many people," he said as he handed them out.  
  
Akane nodded and cocked hers. "Let's go."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Inside they found a few stragglers wandering around, most of them didn't seem to realize what was going on as they wandered through the destroyed store.   
  
"If I was a giant flying monster in a mall, where would I be?" asked Akane as she looked back at her companions.  
  
"The food court," replied Jadeite sourly.  
  
"You can have lunch later," snorted Nephrite.  
  
"Right," commented the man with a small sigh.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Naru frowned as she put on the sweater she was thinking of buying inside the dressing room of the store. "I wish Usagi was here, she always knows what looks good on me." She sighed in discontent and shook her head. The girl was her best friend, but they never seemed to be able to hang out these days. She was always so busy with her life lately. There was a pounding on the door and she jumped in surprise. "Just a moment."  
  
The pounding started again, more urgent this time. "Hold on! I'm almost done!" she said as she turned towards the door in slight irritation. "Honestly, some people have no patience."  
  
This time, the door shook violently. She blinked and opened it to tell off the person on the other side. She paused and saw the huge creature looking down on her with a snarl on its beak.  
  
"Oh man. Not again," she sighed almost lazily.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Akane turned as the creature burst into the air overhead. She raised her weapon to fire, but paused as she noticed that it now was carrying a young girl in its grip. "What?"  
  
"Damn!" growled Nephrite as he watched it sail into the mall with its prisoner.  
  
"After it!" called Jadeite as he rushed by them.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Naru watched the people below her and sighed. Her arms were crossed and she didn't look very frightened. "I wonder when Sailor Moon will show up to save me?" she commented sourly. She then turned to look at the creature carrying her. "How many times are you going to do this to me? It's getting old."  
  
The creature looked down at her and squawked at her before turning its attention back towards flying through the narrow space.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Just below them, Akane and the others pushed through the confused looking crowd and made their way after the creature. It was a two-story mall, and the creature sailed over one of the bridges that connected the two sides of the mall on the upper level. It then vanished around a corner and disappeared.   
  
"Damn!" snapped Nephrite. "We lost it!"  
  
"How the hell do you lose a twenty foot flying monster in the middle of a mall!?" snapped the girl as she glared at her companions.  
  
"We'll ask it when we find it," replied Jadeite calmly as he looked around. There was a stage set up in the middle of where they were standing with a microphone.   
  
Akane shrugged and walked up to the mike, she picked it up and started to sing into it.  
  
"Haruka tooku ni ukan deru daremo furerarenai tozasareta basho  
yokubou no hate okashita tsumi wasureraretemo...  
kanashii kodoku ni obieta  
iki ba no nai tamashii no sakebi ga watashi o yonda   
sono ashi moto o terashi dasu tsuki no hikari mo ano taiyou mo  
atokata mo naku kowashitemo ii? yasashiku kiss o shite   
nani ga o te ni ireru tame ni mamoru tame ni  
koko he machibikareru sorezore no deai no hate ni ha   
I wanna kiss in the dark tsuyoku hakanai  
kuchibiru ni kokoro mado wasaretemo  
hiki kaesu koto no dekinai REERU ha mou anata o kizutsukeru you ni  
ashita he hashiri tsuzukeru ..."  
  
"What are you doing?" muttered Jadeite dumbly.  
  
Nephrite snorted. "Karaoki it seems."  
  
"This isn't the time for that!" snapped Jadeite.  
  
"Can you think of something better?" said the girl with a shrug.  
  
"I dunno, we could look for the monster?" said Nephrite calmly as he looked up at her.  
  
A long call came from somewhere inside the mall.  
  
"What the?" muttered Nephrite dumbly.  
  
"Keep singing!" said Jadeite as he and Nephrite moved into ready positions.  
  
Akane nodded, a shocked look on her face. "Dare ga o nikumi tagaini kizu o nameatta mama ikitegoran  
nani mo nozomazu toumei na mono watashi o kurushimeru  
fumi konda kono FIIRUDO mamoru tame ni  
watashi ha koko ni iru sono toki o zutto matteita   
I wanna kiss in the dark omoku utsukushii  
shisen ni hi o tsukerare sou ni nattemo  
hiki kaesu koto no dekinai REERU ha mou subete o kizutsukeru you ni  
watashi he hashiri tsuzukeru ..."  
  
The creature called again in response to the tune.  
  
"You grab the girl! I'll take the shot!" called Jadeite as he rushed up a nearby set of stairs to the second floor.   
  
Nephrite nodded and followed him, moving a little further down on the second floor.  
  
Akane kept singing and moved her shotgun into a ready firing position. "Never, you can go outside  
kiss o shite agere semete saigo ni  
hiki kaesu koto no dekinai REERU ha mou anata o kizutsukeru you ni  
ashita he hashiri tsuzukeru   
I wanna kiss in the dark kanau wa nai yume  
REERU mo sou hontou ha kono te no naka he  
subete ga hashiri tsuzukeru!"  
  
The song ended, and the creature flew down the mall towards them, Naru still in its grip.  
  
"Got ya!" cried Nephrite as he jumped and caught the girl around her waist. The thing lost her and she tumbled to the ground with him, landing on his chest.  
  
The thing kept flying, moving under the overpass. Jadeite snarled and fired two clean shots into its back, sending it sprawling across the ground.  
  
It lay still and silent after twitching for a moment.   
  
The trio moved around the thing standing and looking at it for a moment. "So. You want light meat or dark meat?" asked Akane.  
  
"You're just saying that because you know I haven't eaten yet!" snapped Jadeite.  
  
"I'll buy you lunch then," replied Nephrite.  
  
The trio cocked their shotguns in unison.  
  
The thing jumped to life, squawking loudly.  
  
Akane and her companions all unloaded a few more rounds into it, sending it to the ground dead this time.  
  
Naru rushed up beside them with a huge grin on her face. "Wow! That was so cool!"  
  
"Scuse us miss," said Nephrite as he gave her a small salute. They walked away leaving the thing where it was.  
  
"Who are you people?" called the girl.  
  
"Just a figment of your imagination," said Akane as she put on her shades at the same time as her two companions. They turned the corner and moved back towards their car.  
  
Naru stood watching the scene with hearts in her eyes. "Wow! That was soooo cool!"  
  
She turned to walk away, passing a large man who was staring at a poster set up in the middle of the floor. "A sailboat," she whispered dreamily.  
  
The man screamed in rage and kicked the magic eye poster over while cursing loudly.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma stood inside the entrance to the castle and glanced around. The blonde woman stood behind him with a smirk on her face. The place was empty, not unusual considering the intimidating presence of the place from the outside. It was huge, and a dark cloud cover had settled just above the place.   
  
"It isn't inside this place," said the woman as she smirked at him.  
  
"You'll forgive me if I don't take your word for it," said the boy calmly as he continued to walk.  
  
Tokei shrugged her shoulders and followed him inside. He glanced around and frowned. Something was definitely moving around inside the place. Whatever it was, it was hidden in the shadows.  
  
Tokei nodded her head towards one of the suits of armor that lined the halls of the place. Two glowing eyes were looking at them from inside one of the helmets, just behind the mask of the Samurai armor.  
  
"Come on out of there," said Ranma as he glared at it for a moment.  
  
A hissing noise spat at them from inside the helmet as Ranma knocked it off. It clattered across the ground and landed in a corner. A few seconds later, a small furry creature jumped out and hissed at them.   
  
"How cute," commented Tokei sourly. She raised her hand and a spike of stone erupted from the ground, spearing the thing where it stood.  
  
Ranma snorted and looked at her for a moment before moving to inspect the creature. It was something like a cross between a dog and a squirrel. It had several bushy looking tails as well. "Vulpix," he commented sourly.  
  
"It has a name?" asked the woman.  
  
"They're called Pokemon, I'm familiar with a lot of the species," said the boy with a rough sounding snort. "Never expected to see one here though."  
  
"Indeed," agreed the woman with a suspicious looking smirk on her face. "Come, the gateway is near the castle, but not within it."  
  
"Right," said Ranma as he followed behind her cautiously.  
  
"Still don't trust me?" said the woman as she gave him an amused glance.  
  
"About as far as Akane could throw you," replied the boy.  
  
"Isn't that supposed to be, 'As far as you could throw me?" said the woman with a small chuckle.  
  
"I can throw you pretty far," replied the boy with a shrug.  
  
"Point taken," she replied as she punched a wall down that was in their path.  
  
"There are doors you know," commented Ranma.  
  
"We don't have time for a maze right now. Besides, you should appreciate a strong woman," said the Youma.  
  
"Yeah, well the bust line you've got doesn't hurt either I suppose," he commented as he walked by her and through the hole.  
  
She chuckled in response to this and followed him.  
  
"Not worried about me stabbing you in the back?" she asked calmly.  
  
"You'll try to stab me wherever you can," he replied coolly as he punched down the next wall.  
  
"Well, I am impressed," exclaimed the woman cheerfully.  
  
"After you," said Ranma as he waved his arm.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Several minutes later, they found themselves pushing through to the other side of the building. The wall crumbled away, leaving a clear path to the front door opposite them.  
  
Ranma frowned as he looked down at the scene in front of him. There were hundreds of them, all standing in military style rows. At the front of the crowd was a swirling gateway of dark light.   
  
"Most interesting," said Tokei with a short nod.  
  
"Shall we get started?" asked Ranma.  
  
"It won't do us any good to kill these things until we can close that gateway," said the woman as she arched her eyebrow at him.  
  
"Fine, you keep them busy, I'll go through and see if there's a way to shut it down on the other side."  
  
"How do you know I won't shut you in there?" asked the woman with a smirk on her face.  
  
"If you could, you'd have closed that gate with your friends by now. Those things are a threat to your plan."  
  
"Are they?" asked the woman with her eyebrow arched.  
  
Ranma looked at her for a moment. "I'm not sure."  
  
"Well, perhaps you should rethink your plan then? How do you know these aren't mine?" she said calmly.  
  
"Easy, they aren't youma," replied the boy with a smirk on his face. "They're Pokemon, and they're too cute for youma."  
  
The woman blinked at him and smiled seductively, putting her leg up against his thigh. "Are you sure about that?"  
  
Ranma smiled at her, and his body suddenly became the center of an inferno of chi energy. "Pretty sure."  
  
Tokei pulled her leg away quickly, cursing as she rubbed the spot where he had burned her. She glared at him angrily for a moment and then stepped back. His appearance had changed completely. He was much more muscular, and his now golden hair stood upright. He was still eyeing her cautiously.  
  
"Wow. I am impressed," she muttered with a slightly hungry stare.  
  
The creatures below turned and seemed to realize that they were standing there. They swarmed foreword, shooting various elemental attacks as they charged.  
  
Ranma raised his hand and sent a blast into the crowd of creatures. It cut through them, incinerating a large number. They quickly closed in the hole he had made though and continued to charge blindly.  
  
The blast sailed into the gateway, and nothing happened.   
  
"There has to be a way to close that," said Tokei as she looked at him for a moment. A wall of stone had erupted from the ground, giving them a few moments to recover.  
  
"I'm going in. Maybe there's a way on the other side," said Ranma as he rose into the air and blasted foreword.  
  
"Good luck handsome," said the blonde as she watched him vanish into the vortex. A long snake like creature made of boulder shattered her wall and she peered at it for a moment. "Well, what are you made of I wonder?" She raised her hands and the creature suddenly became very rigid. "Oh! You're made of rocks! How nice!" She grabbed the thing by its horn and swung it like a whip, shattering the rest of the wall and forcing the charging creature's back. "Lucky me."  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma floated in the air, the vortex far below him with an army of Pokemon waiting to pass through. There were millions of them standing at the ready. "This gets better and better," he commented as he dodged a few of the ones who flew around him rather easily.  
  
"Who are you?" asked a booming voice from behind him.  
  
Ranma turned to see a catlike creature, it was white and light purple, and floated upright. "You're Mewtwo," he said as he stared at the thing for a moment.  
  
"I am, you have not told me your name, or why you have come here," said the thing as it eyed him.  
  
"My name is Ranma Saotome, and I've come to close that hole," said the boy as he nodded towards the vortex.  
  
"I'm afraid I can't allow that," said the thing as it narrowed it's eyes at him. "I attempted to close it when it first appeared, however, I could not. Now I begin to see it's advantages. I control these creatures, and I will conquer that world. Soon I will destroy all the humans there, and claim it as a safe haven for Pokemon."  
  
"Why not just kill them here?" asked Ranma as he smirked at the thing.  
  
"Many of the Pokemon here are complaisant, enjoying their lives with the humans. They would oppose us, in that world, there are no Pokemon to oppose us. It will fall easily against my minions." The thing's eyes glowed blue for a moment as it stared at the newcomer.  
  
"That world has something much more dangerous than Pokemon," said the boy as he smirked at the thing.  
  
"Oh? And what might that be?" said the psychic pokemon with an amused chuckle.  
  
"Me," replied Ranma as his aura flared to life again.   
  
Mewtwo narrowed his eyes and they flashed for a moment.  
  
Ranma floundered in the air for a moment, clutching his head in pain. "What the?"  
  
"Pathetic, you're no match for me, or any of my minions," snorted the thing.  
  
Ranma grit his teeth in pain, the psychic assault forcing him to slowly float down to the ground.  
  
"Dan!" cried Ranma out loud.   
  
"Huh?" said the boy inside their head.  
  
"Can you move us?" asked the joined Carrot and Ranma.  
  
"I think so? What's wrong with you two?" asked Dan in confusion. "He's using some sort of psychic attack. We can't move!"  
  
"Oh, I get it. You want me to fight him," said Dan as he made them look up at the thing.  
  
"Right, he'll keep attacking us, and you finish him off."  
  
Mewtwo floated up beside them, looking them over for a moment. "You must be a fighting type. You should know, that all fighters are weak against Psychics."  
  
Ranma suddenly looked up at the thing with a vicious looking smirk on his face. "Not where I come from asshole."  
  
"What?" cried Mewtwo as he increased the power of his mental attack.  
  
Dan ignored the pained cries inside their head and punched the thing dead in its face. "What's the matter? Not used to getting hit?" He charged foreword and kicked at the thing.  
  
Mewtwo let out an angry sounding snarl and a shield of power blocked the kick. "You caught me by surprise. It won't happen again." A ball of psychic power formed in front of its face and blasted at Ranma.  
  
The boy dodged easily, but the thing curved back and kept moving in his path, attempting to catch him in the air.  
  
"Damn!" snapped the boy with a scowl on his face as he dodged desperately. "You guys snapped out of it yet?"  
  
"He's still doing it!" snapped Ranma painfully. "Blast him!"  
  
"Right," said Dan out loud as he cupped his hands at his sides. "Take this monster!" A ball of power shot from is hands and exploded on contact with the psychic energy. Both blasts were destroyed.  
  
"Stop this!" cried Pissant. "Maybe we can still talk to him!"  
  
Mewtwo glared at the thing for a moment. "How many of you are there?"  
  
"He's been listening in?" said Ranma dumbly as the pain suddenly stopped.  
  
"Well, this is interesting. It seems that there's more than one of you inside there," said the creature as it's body began to glow again.  
  
"We're in trouble," said Dan.  
  
"No shit," said Ranma.   
  
"Guys! Those cute furry things are moving towards that thing we came in through!" whined Pissant. "Are you sure we can't talk this out? Maybe we can make an agreement or something? You know, sit down, have some tea..."  
  
"There will be no negotiations," said Mewtwo coldly.  
  
"So much for that plan, now shut up," snapped Dan.  
  
"Well, it seems I've won this little scuffle," said Mewtwo as it raised its paw and seemed to squeeze at the air.  
  
All four of them writhed in pain in the air, the attack now centered on all of them.  
  
Ranma suddenly jerked upright, spreading his arms and legs as he screamed in pain and rage. "That does it! This planet is history!" he screamed angrily.  
  
"What?" snapped Mewtwo as he faltered in his attack. "What are you doing!"  
  
An angry power began to emanate from the boy as his power began to build at an alarming rate.  
  
Mewtwo increased the power of his own attack, attempting to force them into a painful submission.  
  
"The more pain you cause us, the more powerful we become!" snarled Ranma. "This blast, is my rage, my anger, my suffering!"  
  
Mewtwo began to float back as a strong wind began to move him in the air.  
  
Ranma cupped his hands together, and a dark purple ball of power formed there. It slowly changed colors into a golden energy that was almost too strong to look at. "FINAL FLASH!"  
  
Mewtwo could only look on in horror as the golden beam of power rocketed towards the ground. "No! My people!"  
  
Ranma's power suddenly faltered, his hair went black and he fell towards the ground, spiraling into the crowd of Pokemon below him. He chuckled as the ground rushed up to his face. There was a bright flash of light as his blast struck home, quickly followed by a shock wave that struck him just before he hit the ground. He was thrown into the vortex just in time to see the ground buckle and erupt into flames as the entire planet exploded. Then, there was only darkness.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
He woke up an hour later. Sitting upright he glanced around at his surroundings groggily. The earth was torn to pieces, shards of stone with hundreds of the creatures impaled on them were jutting from the ground. Rock spikes filled the area like a forest, rising hundreds of feet into the air in some cases. There were large pieces of stone scattered around, with splatters of blood coming from underneath them.  
  
"Our friend has been busy," commented Ranma as he staggered to his feet and glanced around. There was no sign of her, or of the vortex.  
  
Pluto stepped out from behind one of the pillars and glared at him. "You have done well this time. Crystal Tokyo has reappeared."  
  
"Yeah, thanks a lot," grumbled the boy as he popped his back and glanced around. "Man, she made a huge mess."  
  
"What did you do? The vortex closed, but not because its power stopped. It became a vortex leading to empty space, and collapsed," said Pluto as she looked at him angrily.  
  
"You don't have to worry about those things bothering us again, and that's all I'll say," he replied with a small chuckle. He glared at her for a moment, looking confident.  
  
"Don't think this means I forgive you. I will find a way to destroy you yet," she snapped as she whirled around and left him alone.   
  
Ranma saw a flash of light behind one of the pillars, and finally collapsed.   
  
"Damn. Standing hurts!" whimpered Carrot.  
  
"No kidding. It's a good thing she didn't call our bluff, we'd have been in serious trouble," said Dan.  
  
"No power left," muttered Ranma painfully.  
  
Pissant was strangely silent.  
  
"Well, I guess we rest up and go back," said Ranma after they had laid still for a moment.  
  
"Sound's good to me," agreed Carrot.  
  
Pissant spoke, his voice soft and surprisingly even. "What have you done?"  
  
"Huh? We saved the planet," said Dan.  
  
"You destroyed...a world..." muttered the voice in quiet horror.  
  
"One that was trying to destroy ours," said Carrot.  
  
"You heard that thing! There were people living there! Friendly creatures...families, homes..." Pissant was absolutely mortified.  
  
"How many families and homes would be gone if we didn't?" asked Dan sourly. "Listen you wuss..."  
  
"NO! YOU LISTEN!" snarled the normally timid voice in anger.  
  
All of the others became silent at this.  
  
"You murderers! How can you take this so lightly!?"  
  
Ranma felt a sudden dread fill him. "He's right! What have we done!?"  
  
"Don't you start now," said Carrot. "We did what we had to. There's nothing deeper than that in this."  
  
"I will never help you again. The next time you find yourselves out of power and looking down someone's sword, or beaten to within an inch of your lives, you might as well not even bother asking. I'll gladly die, to rid the world of us!" said the voice. They felt tears beginning to fill their eyes and simply lay there in shock.   
  
"Hey! Wait a minute!" snapped Carrot.  
  
Ranma punched them across their jaw. "Shut up. He's right."  
  
"What?" said Dan in shock.  
  
"We could have found another way damn it!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Really? How many people were you willing to risk on that? Our whole planet?" snapped Carrot.   
  
"It was obviously enough to take theirs," said Ranma.   
  
"Damn," muttered Dan. "Look, we can argue about this until we're blue in the face. It won't bring that place back. We saved the world! Isn't that enough?"  
  
"Isn't it?" asked Pissant quietly.  
  
"I hate you guys," said Ranma coldly.  
  
"Well, we don't care for you much either," snapped Carrot. "Look, we might as well..."  
  
"Shut up! You've taken so much from me! Don't you idiots get it?" snapped Ranma.  
  
"We're in the same situation," countered Dan hotly. "Don't go..."  
  
"You assholes stole everything from me! You took my life! You took my virginity...and now..."  
  
"That does it!" snapped Carrot. He socked himself in the gut and they all grunted in pain. "I'm sick of all this damn whining! Always feeling sorry for yourself, trying to act so self-righteous! You were there with us! You poured as much into that blast as we did! Don't try and put this on us you backboneless prick!"  
  
"What?" snapped Ranma.  
  
"So we blew up a planet! Killed Millions, maybe billions! What are you gonna do now? Cry about it?" snapped Carrot as he stood them up and slammed their head into one of the stone pillars. "Go ahead! Cry! It'll make you feel better!" he smashed their head again and staggered back. They fell on their butt and Carrot punched them across the jaw, sending them sprawling.  
  
"You don't have to like everything we do, but you'd better start realizing that you're just as responsible for this as we are. I wasn't the only one driving if you recall. It was the two of us together."  
  
Ranma said nothing, but Carrot could feel the scowl on their face.  
  
"The senshi are helpless, and the others won't survive the year without us. We do not need this kind of crap going on right now got it?" snapped Carrot.  
  
"He's right," agreed Dan.   
  
Ranma still said nothing.  
  
"You two want to sit and cry to yourselves about how horrible we are? Take a look around! Look at what that bitch did! Do you really think the others have a chance in hell? Try to imagine our friends where those cute fuzzy little fuckers are smashed and impaled right now!"  
  
Dan forced them too look at the remains of the small army of Pokemon.  
  
Ranma choked out a sob, but still didn't reply.  
  
"We'd better be sure we're up to this," said Dan.  
  
"We're going to get through this, when it's all over, we'll worry about how much we hate each other. As for right now, you're both going to have to deal with it. We can't afford to not be able to count on one another."  
  
"You're right," muttered Ranma shamefully.  
  
Pissant remained silent.   
  
"Come on, we should try and get home," said Dan as he forced them to stand and almost fell as pain exploded through their entire body.   
  
"I need a hot bath," said Carrot as he spit onto the ground and wiped their chin, sending another wave of pain through their face. "And some goddamn aspirin."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: A return to normality! [Of sorts...]  
  
  
The Mall Scene is from the Movie 'Evolution'. Since it's a new movie, I thought I should point that out.  
  
Also Akane was singing Masami Okui's 'Kiss in the Dark'. It's a joke on fics where characters burst into song [Usually Ranma, to show how smart and cultured he is] for no apparent reason. The scene just fit so perfectly that I couldn't resist.  



	35. Insertion Part 35

Insertion   
  
Part 35  
  
A return to Normality of Sorts...  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Belldandy stood in the Morisato home, standing in front of the stove cooking cheerfully. She paused in the middle of stirring and fell to her knees, clutching at her head. "No!" she gasped in horror.  
  
In a nearby room, Urd looked up and got a blank look on her face. She was sitting in front of the TV with Keiichi and Skuld.  
  
"What's up sis?" asked the younger goddess in confusion.  
  
Urd looked at her, almost completely pale and muttered. "You didn't feel that?"  
  
"Feel what?" asked Keiichi in confusion.  
  
Belldandy stumbled into the room with the look of shocked horror on her face.  
  
"Bell!" cried Keiichi as he rushed to her side and helped her to a chair. "What's wrong?"  
  
"I felt something terrible!" said the goddess quietly. "It was as if billions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and then were suddenly silenced!"  
  
"What does it mean?" said Urd as she stood up.  
  
"I don't know. I feel something terrible has happened!" said Belldandy as she hugged herself and shivered.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma walked into the gates of Furinkan High almost lazily. Akane trailed behind him almost lazily as he walked through the usual morning crowd undisturbed. He walked by Tatewaki Kuno and gave the boy a short nod in greeting. Kuno frowned at this, but said nothing as he stepped out from behind the tree.  
  
"Hold Saotome."  
  
"Well, good morning Kuno," replied the boy calmly. "What is it that you want?"  
  
"I must free Akane Tendo..."  
  
"Akane Tendo can do as she likes, she has no obligation to me," replied the pigtailed martial artist as he continued walking.  
  
"That's not entirely true, boss," said Akane as she looked at Kuno for a moment.  
  
"Well, that's professional though, not personal," said Ranma with a small shrug.  
  
"What?" stammered Kuno. "So it is true! Your hold on Akane Tendo must be broken knave."  
  
"Akane works for me you nimrod," said the pigtailed boy as he turned to face Kuno.  
  
"So you have enslaved her to..." Kuno paused as Ranma put a business card in his face.   
  
"You've used my service before Kuno," said the boy calmly.  
  
Kuno blinked and looked at Ranma for a moment. "You are the owner of the Men In Black security agency?"  
  
"That's right," replied Ranma with a shrug. "Akane is one of my employees. So it would be clearly unprofessional of me to have such a relationship with her. I'd never do a thing like that!"  
  
Kuno frowned as the gears in his mind turned. "So..." An image of Akane the demure secretary and her overbearing boss appeared in his mind.  
  
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You'll do what I say, or you'll remain as a lowly servant forever! You'll never make enough money to support your family!" said the dream Ranma cruelly.   
  
"Yes! I must! For the sake of my poor family!" said the dream Akane sadly.  
  
Kuno's brow furrowed and he almost shook with anger. "Cur! To think I would allow such dishonorable behavior..."  
  
"You're just letting your imagination run off with you," said Ranma flatly.  
  
"Silence fool!" roared Kuno as he slashed at the boy with his boken.  
  
Ranma sidestepped lazily and kicked the boy in his gut sharply. Kuno keeled over and slumped down on the ground face first. "Tsk. Defeated again."  
  
"I admit no defe..." muttered Kuno.  
  
"Do we really have to go over this again Kuno?" said Ranma calmly. "Admitted or not, everyone knows you were just defeated."  
  
With that, Ranma and Akane left him on the ground.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki Tendo frowned as she sat under a tree with the financial paper in her grip. She had just watched Ranma cream Kuno yet again, nothing unusual about that. She sipped on the can of juice sitting next to her and promptly spit it back out. Her eyes went wide as she saw something in the stock exchange. Ranma's company was listed, and it was one of the top 500 stocks in Japan. "No freaking way!" she gasped in shock as the paper in her grip began to shake violently.  
  
"What is it Nabiki?" asked one of her associates nearby.  
  
"There's no way that moron is..." she paused and realized that there were other ears present. She sat down and began to contemplate her situation. Ranma, the crazed psychopath, the man who brought strange memory erasing devises into her home, the man who she thought was quite capable of committing murder, was one of the richest people in Japan. He had to be, yet he lived with her father, seeming to freeload off of her family with his oaf of a father. His mother wasn't living with them, but he knew that her living conditions weren't the greatest either. She was a struggling single woman. Something about this didn't quite add up.  
  
She stood up and walked into the school.   
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma walked into his classroom and paused.  
  
"Ucchan?" he muttered dumbly as he saw the girl sitting at one of the desks in the middle of the room.  
  
Akane paused and looked at the new boy for a moment. He was wearing a school uniform and was currently staring at them. "You know this guy?"  
  
The boy in question looked at them both dumbly, recognition flashing across her face suddenly. "You! So! You've finally showed up!" The girl stood up and took her bakers peel off of her back.  
  
"When did she get here?" asked Ranma as he looked at Akane for a moment.  
  
"She?" said the girl in confusion.  
  
"Ranma! Die!" cried Ukyo as she jumped over the desks and attacked.  
  
Ranma casually blocked the strike and held the giant spatula in the air, still looking at Akane.  
  
"He showed up while you were off training," said the girl as she looked at him for a moment.  
  
"Hey! Great!" said Ranma as he smiled at the girl attacking him.  
  
Ukyo was struggling to remove her weapon from his grip. "Let go!"  
  
He did and she promptly fell flat on her back, glaring up at him hatefully.  
  
"Um, he seems pretty mad at you..." ventured Akane nervously.  
  
"Really?" said the boy as he looked at her again for a moment. "I wonder why?"  
  
"How dare you!" cried the girl as she attempted to smack him again. He caught the weapon again and frowned at her. "What's with you Ucchan?"  
  
"Die!" snarled Ukyo hatefully.  
  
"Ahem!" said the teacher as he looked at the scene.  
  
"Oh, sorry Sensei," said Ranma sheepishly. "Come on Ucchan, we'll go somewhere else and settle this."  
  
Akane blinked and watched as the pair walked out of the room and into the hallway. She shrugged her shoulders and sat down at her desk.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Outside, in a quiet corner of the schoolyard, Ranma stood with his hands in his pockets and looked at the girl for a moment.  
  
Ukyo stood in a battle ready stance and glared at him. "You're going to suffer for what you did to me!"  
  
"Explain," said Ranma calmly as he watched her.  
  
"What? How dare you!" snapped Ukyo. She paused when he pulled a weapon of his own out from behind his back and pointed it at her. It was a firearm of some kind.  
  
"What?" she muttered in shock. She staggered back and stared at him.  
  
"What's with you? We used to be friends. I'm not going to fight you until you explain exactly what's wrong."  
  
"Dishonorable..." growled Ukyo as she stepped back.  
  
"Maybe, but I think you owe me an explanation at least," he replied with a small shrug. "Don't worry, this isn't lethal, but it does leave a rather nasty mark." He fired a small bolt of energy from the weapon and the tree next to Ukyo now had a bald spot on the bark.  
  
"I'm not the one who owes an explanation," snarled Ukyo.  
  
"Well, you explain and then I will. How's that?" said the boy cheerfully.  
  
The girl growled and turned her head away. "Why did you abandon me?"  
  
"Abandon?" said Ranma in confusion.  
  
"Yes! You stole our Okonomiyaki Cart, and ran away with your father!" snapped the girl bitterly.  
  
"Stole?" said the boy flatly. "Pop said your father gave us the cart."   
  
"He did?" said Ukyo dumbly. Her face hardened again and she stepped back once again. "That's no excuse! You left me behind!"  
  
"We were supposed to take you?" said Ranma, as he looked even more confused. "This is the first I've heard of that."  
  
Ukyo blinked and looked at him for a moment. "You're serious!"  
  
"Why would he promise to take you with us? That doesn't seem like him at all. The fat greedy bastard, the last thing he'd want is a responsibility like that," ventured Ranma with a dumb expression on his face.  
  
Ukyo's eyes went wide and she almost dropped her weapon. "You mean you don't know!? You've got to be joking! This isn't funny!"  
  
Ranma put his weapon away and shook his head. "I suppose I could pay for the cart, there isn't really much else I can do to satisfy your honor..."  
  
Ukyo growled, he seemed sincere enough at the moment, almost. "I'll humor you for now, on the off chance that you're telling the truth."  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma as he managed to look even more confused.  
  
"My father arranged a marriage between us, the cart was the dowry. You and your father abandoned me by the side of the road, and left without me!"  
  
"An arranged marriage?" said Ranma as he narrowed his eyes at her for a moment.  
  
"That's right! I gave up my womanhood and trained for ten years! Now I've come for my revenge! I trained by the raging sea, so I could defeat you, and regain my honor!"  
  
"Well, isn't this just great," muttered Ranma irritably. "If you want revenge, take it up with my father. I didn't know about any of this until just now."  
  
"What?" gasped Ukyo in shock.  
  
"I will not be held responsible for Genma Saotome's greed any longer," he said with a shrug. "He's a dishonorable coward, and a thief. If you want to regain your honor, kill him."  
  
"You're giving me permission to kill your father?" gasped Ukyo as she stared at him.  
  
Ranma sighed and walked towards the gates of Furinkan. "Come on."  
  
"Where are we going?" snapped Ukyo irritably. She moved into a combat stance again and waited.  
  
"Well, I suppose I'm partly responsible for this mess. I suppose I should do something as restitution," he said with a heavy sigh.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ukyo Kuonji was confused. Ranma had just walked out of a large bank in Tokyo and dropped a briefcase in her lap. "What the hell is this?"  
  
"A billion yen," he replied with a shrug.  
  
"What?" muttered Ukyo as she looked at the case dumbly.  
  
"Payment for the dowry, personal suffering, and restitution for your dishonor," he replied with a small shrug.  
  
"You're trying to pay me off?!" gasped the girl in shock as she threw the case onto the ground and glared at him.  
  
"No, I'm paying you what I owe you," he replied calmly.  
  
"Do you think you can buy back my honor!?" snarled the girl.  
  
"Yes," replied Ranma simply.  
  
Ukyo blinked.  
  
"Look, I can't honor the engagement, there's too much going on in my life as it is. I don't need another enemy, and I like you. We used to be friends. There's not much else I can do to help you."  
  
Ukyo turned her head away from him. She stared down at the case and looked back up at him again. "Where did you get this?"  
  
Ranma smirked at her. "I'm the owner of a security company in Tokyo."  
  
She frowned again and lifted up the case. "I can't accept this...it's..."  
  
"More than enough to wipe the slate clean between us Ukyo," said the boy as he shoved it into her chest. "I'm wiping my hands clean of my father. Do what you want to him, but leave me out of this."  
  
Ukyo stared at him in horror. "How can you say that about your own father?"  
  
"Oh, that's right. You don't know," said Ranma with a smirk on his face. "My mother is trying to kill him too. He's a slippery bastard, I won't help you kill him, but I won't stop you either. Same deal I've got with mom."  
  
"Your mother?" said Ukyo dumbly.  
  
"That's right," said the boy with a short nod.  
  
Ukyo stood up with the case in her grip. "I'll see you around, Saotome."  
  
"Right," said the boy with another nod.  
  
She paused and looked back at him again. "We're still not friends, Ranma."  
  
"No, not yet," he said as he turned and left her standing there.  
  
They parted ways, each moving in a different direction.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki stepped out of the shadows and watched the pair go their separate ways. She had never made it to class that day. She had a cold frown on her face as she watched the pair separate. She turned away and walked for a few hundred yards before a voice stopped her.  
  
"So, did you find out what you wanted to?" asked Ranma as he leaned against a building directly in her path and smiled at her. He had a familiar object in his grip, what appeared to be a silver pen.  
  
She stumbled back and shielded her eyes before it went off. It never did and she lowered her arm slowly.  
  
Ranma's face was now a very slight frown. "It seems you know what this is. I wonder how that happened?" He put it in his pocket and looked her up and down for a moment.  
  
"Who are you?" she growled.  
  
"Ranma Saotome," he replied with a small shrug.  
  
"All this money, and you live like a freeloading wanderer in my house?" she said as she glared at him hatefully.  
  
"I'm not poor, no. My father is though, he has no idea just how rich I am," said the boy with a casual smirk.  
  
"What?" said the girl as she narrowed her eyes at him.  
  
"Pop is stupid, there's no nice way to put it. I've got a few partners, and the money is all in their names," said Ranma calmly as he started walking in stride with her.  
  
"Why are you telling me this?" asked Nabiki cautiously.  
  
"You've been sneaking around me. I figure it's better to just tell you up front. Besides, if you ever try to use it against me, I can make it all just disappear," said the boy as he pulled the pen-like device from his pocket and showed it to her again.  
  
"What if your partners decide to cut you out of the deal?" said Nabiki.  
  
"They won't, I've entrusted my life to them, and they've entrusted me with theirs," said the boy calmly. "Their loyalty is unquestioned."  
  
"That's a rare thing," commented Nabiki skeptically.  
  
"You have no idea what we've been through together," said Ranma as he smirked at her again.  
  
"I suppose you'll tell me?" she ventured.  
  
"No. It's a secret," he replied calmly.  
  
"That doesn't explain much," said Nabiki coolly.  
  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders and opened the door of a black car with dark tinted windows. "Get in," he said calmly.  
  
"What?" said the girl in shock. "What is this?"  
  
"My car," said Ranma with a shrug as he pulled out a set of keys and moved into the driver's seat.  
  
Nervously, Nabiki did so. She sat down in the front passenger side and edged away from him as he pulled out into the street.  
  
"In the seat behind you, you'll find a briefcase, pull it out and look inside," he replied calmly.  
  
She did so and glared at him suspiciously as he continued to drive through the streets of Tokyo. After several moments he pulled out into one of the suburbs and out of the congested traffic.  
  
Nabiki flipped through several papers and frowned. "What is this?" There were several accounts set up, much smaller than the main one in the print out she had in her hand. Her eyes went wide when she saw the numbers on the main account. "This is..."  
  
"Not what you're supposed to be looking at, look at the smaller accounts below," said Ranma calmly.  
  
Nabiki frowned and noticed four smaller accounts. "What is this?"  
  
"Your college fund," said Ranma as he glanced at her for a moment.  
  
"What?" stammered the girl dumbly.  
  
"That one is a nice nest egg for Kasumi, for whatever she feels she should do with it," said Ranma as he pointed to the second account.  
  
"This one is for your father, as restitution for the time we're going to be spending at your home," said the boy as he took another turn and pointed at the bottom account.  
  
"What is this?" said the girl as she looked at him in shock.  
  
"Your family has been very hospitable to me, I'm going to shove it all back in your face sooner or later. I'm not marrying any of you. When I leave, I'd like to make sure it's on good terms. Your father won't be particularly happy, but I think he'll accept my generous offer."  
  
Nabiki nodded dumbly.  
  
"As for why I'm telling you this, I want you off my back. If you dig too deep you're going to find things out that you don't want to know," said Ranma as he glanced at her again.  
  
"Yakuza," said Nabiki with a sharp intake of breath.  
  
"No, I'm afraid not," said Ranma cheerfully. "It's much deeper than those thugs could be."  
  
He pulled the car over and into the parking lot of a small shopping center. "Come on. I'll buy you lunch."  
  
She nodded dumbly and stepped out of the car.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
They were sitting inside a nice French restaurant a few moments later. It was located in Juban, and had a nice view of the town below it, over a small cliff just across the road outside the window.  
  
"That last account, it's Akane's?" asked Nabiki.  
  
"No, that's to take care of my mother. Akane is working for me, she can handle her own affairs rather easily I'd think," said the boy as he took a sip out of a glass of water that had been set before him.  
  
Nabiki nodded and shook her head. "What...why..."  
  
"Don't think on it too hard. My father is a leech and a coward. I'm not going to be held responsible for him any longer," said the boy with a casual shrug.  
  
Nabiki narrowed her eyes at this, but said nothing more.  
  
"I'm planning on giving him a small sum as well, if he lives long enough for me to become independent of his legal protection," said the boy with a shrug. "He'll be happy for a while, and probably blow it. After that, he's on his own."  
  
"This is...I don't get you," said Nabiki as she looked at him again. "Sometimes you can be such an idiot...but that's not true is it?"  
  
"Beauty is the most lethal weapon, and stupidity is a close second," said the boy with a small wink.  
  
"I get it, you don't want people to know how smart you are," said Nabiki as she seemed to understand.  
  
"Right," said the boy cheerfully. "Although, I'll admit I've had my dumb moments."  
  
"Right," said Nabiki as she looked away from him again.  
  
"In any case, I've got a lot of responsibility, even though I don't run the company myself," said Ranma.  
  
"You're partners do?"  
  
"Would you do business with a sixteen year old boy if you were a large corporation?" asked the boy cheerfully.  
  
"I suppose not," admitted Nabiki.  
  
"I'm the keeper of more secrets in Japan than anyone else," said Ranma as he smirked at her. "Military intelligence has nothing on me."  
  
"Is that where that thing in your pocket came from?" said Nabiki.  
  
"It's part of it," admitted Ranma.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
An hour later, Nabiki stepped out of the car again and stared up at the tower that loomed overhead. "This is..."  
  
"The offices are on the top floor," said Ranma casually.   
  
Nabiki looked at a very sleek looking sports car that was beside Ranma's car and gaped. "Wow."  
  
Ranma smirked at her. "You like that?"  
  
She nodded and gently touched the side of the vehicle.  
  
"Maybe Akane will give you a ride some time," said the boy as he smirked at her.  
  
Nabiki almost fell over. "Akane!!?"  
  
"That's right," said Ranma as he gently took her arm and pulled her towards the doors.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Agent R, how are you doing today?" said the pretty secretary who sat at the entrance to the offices.  
  
"Fine Midori, I need a badge," said Ranma as he jerked his thumb towards the girl.  
  
"Who's this?" asked the woman with her eyebrow arched slightly.  
  
"Agent A's sister, Nabiki," said the boy with a smirk. "I'm going to show her what her sister does for a living."  
  
Nabiki pinned on the badge the woman gave her and followed Ranma through the office. There were dozens of men and women wandering around. Each wearing a black suit and tie. "I'm sensing a theme here," she commented dryly.  
  
Ranma smirked and walked her up to the second floor, to the training area. There, she saw what appeared to be part dojo, part weight room, and part firing range.  
  
"You carry firearms?" she gasped.  
  
"One of the few offices with a license in Japan," said Ranma with a small nod. "Only a very select few agents are permitted."  
  
"I'm starting to see why you're so expensive," commented the girl nervously.  
  
He walked her into another room and she paused as she realized that she was behind a one way mirror. There was a classroom full of people in front of her, they seemed to be learning something about firearms. There was a chart with various automatic weapons on it that the instructor was pointing too.  
  
"There's another level above," said Ranma as he walked her out of the room and to an elevator. She stepped on tentatively and he smirked as he pushed one of the buttons.  
  
Once inside, Nabiki gasped as she saw a huge command center of some kind. There were screens showing various places in Japan, not just Tokyo. On one wall, there were screens that showed moving cameras that moved through buildings.   
  
"Those are hidden cameras on our agents in various places. We use this to keep tabs on what they're doing. They screw up, and they're gone, no room for error or bad agents here. Only the best, we cost enough to demand it."  
  
"Is that the diet building?" muttered Nabiki as she saw one of the moving cameras following behind someone who's back was turned.  
  
"Yes, we have a few agents performing bodyguard duty there," said the boy calmly. "They have a lot of government security there too. We seem to get along well with them for the most part, our professional image is very important to us."  
  
"You own this?" said Nabiki as she looked at him in shock again.  
  
"Mostly. It's a partnership between myself and five other people," said the boy with a shrug.   
  
"Are any of them...available?" said Nabiki as she felt a chill run down her spine.  
  
"They're all a bit old for you," said Ranma calmly. "Two of them are gay anyway."  
  
"Gay?" muttered Nabiki as she looked up at him.  
  
Kunzite walked up to him and frowned.   
  
"Speak of the devil!" exclaimed Ranma.  
  
"You realize that I hate you," said the man calmly.  
  
"Yeah, what's up?"  
  
"What is she doing here?" said the man as he looked at the girl for a moment. "You know she's not trustworthy."  
  
Nabiki swallowed and stepped back under the man's gaze.  
  
"Relax, I didn't show her anything important," said the boy calmly.  
  
Nabiki's mind boggled at the implications of that statement. These men had cameras inside the Diet building, and the hadn't shown her anything important!?  
  
"I need to talk with you," said Kunzite as he glared at Nabiki for a moment.  
  
"Sure, let me just," Ranma pointed towards Nabiki and smiled at her.  
  
"Here, you can wait in my office. I won't let him talk for more than a minute," said the boy as he led her over to a door just outside the command room.  
  
Nabiki blinked and looked around. She sucked in a sharp breath and stared out the huge window that took up a whole wall in the room. There was a neat looking desk in front of it, with several papers spread out across the surface of the desk.  
  
She paused when she noticed one of the folders that was opened on the desk. Sitting in front of her, were the identities of the Sailor Senshi. She flopped down into the chair and simply stared at the page in shock, not daring to touch it. "This is..." She simply sat there, staring and memorizing the names and addresses. It didn't take more than a moment. She would write them down as soon as she returned home of course.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Kunzite frowned at Ranma and sat across from him at his own desk. "I checked up on that Kuonji girl. She's returned to that restaurant she's rented out, not much else going on with that."  
  
"Good, I think she'll back down," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"In any case, she's not much of a concern for us anyway. The senshi have been relatively quiet as well, and no new sightings of your mystery woman."  
  
"She's the second Youma Lord, I'm sure of that," said Ranma with a small frown.  
  
"Our green headed friend has kept himself busy recently. He's been killing off a lot of rather unscrupulous criminals. The Yakuza are quite upset with him."  
  
"I imagine so," said Ranma. "It's no concern of ours at the moment. He's out of our way, and unless we figure out who he is, we might as well ignore him. That mask supposedly makes him invincible. You can't kill him, or really hurt him."  
  
"I know, I've seen him pull off his own head before," agreed Kunzite. "On that subject, fingerprints and DNA analysis are inconclusive. It seems to be protecting its host somehow."  
  
Ranma nodded and looked out the window. "Anything else?"  
  
"No, that's all for now," said the man as he turned his chair around to look out the window for a moment.  
  
"She's not trustworthy, having her anywhere near here is dangerous," said Kunzite coldly.  
  
"She's asking questions. I'm giving her enough information so that I think she'll be satisfied enough to back off a bit."  
  
"She's smart enough to realize that," said Kunzite.  
  
"That's what I'm wondering," said Ranma as he looked at him for a moment. "Let's give the rat a little room to wander, and see if it'll trap itself."  
  
"All right, it's your call," said the man. He nodded and closed his eyes in thought.  
  
"I can handle her easily enough," said Ranma with a short nod.  
  
"We might distance Akane," commented Kunzite with his eyes still closed.  
  
"I don't want her to know about this just yet," said the pigtailed boy. "We'll inform her later on, see if Nabiki says anything to her on her own. If so, how much she says."  
  
"If things get out of hand?" asked Kunzite.  
  
"I'll let Akane handle her," said Ranma. "That way, there's no putting the blame on us."  
  
"Nice plan," said Kunzite.  
  
"Well, we want to give her some rope, but not enough to hang herself with it," said Ranma with a small chuckle.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki jumped up as Ranma opened the door, she turned the chair so that she was looking out the window and he entered. "Sorry to keep you waiting."  
  
"Nice office," she muttered.  
  
"Shall we go? It's about time to head back," said Ranma.  
  
"Right," said Nabiki as she stood up and followed him out.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Back at the Dojo, Nabiki stared at the ceiling in her room and frowned. She looked at the names and partial addresses in her note pad and frowned. She could remember most of it, but there were a few easily verifiable details she was missing now. She smirked to herself and rolled over in her bed. "What should I do with this?"  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma sat behind the counter of the newly opened Ucchan and smiled at Ukyo a little nervously.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked a little coldly. She wasn't being hostile though, which was a plus.  
  
"Your Okonomiyaki is the best in Japan," said Ranma with a shrug. "You know that."  
  
"Well, that is true," she replied a little suspiciously.  
  
"Are you going to be staying?" he asked her as she started to cook one for him.  
  
"I don't know," she replied with a small shrug. She flipped the pastry over and glanced up at him.   
  
"Well, if you do, you should do well. This is a good place for a business like this," said Ranma as he glanced around.  
  
"It seems to be doing well so far," agreed Ukyo.  
  
"That's good," said Ranma cheerfully as she set his meal down in front of him. He smirked when he saw the smiley face that was looking up at him.  
  
Ukyo blinked and saw it as well, she hadn't even realized she'd done it. "Oops..."  
  
Ranma shook his head and started eating. "The Chinese place across the street should put up a little competition though. They're very good."  
  
"Cat Café?" asked Ukyo as she glanced at the place.  
  
"Yup," said Ranma. "The old woman who runs the place is a little hard nosed, but shouldn't cause any trouble."  
  
"Oh?" asked Ukyo.  
  
"I worked over there for a short time when I first got here," said Ranma.  
  
That struck the girl as a little odd, considering he'd just handed her a briefcase with a billion yen inside. She didn't press the matter though and continued to work.  
  
Ranma finished his meal and stood up. "See you around, Ukyo."  
  
"Yeah, I guess you will," she muttered. She wasn't sure if she should be angry with him or not.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Airen!" exclaimed Shampoo as she bounced across the street and tried to tackle the boy in a rough hug.   
  
He jumped over her and landed beside her before she could latch on. "Hey Shampoo."  
  
"Well, if it isn't the son in law," said Cologne as she appeared out of the front door of the restaurant. "You haven't been by to visit your wife in a while, how shameful."  
  
"I'm not married you old bat," replied Ranma a cheerfully. "How are things?"  
  
"Well enough, business is going well. I see we have competition now. Tell me, where have you been?"  
  
Ranma arched his eyebrow at this and smirked. "Nothing much, I fought a giant fire dragon, got sent into the past for about a month, and came back about a week ago."  
  
Cologne chuckled. "Well, if you don't want to say..."  
  
"Training mostly," he said with a shrug. "Came up with a few new techniques, you know how it goes."  
  
"I suppose that I do," answered the old woman casually. "You are still staying with that family?"  
  
"Yeah, don't know how much longer that will last. Mom wants me to go back home with her, but I'd like to finish school where I'm going now."  
  
"Really?" asked the old woman.  
  
"Yeah, it's a bit of a commute though," said Ranma with a shrug. "It's easier to stay here for now. I'll probably go back home after this year."  
  
"Well, I suppose you'll be staying around now?" asked Cologne.  
  
"Hadn't planned on leaving, but you never know," said Ranma with another shrug.  
  
"I see," commented Cologne with a short nod. "Come Shampoo, we've got work to do at the moment."  
  
The girl had been watching the conversation in slight confusion. She grabbed Ranma around his neck and then followed after the old woman. He'd allowed it and then turned away. "See you." He floated into the air and into the sky towards Tokyo.  
  
Cologne paused and watched for a moment as he did this. "New techniques indeed."  
  
"Airen can fly?" muttered Shampoo dumbly.  
  
"This grows interesting," said Cologne as she entered the restaurant.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma sat inside the cockpit of the Mikon Taka, the console was opened up and he worked on replacing a few of the indicator lights on the dash with the repair manual resting in his lap. He paused when he noticed that he had visitors outside the ship.  
  
Tenchi Masaki was staring at the ship dumbly. Ryoko and Ayeka stood on either side of him, looking at it.  
  
"I told you there was a ship here," said Ryoko smugly.  
  
As if in reply to this, the ramp lowered and Ranma stepped out. "Hiya. Can I help you?"  
  
"This is..." muttered Ayeka as she looked on.   
  
"Kinda old isn't it?" said Ryoko as she smirked at the princess.  
  
"You!" said Tenchi as he recognized the boy. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Working on my ship," he replied with a shrug. "It's got a lot of work before it'll fly again. What are you doing here?"  
  
"We live at the shrine at the top of the mountain. Tell me, where are you from?" asked Ayeka.  
  
"Here, I live on this planet," said Ranma as he looked her up and down. "You must be the first princess of Jurai."  
  
Ayeka nodded and looked at Tenchi. "I had no idea this planet was capable of interstellar travel."  
  
"It isn't, I'm a special exception," replied Ranma with a shrug.  
  
"Oh," said the princess in reply. "I've not seen a ship like this before."  
  
"It's a YT-1300, around ten thousand years old. Most of them are out of commission. It's a freight ship, but this one's been modified quite a bit," said Ranma as he glanced back at the ship. "Old Man Masaki told me I could park it here for a while. I'm fixing it up, some of the parts need replacing."  
  
"Grandpa knows about this?" gasped Tenchi.  
  
"Yup," said Ranma.  
  
Ryoko snorted and turned away.   
  
"Well, I suppose the monster woman wasn't lying," said Ayeka.  
  
"Who are you calling a monster woman!? You old hag!" snapped Ryoko.  
  
"Oh man," grumbled Tenchi.  
  
Power started to crackle around the pair as they faced off.  
  
"Hey! Do that somewhere else! Some of these repairs are delicate!" snapped Ranma. "I can't have you two causing explosions around here right now!"  
  
"You stay out of this!" snarled Ryoko.  
  
Ranma arched his eyebrow and raised his hands. Both girls rose into the air about a body's length off the ground. "Calm down, both of you," he said simply.  
  
"Whoa!" gasped Tenchi.  
  
"Let us go!" snarled Ryoko as she fought against the strange power that held her arms and legs against her body.  
  
"I demand that you release us at once!" cried Ayeka fearfully.  
  
"Only when you both promise to calm down. I don't want to have to fix anything else on this damn thing!" said Ranma as calmly as ever.  
  
"You let them go!" cried Tenchi as he pulled Tenchi-ken from his pocket and it came to life in his hands.  
  
"Relax, they aren't hurt. I'm just holding them back," said Ranma as he glanced at the boy. "Are you two going to behave yourselves?"  
  
Ryoko and Ayeka reluctantly nodded and he lowered them back to the ground again. "Thank you. Now, if you're going to fight, fine. Do it away from here. This thing is broken enough as it is."  
  
"How dare you!" snarled Ryoko as she glared at him and started to move foreword.  
  
"You said you'd behave yourself," said Ranma.  
  
"So I lied! I'm gonna smash that thing! Nobody does that to me in front of Tenchi!" snapped the woman angrily as an energy sword appeared in her hands.  
  
Ranma responded, and his lightsaber appeared out of his wrist.  
  
Ayeka gasped at the sight of the weapon. "You're a Jedi!"  
  
Ranma paused and looked at her. This was definitely new, he'd only been joking around in the Silver Millenium when he'd used his chi to mimic the powers from those movies.  
  
Ryoko backed away slowly, reassessing her actions slightly. "This could be more trouble than I'd thought," she said with a chuckle.  
  
"Ryoko, stop this!" said Tenchi. He turned towards Ayeka. "What's a Jedi?"  
  
"It's an order of strong fighters. Ten thousand years ago, a man defeated a powerful warlord. He had strange powers, and defeated all of the strongest warriors in the system with relative ease. He vanished after the battles, but a few others began to discover some of the techniques he used to defeat the warriors. They formed an order, in order to defend the galaxy from evil. Many years ago, a criminal named Kain was imprisoned with their help by one of my ancestors. Most of them died in the battle, and only a few remain in the galaxy to this day," explained the princess.  
  
"They're glorified Galaxy Police, bounty hunters most of them," snorted Ryoko.  
  
"In a way," agreed Ayeka.  
  
"Well, what are you doing here then?" said Ryoko as she eyed the boy in front of her.  
  
"I told you, I live here," said Ranma with a small shrug. He powered down his weapon and replaced it inside his arm again. "This is my home planet. You don't have a bounty on your head anymore, so I don't care about you." Ranma looked at the trio for a moment. "Interesting," he muttered to himself. He turned back towards the ship. "Well, I've got to get back to work now."  
  
"Indeed," said Ayeka with a slightly odd look in her eyes.  
  
Ryoko and Tenchi started moving back towards the shrine. Ayeka stood watching the ship for a moment.  
  
"Ayeka?" asked Tenchi.  
  
"I'd like to speak with him about something," said the princess as she looked at him for a moment. "I won't be a moment. I am quite safe, the jedi are very trustworthy."  
  
"Are you sure?" asked Tenchi as he looked at the ship nervously.  
  
"Very," said the princess with a short nod. "Unless he's a Sith," she muttered under her breath so he couldn't hear her. She doubted that, the Sith were thought to be destroyed long ago. It was a part of the arrangement that the Jedi had with Jurai when they imprisoned Kain.  
  
Ryoko stared at her for a moment, but said nothing and followed Tenchi back up the shrine.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma turned around and blinked when he saw Ayeka walk up the ramp and board the ship. "Hello," he said as he looked her up and down for a moment.  
  
"I would like to speak with you about something," she said in a very formal tone.  
  
Ranma arches his eyebrow and put down the tools he had picked up. "Really?"  
  
"Yes, that criminal Ryoko, she is dangerous. I want you to get rid of her for me," said the princess coldly.  
  
"Oh really? And why should I do that?" said Ranma as he smirked at her and leaned against the wall.  
  
"I'll pay you of course. That demon attacked Jurai, and we have always had good relations with your kind in the past."  
  
Ranma arched his eyebrow and frowned at her. "I see."  
  
"Will you help me?"  
  
"No," he replied simply.  
  
"If it's money you want..." started the princess sharply.  
  
"I'm not interested in your money princess," he replied simply. "Ryoko has been imprisoned her for seven thousand years. She was defeated by Yosho, and has served her term according to your laws."  
  
Ayeka stared at him for a moment. "What do you mean? She was..."  
  
"The cavern where she was sleeping is a Juraian prison, go and see for yourself if you don't believe me." Ranma was guessing on that, but it seemed to fit. "I don't recall the laws stating anything about how she was imprisoned, or where. Yosho used his authority as the first prince of Jurai to implement her term. I might also add that she had no trial before hand, so if anything, your people are the ones who have broken the laws."  
  
Ayeka stared at him. She turned away and clenched her fists at her sides. "I see."  
  
"Good," said Ranma as he smirked at her behind her back. "You just want her out of the way, because of that boy."  
  
Ayeka turned to glare at him. "What are you implying?"  
  
Ranma chuckled. "That is it, I was right after all."  
  
She blushed and turned away. "Tenchi is of..."  
  
"The Juraian Royal Family, a rather close relative of yours too I'd imagine," he finished for her.  
  
She turned to look at him for a moment, not saying a word.  
  
"I'm not as ignorant of your little group up there as you might imagine. Little Sasami is with you as well, arrived yesterday."  
  
"So, you've been spying on us?" she asked hotly.  
  
"That's my job," he replied with a small shrug.   
  
"Did my father send you?" she asked.  
  
"No, I work on this planet. Your father has not contacted me," he replied with a shrug. "I'm here to monitor people like you, and ensure that you don't mess with the culture here. Among other things," he replied.  
  
"Such as?"  
  
"There is a lot of extra dimensional activity on this planet, the senshi have recently reawakened as well. I'm keeping the planet safe from meddling powers."  
  
"So, you're working under the power of Queen Serenity," said Ayeka as she seemed to understand.  
  
"No," he replied simply. "I'm working on behalf of the planet. I'm keeping it safe, and that includes keeping it safe from the Senshi."  
  
Ayeka frowned at him. "What do you mean?"  
  
Ranma smiled at her. "I'm not a part of this new Jedi order. I'm the original. I was sent back to the Silver Millenium recently, I just got back about a week ago or so. I'm the one who defeated the Senshi, and destroyed Valdis."  
  
Ayeka stared at him for a moment, not sure what to say. "If that's true..."  
  
"And it is."  
  
"You have no ties with Jurai Royal Family. This planet is a colony..."  
  
"I don't recognize your authority, Princess," he replied simply.  
  
"I doubt if the Senshi will either, they're going to want this planet back when they awaken fully," he said with a cold smile on his lips.  
  
"Why are you telling me this?" she asked as she narrowed her eyes at him.  
  
"Because it amuses me," he replied with a shrug. "You can't tell anyone on this planet about it. My secret is safe, and I don't have to tell you that I can probably handle the whole lot of you if I need to. You and your group are welcome as long as you behave yourselves. Step out of line, and I'll kick you off this planet personally."  
  
"I see," she replied.  
  
"That was for treating me like a mercenary," he said as he turned his back on her. "Leave Ryoko alone, if you try to arrest her again. I'll stop you."  
  
Ayeka stepped off the ship without another word and left him to his work.  
  
Ranma snorted and walked back into the cockpit again. "Man, what a bitch."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Wow, this is neat," said Usagi as she looked down at her handheld video game and played vigorously.  
  
The other inner senshi were all walking down the sidewalk in a group. Tsuki was with them, the girl tripped and hit a mailbox as she walked beside them. She scrambled back into the group as they passed by her, ignoring the event.  
  
"It sure has been quiet lately," said Ami.   
  
"Too quiet," agreed Minako.  
  
"Something is bound to happen soon. I don't think that guy was the only Youma," said Rei with a small frown.  
  
"Maybe they gave up?" asked Usagi hopefully.  
  
"Nope," said a new voice from behind them.  
  
The group of girls turned around and saw a little girl with pink hair looking up at them, and following close behind them. "There's three more left."  
  
"Who are you?" said Makoto as she bent down to stare at the little girl.  
  
"My name is Usagi, people call me Chibi-Usa," replied the girl.  
  
The group looked down at her strange state of dress. She was wearing a black bodysuit with a set of hiking boots, and had a backpack slung over her shoulders.  
  
"Who?" muttered Mercury.  
  
"Hey, she has the same name as you," said Minako as she turned towards Usagi.  
  
"Well, I was named after my mother after all," said the little girl with a slightly sour frown as she glared at them.  
  
"Really?" said Usagi in confusion. She bent down and looked at the girl.  
  
"Yeah, you nimrod," said the little girl as she peered at the blonde for a moment and touched her nose with her finger.  
  
Every one of the scouts fell over.  
  
Tsuki was the only one who remained standing. "Hey kid, been a while."  
  
"Hiya," said the girl as she waved at her.  
  
"You know her?" stammered Makoto as she stood up and dusted herself off.  
  
"Yeah, she's from the future," said Tsuki. "She's not usually this rude, and she's dressed different than normal." She eyed the girl for a moment. "What's up?"  
  
"Mom decided I should take a trip," said the girl with a small shrug.  
  
"A trip?" muttered Usagi.  
  
"Yeah, to the past," replied the girl as she looked around and saw all the senshi staring at her. "What?"  
  
"You're Usagi's daughter?" muttered Rei as she looked at her face a little closer.  
  
"Yeah. So?" said the little girl as she peered back at her.  
  
"I can kind of see it," said the girl as she looked up at Usagi.   
  
Usagi looked like she was about to start foaming at the mouth.  
  
Mamoru walked up to the group and looked around. He noticed the little girl and blinked. "Hi. Who's this?"  
  
"Usagi's daughter," said Tsuki casually as she leaned against a telephone pole.  
  
"What?" said the boy as he went pale.  
  
"Relax, she's from the future," said Tsuki.  
  
Mamoru seemed to relax very slightly as he peered down at the girl. "That means she's my..."  
  
Usagi blushed and looked over at him. "You mean, she's our..."  
  
"Hey. I know him," said the little girl as she peered at Mamoru for a moment.  
  
"Well you should, he's your fath..." started Tsuki.  
  
"Uncle Mamo?" said the girl as she blinked and pointed at him.  
  
"Uncle?" said Tsuki as she suddenly froze with a look of surprise on her face. She slowly uncrossed her arms and looked at the girl in horror. "But that's..."  
  
"Uncle?" said Usagi and Mamoru in a sort of horrified unison.  
  
"But, aren't we married in the future?" said Usagi as she jumped on the girl and grabbed her by the shoulders. She shook violently and stared her right in the eyes.  
  
"Married? To him? Heck no," said the girl.  
  
"What's your father's name?" asked Makoto as she grabbed Usagi by her shoulders and pulled her back.  
  
"Ranma Saotome," said the girl as she looked around in confusion. "What? You didn't know?"  
  
The senshi were all frozen in shock, not one of them could move or speak. Mamoru's eyes rolled into his head, and he passed out.  
  
"Man, Pop was right. They are weird and stupid," said the little girl flatly.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Sorry, not as many jokes as normal, and Ranma's starting to show an evil streak that could come back and haunt him later on. Boy will it ever. Heh.  
  



	36. Insertion Part 36

Insertion  
  
Part 36  
  
The Spore  
  
++++++++++  
  
Mousse pulled the microphone up to his face as he swung his hips and sang. "It was a night, ooh, what a night it was it really was, such a night!  
Ooh, the moon was bright oh how bright it really was, it really was such a night! The night was alive with stars above. Ooh when she kissed me I had to fall in love!"   
  
The small crowd sitting around the stage in the bar listened intently as the boy crooned his tune.  
  
A shadowy figure in a heavy cloak sat at the bar with a drink in her hands, strands of violet hair spilled out of the hood as she sat with her back facing the show.  
  
"You're new here, a little young aren't you?" asked King as she cleaned a glass and eyed the girl for a moment.  
  
"Shampoo not Japanese, is okay," replied the girl as she smirked at the woman.  
  
King shrugged. "What brings such a young face to a place like this?"  
  
"Mousse is old friend," said the girl as she spared a quick glance at the show.  
  
"You're here to see him?" said King as she arched her eyebrow.  
  
"Shampoo no allowed see Mousse. He learn secret forbidden technique, and cast out of tribe," replied the girl as she turned to face the bartender with a small frown on her face. "He is dead to tribe."  
  
"Oh," said the woman with a short nod. "What sort of technique? Not something dangerous I hope."  
  
"He doing it now," said the young girl as she jerked her thumb back at the stage.  
  
"Huh?" muttered King dumbly.  
  
"King is ancient enemy of Amazon peoples," replied the girl. "Shampoo not supposed to be here, but Mousse is Shampoo's friend from child times."  
  
"Just checking, huh?" said the woman as she seemed to understand. She still looked confused on how Elvis could be the enemy of a tribe somewhere in China.  
  
"Yes, is best of not tell Mousse Shampoo here," said the girl as she looked at the bartender for a moment. "Mousse might be doing stupid thing, Great Grandmother not be nice if she see him again."  
  
King frowned at that, and nodded. It was too bad; he was a good kid.   
  
Shampoo stood up from the bar and walked towards the door after leaving the money for the drink on the counter. She paused and looked back at the stage for a moment. "Is stupid. How this enslave Amazon peoples?" She didn't understand it at all. Maybe it was just something old people were into back then or something?  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma frowned as he looked at his father jumping over the wall of the Tendo dojo in terror. His mother stopped chasing him and put her Katana back into its scabbard as she turned away and walked back over to her son's side.  
  
"Got away again?" he said lazily.  
  
"Yes," replied Nodoka with a small sigh. "He is very good, at running away."   
  
"Yeah, it's about all he's good at," said Ranma as he narrowed his eyes at the place the man had vanished.  
  
"How are you and Ranko doing?" asked the woman sweetly as she picked up the cup of tea that Kasumi had set down in front of her. "Thank you Kasumi dear."  
  
"Well enough," replied Ranma as he gave Kasumi an appreciative nod after she set down a cup in front of him as well. The girl then sat down with her own cup. "No problems really..."  
  
"You don't sound very sure of that," said Nodoka with a slight smirk.  
  
"It's not related to the two of us or anything. It's just been kind of hectic for me for a while now. Things seem to be calming down a bit though."  
  
"You seem to enjoy it," said Nodoka.  
  
"Well, I'll admit I find my fun where I can," said Ranma as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.  
  
"Oh?" said the woman as she arched her eyebrow.  
  
"You know, friends, work, blowing up planets, mass murder..." Ranma quickly put his hand over his mouth and glanced at the woman. She didn't appear to notice the slip up.  
  
Kasumi looked at him and blinked. "Pardon?"  
  
Nabiki, who was watching television nearby, nearly choked on her drink, but did not try to join the conversation.  
  
"It's nothing," he said nervously while pinching his leg harshly to punish Pissant for making them say that.  
  
"Work?" asked Nodoka. She appeared to have zoned out for a moment. "You're working?"  
  
"Yeah. I got a job at a security agency," he said with a shrug. "It's been interesting for the most part. Keeps me busy, and it doesn't pay that badly either."  
  
"That's nice," said his mother cheerfully.  
  
"Um yeah," said the boy.  
  
There was a noise in the front of the home as the door opened. "Hello?" said a feminine voice.  
  
"Oh my! We have visitors!" exclaimed Kasumi.  
  
Ranma watched as Kasumi walked to the front door. He turned back and saw Nodoka pulling her hand away from his cup.   
  
"You almost spilled it dear," she said sweetly.  
  
"Oh, sorry," he muttered.   
  
"Ranma, you have a visitor," said Kasumi as she walked back into the room with a familiar blonde walking behind her.  
  
"Huh?" he said as he looked up at Usagi, who was standing behind the older girl nervously. "Oh, hey meatball head, what's up?"  
  
She paused and looked at him, the phrase seeming to register in her head for some reason she couldn't quite grasp. She shook the feeling off and spoke up. "I need to talk with you about something."  
  
"Sure, go ahead," he said as he looked at his mother for a moment.  
  
"In private, it's kind of personal," said the girl as she looked at the three other girls in the room and blushed.  
  
Nabiki looked on and arched her eyebrow.  
  
"Oh, Mom?" said the boy as he looked at his mother.  
  
"Finish your tea dear. You shouldn't be bothered in the dojo," she said cheerfully.  
  
"Oh, okay," said the boy with a shrug as he downed the rest of the tea, grimacing as he became almost uncomfortably warm for a moment. He then stood up and walked Usagi out into the dojo.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"What is it? Is there some sort of problem?" said Ranma as he smirked at her. The only thing he could think of, was that the new youma had shown up, and she was here asking for help.  
  
"Sort of...someone showed up yesterday..." ventured the girl nervously.  
  
"Tall, blonde, insanely attractive?" he ventured. "I've already met her."  
  
"Huh?" said the girl dumbly. "Who are you talking about?" A huge blush crossed her face as she thought about the phrase for a moment.  
  
"You haven't met the new youma yet?" he said as he arched his eyebrow and blinked.  
  
"Oh. I thought you meant..." stammered the girl with a slightly relieved sigh. "The other one?" she suddenly became serious.  
  
"Yeah, I met her a few days ago," he said with a small nod. "This one is smart, very dangerous."  
  
"This isn't about that, we'll talk about that later," said the girl with a frown on her face. "I need you to come with me. This will be easier if you see for yourself," she said nervously.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ami stood up as Usagi brought the confused looking Ranma into the small park where she was waiting patiently with her nose in a book. Chibi-Usa was sitting next to her looking incredibly bored.   
  
The little girl jumped up and smiled as she saw the boy walking up to them. "Hey! It's him!"  
  
Ami frowned as she stood up and noticed him.  
  
Ranma went completely white as he saw the tiny pink haired girl waving at him.  
  
"Does he already know?" thought Usagi.  
  
"THE SPORE! IT DIES!" cried Ranma as his golden aura appeared around him. He shot foreword in an instant and ignited his lightsaber as he charged.  
  
The blade hadn't even fully appeared when he slashed down at the little girl. To his surprise, the girl had an exact copy of his weapon in her hand, and she had blocked the strike before jumping back away from him.  
  
"All right!" said Chibi-Usa as she held the weapon in a ready position with a huge grin on her face.  
  
Ranma blinked. "Huh?"  
  
The girl burst into a golden flame, and her hair suddenly changed to the same color.  
  
"What the fuck?!" cried Ranma as he blasted foreword and slashed at the girl again. "No way! Die Spore!" he cried as he charged again.  
  
Ami and Usagi simply watched the battle in shock. Ranma and Chibi-Usa were performing a rather acrobatic display in mid air, their arms and legs nothing more than a blur as they fought, the lightsabers drawing complex patterns in the air with the after image of the blades.  
  
Usagi walked directly under them and screamed. "STOP IT! STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"  
  
Chibi-Usa paused and frowned at her. "Aw Mom, You're never any fun."  
  
"Die!" cried Ranma as he attempted to attack her while her guard was down. The little girl casually backhanded him in the face, sending him into the ground. There was a small explosion as he struck the pavement, and he slowly climbed out of the hole and shook his head.  
  
"What the hell? No way!" he muttered dumbly as he watched the little girl float down to the ground with a smug looking smirk on her face.  
  
"Will you stop this! This is..." started Usagi as she frowned at him.  
  
"I know what that is! It's the Spore! The Spore is evil and must die!" he cried as he pointed at the little girl.  
  
"Spore?" muttered Chibi-Usa as she frowned at him. "You old fart! I'll kick your ass!"  
  
Ranma blinked and realized that something was definitely different about her. "What the hell is going on here?" he muttered dumbly.  
  
"Her name is Chibi-Usa, she says she's from the future," said Usagi.  
  
"She is," said Ranma as he narrowed his eyes at the girl as her aura died down.  
  
"She says she's my daughter," continued Usagi. She seemed to be getting nervous.  
  
"So?" muttered Ranma as he looked at her.  
  
Usagi swallowed and looked away from him. "Our daughter."  
  
"So you and Tux boy had an evil spawn...HUH?!" Ranma stared at the girl for a moment and then looked back at Chibi-Usa. The transformation, he'd not thought about it until now, but she was using Saotome Ryu... "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He clutched his head and fell to his knees in horror. "I'd never do anything so horrible to myself! It's a lie!"  
  
"Horrible?" said Usagi as she glared at him.  
  
"She's a ditz! A klutz! She's got a meatball head for god's sake!" he lamented as he looked at Usagi in horror.   
  
The little girl frowned at him and looked at her mother, who was fuming with anger.  
  
"Oh! I must be punishing myself in the future! What could I have done to deserve such a punishment? Well, there was that planet, but still! The horrible speeches! It'd be like marrying Kuno!"  
  
"My speeches are not horrible!" snapped Usagi angrily. She stomped her feet on the ground and clenched her fists. Her entire face had gone red.  
  
Chibi-Usa frowned and seemed to think about something for a moment. "Oh yeah. I'm supposed to give this to you." She walked over to where her backpack was and pulled out an envelope.   
  
Ranma accepted it with a dumb looking expression on his face. Inside was a photo, a woman with her long blonde hair let down was sitting seductively in a skintight dress and smiling. "Whoa! Who's the babe?" he muttered.  
  
"Turn it over," said Chibi-Usa.  
  
"Hi, Usagi in ten years time. Do it, or we'll come back and really hurt you. Signed, Ranma Saotome, Carrot, Dan, and Pissant."  
  
Ranma blinked. "Pissant signed this?" he muttered to himself in shock.  
  
"What is that?" asked Usagi as she noticed the photo. "Pervert!"  
  
"Hey! She gave it to me! It's a note," he said as he pointed at the little girl.  
  
"Well, whoever wrote that note, should have picked a better postcard than one with some bimbo on the front!" snapped Usagi.  
  
Ranma and Chibi-Usa looked at one another for a moment, and then burst into laughter.  
  
"What's so funny?!" demanded Usagi.  
  
"Private joke," said the boy as he pocketed the card and looked at her for a moment. "So, this is our daughter?"  
  
"Yeah," snapped the little girl as she glared at him fearlessly for a moment.  
  
"When I grow older, I'm going to spank you a whole lot," he said as he frowned at her.  
  
"Just try it ape!" she snarled.  
  
"Okay, I believe you," he said with a shrug.  
  
Ami, Usagi, and Chibi-Usa blinked in unison.   
  
"So? Now what?" asked the little girl as she looked at her parents. Usagi was still angry, she had her arms crossed in front of her chest and her nose in the air. Ranma didn't look particularly interested in the situation any longer.  
  
"Well, you can't really stay with me," said Usagi.  
  
"Wait a minute!" snapped Ranma as he turned to look at her. "You don't expect me to take her do you?"  
  
"You've got that big company, my family doesn't have much money," said the girl with a shrug. "How am I going to explain this to my mother?"  
  
"I dunno, she's a visiting cousin or something?" snorted Ranma as he turned away from the girl.  
  
"I won't be able to have any fun if I stay with Mom," said the little girl irritably.  
  
"Sure we would! I'll see you all the time! In fact, we'll go for ice cream, go shopping, watch movies, play video games, talk about boys..."  
  
Chibi-Usa looked at Ranma and scowled. "I really wish I could kill her."  
  
"It passes," he replied as he looked at the girl for a moment and smirked. "Why am I getting stuck with this? You're her mother."  
  
"Well, it just seems easier," said Usagi with a shrug.  
  
"I don't recall Mamoru getting stuck with her," grumbled the boy under his breath as he scowled for a moment and glanced down at the little girl. "Damn it."  
  
"You'll do it?" said Usagi cheerfully. "Yay!"  
  
"Come on, Spore," said Ranma as he walked off dejectedly.  
  
"Hey! Quit calling me that you old fart!" snapped the girl as she grabbed her bag and followed him.  
  
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Ami as she watched them go, arguing the whole way.  
  
"Do you have any idea what my mother would do if I brought someone who acts like that into my house?" said Usagi as she turned to look at the girl for a moment.  
  
"I guess you're right," said Ami with a small sigh.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Pluto had the mother of all migraines. She stared into the Time Stream, her eyes bloodshot from sleeplessness. "It can't be..." she muttered to herself.  
  
Tsuki stood beside her, watching the flow of time with the woman. "It's true. How did it happen?"  
  
"A paradox, he created it when he was in the past!" snarled Pluto angrily. "It's too big to fix. We can't do anything about it, not from that end anyway."  
  
"What can we do then?" asked Tsuki.  
  
"Crystal Tokyo still exists if I exclude him. He can still be destroyed in this time," said Pluto coldly. "It's not to late."  
  
Tsuki nodded and frowned deeply. "Understood."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma walked up to the gates of the dojo and looked down at the girl who was still following him. "So, how many voices do you have in your head?"  
  
"None," she replied as she looked up at him and frowned. "It's something I inherited from you somehow."  
  
"Huh?" said the boy as he looked at her for a moment. "But, without them..."  
  
"I'm heavy like you are, but I've only got one mind," she said as she looked up at him seriously.  
  
Ranma nodded and turned to open the gates. He walked into the home and walked in to see that his mother had left.  
  
"Boy! Who is this?" said Genma as he looked down at the little girl who was standing behind his son.   
  
Soun shuffled his newspaper and looked at the newcomer.   
  
Nabiki was sitting with them, while Kasumi set out a small snack.  
  
Ranma looked down at the little girl, and then back towards the others. "Her name is Chibi-Usa, she's my daughter from the future."  
  
"How nice!" said Kasumi.  
  
Nabiki snorted and turned away.   
  
"Enough kidding boy!" snapped Genma.  
  
Soun just looked confused.  
  
"Hey kid, why don't you go spar with Grandpa," said Ranma as he turned to the little girl and smirked. "Just don't break anything important. I'm trying to save some for Mom."  
  
"Okay," said the girl as she shrugged her shoulders and looked up at the man who loomed over her.  
  
"Boy. This isn't funneeeeeeeeee!!!" He sailed through the porch door and into the yard as the little girl punched him in the gut and charged into the yard after him.  
  
Akane walked out of her room and looked at the scene for a moment. "Who's that?"  
  
Nabiki's jaw was hanging down as she watched the little girl thrash the old man quite soundly.  
  
"My daughter from the future," said Ranma with a shrug.  
  
"Huh?" said Akane as she looked at him, thinking she misunderstood him.  
  
"Oh! Akane! You've made me very proud! Mothering a daughter to carry on the school this way! Tell me, does she have any brothers?" He looked at Ranma and grabbed him by his shoulders.  
  
"I dunno, she hasn't said," he replied with a shrug. Genma sailed through the air, passing by the porch again just beside them.   
  
"Daughter?" muttered Akane.  
  
Soun grabbed her in a rough hug and wailed loudly.  
  
Ranma smirked at her while the man's back was turned and mouthed the words, "Not yours," to her.  
  
She nodded and pat the man on his back.  
  
Chibi-Usa dusted off her hands and glared down at the battered form of her grandfather. "Can't you do any better than that, you fat bastard?" She snorted and turned back into the home.  
  
Genma groaned painfully. "I knew Akane would be a fine choice for a mother. If his daughter is this strong, imagine what his sons will be like!" he thought to himself through the pain.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma sighed as he sat at the counter of the Ucchan and hung his head.  
  
The girl was flipping an Okonomiyaki over when she noticed his state. "Bad day?"  
  
"You don't know the half of it," muttered the boy.  
  
"I imagine I don't," she replied with a shrug.  
  
"Do you ever have a really bad day, and realize that you're pretty sure that it isn't going to get any better?"  
  
"Of course," she snapped while glaring at him. "It was all your fault too."  
  
"Oh," he said with a small nervous laugh. "Sorry."  
  
"I suppose I can't really blame you for that," she amended reluctantly.  
  
"Yeah, well..." he muttered as he looked away. "Sorry anyway."  
  
"Here, pay, eat, leave," she said as she put his plate down.  
  
Ranma blinked, and then did exactly that.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma walked into the Tendo dojo and frowned when he saw Nabiki standing with half of a melted telephone receiver in her hand. She was staring down at the little girl sitting at her table in shock. Chibi-Usa had a sandwich in her hands and was eating it calmly.  
  
"Hey. What's with her?" asked Ranma as he walked by the frozen Nabiki.  
  
"She was trying to sell information about 'Ranma and Akane's love child' over the phone," said the little girl with a small snort.   
  
"Oh," he said with a small shrug.  
  
Nabiki wandered up the stairs and into her room, closing the door behind her.  
  
"Where's your Grandfather?" asked Ranma.  
  
"He's outside, completely wasted," said the girl as she nodded her head towards the door. "They're celebrating the eventual union of the schools."  
  
"Let them have their moment of joy," said Ranma with a shrug.  
  
"Yeah, whatever," said the girl.   
  
++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki frowned as she lay on her bed, staring at the names and now complete addresses in her notebook. She knew who the Sailor Senshi were. She'd called and asked about some of the rewards for the information that a few of the local papers were offering. She was pretty sure she could get the one offering ten million to double their offer.  
  
Now the only thing bothering her was whether or not she should. If Ranma found out it was her that gave the information to the paper, she was pretty sure that he'd know where she'd gotten it from. There had to be a way around that.  
  
She frowned and tried her best to think. The thing about anonymous tips were that they were anonymous. There would be no way for them to pay her without risking discovery. Calling wouldn't be very smart either. Especially not from here, cellular phones were to easy to pick up, especially considering all the equipment she had seen inside that building.  
  
"I suppose I could go there and tell them in person, get cash," she muttered. It seemed to be the best solution. When though? Ranma might become suspicious if she broke from her usual routine and disappeared right before the information was made public.  
  
She could ask for a sort of time release on the information. That wasn't reliable enough though. No reporter would sit on a story like this for more than a few hours. She racked her brain, trying to think of a way.  
  
"This is going to be harder than I'd thought," she muttered. She knew it was very possible that she was being overly cautious. However, considering what that little brat had just done to her, it probably wasn't a bad idea.  
  
She closed the notebook and replaced it in its hiding place, under a loose board beneath her bed. It was a problem she'd best think about for a little while before she tried anything. "I've got time I suppose. It'd be best not to wait too long though." She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, thinking of ways she could get revenge on that little thug Ranma had brought home with him.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next time: Parenthood.  



	37. Insertion Part 37

Insertion  
  
Part 37  
  
An old friend  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma frowned as he stared at the remains of the wall beside him. "Hi Shampoo." He was walking towards the business district with his daughter beside him.  
  
"Who the hell is this?" asked Chibi-Usa as she looked at the Amazon girl for a moment.  
  
"Shampoo," said the Amazon as she peered at the girl intently. "Who you is?"  
  
"My daughter, from the future," replied Ranma with a small shrug.  
  
Shampoo blinked and looked up at him. "Is Shampoo's daughter?"  
  
"Nope," replied the boy as he looked at her.  
  
"Then not really daughter from future," said the girl with a small shrug. "Ranma come to take Shampoo to date?"  
  
"No, we're meeting her mother," said Ranma as he nodded towards the little girl beside him.  
  
"So, Airen go to date with other girl?" said Shampoo as she glared at the boy for a moment.  
  
"It's none of your business if I do," he replied calmly.  
  
"Shampoo stop you!" said the girl as she pulled out her bonbori.  
  
"I can beat your great grandmother, what makes you think you could stop me?" he asked her as he arched his eyebrow at her.  
  
Shampoo paused and stepped back. "Shampoo..."  
  
"Well?" asked Ranma as he smirked at her and crossed his arms.  
  
"Shampoo, has the son in law come to take you on a date?" said a familiar voice. Cologne hopped up to the pair and smiled at the boy for a moment.  
  
"No. I'm taking my daughter to meet her mother," replied the boy calmly.  
  
"Daughter?" asked the old woman as she peered at him for a moment. She turned her head to notice the little girl standing beside him. "This child is a little old to be yours my boy."  
  
"She came back in time, from the future," he said with a shrug.  
  
"Mom and Pop sent me back to stay with them when they were younger for a while," said the little pink haired girl as she looked at the mummy on a stick. "Man, you're ugly."  
  
Cologne stared at the girl for a moment and then narrowed her eyes at the boy. "I see. Tell me, do you really think suck a simplistic ploy will derail us from catching you my boy?"  
  
"No. I think you're stupid enough to try anyway," he said as she looked at her for a moment. "Can I go now?"  
  
"Why don't you take Shampoo along?" asked Cologne. "I'm sure she'd like to meet her competition."  
  
"Huh? Don't you mean kill her obstacle?" said the boy as he raised his eyebrow at the old woman. "She can come if she wants, but I'm not even dating her mother right now."  
  
"Oh?" asked Cologne.  
  
"Yeah, apparently it's something that happens in the future," he said with a small shrug. "I don't know what I see in that brainless, clumsy, Meatball head."  
  
"Stop that!" snapped Chibi-Usa as she kicked him in his shins. "Even if it is true!"  
  
"Ouch! You little brat!" snapped Ranma as he punched her in the top of her head.  
  
"Ape!" snapped Chibi-Usa.  
  
Cologne and Shampoo watched in stupefied shock as the pair started to fight in the street. Ranma was fighting with a little girl and apparently not pulling any punches as he hit her across her jaw and sent her crashing through a wall.  
  
"What have you done boy?" snapped Cologne in horror.  
  
He looked at her and blinked. "Huh? Don't worry, she can take it," he replied.  
  
"How you do this to little girl!?" snapped Shampoo in disgust. She was looked at the hole in the wall and started to move towards it to check on the girl.  
  
"I wouldn't get to close if I were you," warned Ranma.  
  
"Boy, it seems obvious that you're more dangerous than I had thought!" snapped Cologne. It was people like him who had forced the creation of Joketzuko.  
  
"You stupid fucking ape! I'll kill you!" cried the little girl's voice from the other side of the wall.  
  
Cologne paused and turned her head.  
  
"You might want to move now," said Ranma as he smirked at Cologne.  
  
"What?" snapped the old woman as she looked at him.  
  
Shampoo peered through the collapsed wall for a moment. "Is all right?"  
  
The young Amazon was thrown back by a powerful force of energy that exploded from the other side of the wall, crumbling it in an instant.  
  
"What is this?!!" gasped Cologne as she saw the little girl floating in the air with an aura of energy surrounding her. The girl's hair was now gold, and she had a vicious looking snarl on her face.   
  
"So, you think you can take me old man?" snapped Super Chibi-Usa as she grinned wildly and floated down to the ground in front of the shocked Amazon women.  
  
Ranma smirked and spread his feet apart. "I told you to move old woman," he said as he glanced at Cologne for a moment.  
  
The old woman hopped back several feet and stared at him. "There's no possible way!"  
  
Ranma's power exploded, the golden energy swallowed his body and his hair changed as well. His body almost doubled in size from sheer muscle mass and he floated above the ground for a moment before landing as well as his own aura died down. "Ready for a little training kid?"  
  
"Anytime you slow bastard!" snarled Chibi-Usa.  
  
"Shampoo!" gasped Cologne as she moved up to her Great Granddaughter's side.  
  
"Aiya! What this is?" said the girl in shock.  
  
Chibi-Usa raised her hand and smirked. "Pink Sugar Heart Attack!"  
  
Ranma blinked, "What the hell kinda stupid attack is..." He was cut off as dozens of six foot heart blades erupted from the ground beneath him with the points facing up, forcing him into the air. They tore up the pavement and vanished after the attack had been completed. "That was a nasty trick," he commented to himself.  
  
"Come on old man! I don't have all day!" snarled the little girl as she slammed her fist into his gut hundreds of times.  
  
"Ouch!" snapped the boy as he managed to catch her with a right hook across her jaw.  
  
Cologne and Shampoo watched the battle in awe, or rather Cologne did. Shampoo couldn't even see the fight.  
  
"This isn't possible!" snapped Cologne under her breath to herself. "His power...there's no way it's even...four times?"  
  
"What happen? Where Airen go?" gasped Shampoo. She screeched in shock when one of the walls nearby exploded into a shower of debris. Ranma sat up from the rubble and glared up at the sky.   
  
"You little brat! I'll get you for that!" he snapped.  
  
"Anytime old man!" said Chibi-Usa from the air above them. She was making a face at her father by crossing her eyes, pulling at the corners of her mouth, and sticking her tongue out at him.  
  
Ranma appeared in front of her and punched her dead in the face before she could stop making the face. "If you make faces like that, one day it will get stuck that way."  
  
"Oth! I bid my dongue!" said the little girl as she held her mouth in pain. "Athhole!"  
  
Ranma was laughing his ass off. "Serves you right!"  
  
Chibi-Usa appeared in front of him and kneed him in the groin.  
  
Ranma's eyes went wide and he curled into a fetal position. He coughed a few times and looked at the little girl who was smirking at him with her arms crossed. "Keep it up, and you'll never be born," he whispered harshly.  
  
"Dang, he's right," she said with a frown as she suddenly realized that she could no longer hit him there, at least, not as hard as she just had.  
  
Ranma's eyes narrowed and he waved his hand. A ball of chi rocketed from his palm and struck the little girl dead in her chest, driving her into the ground below.  
  
Chibi-Usa climbed out of the hole and dusted herself off. "Dang, stupid old man..."  
  
Cologne and Shampoo simply looked on, unable to move or speak.   
  
"You two are still here?" said Chibi-Usa as she looked at them for a moment.  
  
"How is doing this?" said Shampoo.  
  
"It's hereditary," replied the girl with a small shrug. "Sorry, but I gotta kick my dad's ass now."  
  
Cologne nodded very slowly as the girl blasted back into the sky.  
  
A new voice rang out across the empty street. "Stop it right now!"  
  
Ranma and Chibi-Usa froze, still locked in combat. "Uh-oh," they said in unison.  
  
Everyone present turned to see Usagi glaring up at them from the street. "What do you think you're doing?"  
  
"Kicking his sorry ass!" said Chibi-Usa sharply.  
  
Ranma elbowed her in the gut and flashed her a quick glare. "Um. We were just training a little..."  
  
"Yeah! That's right!" agreed the little girl with a guilty look on her face.  
  
"Training?" muttered Cologne.  
  
"Aiya!" exclaimed Shampoo.  
  
"You call this training!?" snapped Usagi as she pointed out the damage the pair had done.  
  
"Well, kinda. We didn't make that hole," Ranma pointed out Shampoo's entrance and grinned. "That one is hers." He pointed towards the Amazon and grinned.  
  
"Look at her! She's a mess!" cried Usagi as she fell to her knees in front of the little girl and grabbed her by her shoulders. "Why does she had blood coming out of her mouth?" exclaimed the girl in horror.  
  
"I bit my tongue," said the little girl with a shrug. "It was an accident."  
  
Usagi looked slightly relieved at this, but still glared at Ranma.  
  
"Oh come on! I wasn't gonna hurt her! We were just sparring," he said as he glared at her.  
  
"Sparring?" said Cologne dumbly.  
  
"Now she's all dirty!" snapped Usagi.  
  
Ranma's brain wracked, he had to think of something. "Um...the path of a true martial artist, is fraught with peril?"  
  
"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" snapped Usagi.  
  
"Is wife from future?" asked Shampoo as she looked at Usagi for a moment.  
  
"Huh?" said Usagi as she looked up at the girl. "Ummm..."  
  
"Yeah, so?" snorted Ranma.  
  
"You told them?" gasped Usagi.  
  
"These people are okay, relax. Besides, they don't know everything anyway," he said with a shrug. "Just that Chibi-Usa is my daughter from the future, and now that you're gonna be the mom."  
  
"Great Grandmother?" asked Shampoo as she looked at the old woman for a moment.  
  
Cologne looked thoughtful for a moment, and closed her eyes. She then nodded. "Do what you have to."  
  
"Right!" said the girl with a firm look crossing her face. "Shampoo kill!"  
  
Ranma looked at her with a sort of lazy frown. "If you do, I might be angry."  
  
Cologne sighed, "Very well, Shampoo, stop."  
  
The girl complied reluctantly.  
  
Usagi merely watched the scene with an uncertain and confused look on her face. "Kill?"  
  
"Obstacle is for killing," said Shampoo.  
  
"Then I might decide your whole tribe is an obstacle," said Ranma as he looked at the two Amazons for a moment.  
  
"What?" said Cologne.  
  
"You heard me," he answered.  
  
Usagi looked up at him and blushed as he stared the two women down. His aura died down suddenly and his hair turned black again. Chibi-Usa detransformed as well, growing slightly smaller, but not nearly as much as Ranma had.  
  
"Come Shampoo. It's time we left," said the old woman as she hopped away.  
  
"Okay," muttered the girl nervously.  
  
"Man, that was pointless," snorted Ranma as he watched them go.  
  
"Well, you don't look quite so dirty now," muttered Usagi as she looked the girl over again. It was too bad the dust the girl had accumulated on her clothes was easily visible on her black bodysuit. "I suppose he'll have to get you some new clothes."  
  
"He?!" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"You got her dirty! Besides, you're rich! Take care of your daughter!" snapped the girl in retort.  
  
"Yeah, suffer old man!" said the little girl as she stuck her tongue out at him again.  
  
"I oughta..." he grumbled as he glared at her.  
  
"You'll behave yourself!" snapped Usagi.  
  
Ranma frowned at her, but didn't say anymore. "How's your boyfriend doing?"  
  
"He's fine," she said curtly as she glared at him.  
  
"Good, I hope you two keep getting along," he said as he looked at the little girl for a moment.  
  
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" snapped Chibi-Usa as she glared at him.  
  
"Nothing. Look, can we just do this?" he said grumpily as he started walking down the sidewalk.  
  
"I guess so," said Usagi as she started walking with the pair. She noticed that the little girl was moving along beside him rather closely. "What's she doing?" she wondered to herself. She looked like she was deliberately avoiding touching him though, trying to look tough. It looked kind of funny on a girl her age.  
  
She walked along side Ranma, and noticed that Chibi-Usa moved away from her to the other side of him.  
  
Ranma noticed it as well. "What's with you?" he asked her out loud.  
  
Usagi blinked and looked at him. She'd been wondering that, but didn't want to say anything to her.  
  
"Mom'll probably try to hold my hand or something," snorted the little girl. "She's always doing stuff like that, telling me to be careful, making me hold her hand, always making guards follow me around when I'm out. It's stupid."  
  
"Guards?" said Usagi in confusion.  
  
"Yeah, guards," said the little girl as she glared at her mother for a moment. "I can take care of myself! I don't need no stupid guard! I can beat any of the Senshi! Cept maybe Saturn, and that's cause pop trained her!"  
  
"You fight with Saturn?" asked Usagi as she looked at the little girl for a moment.  
  
"Yeah! Me and her are like, best friends and stuff. We fight all the time!"  
  
"Why do you fight with your friends?" gasped Usagi.   
  
"Cause it's fun," replied the little girl cheerfully.  
  
"What about you and Rei?" said Ranma as he looked at Usagi for a moment.  
  
"That's...different..." she muttered with a small, embarrassed frown.  
  
"Well, I guess I'll let you two alone for now," said Ranma as he shrugged his shoulders. He handed Usagi a thick roll of bills. "Have fun. Bring her back by the Dojo when you're done. I might not be there, but you can leave her. There's always someone there who can keep an eye on her. I got some work to do away from the house."  
  
"Okay," said Usagi as she watched him wander away. "Wait!"  
  
"Huh?" he said as he turned back to face her again.   
  
"What's this for?" she said in confusion.  
  
"Buy her some new clothes, take her to eat," he said with a shrug. "Keep the change."  
  
"Oh," she said as she looked at it dumbly. The notes were in ten thousand-yen bills. "Wait!" she cried as he turned away again.  
  
"Yeah?" he said with a slightly annoyed frown.  
  
"Did you mean what you said back there? About, you know, hurting those people?"  
  
"Well, I might have gotten angry," he said with a shrug. "Course, I might have decided I wanted a tuna sandwich too."  
  
Usagi blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"I dunno," he replied as he continued walking away.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma frowned as he looked down at the innards of the ship from the maintenance hatch with a bowl of food in his hands. "What the hell? Aw man I knew I forgot something..." he grumbled. He put down the bowl, closed the instruction book, and sighed as he walked off the ship.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stood in the doorway of the Misaki shrine and glanced around. "Hello? Hey, old timer! You in here?" There was no answer, and he frowned. "Great."  
  
"Well, I guess I've got to go ask Nephrite then," he muttered. He turned and was about to turn on his communications watch when something stopped him.  
  
"Hold it right there!"  
  
"Huh?" he said as he turned to see a tall blonde woman with a firearm pointed at him. She had a serious looking scowl on her face as she steadied herself.  
  
"Most wanted first class criminal Ranma! You are under arrest!"  
  
"Arrest?" he muttered dumbly. "What for?...hey! What do you mean 'Most wanted first class criminal'?!"  
  
"Wow," said Ryoko as she stepped out from behind the woman and whistled. "I knew I liked this guy for a reason."  
  
Ayeka entered the room as well. "So, a Sith lord," she said to herself as she eyed the boy cautiously.  
  
"Wha?" muttered Ranma, he now looked more confused than ever. "Look. I just wanted to ask old man Masaki something. If this is a bad time, I can come back later."  
  
"I said hold it right there! I, Detective First Class Mihoshi, hereby arrest you in the name of the Galaxy Police!"   
  
"Mihoshi huh? What am I under arrest for?"  
  
"For the destruction of a planet in the Color system!" said the woman firmly.  
  
Ranma blinked and looked at her for a moment. "Wait. You mean...that wasn't an inter-dimensional porthole?"  
  
Mihoshi shook her head. "No, it wasn't."  
  
"Well then, first of all, Galaxy Police has no jurisdiction here. Secondly, I was acting in defense of this planet, there was an invading army threatening my planet. Thirdly, I was under psychic attack, which negates all pretence of rational thought according to intergalactic law. And finally, you can't arrest me until you read me my rights."  
  
Mihoshi blinked. She looked towards Ryoko and her eyes began to tear up. "I can't read you your rights. She...she...she broke my...WAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"  
  
Ryoko merely smiled cheerfully at this and said nothing.  
  
Yosho walked into the room with Tenchi and glanced around. "Hello. Oh, I see we have a visitor!"  
  
"Hiya!" said Ranma as he waved at the old man.  
  
"Well, what do you need my boy?" asked the old man as he walked between the teens.  
  
"Well, I was making lunch inside my ship, while I was fixing it. I was hoping to borrow some soy sauce."  
  
Everyone blinked.  
  
"Of course, I'll get you some," replied Yosho as he wandered away.  
  
"Thanks!" said Ranma.  
  
"You're a Sith," said Ayeka as she glared at the boy for a moment.  
  
"I am not!" he countered. "I am not a Jedi, you can't blame me for some stupid club some guys formed because I did something ten thousand years ago!"  
  
Tenchi blinked. "Ten thousand years? You're that old?"  
  
Ranma sighed. "No, time travel," he replied.  
  
Tenchi seemed to relax a bit at this, but still looked nervous.   
  
"Here you go," said Yosho as he entered the room and handed Ranma a bottle of Soy sauce.  
  
"Thanks I'll bring the bottle back," replied the boy.  
  
"No need," insisted Yosho.  
  
"Thanks," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"Wait! You say you have a ship!" said Mihoshi as she rushed up to him and grabbed him by his shoulders.  
  
"Yeah," he answered.  
  
"Could you...take me back home then?"  
  
"What? So you can arrest me?" he replied.  
  
"Well, it would be my duty of course," she replied.  
  
"Oh. No then," he said as he turned away again.  
  
"But..." she whined.  
  
"Look, get those charges dropped, and then maybe I can take you home. Otherwise, I'm not leaving this rock for a while."   
  
"See ya," said Ranma as he walked outside again.  
  
"What a weird guy," said Ranma.  
  
"I kind of like him," said Ryoko with a small shrug.  
  
"You would," snorted Ayeka.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma finished his lunch and sat in the pilot's seat of the Mikon Taka. "Well, now or never." He began flipping switches, and the ship came to life. With a grin on his face, he turned on the engines and the ship rose into the air. "All right!"   
  
"Where should we go?" asked Carrot.  
  
"I dunno, it's fixed now. We could go to the moon, or maybe see how some of the other planets look after what happened after the Silver Millenium," said Ranma.  
  
"I've got a better idea," said Carrot.  
  
"Huh?" asked Ranma and Dan dumbly.  
  
"There's been something bothering me ever since we got back. I wanna go check it out," said Carrot with an evil looking smirk.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma burst through the large double doors and glanced around. There was a trail of fallen security guards behind him.  
  
"Sir! I couldn't stop him!" cried the butler who followed the boy into the room nervously. "The security force...it's..."  
  
"Hiya!" said Ranma as he sat down at the desk of the man who was staring at him in horror. "I've come to talk with you about a few things."  
  
"You!" cried George Lucas in horror.  
  
"Yeah, I'd like to talk with you about a few of your movies. You know, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. About where you got the plots for those films from. I'm kind of curious..."  
  
George screamed in terror and backed against the wall of the room, shaking visibly. "Get away!"  
  
"Oh would you relax. I'm not gonna hurt you. Your guards just said I couldn't come in, and I'm really curious about how you managed to come so close to what I really did when I was in the past. It's been bugging me ever since I came back."  
  
"He's come back! Come back to ruin my life again!" cried George in terror.  
  
Ranma paused, there was something undeniably familiar about that terrified and hateful stare. "Wait a minute..."  
  
"Get away from me!" cried George as he stumbled away from Ranma.  
  
"Hanna?!" muttered Ranma in shock. "Is that you?"  
  
"God help me!" muttered George. "Why did you come back? Did you seek me out to torment me again demon!?"  
  
"Hey. Relax would you? I'm not going to do anything," said Ranma as he frowned at the cowering man.  
  
"You're not?" muttered George.  
  
"You were reborn as a guy?" said Ranma with a slightly sick look on his face. "Too bad, you weren't all that bad looking before."  
  
"What do you want?" snapped George hatefully.  
  
"Well, I was curious how you knew about all that stuff, to make your movies from. I guess I know now. This is weird," said Ranma. "You made me into Indiana Jones, and Luke Skywalker. I'm kinda flattered really."  
  
"Actually, you were Belloque, and Darth Maul," snapped George bitterly.  
  
Ranma sighed. "Right. I've got your old ship with me. You want to see it again?"  
  
"My...ship?" muttered George.  
  
"You know. Mikon Taka?" said the boy cheerfully.  
  
"It's here? You mean...after all this time...I'm not crazy?" muttered George in shock.  
  
"Naw," said Ranma. "Look. I've still got that mechanical arm." Ranma opened up the bottom of his forearm and showed the man the innards of his prosthetic limb.  
  
"Of course! I was never crazy!" exclaimed George. "You're here? You're really here!"  
  
"Yeah," said Ranma.  
  
"This is great!" cried George. "Now I can kill you!"  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma as he blinked.   
  
George how had a rifle in his hands and was pointing it at him.  
  
"Uh-oh," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"This is for ruining my career!" cried George angrily as he fired at the boy. "This is for freezing me!" he fired again and Ranma dodged frantically.   
  
"Hey! Stop that!" cried the boy.  
  
"All this time! I thought I was nuts!" snarled George. "This is for all those years of therapy!"  
  
"This guy really is nuts!" snapped Ranma as he dove through the window and flew back away from the building a little ways.  
  
George jumped out after him, the office was only on the first floor of his mansion.   
  
"Are you finished yet?" snapped Ranma.  
  
George fired one more shot and blinked. "Out of ammo...I guess I am done then..."  
  
"Great," muttered Ranma as he landed on the ground.  
  
George's eyes went wide as he saw the Miko Taka sitting in his yard. "My old ship!"  
  
"Yeah. Neat huh?" said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"It does exist!" he muttered.  
  
"Honey! I have to show my wife!" cried George as he jumped back into the window and tried to find his family. "Honey! Bring the kids, you have too..."  
  
Ranma began to sweat nervously.  
  
"Augh! What have you done!?" cried the man as he saw his family lying passed out on the living room floor.  
  
"Well, your wife thought I was some kind of mass murderer or something. She saw me beating up those guards you have around her. I only knocked her out cause she was protecting her family, but... she tried to bite me. I over reacted and accidentally caught your family in the blast. Don't worry, they aren't hurt. They'll wake up in an hour or so good as new."  
  
George fell to his knees and looked down at them dumbly. "I..."  
  
"Um. I'll just be going now," said Ranma as he quickly vacated the room.  
  
George Lucas screamed in rage. It could be heard for miles around. Moments later, the Mikon Taka sailed through the air, on it's way back to Japan.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Ranma vs. Ah!MG  
  



	38. Insertion Part 38

Insertion  
  
Part 38  
  
Wrath of the Goddesses  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stepped out of the Mikon Taka and sighed. His trip to America hadn't gone exactly as planned. "Well, it was fun at least," commented Carrot.  
  
"Yeah. Fun," said Ranma lamely.  
  
"We should probably head back. Chibi-Usa should be back by now," said Dan.  
  
"Yeah, we'd better go before Pop tries to sell her or get her engaged and gets himself killed," said Carrot.  
  
"Hey!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Piss boy sure has been quiet lately," snorted Dan.  
  
"Well, he's still mad at us," pointed out Carrot.  
  
"Let's just go," said Ranma.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Genma sailed over the wall of the dojo and landed on the pavement at his son's feet. The older man groaned painfully and rolled over to look at the boy.   
  
"You should probably leave her alone old man," said Ranma as he looked down at the broken body that was sprawled out in front of him.  
  
Genma jumped to his feet and grabbed the boy by his shoulders. "Say it isn't so son!"  
  
"Huh?" muttered Ranma in confusion.  
  
"You do have a son in the future right?" said Genma as he shook the boy violently.  
  
"How the heck should I know. Why don't you ask the spore?" snorted the boy irritably.  
  
"He did. Why do you think I pounded him," snorted Chibi-Usa as she walked out of the gates and glared at the pair.  
  
"You! You just have to have a brother!" cried Genma.  
  
"Well I don't!" snapped the girl angrily. "Pig! Hairball!"  
  
"Now, as much fun as it is to beat Grandpa up, you should at least try to be nice and ignore the fact that he's a sexist moron," said Ranma as he looked at the girl.  
  
The child blushed and turned her gaze away. "You're right, I guess."  
  
"What are you saying boy?" said Genma.  
  
"Nothing. I'm just saying that you think boys are better than girls," said Ranma as he looked at the man for a moment.  
  
"Oh. That's all right then," said Genma with a short nod.  
  
His son shrugged and turned to enter the home. "Is dinner almost ready yet?"  
  
"Naw, we got like an hour," said Chibi-Usa with a slightly disappointed frown.  
  
"We'll do a little sparring before we eat then," said Ranma.  
  
"Great! I like kicking your ass!" chimed the girl cheerfully.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Cologne sat at the counter of the Cat Cafe, a cold frown on her face as she stared into the restaurant where Shampoo was working diligently. She had been that way since the boy had left.  
  
"It's hereditary," said the little girl's voice in her mind.  
  
"Indeed," she muttered as she moved for the first time in hours. "We must have him."  
  
"What Great Grandmother talking?" said Shampoo.  
  
"Child. We must have this boy," said Cologne as she turned towards the girl. "At any cost. If all his children are as strong as that child is. Our tribe would greatly benefit from such a male, even if we must be subservient to him until the children are old enough to put him in his place. It may take some time convincing some of the other elders of this, but I believe it is possible to do so once they find out about the truth."  
  
"What if have boy children?" asked Shampoo.  
  
"Very clever child," said Cologne with an impressed smirk. "The boy is cursed by Jusenkyo, and the spring of drowned girl. He will only be able to sire female children. Which makes him all the more valuable to us."  
  
"How we get Airen to be with Shampoo? He very strong, maybe more than Great Grandmother even," said the girl with a small frown.  
  
"It will not be easy, we cannot force him. Instead, we must make him see the advantages of taking you as a wife. We must make him want to marry you," said Cologne.  
  
Shampoo blinked in surprise. The old woman had not even tried to contest the fact that the boy might be stronger than her.  
  
"So, Airen marry Shampoo soon?"  
  
"Yes child. You and many others if I have my way," said Cologne. "Perhaps not marry them, but he is too valuable to the tribe to keep to your own bed."  
  
Shampoo frowned at this. She didn't argue though, she could see what the old woman meant. "So, is having many children then?"  
  
"Indeed," said Cologne with a small nod. "I may be able to work something out so that it benefits our family more than the others. Perhaps a limit on the amount of children sired by him within other families. A concession to keep his wife happy."  
  
"Shampoo understand," said the young girl. "How we do this?"  
  
"Simple. What man could resist the chance to such an arrangement?" said Cologne with an evil sounding chuckle. "Males are simple enough to manipulate, it should pose no problem."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Belldandy stood staring at the image in front of her. "What is all that?"  
  
Urd turned away from the screen with an equally confused frown. "So, this is him?"  
  
Skuld sighed. "No. This is the amount of dark power he was using. See that little black dot in the middle? That's him. All this purple is anger, the red is suffering, and the green is pain. It's the kind of power that the blast was powered by."  
  
"What kind of demon is he?" gasped Belldandy in horror.  
  
"A very strong one," said Skuld with a frown. "I'll pull away the energy filter so you can see him." She worked on a keyboard in front of the monitor for a few moments and an image appeared. "Now to zoom in..." said the young goddess as she paused for a moment and seemed to thing about something. "Oh yeah! This is how..."  
  
A few moments later the screen flickered, and an image of Super Ranma appeared. He was in the middle of shooting off the Final Flash that had destroyed the Pokemon world.  
  
"He doesn't look very scary," commented Urd with a slight blush on her face.  
  
"Really Urd!" exclaimed Belldandy.  
  
"Well, he's not that bad looking. I didn't say he wasn't evil," said the goddess as she shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"Eww, he's all big and stuff. No way!" snorted Skuld.  
  
"How would you know about that?" asked Urd with her eyes growing wide.  
  
"I hate all those muscles, he's gross looking!" continued Skuld with a disgusted looking frown.  
  
"Well, I suppose he is rather big looking," said Belldandy.  
  
Urd blinked. "Oh. That..."   
  
"So. What happened to him?" said Urd. "Maybe he went with the Planet?"  
  
Skuld frowned, and sped up the image a bit. It now showed Ranma falling through the porthole from his own blast. "No, he got away."  
  
"Where does that go?" asked Urd as she peered at the screen for a moment.  
  
"It goes to Earth," said Skuld.  
  
"Oh! Oh no!" gasped Belldandy.  
  
"So, that thing is somewhere on this planet?" said Urd with a slightly worried look on her face.  
  
"We've got to do something!" gasped Belldandy.  
  
"What? Where are we gonna find him? He's vanished," said Skuld.  
  
"I don't know. He should have a distinct signature, but I'm having trouble locating it. He must have a way to hide it somehow," said Skuld.  
  
"Well, it looks like we're going to have to do a little detective work then," said Urd.  
  
"Oh! Keiichi! Are you leaving?" asked Belldandy as she turned to see the boy walking towards the door in a gray jumpsuit and a matching ballcap.  
  
"Yeah. I've got to go to work," said the boy cheerfully.  
  
"Oh. Well, I'll see you when you get back then!" said the Goddess.  
  
"Yeah! See ya!" said the boy as he rushed out the door.  
  
"I bet he misses his friends from the Auto club," said Belldandy with a small frown.  
  
"Actually, he seems happier since he got this new job and quit," commented Urd. "They're paying him to go to do the same thing that Otaki and Tamiya were making him do for free."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Hey, Morisato," said Ranma as he walked into the repair shop and glanced around.  
  
"Oh. Hey Ranma," said the boy as he looked up and wiped his brow. He was leaning into the front of one of the large black cars that the MIB used as fleet cars. "His face was covered in grease, but he appeared to be happy."  
  
"Got another good report," said Ranma as he put a folder in his hands. "I must say, I'm glad I hired you as project manager. You seem to have a way with cars." Keiichi was a sort of intern at the shop, working under the manager of the shop in a sort of administrative position.  
  
"Well, with these mechanics, and the budget you allow on the vehicles, plus the parts you supply are top of the line! Anyone could do it!" said the boy cheerfully. "I'm surprised you hired me though. I haven't even graduated yet and all..."  
  
"I've had good reports on your activities in the Auto Club at your school," said Ranma with a shrug. "Plus, you've had real world experience. I'm hoping I made a good investment that will pay off later."  
  
"Yeah," said the boy sheepishly.  
  
"It looks to me like I've made the right choice. Seeing you actually working on one of my cars is a definite plus," said the pigtailed boy with a shrug. "The mechanics all like you as well."  
  
"Thanks," said the boy sheepishly.  
  
"So, where is everybody?" asked Ranma as he glanced around.  
  
"On break," said Keiichi. "It's lunch time."  
  
"Is it?" asked Ranma in confusion as he glanced at his watch. "So it is. Weekends always throw me off. I'm used to being in school myself."  
  
Keiichi blinked and looked at him. "I didn't know you were going to college."  
  
Ranma smirked at him. "I'm not."  
  
"Huh? But you just said..." started the boy.  
  
"Don't worry about it. You hungry?" said Ranma.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Wow," muttered Keiichi.  
  
Ranma smirked at him. "Well, I'm usually not into places like this myself, but it was close by."  
  
"This is nice," said Keiichi.  
  
The stuffy looking man who stood in front of a small podium just inside the door scoffed at the pair. He was about to open his mouth about Keiichi's clothes when Ranma walked up to him. "Saotome. Two." He handed the man a business card, which was immediately recognized.  
  
The man stared at him for a moment. "Oh, welcome Mr. Saotome. This way please."  
  
"I never thought they'd let me in," muttered Keiichi as he followed.  
  
"I dunno why, but having money makes people like that guy like you," said Ranma with a small shrug. "Order what you like, it's on me."  
  
"Um...right," said the boy as he looked at the menu and almost passed out from the prices. It was some sort of Italian place, very classy and expensive.  
  
"Nephrite said this place was good. He likes to hold business meetings here," said Ranma casually. "I've been wanting to see what he meant."  
  
"Sir, is there a reason you asked me here?" asked Keiichi nervously.  
  
"Sure," said Ranma with a small smile on his face. "I've got a proposition for you."  
  
"Huh?" said Keiichi dumbly.  
  
"I want to keep you," said Ranma with a small shrug.  
  
"Keep me?"  
  
"You're working out very well. I'm going to give you a raise, and I'd like for you to continue working for us."  
  
"You mean full time?" said Keiichi as he stared at the table.  
  
"Yes," said Ranma.  
  
"But...but..." said the boy dumbly.  
  
"I like you Keiichi. You're a rare find. The employees like you, you've worked out well. You're thorough, you do good work, and you always put your all into what you do."  
  
"I'd like to take your offer, but I'd like to finish school..." said the boy as he stared at Ranma in awe.  
  
"Go ahead then," replied Ranma with a shrug.  
  
"Huh?" stammered Keiichi dumbly.  
  
"I'm not going to stop you from going to school. In fact, I'd like it if you did finish. I just want you to stay on after you're finished."  
  
"Th-thank you!"   
  
"Well, shall we order?" asked Ranma.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Nabiki sat in her room mulling over her problem. She had a cell phone in her hand and was staring at a laptop that no one in the home knew she owned. Or so she believed. It was password protected of course, and she kept a lot of her records on it. Everything from information, to her personal finances. "So, do I do this?" she asked herself.  
  
There was an E-mail message on the screen, it seemed to be the safest way to move the information out of the home without Ranma knowing. She sent E-mail a lot, and it wouldn't look suspicious for her to be sending it at this time of day. "The biggest secret in the world. I could make ten million-yen in one shot. Or I can make it a somewhat longer lasting investment." She smirked and typed her entry into the address box. The Ami girl was the only one with an E-mail account. "Let's see how badly you girls want to keep your secret, shall we?"  
  
She paused and frowned at the screen for a moment. "Or perhaps...I wonder..." She deleted her message and began to type another one. "Maybe I can use this differently..."  
  
She sent the message.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Akane lowered her headphones and frowned. She was sitting in her own room. "Damn you Ranma," she muttered as she closed her eyes. She pushed the button on the side of her watch. "Message sent."  
  
"We've got it. It's been intercepted and scrambled," said Nephrite calmly.   
  
"I'm going to go and take care of her now," said Akane as she stood up from her bed.  
  
"Hold on a moment," said Nephrite. "Well, this is certainly interesting."  
  
"What is it?" asked the girl as she frowned.  
  
"I'm going to have to ask Ranma about this one. Don't do anything just yet."  
  
"What did she do?" said Akane with a small frown forming on her face.  
  
"I'm bringing you here," said Nephrite.  
  
Akane nodded and was teleported out of her room.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Well, I hope I've managed to keep you around," said Ranma cheerfully as he stood next to his car with Keiichi. They were just outside the auto shop.  
  
"Yes sir!" said Keiichi.  
  
"Call me Ranma," said the pigtailed boy as he pat the older boy on his back and smirked. He paused and noticed the blonde woman sitting on a park bench nearby. "Sorry to leave you this way, but it seems I've got some business to take care of."  
  
"Um, right," said Keiichi as he smiled dumbly and wandered back to work.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Well, funny seeing you here," said Tochi as she smirked at the boy.  
  
"What are you doing here?" asked Ranma as he sat down next to her.  
  
"Keeping an eye on things," said the woman with a small shrug. "You aren't just watching us you know."  
  
"So it seems," said the boy as he frowned at her.  
  
"Come on now. We are fighting a war you know," snorted the woman casually. She touched his shoulder slightly and smirked.   
  
"Fraternizing with the other side?" said the boy with a smirk.  
  
"Recruitment drive," said the woman as she leaned foreword and smiled at him seductively. "You're not as different from us as you imagine. You should join us."  
  
"What makes you think I would," said Ranma with a small frown. "At the moment, I seem to be winning this little war of yours."  
  
"Hardly, our plans are moving foreword quite nicely," replied the woman with a shrug. "Takibi served his purpose quite nicely."  
  
"Oh? You've been relatively quiet lately. Not many deaths, no reports of energy draining..." Ranma arched his eyebrow at her.  
  
"What makes you think we're even trying?" asked the woman coolly. "There's more to this than you imagine."  
  
"Is there?" snorted Ranma.  
  
Tochi leaned in and put her head directly next to his. He watched her cautiously.  
  
"We want to prevent Metallia's awakening as much as you do," she said quietly.  
  
Ranma turned to stare at her for a moment. "What?"  
  
"Beryl is a fool. She'll be destroyed by that thing as soon as it has finished with her."  
  
"Biting the hand that feeds you?" snorted Ranma.  
  
"Protecting our interests," replied Tochi calmly. "Metallia created us to aid in her resurrection. Once she's finished, we all go back where we came from. I for one don't wish to return."  
  
"Oh?" asked Ranma. "Seems a bit odd, coming from a youma."  
  
"Metallia made us too independent. We all have the ability to think and act on our own. We're also made for self-preservation. Betraying her is a direct result of that."   
  
"Made her perfect soldiers a little too perfect so to speak?" said Ranma as he smirked at her.  
  
"You could say that," answered Tochi calmly. "You should join us. You've got more darkness inside of you than you realize boy. We could use you."  
  
Ranma stood up and shook his head. "No thanks. I like where I'm at right now. I don't need your help."  
  
"Rejecting me?" said the woman with a slightly surprised smirk.  
  
"You could say that," replied Ranma calmly. "You might not be trying to resurrect Metallia, but you're still up to something. I'm going to stop you."  
  
"Are you?" asked the woman with an amused chuckle.  
  
"You're overestimating your abilities, and underestimating mine," he replied calmly as he put his shades on and frowned at her.  
  
"The same could be said of you," said Tochi calmly as she stood up and looked him dead in the face.  
  
"If your doubting me, we could find out now," said Ranma. His aura flared and he transformed in front of her.  
  
"I'm in no hurry," she replied as she turned and walked away. "I haven't done anything yet, so there's no need to be hostile."  
  
Ranma frowned as she left, but did not say anything more. He turned away and started back towards his car.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"I've found him!" said Skuld as she jumped up from her computer. The other goddesses were in the room in an instant.   
  
"Where?" asked Belldandy.  
  
"It's a park, in Tokyo," said Skuld. "Come on!"  
  
"You're staying here!" snapped Urd. "Come on Sis."  
  
"Right," agreed Belldandy.  
  
"Hey! This is near where Keiichi works," commented Skuld as she realized it suddenly.  
  
"What?" gasped Belldandy.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma was about to suppress his aura and split again, when something stopped him.   
  
"Hold it right there, demon!"  
  
"Huh?" he muttered as he turned to see a familiar looking woman standing in front of him in a dramatic pose.   
  
"Hey, it's Urd," he muttered to himself.  
  
"I won't let you!" said Belldandy as she appeared on the other side of him.  
  
"Won't let me what?" said Ranma as he looked at her and blinked. "What do you want?"  
  
"You've come to destroy this world!" said Belldandy.  
"No I haven't," he replied dumbly as he looked at them. They both looked angry with him. "Uh-oh."  
  
"Why are you here demon?" asked Urd as she frowned at him.  
  
"I live here," he answered dumbly. "Look, if this is about that planet...I can explain that..."  
  
"So, it was you," said Belldandy as she began to build power in her palms.  
  
"Wait a minute! Can't we talk about this?" said Ranma nervously. Fighting youma was one thing, but pissing off the gods was something completely different.  
  
"Die monster!" cried Urd as she shot something at him.  
  
Ranma jumped away, dodging the energy and rolled across the ground. "Hey! Wait a minute!"  
  
"Urd, if we can talk to him..." started Belldandy.  
  
"He's a demon, we can't trust him, sis," said Urd as she glared at him.  
  
"I am not a demon!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"See, he's lying already," snorted Urd.  
  
"I really don't want to get into a fight right now..." said Ranma as he looked at them. "Maybe we can work something out?"  
  
"Work something out?" asked Belldandy. "You murdered billions! Just go back to hell where you belong!"  
  
"But I..." started Ranma as he backed away.   
  
"I've got something to help make the trip easier," said Urd as she smirked at him.  
  
"Oh shit. We're gonna have to fight them," said Ranma as his face hardened. "Look. I'm warning you..."  
  
"Holy spirits, return this demon from whence he came! Holy Father, I beseech thee! Take him to the realm of fire and darkness!" chanted Belldandy as she readied a spell.  
  
Ranma jumped up into the air as the runes began to form under his feet. They blasted into a pillar of light and he narrowly avoided the blast as he moved aside. "Holy shit!"  
  
"No way! He dodged it!" cried Urd in shock.  
  
"Only the most powerful demons would be able too even step out of that circle!" gasped Belldandy.  
  
"He's a Hell Lord!" said Urd as her eyes went wide.  
  
"We may need some help!" said Belldandy as she backed away.  
  
"Will you quit it! I said I don't want to fight damn it!" snapped Ranma as he glared down at the two goddesses from his place in the sky.   
  
"Together!" said Urd as she nodded towards her sister. "Maybe we can trap him!"  
  
Belldandy nodded and readied another blast.  
  
Ranma landed on the ground, near a grove of trees and growled. "No choice! I'm gonna have to force em back..." He cupped his hands and glared at the two goddesses. A ball of light began to form in his palms and he nervously edged foreword.  
  
"Retribution!" cried Urd.  
  
"Holy Exorcism!" called Belldandy.  
  
"Mokou Takabishi!" countered Ranma.  
  
The magical blasts passed through his attack and moved towards him. He gasped in shock, unable to move in time because of the attack he had just made. "No!" There was a violent jerking, and he found himself lying in the bushes, the ground where he had been standing was smoking.  
  
"Did we get him?" asked Urd as she staggered foreword.  
  
"He's gone!" said Belldandy as she saw the smoking patch of ground.  
  
Both goddesses passed out on the ground.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Whoa! What the heck was that?" said one of the mechanics as he saw the lightshow in the sky. The park was a short distance away from the shop, but was blocked by a line of trees and traffic.  
  
"No!" said Keiichi as he rushed outside.  
  
"Hey! Where are you going?" muttered one of the men dumbly.  
  
The boy rushed across the busy street, dodging cars that honked at him angrily and pushing through the brush on the other side. He gasped when he found the two goddesses lying on the ground. "What happened? What are they doing here?" He noticed the smoking patch of ground and frowned. "Something is up! Oh man, not again!" He moved over next to the goddesses and gently put them next to each other. "Great. How am I supposed to get them both home?"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma sat up, his hair black once again. He was sitting in the middle of some bushes and glancing around.  
  
"What are you stupid?" snapped a feminine voice. He blinked and looked up to see a tall platinum blonde woman glaring at him. She was dressed in a leather bikini, and had a long black cape on.  
  
"Mara?" he muttered dumbly.  
  
"I've never seen you around hell before," snorted the demoness as she glared at him for a moment. "You're a real idiot. Taking on a First Class Goddess on your own? Never mind two goddesses."  
  
"Hell?" he said dumbly.  
  
"What are you doing up here?" she said as she eyed him for a moment. "You're a new face, I don't recognize you. I would have been informed of any new demons coming here."  
  
"Demon?" he said as he blinked at her. "I am not a demon!"  
  
Mara blinked. "What?"  
  
"Look. I don't know what the hell I did to get those two so pissed off at me... Well, okay, so I do know, but I'm still not a demon."  
  
"A mortal?" said Mara as she looked at him.  
  
"Look. I appreciate your help and all, even if you didn't mean to save me. I'm sure it was an accident."   
  
"You look different," said Mara as she narrowed her eyes at him for a moment.  
  
"Yeah. So?" he snorted.  
  
"Humans can't transform," she said as she glared at him.  
  
"Yeah, well I can. That doesn't make me a demon," he snorted.  
  
"What are you then?" she said as she glared at him for a moment.  
  
"I'm a Saiyan," he answered after a moment of thought. He had decided against trying to convince her he was human.  
  
Mara frowned, "There's no way..."  
  
"Look lady, can I go now?"  
  
"Where is your tail?" she said as she looked at him for a moment.  
  
"Huh? What tail?" he replied dumbly.  
  
"Saiyans have tails," said Mara with an evil looking grin.  
  
"I don't remember ever having one," said Ranma with a small shrug.  
  
Mara frowned and pat him on the back. "Well, we've always had a good working relationship with your kind. In fact, we were quite upset when you all died out."  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma as he stared at her for a moment with his jaw hanging down.  
  
"You were all so brutish, and greedy, and violent. It really was one of our better moments when we corrupted your entire race that way. Why, even the gods had a hard time getting rid of you all. Apparently a harder time than we'd thought." She smirked at him. "This explains why they're trying to kill you now. None of them ever managed to actually transform that way before though. The gods killed them all off before they managed it."  
  
Ranma shook his head and turned away. "I'll just be going now."  
  
"Good luck! Don't get yourself killed!" called Mara. "At least not until you have some kids or something! We'll have a special place for you when you're done!"  
  
"Right," grumbled Ranma as he hung his head and walked off dejectedly.  
  
Mara vanished into the shadows.  
  
Ranma looked back at her and paused when he saw the two goddesses lying in the middle of the park with Keiichi standing over them. "Hey. What's up?" he said as he looked down at the boy.  
  
"Gah! I'm sorry! I know I should be at work right now...but..."  
  
"Huh? Oh, that. Don't worry about it. These are your friends right?"  
  
Keiichi nodded and looked up at the boy. "Um, yeah..."  
  
"Well, I suppose we can't just leave them here. Come on, I'll give you a ride home." Ranma hefted Urd up into his arms and started walking towards where he'd parked.  
  
"Yessir!" said Keiichi as he lifted Belldandy into his arms. He paused and looked down as his boss walked out. "Um, sir?"  
  
"Huh?" asked Ranma as he looked back and blinked.  
  
"You've got a stick or something hanging out the back of your pants...it's moving..."  
  
Ranma put Urd down and twisted as he tried to see whatever the boy was talking about. He grabbed something that was hanging out from the back of his pants and blinked. "What the?" It was fuzzy and it hurt when he squeezed it.He went pale and quickly stuffed it inside his pants. He then turned to look at Keiichi and frowned. "You saw nothing."  
  
"Right, sir," said the boy with a short nod. He looked very nervous.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Where are we?" gasped Belldandy as she sat up. She looked around and found herself resting in her room.  
  
Urd walked into the room and sat down next to her. "So, you're finally up."  
  
"Did we...?" asked Belldandy.  
  
Urd shook her head. "Skuld was monitoring the battle. Mara was there, she saved him at the last minute. We missed."  
  
"Oh! Oh no," said Belldandy in horror.  
  
"They both vanished after that," said Urd as she hung her head. "We've got to wait until he appears again."  
  
"This isn't good," said Belldandy with a worried looking frown.  
  
"No, it isn't," said Urd.  
  
"How did we get back here?" asked Belldandy as she glanced around.  
  
"Keiichi found us, he said his boss gave us a ride home," said Urd with a small smile. "He really likes the guy apparently."  
  
"Oh, that's good I suppose," said Belldandy with a smile on her face. "I'm so glad he's happy with his new job."  
  
"Apparently he's been hired on at the company. They're even letting him finish school," said Urd with a light smirk on her face. "Lover boy seems to have gotten lucky."  
  
"Yes," said Belldandy.   
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Where the hell did it come from?" asked Nephrite as he peered at the tail for a moment. They were in a sort of medical room, Ranma was staring at the new appendage with his generals standing around him. Most of them were chuckling to themselves at his new predicament.  
  
"I..." Ranma paused and looked at them for a moment. "I'm not sure..." He didn't feel like getting into an explanation at the moment.  
  
"Weird," said Jadeite.  
  
"It looks natural," said Kunzite.  
  
"You just want an excuse to stare at my ass!" snapped Ranma as he shot the man a dirty look.  
  
"Well, you've caught us," said Zocite in an amused tone.  
  
"Damn it," grumbled Ranma irritably. "As if I wasn't already weird enough."  
  
"Well, I don't see it causing any problems. It's easily hidden. We could probably remove it if you really wanted it gone," said Nephrite. "The real question is, how the hell did you manage to grow a tail?"  
  
"Last I heard, humans didn't have tails," agreed Jadeite.  
  
"I think I know, but I'm not sure," groused the boy as he sat down, and then promptly jumped up from his seat. "Ouch! Damn it!"  
  
"Well, in any case. We can ignore it for now," said Jadeite. "We've got a report on Nabiki."  
  
"Oh?" said Ranma.  
  
"She sent an E-mail to Ami," said Nephrite as he handed the boy a printout. "Naturally we intercepted and destroyed it."  
  
"Good work," said Ranma. "Blackmail is it?"  
  
"Read it," said Nephrite calmly.  
  
"Huh?" the boy looked down at the page. "Hey. This is unexpected..."  
  
"She's trying to stab you in the back," said Kunzite.  
  
"It says that she knows their identities, and needs their help to get rid of someone..." muttered Ranma. "Someone who also knows their identities, and might use them for evil purposes..." He looked up at them. "What is this?"  
  
"She's asking the Senshi to help kill you," said Kunzite.  
  
Ranma blinked and looked at it again. "Well, this is a new twist."  
  
"What should we do?" asked Kunzite.  
  
"Let's let Ami talk with her, find out what the hell this is about," said Ranma with a smirk. "We'll decide from there."  
  
"Well, the game is afoot then," said Kunzite with a small chuckle.  
  
Ranma used his hands to wrap the tail around his waist. It stayed and he walked out.  
  
Akane was waiting outside, with a smirk on her face. "So, Kakarotto..."  
  
"Not one more word," he said as he glared at her.  
  
"Sorry, you have to admit it explains a lot about you," said Akane. "Here I thought it was just some cartoon show."  
  
Ranma blinked and looked at her. "Huh? Oh, never mind. I've got a job for you."  
  
Akane arched her eyebrow.  
  
"We're going to set up a meeting between Nabiki and Ami. Then we're going to find out what she's planning, and act from there."  
  
"You set up my sister," said Akane.  
  
"Your sister was digging. Sooner or later she was going to find something. This way we can keep it controlled, and maybe derail it before we have to take drastic action," he replied calmly.  
  
"Right," said Akane as she looked away from him. It made sense, as much as she disliked it.  
  
"We'll set it up tomorrow," said Ranma. "Then we'll let her sweat for a while."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki blinked as she looked at her screen. She had received a reply from the Senshi.  
  
"Nabiki Tendo," it started.  
  
"I didn't leave my name on that note..." she said dumbly. In fact, she was pretty sure that her real name wasn't anywhere on the E-mail account. It was for her own security, especially considering some of the things she used it for.  
  
"We know about Ranma Saotome, and his knowledge of us. He is a very powerful and evil man. He is an evil murderous psychopath. He's killed countless people, and controls much of the government. We think he may even be the source of those monster attacks that we face on numerous occasions. He is completely insane, with several personalities. However, he somehow manages to avoid detection. With your help, we may finally be able to get to him. I will meet you in one week, in the park in the middle of Nerima, at midnight. If you are not there, I cannot risk meeting you again."  
  
Nabiki went pale as she closed the screen of the laptop and simply stared foreword in horror. It was much worse than she imagined.  
  
She jumped when a knock sounded on her door. "Who is it?" she said weakly.  
  
"Hey. It's me you crazy chick," snorted Ranma from the other side. "Time to eat. Hurry up, before my fat ass daughter eats it all."  
  
"Hey! I'll kill you!" snapped Chibi-Usa's voice from nearby.  
  
"Wait until after we eat Spore!"  
  
"You stupid son of a..."  
  
Nabiki opened her door and found the pair locked in light combat. The little girl was trying to choke him, while he pushed at her forehead with his arm cocked back.  
  
"Boy! What have I told you about fighting your daughter in the house!" snapped Genma.  
  
"Indeed! I can't afford to buy a new home!" wailed Soun.  
  
"Oh, Sorry," said Ranma sheepishly as he broke off. He turned to see Nabiki staring at him coolly. "So, you coming or not? More for us if you don't."  
  
Nabiki tried her best not to shy away from him. He was actually dressed casually. His T-shirt had the phrase "I used to be schizophrenic, but we're fine now," written on it.  
  
"I'm not hungry," she replied as she closed her door and went back into the room.  
  
"Hey! Nabiki's not hungry! Dibs on her plate!" cried Ranma as he jumped over the rail.  
  
"Hey! You'd better share!" cried Chibi-Usa as she followed.  
  
"We'll see who can eat the fastest!" cried Ranma.  
  
They both transformed and started wolfing down their plates. It didn't last very long of course.  
  
Genma looked on in shock. "What the...?"  
  
"My table!" cried Soun as he saw the edges begin to smolder.  
  
"Idiots!" snapped Akane.  
  
"Oh my!" exclaimed Kasumi.  
  
Ranma and his daughter paused and looked at everyone.   
  
"Whrt?" said Ranma through a mouthful of food.  
  
"Swallow pig!" snapped the little girl as she smacked him in the back of his head.  
  
"Boy! You discovered another technique?" gasped Genma.  
  
"Huh? Oh, you mean this?" said the boy as he looked at him. "It's just a more advanced version of that other one. Nothing new."  
  
Genma blinked and looked at the little girl. "You taught it to your daughter? I demand that you share this knowledge boy!" snapped Genma.  
  
"Huh? Why should I?" replied the boy irritably.  
  
"If you do, I shall give you...ten yen!" Genma held out the coin.  
  
Soun gasped. "Saotome!" His face was one of complete awe.  
  
"I can't teach you old man. She can do it because she's my daughter," said Ranma flatly. "You have to have something special, and it's related to my curse. Remember?"  
  
Genma sighed and nodded his head. "Very well boy, hold out on your father! I shall never teach you the secret techniques I created!"  
  
"What, you mean that Umisenken crap?" said Ranma as he looked at the man.  
  
Genma's jaw dropped. "How did...?"  
  
"Mom gave me that scroll weeks ago, I mastered those techniques in a few hours," said the boy as he snorted at the man.  
  
"Boy..." said Genma in horror.  
  
"Really, Pop, they're pretty useless for someone like me anyway," said Ranma sagely.   
  
"Oaf!" snorted Chibi-Usa irritably. She quickly finished her plate and grabbed Nabiki's share. "Ha! I win!"  
  
"Hey! That's cheating!" cried Ranma.  
  
"Deal with it you slow bastard!"  
  
Kasumi sighed as she watched the display. Luckily, she had a little left in the kitchen. Otherwise Nabiki would have gone hungry.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  



	39. Insertion Part 39

Insertion   
  
Part 39  
  
Eternity and Beyond...  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Well Ranma, I hope you're proud of yourself. You've managed to piss everyone off, even the gods hate us now," said Nephrite as he sat across from the boy with a small frown on his face.  
  
"Well, I think that one is just me," said Ranma sheepishly in reply.  
  
The man sighed and shook his head. "Our operations are going well otherwise, no real problems so far. We've still got that Masked character running around, we have the youma still hanging over our head, although that problem seems to be clearing up on it's own from what you've told me. Beryl is still out there. To put it simply, we're pretty busy these days, and it doesn't look like it's going to let up. If anything, it'll get worse once those youma start tearing Tokyo up again."  
  
"We're keeping an eye on things, having the senshi with us has lightened up our load a bit, plus we don't have to worry about that invading army any longer either," pointed out Ranma. "We've been pretty successful so far."  
  
"What about Nabiki?" asked Nephrite.  
  
"Well, I'm having fun with that at the moment. She thinks I'm some sort of psychopath, I'm going to enjoy myself until she meets with Mercury next week," said Ranma with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Is she wrong?" joked Nephrite as he looked at the boy in amusement.  
  
"Not by much," said Ranma with a slight frown. "In any case, I've got plenty of problems as it is."  
  
"That's something of an understatement," commented Jadeite as he entered the room.  
  
"Hey, what's up?" asked Ranma as he turned and smiled at the man.  
  
"Nothing much, have you heard the news?" asked Jadeite.  
  
"News?" asked Ranma in confusion.  
  
"Akane's asked for a few days off. It seems that she's entering some sort of competition for school," said Jadite.  
  
"Oh? When did this happen?" said Ranma as he looked at them. "What competition? It's the first I've heard of it."  
  
"Seems the Rythmic Gymnastics team begged her for help. Some rival school sent an assassin of sorts to take them out before the match. They want our lovely lady to compete in their place."  
  
"And naturally, Akane thinks it's some sort of duty to agree," said Ranma with a small sigh.  
  
"Something like that," said Jadeite with a light smirk.  
  
"When did this happen?" asked the pigtailed boy.  
  
"Over the weekend, while you were busy running around with those goddesses," said Nephrite.  
  
"I've heard about this school. It's St. Hebereke isn't it?" said Ranma as he sat down in one of the chairs around the desk.  
  
"Yes, seems they have something of a record for this sort of thing. Apparently, money has changed hands and allowed the right people to look the other way," said Nephrite as he flipped through a few pages.  
  
"Well, I smell an opportunity for a little publicity," said Ranma with a smirk on his face. "The champion at that school is one Kodachi Kuno."  
  
"You seem to know a bit about this," said Jadeite as he sat down next to Ranma.  
  
"I know her brother, he's a delusional idiot. I imagine it runs in the family," said Ranma with a rough snort. "I want a guard placed with Akane, if she doesn't like it, have her come talk to me about it."  
  
"What are you planning?" said Nephrite with a small frown. "This isn't like you. Sticking your nose in something like this is usually beneath you."  
  
Ranma pulled the folder out of Nephrites hands and flipped around. "Let's see. Seems there's quite a few pretty important people involved in this little scam that school has going. We've got an extensive file on this. I wonder why that is? Number or suspected injuries caused by the little game, names of people thought to be involved. Oh! Incriminating evidence even, photos." Ranma smiled at the men and looked between them. "Why would we be taking such an interest in this?"  
  
"Actually, that's a compilation of evidence we've stumbled upon over time. Many of the people who go to this school are pretty important. It's a rather pricey private place. Girls only, highly exclusive, you know the sort of place."  
  
Ranma nodded and looked relatively interested. "So, I take it a lot of these families have hired us."  
  
"That's right, I figured we'd ignore it mostly," said Nephrite with a shrug. "It's just something we've managed to scrape together over time. Disclosing it would hurt our reputation. It's somewhat beneath us as well."  
  
"Interesting," said Ranma with a smirk as he flipped through the pages. "I think I may be able to use this."  
  
"What are you planning?" asked Nephrite.  
  
"Just a little blackmail, nothing important," said Ranma with a shrug.  
  
"Pardon?" said Jadeite with a surprised frown. "Blackmailing who? And why?"  
  
"No one of any in particular importance. I'm going to make sure Akane has a fair fight, that's all," said Ranma as he glanced up at them. "It seems most of this centers around the sister of the man I told you about, one Kodachi Kuno. She's probably the ringleader of the operation, and something of a social figure.   
  
"Why are you going to do that?" asked Nephrite.  
  
"Ego boost. Akane is still green, something like this will help boost her confidence a bit, especially if she wins fairly."  
  
"And if she loses?" asked Nephrite.  
  
"She'll have lost in a fair fight," replied Ranma with a small shrug. "Nothing of any particular importance either."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stood at the entrance of the Kuno mansion. His shades were in place on his face and he had a serious expression on his face. A surprised looking servant greeted him at the door; "Can I help you?"  
  
"I'm here to speak with Kodachi Kuno," said the boy as he looked down at the small man.  
  
"Just a moment, I shall summon her," said the man with a short bow.  
  
Ranma stood in the doorway patiently, after a moment Kodachi greeted him. She was dressed in a formal Kimono and looked at him for a moment. "Who might you be?"  
  
"My name is R, I've come to speak with you about a private matter," he replied coldly.  
  
"Very well, I shall speak with you then," she replied formally.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
A few moments later she was sitting in the back yard at a small table with tea set out between them. "Tea?" she asked him.  
  
"I'm afraid I'll pass," he replied. "I hope you understand, but you have a rather unusual reputation."  
  
Kodachi arched her eyebrow at this and smirked. "I understand." The tea was spiked with a mild paralysis potion. She had developed an immunity to it, and actually enjoyed the flavor it added to the drink.  
  
"If you don't mind, I'll get down to business," said Ranma as he pulled an envelope out of his jacket. It wasn't thick enough to be a bribe of any kind.  
  
"What is this?" asked Kodachi.   
  
"Evidence," said Ranma with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Evidence?" asked the girl with a sharp inhalation.   
  
"Yes, proof that your title as Rythmic Gymnastics champion was garnered through unethical means," said the boy calmly.  
  
"What? Are you accusing me of..." started Kodachi angrily as she stood up.  
  
"Sit down," said the boy calmly. "I'm not making accusations. I'm telling you that I know. I have proof to back this up, evidence that will stand up in court."  
  
Kodachi glared at him and said nothing. "What is it that you want? Money?"  
  
"Hardly," replied Ranma with a small chuckle. "What I want is simple. A fair fight."  
  
"Fair?" sputtered Kodachi in disgust.  
  
"I'm not asking you to throw the fight, but you'll do it right this time. No doctored tools, no ambushes, no visiting your opponent before the match, or any other little tricks. Your team will also be visible at ringside for the entire match," said the boy calmly. "It's fairly simple."  
  
"Oh?" said Kodachi with a slight smirk on her face.   
  
"Don't think that you can sneak around without me finding out about it either," said Ranma calmly. "I'm sure you've heard of us, if not by reputation. Your house had hired our services before."  
  
Kodachi blinked as the man offered her a business card. "What is this?" she stammered.  
  
"I'm afraid that we are working with another party in this case. You understand of course," said Ranma as he smirked at her.  
  
"So, this wretch has hired security to ensure that the match is not..."  
  
"Something like that," said Ranma with a small nod. "I doubt if you'll try anything, but if you do. I want you aware that we are prepared to back up our claims. You will be prosecuted in court for the assault and battery of a great many young girls."  
  
"Those peasants! They are beneath my..."  
  
"A court will not see it that way," replied Ranma with a small shrug. "I promise you that. The cases we have selected are some of the more, well known daughters. Your little scam has involved the families of some pretty powerful families. On their own you were able to bribe your way out of it. However, not even the Kuno fortune is enough to out bribe them combined."  
  
Kodachi worked her mouth and stared at him.  
  
"We'll be watching you," said Ranma as he stood up and dusted off his coat. "Just behave yourself this one time, and you won't have any problems." He left her sitting there and made his way towards the door.  
  
Kodachi growled and stared at the tea set for a moment. She stood up and kicked the table over in frustration.   
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma chuckled as he pulled his glasses off and stepped into the back door of the home. The servants were all looking at him oddly as he strolled through the building.  
  
"Hold!" cried a familiar voice from above.  
  
Ranma paused and turned to see Kuno looking down at him from the top of the stairwell.  
  
"Villain! You dare defile the house of Kuno? For what purpose have you darkened the sanctity of my home!?"  
  
Ranma sighed. "I'm here on business, in fact I've just finished. I was on my way out."  
  
Kuno frowned. "Business?"  
  
"It involves your sister, and a client. None of your concern," said Ranma as he turned away and started walking again.  
  
Kuno snorted and walked down the stairs. "What sort of foolishness has my sister become involved in?"   
  
"If she wants to tell you, it's her business. I can't disclose it," said Ranma as he turned to look at the boy. "We do have something of a reputation to keep after all."  
  
"I see, very well! I shall allow this transgression for now," said Kuno as he turned away.  
  
"Allow my ass," grumbled Ranma as he walked out the door.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki turned away as Ranma walked into the home. She frowned and promptly walked up to her room again.   
  
"Man, you sure have been spending a lot of time in there. I wonder if you're plotting against me!?" said Ranma out loud as he tried his best to look nervous and somewhat angry.  
  
Nabiki stared at him.  
  
"We hate it when people plot against us," muttered Ranma to himself. He paused and looked up to see the girl still standing and staring at him. "Er...I mean I hate that..."  
  
"I've got a lot of homework, call me for dinner," said Nabiki to Kasumi a little louder than she needed to. With that said, she promptly closed the door. Ranma smirked as he heard the sound of something being moved in front of the door.  
  
"Where the hell have you been?" snapped Chibi-Usa angrily as she walked up and stared at her father.  
  
"What the hell happened to you?" said Ranma as he looked down at the girl dumbly. She was wearing a frilly pink dress with a large bow in her hair. She was also blushing angrily. Ranma burst into laughter.  
  
"Oh! Hello Ranma!" said Kasumi as she entered the room from the kitchen.   
  
"Asshole!" snarled the little girl as she glared up at him.  
  
"What...what happened?" said Ranma between chuckles as he slowly calmed.  
  
"Mom did," said the little girl as she glared at him. "I'd kick your ass, but Mom says she'll kill me if I get this dirty."  
  
This response caused another fit of full-blown laughter.  
  
Chibi-Usa's aura flared, but she managed to contain her rage and stomped up the stairs.  
  
"Wow. I hate to admit it, but she looks good that way," said Ranma as he continued to chuckle and watched the little girl stomp away. "Jeez, how could Usagi do something like that to her?"  
  
"I think she looks pretty," said Kasumi sweetly.  
  
"She does, too pretty. Can you imagine Akane wearing something like that?"  
  
Kasumi blinked, and shook her head negative.  
  
"Well, that kid is more of a tomboy than Akane will ever be," snorted the boy. "I'm gonna have to talk with her mother about that later."  
  
Chibi-Usa was down the stairs in an instant and latched onto his leg. "Really? You'd do that for me?" she cried.  
  
Ranma sighed. "Sure. I guess."  
  
"You're the best, Pop!" cried the girl. She let him go and rushed up the stairs to change clothes.  
  
Kasumi smiled at him. "That was very nice, Ranma."  
  
"What? She's a good kid, even if she is a little rough," replied the boy. "The Spore isn't as bad as I thought she'd be."  
  
"Spore?" asked Kasumi in confusion.  
  
"It's complicated," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"Oh," said the girl as she smiled at him. "That girl called again, she said she wanted to meet you," said Kasumi with a small frown.  
  
"You mean Usagi?" said Ranma as he looked at the girl for a moment.  
  
"Yes," said Kasumi. "Is there something going on? I don't want Akane to be upset."  
  
"I'll tell you a secret Kasumi, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else, not your father, not Nabiki, and certainly not my parents. Not yet anyway."  
  
"Okay," said Kasumi nervously.  
  
"Chibi-Usa isn't Akane's, and she already knows it," said Ranma.  
  
"What?" gasped the girl in shock.  
  
"Akane and I are never getting married, we decided that a long time ago. I don't see myself with any of you either," said the boy with a shrug. "You're very nice girls, but I met Chibi-Usa's mother a month or so ago. We aren't sure what's going on with her just yet, or how she got here from the past."  
  
"Oh my. Father will be so disappointed," muttered Kasumi.  
  
"Not as much as you might think," said Ranma as he smirked at her.  
  
"So, the mother is..."  
  
"Usagi," said Ranma with a short nod.   
  
Kasumi blinked, she got an uncertain frown on her face as she looked up at the door where Chibi-Usa had disappeared. "She seemed like such a nice girl too..."  
  
"Yeah. I don't get it either," he said with a small shrug. "I sure ain't in love with that ditz. It must be something that happens later."  
  
"I suppose," muttered Kasumi. "She said she wanted to speak with you."  
  
"Okay, I'll call her," said Ranma.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"What's up?" asked Ranma as he talked on his cell phone. Chibi-Usa was in the back of his car with her arms crossed.  
  
"I need to speak with you about her," said Usagi.  
  
"Well, I could be there in a few minutes," said the boy. "In fact, I was already on my way to Juban. She's with me."  
  
"Oh dear," grumbled Usagi.  
  
"What? I could send her home if you want," he said as he glanced back and saw the girl stick her tongue out at him in the mirror. She continued to make rude faces and he rolled his eyes.  
  
"No, it's all right," she said with a sigh. "We'll just make other arrangements."  
  
"Oh, okay," said Ranma as he turned. "Where do you want to meet?"  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"Why am I here?" snored Mamoru as he looked at Ranma and the little girl.  
  
"Well, I have to talk with Ranma about her," said Usagi as she looked down at the girl. "I was hoping you'd keep an eye on her for us..."  
  
"Me?!!" gasped the boy angrily. "Why not one of your friends? Do you realize what she represents to us?"  
  
"I'm sorry Mamo-chan! I tried everyone else, you're the only one who wasn't busy! I really did!"  
  
Mamoru frowned and then sighed. "Fine, you two go do what you need to." He glared at Ranma hatefully for a moment and turned away. "Come on kid."  
  
"Okay," said the little girl as she looked up at him.   
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Usagi was riding with Ranma in his car. They pulled up to a small quiet restaurant with a somewhat formal and business atmosphere.  
  
"So. How are things going with 'Mamo-chan'? " asked Ranma.   
  
"Fine, I don't see what happened," said Usagi guiltily. "This bothers me."  
  
"You're not the only one," replied Ranma with a rough snort. "I think it bugs me and Mamoru just as much, if not more."  
  
They were silent while they were seated. It was a Traditional Japanese place, but they were at a small private table.  
  
Usagi sighed. "I wanted to talk with you about our daughter," she said with a small frown on her face. "She's acting...like...like..."  
  
"She's acting like she was trained to fight," said Ranma. "She's a tomboy, and that bothers you."  
  
"Yes," said Usagi. "I think it was your doing."  
  
"Probably, I'm not one to coddle a child. My father had a lot to do with that."  
  
"Oh?" said the girl with a small frown.  
  
"When I as six, my father took me on a voyage of training across Japan and China. We were gone for ten years. About two months ago was the first time I had seen my mother in ten years."  
  
Usagi gasped.  
  
"Don't look at me like that. I wish I had known her better of course, but it's not something I dwell on."  
  
"How can you say that?" gasped the girl in shock.  
  
"I'm not much for being sentimental about things I can't change," he replied with a small shrug. "Just the way I am."  
  
"But what about her? You didn't..." Usagi looked at him in horror.  
  
"I wouldn't do that to her. I'd never take her away from her mother," he said with a shake of his head. "I think it's just the way she wants to be. She's a tough kid, and she knows how strong she is. That's confidence, and she doesn't see any reason to act more feminine. It'll change when she's a little older. She'll start liking boys."  
  
"If she doesn't?" asked Usagi with a small frown.  
  
"That's her choice," he said with another shrug. "Either way, I doubt if we'll have much to worry about."  
  
Usagi turned her head away. "I don't agree."  
  
"Well, trying to put her into frilly dresses and forcing her to act like your view of how a girl her age should act will only push her away. She was pretty upset about that dress."  
  
"It was cute!" snapped Usagi.  
  
"Maybe she doesn't want to be cute," he said calmly.  
  
"But..."  
  
"You're trying to be nice to her, but she's not you, and she's certainly not a cute little girl. She's a Saiyan child. Maybe that has something to do with it?"  
  
Usagi blinked at this. "A what?"  
  
"Huh?" Ranma had been thinking out loud more than anything else, and hadn't quite realized what he'd just told her.  
  
"You just called her a Saiyan!" snapped Usagi. "What do you mean Saiyan?"  
  
Ranma looked around nervously as the girl screamed at her. "Wait a minute!" He stood up and tried to quiet her down.  
  
Usagi stood up and grabbed him by his shirt pulling him towards her by his collar. "You'd better start explaining things a little more."  
  
"Why are you mad?" he stammered in confusion.   
  
Usagi wasn't looking at him any more, she was looking down at his waist. The tail coiled there twitched. She let him go and screamed as she backed into the wall.  
  
"Is there a problem?" asked the manager of the restaurant as he rushed over to them.  
  
"No, everything is fine, sorry for the commotion," said Ranma as he gently turned the man around. "She just got a little excited."  
  
The man turned away, glancing back at them nervously.  
  
"Now, if you're finished embarrassing me," said Ranma as he sat down and tucked his shirt in again.  
  
"You've got a tail!" she muttered. "This is..."  
  
"What are you so surprised for?" he said angrily. "You were there when I transformed! Our daughter can transform. I outright said I was a saiyan!"  
  
"I thought you were just joking around!" she said in horror.  
  
"Well, I'm not damn it!" he replied.  
  
"Have you come to destroy the world? Or are others coming to destroy the planet that we have to fight?" Her frightened look slowly faded. "Do you fight Piccolo a lot? How about those dragon balls? Can I get a wish?!"  
  
"You've been reading too much manga," he replied sourly.  
  
"This is so cool! So, you're really an alien then?"  
  
"You were born on the moon. Who are you to talk?" he snapped.  
  
"Actually, I was born in Tokyo General," she pointed out.  
  
"Not the first time," he said as he glared at her.  
  
"No I wasn't, I was born on Mercury. All royal births happen there. They had the best medical facilities," said Usagi.  
  
"Well, still. My point doesn't change," he said with a shrug.  
  
"Oh," she replied, obviously still not getting it.  
  
"Sir, your drinks..." said the waiter nervously as he approached. He was still looking worried, they had appeared to be having a rather physical argument only a few minutes before.  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma as he turned. Naturally, his arm struck the man's leg, and a glass of water fell onto his head. "Great," grumbled the redhead as she glared up at the man.  
  
"I'm sorry sir..." his voice trailed off as he noticed the young girl sitting and glaring up at him.   
  
Ranma calmly pulled a sleek silver object out of his pocket and put on her shades. He reached across the table and covered the confused looking Usagi's eyes and flashed the man in his face.  
  
The waiter was staring foreword dumbly.  
  
"You've been serving two women all this time. They've been having a rather private, but pleasant conversation the whole time," said Ranma.  
  
The waiter nodded and wandered off. "I'll get you a towel miss..."  
  
"What..." said Usagi as she stared at the girl sitting across from her.  
  
"Well, I guess I'd better explain this," muttered Ranma sourly.  
  
"I...I know you..." said Usagi.  
  
"Huh?" said the redhead.  
  
"What is this? It's a memory!" said Usagi as she clutched her head and leaned foreword. "You were...in the past! I remember a ship! You were there!"  
  
"Oh, you're remembering that," said the redhead with a slight smirk.   
  
"What?" gasped Usagi. "You already know?"  
  
"Well, yeah," said Ranma. "Where did you think I as when I vanished while that monster was running around?"  
  
"You were...in the past?" said Usagi in shock.  
  
"That's right," said Ranma with a small nod. "I met you, your mother, Tux-boy, I beat up most of the Senshi..."  
  
Usagi frowned, she could only remember a few bits and pieces. Most of it centered around the redhead in front of her. "You were a girl then?"  
  
"No, this is a curse. I didn't spend a lot of time like this back then."  
  
"I can't remember much," said Usagi as she frowned.  
  
"Don't rack your brain so much, it'll come to you," said the redhead.  
  
Usagi grabbed the girl by her arm, and tried to stab her with her chopsticks.  
  
"Hey!" snapped Ranma as she pulled the arm away. "It was the other arm!"  
  
She blinked as she held her arm against her chest protectively and glared at her.  
  
Usagi slowly reached across the table and poked at his left hand. "This isn't real?"  
  
"No, it isn't. Can't tell can you?" she said with a proud looking smirk. "Washuu did a good job."  
  
"Washuu? That sounds familiar, man this is weird," grumbled Usagi.  
  
"Well, I could tell you about it, but you'd just keep getting a headache as you remembered more. It'd be better if you let it come to you a little at a time..." Ranma paused. "It all started when I was training in the desert on earth..."  
  
Usagi put her hand over the redhead's mouth with her other hand holding the side of her head painfully. "Stop it!"  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Mamoru frowned as he saw the little girl sitting next to him in his car. "So, you're his daughter are you?"  
  
"That's right," said the girl as she looked at him.  
  
"Where does that leave me?" he said as he looked at her.  
  
"Huh? I dunno, you live alone on Earth," she said with a shrug.  
  
"Alone?" he said with a small frown.  
  
"Yeah, Green light lonely boy," she said as she smirked at him.  
  
"This sucks," he grumbled.  
  
The truth was, he was married, but this was just too much fun. Chibi-Usa grinned as she continued to tell him about his pathetic existence in the future. He never seemed to like her much, and she was starting to realize that this exact moment was probably why. She never liked him much in the future either, he was such a flake sometimes.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Several moments later, they were outside his apartment. "Well, here we are."  
  
"What a dump," snorted Chibi-Usa. "How can you stand living in such a small building? There aren't even any defenses. Jeez, is that a television antenna? No cable even? I mean, cable is behind the times for me, but an antenna? How ancient can you get?"  
  
Mamoru growled as he closed the door to his car. "This way princess..."  
  
"Oh? You know about that?" she said as she looked up at him. "I'm the Princess of the Moon, and the Princess of the Saiyans! Neat huh? As far as I can remember, you're like the, um...the...well...you've got a nice apartment..."  
  
Mamoru ground his teeth together as he opened the door to his apartment. "This is going to be a long night..."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
An hour later...  
  
Chibi-Usa smirked as she jerked her game controller over. "Man, you suck at this."  
  
Mamoru was staring at the girl in shock. She was playing 'Tetris' and was easily wiping the floor with him. The girl's speed was impossible.   
  
"How are you doing this?" he muttered dumbly as he looked at the screen. The blocks were coming down so fast that it looked like there were two of them on the screen at once. He had given up trying to beat her in two-player mode and was now watching her wipe out his high score by more than ten million points.  
  
"I've got good reflexes. This is kinda slow really. The one I've got at home goes twice as fast," she replied with a small shrug. She dropped the controller and looked up at him. "This is getting boring now. I'm hungry."  
  
He looked on as the screen took about two seconds to fill completely. "Um, there's food in the refrigerator...."  
  
"Okay!" said the girl as she stood up and walked into the kitchen.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
"So, now what?" said Usagi.  
  
Ranma was standing just outside his car. They were parked in front of Mamoru's home, and a familiar golden light could be seen from inside one of the windows. "I hope he didn't piss her off somehow."  
  
"We should go see," muttered Usagi nervously.  
  
"Right, I'll go," said Ranma with a sigh.  
  
He flew up to the door and rang the doorbell.  
  
Mamoru answered the door and stared at him with a frown on his face. "Never, ever ask me to do this again."  
  
Chibi-Usa was standing in the middle of the room with a smirk on her face. At her feet was a pile of broken weapons, several dead rose bushes could be seen along the windows as well. They looked like they had been burnt. The walls were also something of a mess. Burnt looking long stemmed roses were stuck in various places.  
  
"She talked you into sparing with her?" asked Ranma in confusion.   
  
"Something like that," growled Mamoru.  
  
"Naw, he got mad and tried to kill me. We were talking about something, and I told him that you and mom spend a lot of time in your room together for some reason. You never did tell me why," said the little girl obliviously. "In fact, mom gets upset whenever I ask."  
  
"Maybe if you wait until you're older and ask again. She'll tell you," said Ranma as he stared at her with a rather lame expression on his face.  
  
Usagi was standing nearby, having followed Ranma up the stairs. She was frozen with a look of horror on her face. She was also blushing rather badly.  
  
"Just, go. Please," said Mamoru as he shoved her out the door and locked it.  
  
"I guess we should probably leave now," said Ranma.  
  
"Mamo..." said Usagi with a slightly saddened frown.   
  
"Do what you want," said Ranma as he paused beside her.  
  
"I think it would be best...if I didn't talk with him right now," said the girl as she hung her head and walked back down with them.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Mamoru frowned as he looked at his kitchen. The place was now completely barren. The voracious monster had spared not a single scrap of food.   
  
"I...hate my life..." he muttered.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"That was boring," said Chibi-Usa as she sat behind her parents.   
  
"Here you go," said Ranma as he pulled up next to Usagi's house.  
  
"Thanks," muttered the girl as she gave her daughter a passing glance.  
  
"Later old bat!" said the child cheerfully.  
  
"Come on," said Ranma as he drove off.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma walked back into the dojo and frowned. They had just flown back from where he had parked the car, and Chibi-Usa was getting cranky. She walked up to the bedroom and went to sleep without a single word as soon as she was through the door.  
  
Akane was glaring at him. Two men in black suits were sitting next to her, each a fair distance away. "What the hell is this?" she snarled.  
  
"Security," he replied with a shrug.  
  
"What for?" snapped Akane as she continued to watch him.  
  
"To keep you safe until the match," he said with a small shrug. "The opposing team has a nasty habit of ambushing their competitors."  
  
"Are you saying that you think I can't handle it?" snapped Akane.  
  
"No, I know you can," he replied with a shrug. "Now you don't have to. Besides, if someone attacked you in the middle of the night, you're more likely to blow their head off then they are."  
  
Akane blinked at this and looked at the two men who sat silently on either side of her. "Okay, I see your point."  
  
"I think I took care of it, you won't need them around all the time. Just at night, while you sleep," he said calmly. "When the match is over, everything goes back to normal."  
  
"So, they're just here for tonight?" asked Akane.  
  
"That's right," said Ranma.  
  
"Fine," snorted Akane a little hotly as she turned her head away.  
  
Soun and Genma looked on in confusion. "Boy, who are these men?" asked Genma.  
  
"Friends from work, doing me a favor," said Ranma as he looked at the men and shrugged.  
  
"Oh, that's nice," said Soun.  
  
"Would you like some tea?" asked Kasumi as she smiled at the pair. "I know you're not supposed to, while on the job..."  
  
Ranma nodded towards them and smiled.  
  
"Thank you miss," said one of the men. "We'd appreciate it."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stepped into his room and was about to lie down to catch some sleep. Unfortunately, his watch came to life suddenly and he groaned. "What's up?"  
  
"We've got problems," said Nephrite's voice. "You shut off your watch."  
  
"Yeah, I was taking care of private business," said Ranma. "What's the problem?"  
  
"We've had a huge starship sitting just outside orbit for several hours now," said the man. "Something's happening near that shrine of yours."  
  
"How long ago did this happen?" asked Ranma.  
  
"It still not over yet," said Nephrite.  
  
"Understood, teleport me to the ship," said Ranma.  
  
"Sir? Jadeite is on the site, shouldn't you go and meet up with..."  
  
"Trust me. I've got a gut feeling this guy isn't going to hang around very long," said Ranma. "I'm going after him."  
  
"Right," said Nephrite. "I hope you're right about this."  
  
"Course I am," snorted Ranma.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Ranma Muyou!  
  
No I didn't forget about the Goddesses, or The Amazons. More on them in the next Ch.  



	40. Insertion Part 40

Insertion   
  
Part 40  
  
No Need for Ranma  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Come out! I know you're here!" said Mihoshi as she pointed her weapon towards the large Juraian Tree near the Masaki shrine. There was a small pond of water surrounding the place, and Ayeka, Sasami, Ryo-Ohki, and Tenchi stood around the woman.  
  
There was a chuckle and a green sphere of energy appeared where Mihoshi had her weapon trained. "Please excuse my behavior earlier," said Kagato as he leered at them and bowed. "I deeply appreciate you coming out to welcome me."  
  
Ryoko appeared out of the air nearby him and fell to the ground.  
  
Tenchi rushed up to the woman's side, lifting her up to check on her. "Ryoko!"  
  
"However, this one belongs to me. She is... how can I put this delicately...waste product. Still, she is agile. I'll bet she's given you some trouble." Kagato smirked and turned towards the group again. "Now then, Princess Ayeka. Don't you think its best if we talk someplace private, someplace where there's no one to bother us?"  
  
"Kagato! This is a specially protected area, any kind of combative action is forbidden. If you involve any civilian, I'll blast you to bits!" said Mihoshi as she moved in front of the group.  
  
"Oh my! You really frighten me. I've heard much of your heroic actions in the past. Now I hear you're overworked, and your performance stinks," said Kagato calmly.  
  
Mihoshi growled and fired at the man, her shots passing by him harmlessly as some sort of field distorted the blasts.  
  
"Please, don't misunderstand me. I've only come to invite you all to my ship, the Soja. Hmmm, a very pleasant place. A place where we can get to know one another." Kagato paused as Tenchi activated Tenchi-ken. "Oh! I see, you have the sword! But that's the king's property. Wave it around like that and you might hurt yourself."  
  
"What? What do you mean? What king?" snapped Tenchi.  
  
"You would fight me without full knowledge of the sword?" snorted Kagato. "All right then." He reached out with his hand, and a whirlwind formed, pushing Tenchi back. His hand slowly moved foreword and reached for the blade.  
  
"Don't waste your life. Now just hand me that sword," said Kagato.  
  
Ryoko awoke and dove, knocking the boy out of the way. "No Tenchi! Don't let him have it!"  
  
Kagato smirked again. "Fascinating. And what about that boy interest you so much Ryoko?" A sword appeared in his hand, and Ryoko suddenly clutched her head as the gem on her wrist began to glow.  
  
"Ryoko?" said Tenchi as he looked at her. The woman's eyes changed and she moved to put him into a headlock. "Ow! What are you doing?"  
  
Slowly, she released pressure and backed away from him. "No! I..."  
  
Kagato paused. "What? She's resisting me?" he said coldly. He increased the power he was putting out to control her and she screamed in pain, clutching her head again. "This isn't right...how can she..."  
  
Ryoko collapsed.  
  
"I see," said Kagato as he looked down at her for a moment. He turned towards Tenchi again and smirked. "It is said that that sword controls the greatest energy in the universe. The sword will only release that energy if held by a suitable owner. Tell me, are you that suitable owner?"  
  
"Maybe I am! Maybe not! I don't know!" snapped Tenchi.  
  
"Come then. I'll test you," snorted Kagato.  
  
"Wha?" muttered Tenchi as he backed away. Kagato attacked him, the boy was barely able to block his strikes and was pushed back, ending up in the small pond that surrounded the tree.  
  
"Tenchi..." muttered Ryoko as she looked up from her place on the ground.  
  
Kagato floated over Tenchi's head where he was sitting in the freezing water. "Do you enjoy wasting my time?"  
  
He reached out and the sword was pulled from Tenchi's hand, floating towards Kagato. Just before he grabbed it, it vanished and flew at an almost impossible speed into the waiting hand of Yosho. "Are you playing with something that doesn't belong to you?"  
  
"Come Ryoko, I'll give you one more chance," whispered Kagato.  
  
The woman screamed again and clutched at her head, glaring at Kagato hatefully. "Noooooo!" She collapsed on the ground again and Kagato frowned. "How is it that she's doing this? No matter...""Ah, the First Prince of Jurai," said Kagato as he looked at the man. "Will you show me the secret of the universe? Will you share that treasure with me?"  
  
Ayeka froze and gasped.  
  
"Treasure?" asked Yosho. "Well, I do know of a really comfortable hot spring nearby."  
  
"Well, aren't we cocky," said Kagato with a rough snort. He shot a ball of power that narrowly missed the old man's head. Yosho stood calmly and only moved his neck slightly to avoid it.   
  
"The greatest energy in the Universe? There's no such thing. Even if there were, it couldn't be controlled by humans."  
  
"I have journeyed through sea after sea of stars to find this secret. What will it take to get that secret? Your blood, Jurai Royal Family's blood?" snarled Kagato.  
  
Yosho blocked with a shield of energy calmly.  
  
They were about to break and begin their battle when a blast of power blind sided Kagato and pushed him to the side. "What?"  
  
Jadeite stood calmly a short distance away. He was watching the scene and frowning at the group. "It seems I've found the source of the disturbance."  
  
"Who might you be?" asked Kagato with an evil looking snarl.  
  
"I am called J, you're not welcome on this planet, leave now."  
  
"Oh?" said Kagato as he readied his sword.  
  
Jadeite raised his palm, and a ball of dark energy appeared there and crackled for a moment. "I'd rather you left peacefully. I can't have you and that ship you've got up there making a mess of my home."  
  
"Interesting," said Kagato as he gave Yosho a sidelong glance.  
  
Jadeite smirked and a rapier like sword appeared out of the energy ball. "Indeed. I suggest that you leave now."  
  
"Who?" muttered Tenchi as he looked at the newcomer in confusion.  
  
"Very well. I shall withdraw for now," said Kagato as he frowned at the man. Ryoko passed out and floated up next to the man.  
  
"No! Ryoko!" cried Tenchi.  
  
"I will take your precious Ryoko with me. Improve your skills, then come to us," said Kagato as he vanished into the green sphere of power again.  
  
  
Ayeka rushed foreword, jumping into Yosho. "You're my brother! You're my brother Yosho."  
  
"Easy now! Don't scold me!" said the man as he looked down at her.  
  
Ayeka brushed his cheek with her hand.  
  
"This is all very interesting, but you do realize that a starship with more offensive power than a Galaxy Class Cruiser is sitting over our heads," said Jadeite as he walked up to the small group.  
  
"He's got Ryoko!" cried Tenchi.  
  
"This is an affair of the Jurai Royal Family!" snapped Ayeka as she glared at the man. "Who are you?"  
  
"Jurai Royal Family? What are you doing on my planet?" asked Jadeite coldly.  
  
"What?" gasped Ayeka.   
  
"Humph. Didn't take you vultures very long to move in after the fall of the Moon Kingdom did it? I never liked you much, a bunch of over glorified space pirates."  
  
"What?" said Tenchi as he turned to the man.  
  
"In any case, you can sit down here all day for all I care," said Jadeite as he started walking away.  
  
"Who are you?" asked Yosho as he looked at the man for a moment.  
  
"Come now, don't tell me your old age has made you forget Yosho. I am Jadeite, Admiral of the Imperial Fleet of the Moon Kingdom, and servant of Queen Serenity."  
  
"What?" gasped the old man. "That can't be! You..."  
  
"Died?" said the man with a rough snort. "I assure you that we are quiet well."  
  
"What are we going to do? We have to go after Ryoko! I've got to save her!"  
  
"We?" muttered Yosho as he looked at the man for a moment and frowned. He didn't press the matter any.  
  
"We certainly don't have to go save her! She's caused us nothing but trouble!" snapped Ayeka.  
  
"How typical," said Jadeite as he turned away from them again.  
  
"Jadeite, you never liked us much. I never did understand why. This is not just an affair of Jurai Royal Family. Your planet is in danger, Kagato would think nothing of destroying this world to get what it is he seeks."  
  
"I know that," said the man with a smirk. "I don't intend to let this situation stay as it is."  
  
"Then it's true, Grandpa! The stories, the legend. All of it is true!" gasped Tenchi.  
  
"Yes, and you are Jurai's crowned prince," said Yosho as he looked at the boy.  
  
"But, I never knew," said the boy as he looked at the ground in shock.  
  
"What difference would that have made?" snorted Jadeite. "This conversation is very interesting..."  
  
"He's right, we have to go and save Ryoko!" said Tenchi firmly.  
  
"But why?" cried Ayeka. "She's the cause of all our trouble. You certainly don't have to save her!"  
  
"Don't be stupid. This problem isn't going to go away just because we let him have that woman," said Jadeite.  
  
Ayeka turned to look at him and gasped. "What? How dare you!"  
  
"This is my planet, I'll speak to you how I wish," said Jadeite as he glared at her. "Now. Do you have a way that we can get up to that ship?"  
  
Tenchi blinked. Everyone else stood silently.  
  
"It figures," grumbled Jadeite.  
  
Ryo-Ohki yowled and scampered away. "Hey! Where's he going?"  
  
All of them followed the animal as it rushed away.   
  
"Interesting," said Jadeite as he watched them go. "That boy, he's not like the others. Yosho has changed much as well, not the arrogant fool I once knew." He followed after them, taking his time.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ryo-Ohki yowled angrily as it stood in front of the lake that sat just in front of the Masaki home. The center of the water seemed to boil as the large living and control area of Ayeka's ship rose from the surface and hung in the air.  
  
"Whoa!" gasped Tenchi as he looked on.  
  
"No! My cute little Ryo-Ohki!" gasped Sasami.  
  
"I guess we take that," said Tenchi dumbly.  
  
"Well, it seems you do have a ride," said Jadeite.   
  
"Are you coming?" asked the boy as he looked at him.  
  
"I suppose I should. It wouldn't do to waste time waiting for my own ride."  
  
"I'm coming too!" said Mihoshi.  
  
"I appreciate it," said Tenchi as he looked at her and smiled.  
  
"It's my duty as a Galaxy Police Officer!" exclaimed the woman.  
  
"I'm going too!" cried Sasami.  
  
"It's best if you stay here and help protect the shrine," said Tenchi gently.  
  
"Okay," muttered the girl dejectedly.  
  
Ayeka stood silently, watching them for a moment.  
  
"Big sister?" said Sasami with a questioning frown.  
  
The girl smiled at her and nodded.  
  
"All right!" cried the little girl.  
  
"We'd best get going then," said Jadeite.   
  
"Tenchi. I'm giving this to you," said Yosho as he held out Tenchi-ken.  
  
"What? Grandpa?" said the boy dumbly.  
  
"Take it, you will need it. Kagato is a powerful and dangerous enemy," said the old man firmly.  
  
Tenchi reached out for the sword again. A field of power prevented him from grasping it, but he pushed through and took hold of the hilt, pulling it from his grandfather's grasp.  
  
"The sword has accepted you as it's rightful owner," said Yosho.  
  
"Thank you Grandpa," said the boy with a short nod.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stepped into the Mikon Taka and glanced around. "Well, we'd best get going."  
  
"How much time do we have?" asked Dan.  
  
"No clue. Hope we don't miss all the fun," commented Carrot.  
  
They blasted off, moving through the clouds in a few moments into the stars.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Kagato sat in a large throne in the main room aboard the Soja. Ryoko was trapped inside the sands on the bottom of a giant hourglass, and the man ignored her as he watched the screen.  
  
"Here they come. The fools. It's strange, they are coming here to throw away their lives to save someone as defective as you," said the man with a small snort.  
  
"I am not defective! I am a human being!" snapped Ryoko.  
  
"Human being? And compared to the infinite will of the universe, human feelings amount to little more than dust. You know, your current form was chosen because it was convenient. Your original form could have been anything that I wanted. Like a stone. Should I turn you into a stone? Would that make you happy?"  
  
Ryoko stared at the man fearfully.  
  
"I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to prepare for our guests."  
  
"If you lay your dirty hands on Tenchi you'll be sorry! I swear it, you'll be sorry!"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Kagato's ship is preparing to fire. Please avoid it!" said Ayeka as she looked over Jadeite's shoulder.  
  
"The thought had occurred to me princess," said the man as he gave her a passing glance and frowned.  
  
The ship rocked as it was struck by a few of the destructive beams.   
  
"I thought you could fly this thing!" cried Tenchi.  
  
"I can. I was an Admiral, there's nothing I can't fly. I didn't say that I could fly it well though," snapped the man in retort.  
  
"Waaaahhhhh!" cried Mihoshi.  
  
"Ryo-Ohki attack! I command you!" cried Ayeka.  
  
"You could try using the fire button," said Jadeite as he immediately did so. The giant cobra shaped starship in front of them easily deflected the blast. "Not that it did us any good."  
  
"What are we going to do?" cried Tenchi.   
  
"Can we attack from that ship this thing absorbed?" asked Jadeite.  
  
"Well, yes but..." stammered Ayeka.   
  
"That was a Juraian ship, it should be able to dish out enough to at least get through those shields," said Jadeite.  
  
"The only weapon still operational..." said Ayeka.  
  
"I'll go!" cried Tenchi. "When I get there, you'll have to instruct me!"  
  
"Wait! Tenchi!" cried the girl. He was already gone though.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Ayeka. I'm ready," said Tenchi as he appeared on the deck of the princess's ship.  
  
The girl appeared on the screen in front of him. "First you must open the Light Hawk Wings. Its original purpose was meant for defense. It wasn't meant for attack, so we will be vulnerable."  
  
"It's our only hope right?" muttered the boy.  
  
"Whatever you're planning, do it soon," growled Jadeite.  
  
"Right. How do I open the wings Ayeka?" asked Tenchi.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Kagato looked on as the three bladed shield appeared in front of the ship. He smirked as it moved into attack mode. "Well, they're using the Light Hawk Wings, I'm impressed. But I have a suitable strategy."   
  
+++++++++  
  
Tenchi grit his teeth as he forced the wings into a ball of power, the Soja was powering up as well. He screamed as he forced the energy to fire.  
  
Unfortunately, the Soja's blast was stronger, after a brief struggle, the boy's projectile wavered and Ryo-Ohki was blown in half, the bottom portion of the ship shattering, with Tenchi inside it.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ayeka stared in horror at the debris that floated outside the ship. "No! Tenchi! Tenchi! Tenchi!" She cried his name over and over as she changed the view, hoping to find him.   
  
Jadeite stood up from where he had fallen in the blast and frowned. "Too bad, he seemed like a good kid."  
  
Ayeka screamed.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma looked on from the cockpit of the Mikon Taka as the smaller ship was hit.   
  
"Damn. We're too late!" said Ranma.  
  
"No, if we'd come any sooner. We'd have to fight of Kagato ourselves. We weren't meant too," said Carrot.  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma.  
  
"We made it just in time," said Carrot. "Don't worry, we're not here for Kagato anyway."  
  
"Oh?" asked Dan with a small frown.  
  
"No. Our old friend Washuu is on that ship. She's a prisoner," said Carrot. "We're just here to say hello."  
  
"What?" gasped Ranma.  
  
"Don't worry so much," said Dan. "He's right."  
  
Ranma frowned as something appeared through the debris in front of them. "Hey. Look!"  
  
"What is it?" said Ranma.  
  
"Tenchi. Or, what's left of him..." said Carrot. "Gross, he's been blown in half."  
  
The boy was resting inside a shield generated by the two guardians. He appeared to be quiet dead.  
  
"We gotta do something!" cried Pissant.  
  
"Well. It speaks," said Carrot with a smirk forming on his face.  
  
"Don't just sit there! Maybe we can save him!" said Pissant.  
  
"We don't have to. Tsunami is going to do it for us," said Carrot.  
  
"Huh?" muttered the voice.  
  
"Just watch," replied Dan sourly.  
  
"Whoa! Who's that?" said Ranma as a ghostly figure appeared in front of Tenchi's body. She was a beautiful woman with long blue hair. She paused and looked at them for a moment.  
  
Ranma grinned and waved to her cheerfully from inside the cockpit.  
  
She blinked and then turned back to her task. After a moment, Tenchi was gone. Seeming to vanish into space.  
  
"That was kinda cool," said Carrot.  
  
"So, now what?" asked Dan.  
  
"Well, now we get to shoot things and cause explosions. Come on," said Carrot. He piloted them through the mess of debris and moved towards Ryo-Ohki's mostly intact form.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Inside the Soja Ryoko exploded with rage and grief as Tenchi died before her eyes. The sands in the hourglass swirled around her, moving back into the top half in a few seconds.  
  
Kagato paused as the glass exploded outward. However, that was not the end of it. Ryoko glared at him and screamed again, clenching her fists at her sides.   
  
"This is..." Kagato glared at her. "Not possible! Ryoko cannot transform! How can this be?"  
  
At his words, Ryoko's hair suddenly changed into a bright golden color, her eyes changing from yellow into a deep blue. She screamed in rage and vanished into thin air.  
  
"This could be a problem," snarled Kagato as he turned back towards the screen.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Tenchi!" cried Ryoko as she teleported around the debris. She paused when she saw a headband floating through space, tainted with blood. It was Tenchi's. She screamed again, curling into a ball as her tears floated through the darkness. Her sobs slowed as a ship appeared in front of her. She looked at the man staring at her from inside the cockpit and frowned. "You."  
  
Ranma was staring at Ryoko dumbly.   
  
Carrot chuckled to himself and shook their head. "She didn't."  
  
"Apparently she did," said Dan irritably.  
  
"Hey, what happened to her? She looks like us when we..." said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Um...Remember that...special...sample we gave Washuu in the past?" said Carrot.  
  
"Yeah. What's that got to do with anyth...Oh god no."  
  
"Well, two kids now," said Dan with a frown.  
  
"We should say hello," said Carrot. He waved at her and she looked at him for a moment.  
  
Ranma blinked as she vanished from in front of him. He felt something poking at his back and blinked.  
  
Ryoko was behind him, an angry frown on her face as she jabbed her energy sword into his back. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"My job. Really Ryoko, you shouldn't be so rude," he said calmly as he turned around and glared at her. "We have a lot in common you and I."  
  
"Oh?" she said coldly.  
  
"Calm down, you want revenge for your boyfriend don't you?" said Ranma with a smirk forming on his face.  
  
"What would you know?" snarled the woman.  
  
"I know that you're planning on going back and killing Kagato," he said carefully. "I doubt if you'll need much help in your current state."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" she said as she growled at him.  
  
"You haven't noticed yet?" he said with his eyebrow arching slightly.  
  
Ryoko lowered the blade slightly. "Noticed what?" she spat.  
  
Ranma smiled and nodded towards her reflection in the window. The woman gasped and reached out to touch the glass. "What? What happened to me?"  
  
"You just transformed. It was probably triggered by the extreme emotions you're feeling right now," said the boy with a small shrug as he sat down in the pilot's seat and flew towards Ryo-Ohki. "This is Mikon Taka hailing the starship Ryo-Ohki, come in please."  
  
"Ranma!" said Jadeite as he answered.  
  
"I figured you'd be here," said the boy with a smirk on his face. "What's the sit-rep?"  
  
"Not good, Kagato seems to have stopped firing, but this ship is badly damaged, and we've suffered a loss."  
  
"I know. I arrived just before it happened. I couldn't do anything," said Ranma with a short nod.  
  
"The others...aren't taking it well," said Jadeite with a disgusted sounding sigh.  
  
Ayeka and Mihoshi were crying in each other's arms, sobbing pathetically.  
  
Ryoko frowned and teleported out of the ship.  
  
"Who was that?" said Jadeite.  
  
"Don't worry about her, she's cool," said Ranma with a shrug.  
  
"Um, right..." said Jadeite. He paused when he noticed the woman appear in front of the controls of the ship.  
  
Ayeka and Mihoshi both blinked.  
  
"Who are you?" said Mihoshi dumbly.  
  
"What is the meaning of this?"  
  
"Tenchi is dead," said Ryoko coldly. "Leave now if you must, but I'm going to have my revenge. Even if it kills me."  
  
"Who are you?" said Ayeka as she backed away from the newcomer's icy demeanor.   
  
Ryoko glanced over her shoulder and tossed her the boy's headband.  
  
Ayeka looked at it in horror, and then back up to the woman again. "Ryoko?"  
  
++++++++  
  
Ryo-Ohki blasted foreword, slamming into the shields of the Soja.  
  
The Mikon Taka moved up behind it, using it as a shield to move in as well. Within a few moments, they were through.  
  
++++++++  
  
"So, which way?" asked Jadeite as he stood with the three women.  
  
"You stay here and guard the ship," said Ranma as he looked at the man for a moment. "We'll probably need to leave in a hurry. Stay on board and be ready to pull us out."  
  
Jadeite frowned at him, but nodded. "I hope you know what you're doing."  
  
"All the passages will lead to him," said Ryoko.  
  
"I'll go with the idiot, you two take the other passages," said Ranma as he jerked his thumb towards Mihoshi.  
  
Ayeka nodded. "Let's go."  
  
The rushed away, taking different paths.  
  
+++++++++  
  
As they rushed through the halls, skull-like robots appeared in their way, shooting blasts at them from laser turrets in their mouths.  
  
Ryoko easily crushed the things, shattering them in her wake as she simply blasted foreword. Ayeka took a similar approach in her own hall, while Mihoshi took a slower approach as she blasted them with the large shoulder mounted cannon that she carried with her now.  
  
Ranma walked behind her almost casually and smirked. They were both making good time despite this.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ryoko was the first to arrive at the end of her hallway. Blasting through a wall and passing through a sort of dimensional field. She glanced around and frowned. "There must be an entrance around here somewhere."  
  
The wall in front of her opened up, revealing a passageway.  
  
Ayeka stepped through next. She paused and smirked. "Well now, looks like an invitation."  
  
"Sure does. Let's not be rude," said Ryoko as she started foreword.  
  
Ranma and Mihoshi stepped out last, a short distance behind the women.   
  
"Hello! I'm right behind you could you please wait up!" cried Mihoshi. She stumbled back and hit the small bunny tail on the back of her uniform against the wall. It shifted into the control cube and landed on the ground.   
  
Ranma appeared to be more amused than anything else as he watched it hit the floor and noticed them phase onto another plane. "Seems to be going well," he commented to himself as Mihoshi rushed foreword. She didn't appear to notice that they had been relocated. He chuckled as she continued to call after the others and strolled foreword calmly as the passage began to close.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ryoko and Ayeka found themselves in the throne room. Kagato saw playing the organ and ignored their entrance until he finished.  
  
He stood up and greeted them. "Welcome to my chapel ladies. Enjoy the music?" he said with a small bow.  
  
Ryoko growled. "Stand back Ayeka," said Ryoko as she clenched her fist.  
  
The princess shot foreword and attacked him, blocked by some sort of energy field within the room. "Scumbag!"  
  
"Is that a term of affection? Or do you just not like me?" asked Kagato. "You're quite powerful princess, but this temple's forcefield counteracts all energy that attacks it. Now allow me to teach you some manners."   
  
Ayeka was thrown back by an unseen force and landed on the ground roughly.  
  
Kagato was blown off his feet by the energy bolt that Ryoko blasted at him while he was distracted. He stood up and growled. "She has grown stronger it seems. Most unusual."  
  
Ryoko appeared behind him and stabbed him in the throat. Kagato vanished with a slight scream of pain. The woman gasped. "Shadow!"  
  
Kagato grabbed her by her throat and smiled darkly. "Seven hundred years is a bit to long of a rest for you my dear."  
  
Ryoko had her eyes closed and braced herself. She then paused and turned her head to look at him. "This doesn't hurt at all. I thought you were stronger than this."  
  
Kagato blinked. "What?"  
  
The woman grabbed his arm and squeezed, crushing her grip and forcing him to release her. "So. You're not as strong as I remember you."  
  
"You're quite a bit stronger than I remember you my dear," snorted the man. "Perhaps a bit too strong."  
  
"I'll show you no mercy," she spat.  
  
"This new ability of yours is quite impressive I must admit, you were able to resist my power before, and you're no longer useful," snorted the man. He grabbed her by her shoulder.  
  
Ryoko moved to attack, but gasped. "No! Kagato don't! My arm!" She watched in horror as she was quickly turned to stone. He dropped her to the floor and looked down at her. "Too bad, you might not have been such a waste had I been able to control this new form."  
  
He turned and Ayeka's sleeping form rose from the ground. Casually pulling off his glove to reveal that his hands were invisible, or non-existent. He reached out with his arm and held her by her face. "You will show me the secret of Tsunami Unit, Princess Ayeka."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Mihoshi walked foreword, glancing around nervously at her new surroundings. It was some sort of temple. A large crystal sat in the middle of the room, with large cobra statues seeming to guard it on all sides.  
  
"This place is really, really weird! Where'd they go?" she exclaimed. "Kagato might have them already! If he does, then I'm all alone."  
  
"Hey! What does that make me?" snapped Ranma as he smacked her in the back of her head.  
  
"Oh. Well, I guess I'm not completely alone then," she amended. "Don't worry! I'll protect you from harm!"  
  
"Like I need you to protect me," snorted Ranma as he backhanded one of the giant cobra statues that had started to move just behind them. It sailed into one of its comrades and he snorted. "We should probably do something about these things though."  
  
"What?" gasped Mihoshi as she noticed them. There were four of them, and they were probably around forty yards long.  
  
Ranma casually walked by her and moved towards the crystal that had a familiar figure standing inside of it. "Well. What have we here?"  
  
"Aren't you going to help me?" cried Mihoshi.  
  
"Hey, you're the one who said you'd protect me, remember?" he said as he looked over his shoulder at her.  
  
She cried out in fright and blasted them with the weird glove on her arm. It was some sort of ice gun that was freezing the statues in place.  
  
Ranma ignored this and looked at the crystal carefully. He shrugged his shoulders and punched it as hard as he could. After giving a sharp yelp of pain and shaking his hand violently from the pain of the impact he jumped back. "Damn! That's harder than it looks!"  
  
"What are you doing?!" cried Mihoshi fearfully. The creatures had started to break free of their icy prison.  
  
"Nuthin, just keep them busy for a minute will ya?" he snorted.  
  
The crystal in front of him began to crack, and Washuu opened her eyes. It shattered away completely and the snakes stopped suddenly.  
  
"Hey. Been a while. Ya know, we've got to stop meeting this way," he said with a smirk as he looked down at her.  
  
"Huh?" said the woman as she looked up at him and blinked. "Ranma?"  
  
"Hiya!" he said cheerfully.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she muttered.  
  
"Well, I figured I'd come save you again. Didn't have anything better to do today, so I figured, why not?"  
  
She blinked and looked at him. "Well, it's nice to see you again."  
  
"Hmm. Thanks," he replied with a smirk. "So. How are things?"  
  
"You mean aside from being stuck in that crystal, or being stuck inside another dimension?" she said flatly.  
  
"Well, yeah," he said with a shrug.  
  
"Not to good," she said calmly. "You must be Mihoshi. Nice to meet you. My name is Washuu."  
  
"Oh. So...you two know each other?" said the blonde after a moment of thought.  
  
"You could say that," said Washuu cheerfully. "As I'm sure he's figured out, he's the father of one of my better creations."  
  
Mihoshi blinked, not quite sure what to say to that.  
  
"Found a use for that sample did you?" he said as he looked around for a moment.  
  
"Well, I was going to use something called the Masu, but your genetic make up was much more fascinating. You had no idea how much trouble it was to keep her weight down."  
  
"So, my genetics have to do with the way she looks right now?" he said as he frowned at her.  
  
"Yes. The added mass you've gained some how allows for the controlling of massive amounts of energy. It's quite extraordinary."  
  
"Well, the science lesson is nice and all, but shouldn't we be doing something else?" he said as he looked towards the floor.  
  
"You're right," agreed Washuu. "Rise and shine!" She moved her hand and Ryoko phased through the floor, still made of stone. Washuu moved around her and inspected her. "Hmmm, looks like nothing's broken. That jerk tried to destroy her hmm? Well, I'll show him."   
  
"Um excuse me. Who are you? You're obviously dressed in a Science Academy Uniform from a long time ago."  
  
"Your body is sagging a bit, the deterioration of your muscle definitely effects your ability to fight. It also effects your visual psychological tactics," continued Washuu obliviously.  
  
Ryoko grabbed her and lifted her up by her shirt. "Okay pipsqueak. Whether my body is sagging or not is none of your damn business! What are visual psychological tactics anyway?"  
  
"Your sex appeal of course," replied Washuu.  
  
"Hey! I'll have you know my body hasn't changed in seven hundred years! What do you think of that ya big smart aleck!?"  
  
"I think that's no way to talk with your mother, Ryoko," said Ranma.  
  
Washuu blinked at him and turned towards Ryoko. "He's right you know. That doesn't explain how he knows about that."  
  
"The hair," said Ranma as he pointed at the woman's hair. "She dyes it blue."  
  
Ryoko dropped the woman and stared at him. "I do not!"  
  
"Why is it red now then?" he replied simply. "Your transformation burned off all the hair dye."  
  
Ryoko blinked and looked at her reflection in the floor. She wasn't a blonde any longer, and her hair was indeed red. "Hey! What happened?"  
  
"The transformation only lasts a short time, you might be able to do it again, but you don't have enough training to do it at will. Your grief from Tenchi's death was what caused it to manifest in the first place."  
  
"What would you know about that?" she snapped angrily as the energy sword appeared in her hand.  
  
Ranma smirked at her and glared coolly at her. "Because you inherited it from me." The golden aura of power exploded around him.  
  
Ryoko backed away. "What are you saying?"  
  
"We're your parents," said Washuu.   
  
Ryoko stared at the pair for a moment dumbly. "Wha?"  
  
"That's right. I created you, I created Ryo-Ohki, I created the Soja, I've created so many things! But I used my ova for you, so I'm more like your mother than your creator. He supplied the other half of your DNA, so he's your father."  
  
"You must be that female student that was kidnapped by Kagato!" exclaimed Mihoshi.  
  
"A female student? No! I am Washuu! I am the top scientific genius in the universe. Although, I have to admit I am cute! I know I look a little young to be your mother, don't I Ryoko?"  
  
Ryoko paused and glared at them. "Baloney! I've been alone for two thousand years! Ever since I was born..." She paused as she realized what she had just said. "Ever since I was born..."  
  
"This is nice and all, but don't we have something we should be doing?"  
  
"He's right! Where are we?" snapped Ryoko.  
  
"This is the reversed world," explained Washuu.  
  
"Reversed world?"  
  
"This ship has two layers, a top and a bottom. The intersection between the two of them is one way though..."  
  
"Forget about it!" snapped Ryoko. "How do I get back?"  
  
"So you can take revenge for Tenchi?" asked Washuu.  
  
Ryoko had her sword out again in an instant. It was placed across Washuu's throat. "What do you know about Tenchi?"  
  
"As you are connected with Ryo-Ohki, so am I connected with you my dear," said Washuu. "So I know...everything."  
  
"Well, now that we have that cleared up. How about we go and kill this evil man who is torturing the young princess as we speak?" said Ranma with a small cough.  
  
"Hey! We're having a dramatic moment!" snapped Washuu.  
  
"Well, it's over now," snorted Ryoko. "How do I get back?"  
  
"For you, it's simple," replied Washuu.  
  
Ryoko snorted again and turned away.   
  
"Ryoko, before you go. I have to ask you one thing..."  
  
"What is it?" snapped the woman.  
  
"Could you please...call me Mom?"  
  
Ryoko grunted in frustration and vanished.  
  
"You know, now that I think about it...she's a lot like her sister," said Ranma.  
  
Washuu blinked and looked at him for a moment. "Sister?"  
  
"Yeah. My daughter from the future, she's visiting right now, I left her at home though."  
  
"Interesting," commented Washuu.  
  
"In any case, what should we do now?"  
  
"Hey!" cried Mihoshi as she tried to follow. Washuu put out her hand to stop her and the blonde looked at her. "But, why shouldn't we go with her?"  
  
"Because it's impossible. Once we're on this side, we can't leave unless Kagato is destroyed," replied Washuu.  
  
"But..." stammered Mihoshi.  
  
"Try to understand, that was Ryoko's astral body I brought over here. Her physical body is on the other side," said the redhead.  
  
Mihoshi seemed to think about it for a long moment. She then looked at Washuu again. "Now...where are we?"  
  
Ranma chuckled at the woman's reaction.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Kagato was invading Ayeka's mind, the image of Yosho appeared before her as she floated naked in an empty space.  
  
"Tell me the secret of Tsunami! What is the secret of Jurai Royal Family's power?"  
  
"You are not my brother! You're not Yosho!" cried the girl as she attempted to break free of the invasion.  
  
Kagato was forced back as the young girl began to glow. He released her and jumped back. "Well, I see Tsunami must be protecting those of royal blood. In that case..." He paused as a bolt of energy pierced his forearm. "Well, the shrew who was in the world of shadow has returned. It seems you've lost that extra power. Your hair has changed as well, how interesting, you always were such a vain creature."  
  
"You're one to talk," snorted Ryoko.  
  
+++++++++  
  
Washuu sat on top of a huge blueprint with Mihoshi at her side.   
  
"So, you mean there's no way out?" asked Mihoshi.  
  
"No. you see here on the ship's diagram, that goes this way and this goes that way. So, there's no way out," said Washuu with a nod.  
  
Ranma was standing nearby, looking at the prints in boredom. "Hey. What's this?" He pointed downward.  
  
Washuu blinked. "That's just the ship's weakest point. Even that will take more energy than we can create to break through. I might have been able to build something that could do it on the other side, but Kagato intentionally deprived me of the materials needed to build something like that on this side."  
  
"Not that, there's a dock here. What for?" said Ranma as he pointed towards the spot next to the diagram she had been talking about.  
  
"Dock? What dock?" said Washuu.  
  
"Right here," said Ranma as he pointed again. Right exactly opposite where the dock is on the other side."  
  
"Well, everything on this side is an exact copy of the other side, even if we left the ship in one of the craft that are in there, we'd still be in this dimension."  
  
"Oh," said Ranma with a small frown. "Would it be any easier to break through the barrier from outside the ship? I mean, you shouldn't have any trouble with dimensional travel right. Your lab is inside a pocket space after all as I recall. The field preventing us from traveling that way would only be on the inside of the ship."  
  
Washuu looked at him. "You're right. I hadn't thought of that."   
  
"Oh," said the boy as he blinked in surprise.  
  
"In any case, it would still take a few hours to make something like that. I doubt if the battle will last that long."  
  
"Oh. Good point," said Ranma with a shrug.   
  
Washuu turned towards the charts again and ground her teeth. "I can't believe I never thought of that!"  
  
"So, where are we again?" asked Mihoshi.  
  
"ARRRGGGHHH!" cried Washuu as she fell flat on her face.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ryoko's battle with Kagato raged on, she growled in frustration as she fought and found herself running more than fighting. "Damn! That power is gone, and I..."  
  
Kagato was surrounded in Ayeka's shield suddenly and Ryoko looked down at her.   
  
"Damn! She's still here!"  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Well, in any case. There's only a couple of things we can do here," said Washuu.  
  
"What's that?" asked Ranma with a small frown.  
  
Washuu created a porthole where they could see Ryoko and the other room.  
  
"Hey! Well, now what?" asked Mihoshi.  
  
Washuu handed her a fan and started cheering with a pair of her own.  
  
Ranma merely sat down and began to meditate.  
  
"What's he doing?" asked Mihoshi.  
  
"I dunno?" said Washuu.  
  
"I'm waiting for someone," replied Ranma.  
  
"Oh," replied the two women in confusion.  
  
Ranma opened his eyes. "Ryoko isn't using her full power."  
  
Washuu blinked and looked at him. He was scowling and looking down at the ground.  
  
"She's new to that transformation," said Washuu.  
  
"No, she's holding back even now," said Ranma. "Ayeka is getting in the way. She'd be hurt if Ryoko went all out. Pull her in here with us."  
  
Washuu blinked, her eyes turned down to the battle and she saw Ryoko was losing more and more ground. "He's right! We have to do something!"  
  
"What can we do?" said Mihoshi.  
  
Washuu looked at Mihoshi and held out her hand. "Hand me your cube."  
  
Mihoshi shrugged and gave it to her. With a few simple twists, Ayeka was there.  
  
Ayeka was standing in the room with them, still in a combat pose. "What? Where am I?" she gasped.  
  
"Hey," said Ranma as he waved at her.  
  
"Ayeka! Are you all right?" said Mihoshi.  
  
"No! I have to..."  
  
"You've got to stay out of the way, you were doing more harm than good before," said Ranma as he looked down at the battle. He closed his eyes again and spoke out loud. "Ryoko! We have Ayeka here now! Don't hold back anymore! It's your only chance to win!"  
  
Washuu blinked as she noticed the woman pause and nod her head. "Hey. Since when can you do that?"  
  
"Old Jedi mind trick," replied the boy with a shrug.  
  
"So, you've brought Ayeka to the other side," said Kagato. "Even I can't do anything to the princess now that she's in another dimension."  
  
"I'd watch what I was doing if I were you. My daughter is quite skillful, especially since I haven't trained her yet."  
  
"Who are you?" said Kagato as he noticed the boy sitting with the others. The rest of what he was going to say was cut off as something blasted him in the side.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ryoko smirked as she looked down at Kagato. "Got ya!" she cried in triumph as he was distracted by something.  
  
Kagato smirked and Ryoko suddenly fell to her knees. "What? What did you do? I'm getting weak, my power is draining."  
  
Ranma frowned and looked at the image of Kagato that stood before the and smirked. "So, you're using those gems of hers are you?"  
  
"Indeed, you're smarter than you appear," said the man as he looked the boy over.  
  
"Hmm, you're a bigger fool than I thought, Ryoko," said the boy.  
  
"What?" said Washuu.   
  
"Giving her those gems was a mistake Washuu. She would have been stronger without them, especially if she's my child," said the boy as he looked at her.  
  
"Don't be silly," snorted Kagato.  
  
Ranma stood up and his tail uncoiled from around his waist. "Don't be so sure. There's a lot you don't understand."  
  
"What?" said Kagato as he stared at the boy in shock. "So, a Saiyan? I thought you'd all been destroyed. No matter, things of legends that are of no particular concern to me."  
  
Ayeka gasped in horror. She backed away from the boy. "Saiyan!?"  
  
Washuu frowned. "You weren't a Saiyan when I met you."  
  
"No, I wasn't," said Ranma as he looked at her. "I'm not even sure if I am now. Some demon chick gave me this tail a few days ago."  
  
"I see, so someone tried to recreate the race based using you?" said Washuu as she smirked at him. "You have many similar properties. I could see why they would try."  
  
"You used my DNA because it could handle the energy that the gems put out. Is that it?" asked Ranma.   
  
"It is, I had originally planned on using something called the Masu, it had a similar construct, but yours was much more efficient," said the woman as she smirked at him. "In which case, I think you're right. Ryoko could be stronger than the gems allow her to be. She was when she was turned to stone. It seems that she's unable to tap into that power again at the moment though."  
  
"Insufficient training," said Ranma with a short nod.  
  
Kagato nodded. "Most interesting, that information could be of use to me later. In any case, I think we should have a little experiment. I've redirected all of the gems' power, including the ones in Ryoko. Now, since I can't get the information from you princess. I'll just ask your brother and your little sister instead."  
  
Ranma smirked as he felt the energy build up outside the ship. "Everyone you know will be killed in that blast, Sasami, Yosho, even Mr. Masaki."  
  
"Eh?" said Kagato as he looked down at the boy. "Who are you talking too?"  
  
Ryoko slowly rose to her feet from behind Kagato. "You already took my Tenchi away! I won't let you steal anyone else!" she screamed.  
  
"What is this?" gasped Kagato as the gems in her wrist fell out suddenly and clattered across the ground. The golden aura blasted to life around Ryoko and she screamed in rage. Kagato laughed. "You're too late to stop me!"  
  
The Soja fired and Ryoko screamed again. She paused though when Kagato smirked as an invisible field blocked the energy blast.  
  
"What?" she muttered as she started to calm.  
  
"Don't lose it Ryoko!" cried Ranma from what sounded like somewhere nearby.   
  
She blinked and looked down at herself. She realized that she felt refreshed and that her strength had returned again. An evil looking grin crossed her face as she glared at Kagato's back. "You're mine this time!"  
  
Kagato was ignoring her in favor of the huge Juraian ship that had appeared. "Tsunami! It has arrived!"  
  
"Die!" screamed Ryoko as she attacked.   
  
Kagato stepped back and shot energy blasts at her again, the sword appeared in his hand and he smirked at her. "Not so easy as you might think! Tsunami will soon be mine, and I'll rule the Universe!"  
  
Ryoko moved her sword up to block the blasts, but gasped when she realized that it wasn't in her hand. "Wha?" Her eyes went wide when she realized the problem. "Oh shit! No gems!"  
  
Kagato appeared behind her and slammed her in the back of her head, sending her sprawling across the ground.  
  
"Damn!" growled the woman as she slowly rose to her feet and glared at him for a moment. "I won't let you beat me!"  
  
"My dear, you've already lost," snorted Kagato as another set of green energy balls from the sword slammed into her chest and pushed her through several of the pillars that lined the walls. The rocks crumbled around her and she found herself barely able to stand up. "No! What went wrong?" she thought desperately. Her hair changed back into the deep crimson tint and she fell to the ground.  
  
"Humph, pathetic," snorted Kagato.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Washuu hung her head and sighed. "What went wrong?"  
  
"No way! Ryoko lost!" cried Mihoshi in horror.  
  
"I could sense that she was more powerful than Kagato, but she was so used to using her gems to fight with..." Ranma sighed.  
  
"When she lost them, she tried to rely on them again," said Washuu as she seemed to understand.   
  
"Right," said Ranma. "It wouldn't take much for her to win, a little training to get her out of that habit."  
  
"Training we don't have time to perform," pointed out Washuu.   
  
"We've lost?" whimpered Mihoshi pathetically.  
  
Ranma smirked at her. "No, not yet."  
  
"What?" said the blonde.  
  
"There is still Tsunami, and a special surprise," said Ranma.  
  
"Surprise?" asked Washuu.   
  
"I sense a power, a strong force, but it is hidden, and it isn't that ship," said Ranma with a smirk forming on his face.  
  
Tenchi stood in the back of the great hallway, Ryoko resting in his arms as he glared at Kagato. Jadeite stood next to him, a small frown on his face as he glanced around.   
  
"Well, it seems we didn't miss the party after all. Ranma isn't here," snorted Jadeite.  
  
"Take her," said Tenchi as he handed Ryoko over to the man gently. "Make sure she's safe."  
  
"Right. I suppose you're going to take on the big bad evil guy on your own then?" snorted the man as he glared at the boy.  
  
"Jadeite, do as he says, and stay out of the way," said Ranma from somewhere within the room.  
  
"Hey! Where are you?" asked the man.  
  
"I'm stuck in a pocket dimension at the moment with the others. We're all fine, but this boy has a hidden power. Stay out of his way, no matter how bad it gets."  
  
"Who are you talking to?" asked Tenchi as he looked at the man in confusion.  
  
"Don't worry about it," replied Jadeite. "Do what you have to."  
  
Tenchi nodded and stepped foreword. "Kagato!"  
  
"Didn't think you were still alive kid," said the man as he turned to face the boy.  
  
Tenchi paused when the two guardians appeared on either side of him. Azaka and Kamadake.   
  
"Lord Tenchi, let us handle this!" said one of them.  
  
They moved towards Kagato and were promptly swatted aside easily.  
  
"You two stay here and protect Ryoko with him," said Tenchi.  
  
"What do you plan to do boy?" said Kagato as he smirked at them.  
  
"I'm gonna defeat you!" cried Tenchi. He lunged foreword and swung at Kagato with the sword. He gasped as the evil man caught the blade with his bare hands.   
  
"That's just a rusty old piece of junk," said Kagato. "The Master Key is just a tool used to activate the ship. It's useless when cut off from the ship's power!" He blasted the boy again, and Tenchi was thrown back.  
  
"Damn!" said the boy as he regained his footing and pushed against the energy. He charged foreword again and tried to attack.  
  
Ryoko found herself staring at the battle, unable to help. "Damn! I can't move! Don't just stand there! Go help him!" She looked at Jadeite and the two guardians.   
  
"We can't!" cried Kamadake.  
  
"Kagato's energy is increasing at an incredible rate! We are using all our power just to shield it!" explained Azaka.  
  
Jadeite was standing just outside of their protection with his arms crossed over his chest. "You are?" He snorted and turned back to the battle again, watching it calmly.  
  
"You can help him," snapped Ryoko.  
  
"My orders are to stand here and not interfere. That's exactly what I'm going to do," said the man.  
  
"Bastard!" snarled Ryoko.  
  
"He hasn't lost yet," pointed out Jadeite.  
  
Kagato was holding Tenchi by his arm, after another failed attack. "What's the matter? The Master Key doesn't help anymore? Too bad, if you had left these women behind, you could have remained alive."  
  
Tenchi glared at him. "I would rather die, than forsake any one of them!"  
  
Kagato laughed and threw him against the wall. "That's all right with me, because I have all the gems!" The gems on the hilt of Tenchi's sword began to release their energy as well. "Ha Ha Ha Ha! Marvelous power! Come to me now, Tsunami!"   
  
The ship began to move towards the Soja.  
  
"No! This can't be the end!" growled Tenchi. Just then, a voice entered his head.  
  
"Tenchi. Use the force Tenchi!"  
  
"Huh?" said the boy as he blinked and looked around.  
  
Mihoshi, Ayeka, and Washuu all paused and stared at Ranma as he sent out the message.  
  
"What the heck is that supposed to mean?"  
  
The boy ignored them and continued to sit in a meditative position.  
  
Tenchi looked out at the Tsunami.  
  
"It won't be long now, soon Tsunami will be mine, and I will rule the universe!" said Kagato triumphantly.  
  
"I'm sorry I failed you," said Tenchi.  
  
"Let go, Tenchi," pressed the voice.  
  
The boy stood up, a confused frown on his face. He looked down at the sword and frowned again.  
  
"Tenchi, trust me," said the voice before he felt the presence fade from his mind.  
  
Tenchi stood up and glared at Kagato, tossing the weapon aside.   
  
"How can you have any power left?" said Kagato in surprise.  
  
Tenchi merely glared at him wordlessly, and closed his eyes.  
  
"I was going to finish you off later, but why not now?" said Kagato casually. He raised his palm and shot a huge blast of power at the boy. It exploded and sent up a cloud of dust.  
  
"No!" screamed Ryoko.  
  
Jadeite uncrossed his arms and stepped foreword, a shocked expression on his face. He desperately hoped he had not just made a dangerous mistake.  
  
Kagato turned towards Jadeite and Ryoko. "Ah, now it's your turn." He paused and turned back to the cloud of smoke, and the three glowing blades of energy that had formed there. "Impossible! I thought the power from Tsunami was completely cut off!"  
  
Tenchi appeared from the smoke, completely unharmed, the Wings of the Light Hawk were protecting him. He raised his arms, and two of the blades passed over his body, creating a new set of clothes.   
  
"It's you! You're causing all of this!" gasped Kagato as he realized what was going on.  
  
A single glowing blade appeared before Tenchi, he reached out and grasped it, changing it into a sword in his hands.  
  
Washuu gasped as she watched this. "The transformation of objects! The Wings of the Light Hawk! Unbelievable!"  
  
Ranma merely chuckled and looked on from where he sat.   
  
Kagato and Tenchi passed by one another, each holding his weapon in a finishing position.  
  
Tenchi stood upright and turned to face Kagato.  
  
The man did the same and chuckled to himself. "Tenchi, same name as the Master Key. Splendid plan Tsunami, Tenchi can be copied." He turned to look at his opponent and smiled. "You've won boy." With that, he simply burned away.  
  
Washuu looked at the scene for a moment. "A boy who can create the Wings of the Light Hawk huh? I want to make him mine!"  
  
Ranma snorted. "What's so impressive about that?"  
  
Washuu blinked and looked at him for a moment.  
  
"At any rate, we should be able to return now," said the pigtailed boy as he stood up.  
  
They were all bathed in light and appeared on the other side of the dimensional wall.  
  
Ryoko stood up and looked at her savior. "Tenchi!"  
  
She paused when the others appeared next to her, Mihoshi and Ayeka both had looks of adoration on their faces. They started foreword and Ryoko tripped them.  
  
"Ha ha ha! Too bad! I'm gonna be the first one to give Tenchi a hug!"  
  
She turned to see Ranma standing in front of the boy with a smirk on his face and his hand on his shoulder. "Well my boy, I must thank you for saving my daughter. If you break her heart, I'll break your legs."  
  
"Huh?" stammered the boy as he looked up at him fearfully.  
  
"Dad!" snapped Ryoko.  
  
Ranma appeared to get tears of joy in his eyes at this. "You called me Dad!" He grabbed her in a rough hug and squeezed her, popping her back in the process. He then promptly let her go and shoved her up next to Tenchi.  
  
"Did she just call you 'dad'?" asked Jadeite with a worried looking frown on his face.  
  
"Yes, this is my other daughter. Her name is Ryoko," said Ranma with a smirk on his face. "She's the result of my little trip to the past."  
  
Washuu was standing in front of Tenchi now. "Nice to meet you! My name is Washuu. I like you. You wanna be a guinea pig for my experiments?"  
  
Ryoko grabbed her and pulled her away. "Listen Mom..."  
  
"What's the problem?" asked Washuu.  
  
Ryoko froze as she heard the sound of Sasami hugging Tenchi from behind.  
  
"Hey, when did she get here?" said Ranma in confusion.  
  
"She was Tenchi's ride," said Jadeite with a small shrug.  
  
"Oh," muttered the pigtailed boy.  
  
"Well, let's get out of here before this place blows," said Ranma as he started towards the door.   
  
"Huh?" said Washuu.  
  
"You coming?" asked Ranma as he started to jog away.  
  
The entire ship shifted suddenly, half of it moving one way and half the other.  
  
"Oh. I guess the spaceship was cut in half also," commented Washuu.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma sat with the rest of the Masaki family after the whole battle was finished. They had just arrived on Earth and Ranma's starship was parked outside the home.  
  
"What happened to your hair Ryoko?" asked Tenchi as he seemed to finally notice the woman's red hair.  
  
Ryoko blushed and turned away.  
  
"She dyes it! To hide how old she is!" said Ayeka with a confident looking smirk.  
  
"Who are you to talk," commented Ranma lazily. "You dye your hair too."  
  
"What!?" gasped Ayeka as she looked at the boy in horror. "I most certainly do not!"  
  
"Your hair is the same color as your little sister's hair," said Ranma.  
  
"Ha! Who's old now princess!" snorted Ryoko.  
  
"Listen you hag!" snarled Ayeka.  
  
"Now, now. There's no need for that," said Mihoshi as she pushed them apart. Surprisingly enough, it seemed to work for the moment. They did continue to glare at one another.  
  
"So, you're really a Saiyan?" asked Sasami with a slightly nervous looking smile.  
  
"I'm not sure," replied the boy as he looked down at her. "That demon could have changed me into one completely, but there's no way to tell. Not without risking me destroying half the planet anyway."  
  
"He's right. The Saiyans are a dead race, they've been that way for thousands of years. Even I don't have any way to compare his DNA and find out," said Washuu.  
  
"In any case, it only proves that Ryoko really is a monster woman," said Ayeka.  
  
"Actually, Ryoko was before I got my tail, so she's probably not as much of a Saiyan as Chibi-Usa," said Ranma with a small shrug.  
  
"Who's Chibi-Usa?" asked Tenchi.  
  
"My other daughter, she's visiting me from the future at the moment," commented the boy with a small shrug.  
  
Washuu smirked at this. "Sounds interesting."  
  
"She does seem to act a lot like her older sister," commented Ranma dryly.  
  
"Hey! What the heck is that supposed to mean?" snapped Ryoko.  
  
"Probably that she knows you, and thinks of you as a roll model," replied Ranma with a small shrug.   
  
"Me? A role model?" Ryoko burst into laughter.  
  
"She's strong enough to wipe the floor with you," snorted Ranma.  
  
"Hey!" snapped the woman.  
  
"It's just as well. We can't have Jurai Royal Family's blood tainted by such a vicious space pirate anyway," commented Ayeka.  
  
"Where the heck did that come from?" whispered Jadeite as he leaned in next to Ranma.  
  
"Romantic rivalry over our friend Tenchi," he explained.   
  
"Oh," said Jadeite with a small shrug.   
  
"In any case Princess, I seem to recall the occupation the First Emperor of Jurai had before he found the trees that make your planet so powerful was the life of a space pirate." Ranma sipped at his tea and looked over to where Yosho was sitting quietly.  
  
"Hmmm, this is true," he said with a small nod. "An interesting dilemma."  
  
"Plus, my other daughter is the daughter of Neo-Queen Serenity. Meaning that after I am wed, Ryoko will be a princess as well. In fact, such a joined marriage would probably benefit the house of Jurai."  
  
Ayeka went pale. "What did you say?"  
  
"You mean, I have to be some stupid princess?" snorted Ryoko.  
  
"Well, you are already a Lady of the Highlands," said Ranma with a small shrug. "I was a powerful Lord during the Silver Millenium, and a great General."  
  
"Great? What about the time you scaled the wall of the Imperial castle and hung a wreath of tampons around the visiting Senshi of Mercury's window in order to commemorate her first period?"  
  
"Well, Queen Serenity did ask that I do something special for the girl," said Ranma with a blush on his face.  
  
"Hmm, the boy does have a valid point though," commented Yosho. "Such a union would indeed benefit the house of Jurai."  
  
"Grandpa!" cried Tenchi. Ryoko promptly latched onto his neck. "Did you hear that Tenchi! Our families approve!"  
  
"Now wait a minute! No one has agreed to anything!" snapped Ayeka.  
  
"Well, there's lots of time," said Ranma with a small shrug. "He's still a bit young for such things. Give him a year or two before we decide anything."  
  
Tenchi was starting to turn blue as Ayeka tried to pull him from Ryoko's hug.  
  
Yosho was obviously amused by the scene, and Ranma's face mirrored his own seriousness with the only possible hint of their enjoyment in their eyes.  
  
"Well. I hope you visit again soon," said Yosho. "You are welcome here at any time. We do appreciate your help today."  
  
"What?" gasped Ayeka. "This evil being! He's a monster! I refuse to believe that he is not both a Sith Lord and a Saiyan!"  
  
Ranma snorted and looked at Ryoko again. "I'll see you again some time daughter. I'm sure your sister would be glad to see you as well."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, scram pops," snorted the woman as she struggled to keep her grip on the young boy's neck.  
  
Jadeite stood up with Ranma and they left the scene. On the way out, the older man turned towards the pigtailed boy and smirked.  
  
"I wonder if anyone has ever reminded those two that the Emperor of Jurai is allowed more than one wife?"  
  
"Probably not," said Ranma with a smirk. "It's too much fun to watch them fight over the poor boy. He's a nice kid, but a bit of a sap."  
  
"Ah, young love," said Jadeite with a smirk on his face as he walked ahead of him.  
  
Washuu appeared in front of Ranma and looked up at him. "Hello."  
  
"Oh, hey. That's a good look for you," said the boy as he smirked at her.  
  
"You knew I was in the Soja didn't you?" she asked as she looked him over.  
  
"Huh? How would I know that?" he said with a barely hidden smirk.  
  
"Something is up with you," she said as she eyed him for a moment.  
  
"Maybe one day you'll find out," he said as he winked at her. "Don't worry Washuu-chan."  
  
"I'm not worried, this is interesting," she replied.  
  
"Want me to ruin it for you now?" he asked.  
  
"No. I think I'll figure it out on my own thanks," she replied as she turned away.  
  
"Okay, suit yourself. Tell me what you find out, okay?" he said as he walked off.  
  
"Right," she replied with an evil looking gleam in her eyes. "Ha! No mystery is to great for the Greatest Scientific Genius in the Universe!"  
  
A short distance away, Ranma paused and scratched his shoulder with a slightly confused frown on his face. "I feel kinda weird..."  
  
+++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  



	41. Insertion Part 41

Insertion  
  
Part 41  
  
The Sub-Zero Program  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma found himself standing in the Cat Café. The building was shut down, all the doors were closed and it had a sort of dark ambience about it.  
  
"What the hell is this?" he muttered as he frowned at Cologne.   
  
The old woman was sitting patiently at one of the tables in the middle of the room. "I see you received my note."  
  
"You mean this?" asked Ranma as he held up the note. "Something about settling this little engagement?"  
  
"Yes, in a way," said the old woman as she nodded. "I have an offer that even you cannot refuse."  
  
"Oh?" asked Ranma as he arched his eyebrow and sat down across from her. "I suppose it must be good, considering you closed the place for this."  
  
"Indeed," said Cologne.  
  
"Well, let's get down to it then," said the boy as he smiled at her for a moment.  
  
"Very well. I am willing to offer you an entire tribe of women," said Cologne.  
  
Ranma blinked. "Pardon?"  
  
"That child of yours, she is more powerful than any child of that age should be. I believe it is because you are her father."  
  
Ranma nodded at this, unsure of what to say.  
  
"I am prepared to allow something that has never been allowed a male. Every woman in the tribe will be yours," she said with a smirk growing on her face.  
  
"Oh?" he said with a smirk of his own forming.  
  
"Indeed, you will not be asked to work, the rest of your life will be luxury. All that we ask, is that you supply the next generation of Amazon women," said the old woman calmly.  
  
Ranma didn't speak, but leaned back in his chair for a moment.  
  
"I'm not sure if you know this, but because of Jusenkyo, you can only sire female children," she said with a short nod.  
  
"I figured," he snorted casually. "No big loss there I suppose."  
  
That statement caught Cologne off guard. She regained her composure quickly and nodded. "Indeed, that makes you all the more valuable to us."  
  
"Well, it is an interesting offer, but no," said Ranma as he looked at her.  
  
Cologne blinked. "No?"  
  
"Yeah. No," he said with a shrug.  
  
"You're refusing me?"  
  
"Ha! How stupid do you think I am?" snorted Ranma.  
  
"I beg your pardon?" said Cologne in disbelief.  
  
"I'm no fool. You expect me to turn into some sort of lazy baby machine. When the daughters I give you grow old enough, and or I grow fat and weak enough, you'll use them to put me in my place. Ha! You're the fool, I've no intention of living in some barn, growing fat and old while you shove a woman in on me every few days or so."  
  
Cologne frowned; he was surprisingly accurate in his accusations.  
  
"Please don't insult me. It goes against everything your tribe stands for to serve some man that way. I wouldn't do it based on principal alone. Besides, I'm a Saiyan Warrior, what makes you think I'd want such a laid back and easy life?" He leaned foreword and stared at her fearlessly.   
  
"You don't know what you're passing up," she said calmly.  
  
"I know exactly what I'm passing up," he replied.  
  
"Saiyan Warrior? I don't know of this term. Tell me what sort of clan is this?"  
  
Ranma grinned and sat back again. "What would you say, if I told you that I wasn't human?"  
  
Cologne stared at him for a moment in silence. Everything seemed to make sense in her mind now. "What are you?"  
  
"I'm an alien," he said as he stood up and uncoiled his tail from around his waist. "Neat huh?"  
  
"This is..."  
  
"Yeah. I know. I like you old woman, so I think I'll trust you with this," he said as he gave her an amused look. "Cross me, and your tribe won't live to regret it."  
  
"You overestimate your power boy," snapped Cologne.  
  
"Please, I could destroy this whole planet if I wanted to," he replied. "I've done it before."  
  
"What?" gasped Cologne as she stared at him.  
  
"It's not something I'm planning on doing again. It's caused me all sorts of trouble," he snorted and shrugged his shoulders.   
  
Cologne looked him straight in his eyes, there was no lie hidden in them. Only an icy cold confidence stared back at her. "What is it that you want?"  
  
"Nothing. Like I said, despite your rather comical attempts to trap me, I rather like you. I'm a powerful ally."  
  
Cologne nodded slowly. "I see."  
  
"I wouldn't live in the shadow of any woman, and I don't expect my daughters to live in the shadow of any man," he continued. "Not that there are any who could force them too."  
  
"What are you suggesting then?" asked Cologne carefully.  
  
"Well, Shampoo is a very nice girl, but I'm afraid I'm spoken for. My daughters wouldn't be of any use to you either. Neither of them would enjoy life in a quiet Chinese village much. I suggest you and I form a sort of friendly relationship."  
  
Cologne nodded at this.  
  
"There are a lot of nasty things in China, people who wouldn't like your little village much," he said calmly. "If you drop this whole engagement thing. I'll make sure your tribe continues to exist for another three thousand years."  
  
Cologne frowned for a moment. "How can you do this?"  
  
"I already almost control this country, it's only a matter of time before the world follows," he said with a small snort. "I also have a lot of important friends, and some very powerful allies."  
  
Cologne snorted. "You control this country? That seems a bit arrogant my boy."  
  
"Everyone knows that the Men in Black is the best security money can buy. The best way to protect your secrets. All of your most important secrets." Ranma grinned at her again, it was a slightly disturbing smile at that.  
  
"What do you mean?" she said as she looked at him for a moment.  
  
"I'm the owner of the most powerful security force in Japan," he said with a shrug. "I've been using it to gather information, establish relationships, poke things my way."  
  
Cologne nodded at this. "I see. You're cleverer than I thought. Perhaps a bit too clever."  
  
"Perhaps," he admitted. "I'll admit that I'm not doing this on my own. I've got a few partners, but they all answer to me."  
  
"I begin to see why you refused my offer," said the old woman.  
  
"I'd have refused it regardless. I'm not someone's breeding stock," he said with a wry looking grin. He seemed almost playful at the moment.  
  
"You claim that you can ensure my tribe's survival?" she said as she smirked at him. "We've been doing it for three thousand years."  
  
"And you're on the brink of extinction," said Ranma. "Your methods are outdated, your weapons obsolete. Your people are fading away."  
  
Cologne narrowed her eyes at this.  
  
Ranma ignored her and continued. "Your tribe's survival depends on people not noticing you. Your bribes and arranged marriages will only protect you so much. If the wrong person notices your little mountain paradise..."  
  
"What would you know?" she snapped.  
  
"I've been watching you, and your tribe for some time now," he said calmly.   
  
"Spying on us?" snapped Cologne.  
  
"You think I'm the only one?" he replied calmly.  
  
Cologne sat down and stopped talking. "Who?"  
  
"The Chinese Government," replied the boy with a shrug. "As of yet, there's been no real advantage to removing you. Your countries growing population will quickly change that. In a few years time, you could become a threat. Possibly influencing the greater population. Your tribe's reclusive attitude is the only reason you're still around."  
  
Cologne hung her head and said nothing for a long moment. "You say you can stop this?"  
  
"I could probably do it by force if I had to, but I'd rather not. You're safe enough for a few years. By that time, I'll be able to do it with more subtlety."  
  
"I see. Assuming you don't get yourself killed," she replied.  
  
"I doubt that. My daughter came back through time to see me," he replied calmly.  
  
"You spoke of another?" said Cologne as she looked up at him again.  
  
"Yes, her name is Ryoko," said the boy with a shrug. "She's the result of a trip to the past I took about a week ago."  
  
"So, she is..."  
  
"An adult," said Ranma with a short nod.  
  
Cologne closed her eyes and sat in silence once again for a long moment. She made a small growling noise and looked at Ranma again. "Very well. I shall nullify the Kiss of Marriage."  
  
Ranma smirked and turned towards the door. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got places to be."  
  
"So it seems," said Cologne as she sat in the dark after he left and lit her pipe. "Most interesting."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Belldandy, I've found something weird," said Skuld as she glanced up from the computer screen and looked at her older sister.  
  
The older Goddess was cleaning the room, dusting cheerfully. She paused and looked at her little sister for a moment. "What is it Skuld?"  
  
"I've never seen this program before. It's almost like a bug, but the system says it belongs here," she said as she moved over so Belldandy could see.  
  
"What is it?" asked the older goddess as she peered at the screen. "Oh my! How odd."  
  
The screen had several lines of code on it. "Sub-zero initiated. Target Located: Midigard. Initializing system for program parameters."  
  
"What is this?" asked Skuld.  
  
"I've never seen that program before," said Belldandy. "We'll have to ask Urd about it when she returns."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Stupid Keiichi," grumbled Urd as she walked down the sidewalk with a plastic bag on her arm. She had just returned from the store and now had two large bottles of sake. The glass clinked together loudly as she walked. "He knows I have to have something like this around, but he never buys enough."  
  
She paused in the middle of the street as an explosion rocked the entire block. Several men in dark suits ran screaming out of the remains of a small store. Their clothes were on fire, and they screamed as they fell to the ground and rolled around on the pavement.  
  
"My store!" cried the shopkeeper as he looked on in horror from just outside.  
  
A figure dressed in a dark trench coat stood next to him, grinning from ear to ear. He had a bald green head with a mouth much too large to be human. "Well. Look at the bright side. At least you don't have to pay them for protection anymore." The green headed thing lowered a bazooka from his shoulder and tossed it aside casually. He turned towards the Yakuza who were still trying to put out the flames by rolling around. "Oh! Fire, fire!" he cried. "Quick! Someone put the fire out!" He vanished into thin air.  
  
A moment later, a fire truck rounded the corner, the sirens blaring loudly as it barreled down the street and ran over all of the burning men. "Oops. Little too much gas," commented the thing as it reversed and rolled over them again. The thing then jumped out of the truck, wearing a fireman's uniform. He turned on the hose and turned it towards the bodies of the men, putting out the flames and blowing them around on the street from the high pressure.  
  
Urd growled and backed away. "Loki!"  
  
The thing paused and turned towards her, the mad looking grin still present on its face. "Well, there's a face I haven't seen in a while." The features on the thing's face changed, appearing to almost stretch out into another head. It looked at the goddess and walked up to her. "Hello Urd."  
  
"Get back," she said as she frowned at it.  
  
"Or you'll what? Destroy me? Maybe break this mask, and release me from my prison?" sneered the god as he looked at her.   
  
"I can't lift your punishment, and you know it," she spat.  
  
"If you could, I'd have tricked you into doing it by now. Tell me, how are things?"  
  
"None of your damn business," snapped Urd as she turned away.  
  
"Oh. Come now. Don't be that way! It's not often I get to speak with another of my kind. It's lonely down here on Midigard all by myself."  
  
"What do you want?" she snapped.  
  
"Nothing important. I'm just waiting for the big show to start," sneered the thing as it leered at her.  
  
Urd paused, adjusting her bag on her arm. "What show?"  
  
"Oh! You don't know yet?" he said with an amused chuckle.  
  
"Spit it out creep," she snapped.  
  
"Okay, fine. Someone has activated the Sub-Zero program," said the god merrily.  
  
"What?" gasped Urd in shock.  
  
"The only way to stop it, is to destroy what's causing it," said the thing cheerfully. "I know what it is, but it wouldn't be any fun to tell you."  
  
"Where?" snapped Urd.   
  
"Why, on Midigard of course," said Loki.  
  
"That's not possible!" said the Goddess. "You're lying!"  
  
"Why would I do that? Especially when the truth is so much fun!" said Loki as he faded back into the mask's face again. He laughed madly and vanished.  
  
Urd dropped her bag, completely forgetting about it as she rushed towards a nearby electronics store. Not caring who saw her, she dove into one of the televisions.  
  
"Wow. When you said you'd be completely immersed in the picture you meant it," said one of the customers who stood next to a dumbfounded salesman.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma frowned as he stood on the steps of the Masaki Shrine. Chibi-Usa stood beside him and looked around.   
  
"Well, here we are," said the boy.  
  
"I know this place," said Chibi-Usa as she kicked at one of the stones that made up the path to the shrine. "This is where..." Her eyes lit up suddenly and she jumped into the air.  
  
"What's with you?" said Ranma as he glared at her for a moment.  
  
He watched as the girl rushed down the stairway towards the Masaki home.  
  
"Hey! Wait up you little brat!" snapped Ranma.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ryoko was having a nice nap. Was being the operative word. "Who the heck?" she snorted as she looked at the small pink haired child attached to her neck.  
  
"Ryoko! Big sister!" cried the girl happily.   
  
"Who's this Ryoko?" muttered Tenchi as he looked down at the scene. Ryoko had been sleeping on that spot on the porch the last time he had come by.  
  
"Hey! Cut that out! Who the heck are you?" snapped Ryoko as she tried to dislodge the child.  
  
Chibi-Usa smirked as she felt her older sister grab her arm. She twisted and threw her over her shoulder and into the ground. "Ha!"  
  
Ryoko was laid out flat on the ground, face down. She lifted her head up and narrowed her eyes. "I'm gonna kick your butt kid."  
  
"Ryoko! She's just a little girl!" snapped Tenchi as he kneeled down next to the girl. "Hello. Who are you? Are you lost?"  
  
"Lost? Why would I be lost? I came to visit my big sister!" said Chibi-Usa happily.  
  
"Huh?" said the boy as he looked at her. "Are you another of Ayeka's relatives?"  
  
"That old bat? No way! I'm Ryoko's little sister!" said the girl as she crossed her arms and frowned at her.  
  
"Just for that, I'll forgive you kid," said Ryoko as she stood up and dusted herself off. "That doesn't explain why you think you're my sister. I don't have any sisters."  
  
"Yes, you do," said Ranma as he walked up to the group and smirked. "This is Chibi-Usa. She's your half sister."  
  
"Huh?" said Ryoko as she looked at him. "You mean...this is your kid?"  
  
"Don't look so surprised. I told you about this," said Ranma as he glanced at her.  
  
"Washuu is kind of in her lab right now," said Tenchi.  
  
"That's okay. I didn't come to see her," said Ranma as he shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Yeah! We're here to help!" said Chibi-Usa as she raised her arm into the air.  
  
"Help?" said Tenchi and Ryoko in unison.  
  
"That's right Ryoko. Transform now," said Ranma as he turned and smiled at her. It wasn't a nice smile.  
  
"What do you mean transform?" she said as she snorted at him.  
  
Ranma's aura came to life around him as he transformed and glared at her for a moment. "If you don't transform, this is going to hurt a lot more."  
  
Ryoko backed away from him. "Wait a minute! What do you think you're doing?"  
  
Chibi-Usa transformed as well, a much more cheerful looking grin on her face.  
  
"Wait! What's going on here?" stammered Tenchi.  
  
"You should leave now," said Ranma as he looked at the boy.  
  
"You're not going to hurt her are you?" gasped the boy as he looked at the pair for a moment. "I won't let you!"  
  
"Ha! These two can't hurt me!" snapped Ryoko.  
  
"She will not be...permanently damaged," said Ranma as he looked at Tenchi.  
  
"Now wait a minute!" cried Tenchi.  
  
Ryoko jumped into the air and flew back as the pair jumped towards her. "Whoa! What do you think you're..."  
  
Ranma caught her across her jaw and frowned a little more. "Transform. It doesn't hurt as much if you do."  
  
Tenchi moved out into the yard, Tenchi-ken was in his grip. "Stop it right now! You're hurting her!" he cried.  
  
"Boy!" said Yosho as he appeared behind his grandson. "Let it go."  
  
"But...they're killing her!" cried Tenchi as he looked up and saw the pair beating Ryoko relentlessly.  
  
"Ryoko will be fine," said the old man calmly. "She no longer has her gems, and she must learn to defend herself again."  
  
"But..." said the boy.  
  
"Tenchi, when she fought against Kagato the second time. She was more powerful than he was," said the old man calmly.  
  
"What?" stammered the boy as he tried to tear his eyes away from the beating.  
  
"Do you know why she lost?" said the old man as he looked on as well.  
  
"No," said Tenchi carefully.  
  
"It is because despite all her power, she is still unable to control it. So long she has fought with those gems of hers, that her defense was broken completely."  
  
"But this is..." stammered Tenchi.  
  
"He is her father, I will not dispute his training methods, even if I do not agree with them completely. This is only the first lesson, I do not imagine that it will be this bad the next time," said Yosho.  
  
"You knew about this?" gasped Tenchi.  
  
Yosho nodded. "He called ahead, and asked that I not interfere, or allow any of you to get in the way," said the old man with a small nod.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ryoko fell to the ground in a heap. She slowly pushed herself up with her arms and glared at the pair who floated over her.  
  
"Transform," said Ranma.  
  
"What's the matter sis?" asked Chibi-Usa with a slightly worried frown.  
  
Ryoko lowered her head and grunted in pain and frustration as she rose to her feet. "I don't know how."  
  
"Well, you'll learn then," said Ranma as he landed and detransformed. "You're going to need it someday."  
  
Ryoko glared at him and lunged foreword. He sidestepped the clumsy attack and kneed her in her stomach. "If you want to beat me, you won't do it without transforming. You've got power, the fact that you can still fly tells me that much."  
  
The woman fell to her knees, clutching her stomach. "Bastard."  
  
"You think you hate me?" he said coldly.  
  
"I'll get you for this," she spat.  
  
"Hmm. I think you'll appreciate what I'm doing the next time you're in a real fight," he said calmly.  
  
"What would you know?" she spat.  
  
"Washuu could have supplied you with more gems," said Ranma with a smirk on his face. "I asked her not to, and she agreed."  
  
"What? That witch! I'll..."  
  
"You'll learn how to unlock your real power, if you still want them after that. I'm sure she'll agree," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"Why are you doing this," said Ryoko as she staggered back to her feet.  
  
"You're my daughter, I'm not going to take anything but the best from you. I wasn't there to raise you, mostly because I had to return here, to my own time."  
  
"Yeah, thanks loads, Pop," she spat.  
  
"I didn't even know about you until I saw you transform when we were fighting Kagato. Washuu never said anything."  
  
Ryoko looked at him for a moment. "What difference does that make?"  
  
"I'm here now," he said with a shrug. "I'm not about to have a weak daughter."  
  
"I'll show you weak!" snapped the woman angrily.  
  
"Spore," said Ranma as he turned towards his younger daughter.  
  
"Don't call me that!" snapped Chibi-Usa as she glared at him. "You ape!"  
  
"Shut up and show her how weak she is," said Ranma with a snort.  
  
"What?" muttered Ryoko.  
  
"Don't do anything. I want you to relax, and feel what she does. Reach out with your feelings, your energy."  
  
Ryoko stepped back and watched them for a moment.  
  
The little girl exploded with power, her aura forming around her as her energy increased again.  
  
"What is this? I feel something!" muttered Ryoko in shock.  
  
"That's her power level you're feeling. With practice, you'll be able to identify people with it. It's distinctive with everyone. I'm still learning about that myself."  
  
"What's the big deal? Her hair has changed," snorted Ryoko. She was slowly regaining her strength, but didn't feel ready to attack again.  
  
"No?" asked Ranma with another smirk. "Power down, Spore."  
  
Chibi-Usa growled, but complied. Her hair changed to pink again and she looked at Ryoko.  
  
The woman gasped. She felt the power fade significantly. "What is this?"  
  
"So, you do feel it," said Ranma with an amused looking grin. "Well, that's something I suppose."  
  
"I..." Ryoko didn't know what that was, but she wanted it.   
  
"When you fought Kagato, your emotions released your hidden potential. Now we have to draw it out," said Ranma as he smirked at her. "I'm going to train you, and bring it foreword."  
  
Ryoko growled at this, but didn't say a word. She hung her head and turned away.  
  
"I thought as much," said Ranma with a snort.  
  
"What do you mean?" she snapped angrily.  
  
"You want it don't you?" he said with a chuckle.  
  
"I don't want anything from you!" she retorted.  
  
"Don't lie. I can see it in your eyes. If you're still unsure, we could go ask Washuu. She's connected to you, and she won't lie."  
  
Ryoko blushed and turned her back to them. "Do what you want. It's not like I could stop you."  
  
"He's right you know," said Washuu as she walked up to them. Her holographic computer was in front of her and she appeared to be looking towards the sky.  
  
"What are you doing out here?" asked Ranma.  
  
"I've been reading something unusual," said Washuu. "It's been moving towards Earth ever since we got back."  
  
"Oh?" asked Ranma.  
  
"It's very small," she replied as she continued to type. "I haven't been able to get a decent reading though."  
  
"That's odd," commented Ranma.  
  
"Very," agreed Washuu. "We should find out what it is shortly."  
  
Ranma blinked and looked up. His eyes went wide and he gasped. "What the heck is that? I can feel it!"  
  
"Feel?" asked Washuu.  
  
Chibi-Usa was looking up at the sky with a frown on her face. "So. It's time is it?"  
  
"Time for what?" said Ranma as he looked at her and frowned.  
  
"You'll see," she replied calmly.  
  
"In any case, I think that's enough for today," said Ranma as he frowned at them. "I'll come back tomorrow, I've got another student and I'll try to bring her by with me next time."  
  
Almost in answer to that, Hotaru floated out of the sky and landed next to them. She glanced around and frowned. After a moment she turned towards Ranma and spoke. "Something is coming."  
  
"What are you doing here, Saturn?" said the boy as he glanced at her.  
  
"I feel something, I thought it would be best to tell you about it," she replied.   
  
"Great," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"It's going to land..." Washuu looked at her screen and pointed off into the distance. "Somewhere that way. About twenty kilometers away."  
  
Ranma frowned and nodded. "We'd better go see what it is."  
  
Ryoko looked around in confusion. "What's going on?"  
  
"You stay here, we'll handle this," said Ranma as he glanced at her. He, Chibi-Usa, and Hotaru rose into the air.  
  
"The hell!" snapped Ryoko as she rose into the air after the trio.   
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
The citizens of Tokyo moved about their day obliviously. Someone screamed and pointed into the sky. A round spaceship floated over the city, moving towards the ground in the middle of a park. The masses fled in terror as the thing came down.  
  
The ramp of the ship came down, and three figures slowly walked down it calmly. Two of them towered over the citizens, while the third appeared to be slightly smaller than an average human. They were still hidden by the steam cloud that the exhaust ports on the sides were emitting.  
  
"So...this is Earth is it?" said the small one with a chuckle.  
  
"It should fetch a good price," said one of the larger ones.   
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"We've located the landing point," said Jadeite as he looked up from his place at the console inside the MIB headquarters.  
  
Akane walked up and frowned. "What is it?"  
  
"The ship's makeup is unknown. We don't have anything on record like it," said Nephrite.  
  
"Can we get a visual?" asked Kunzite as he moved up beside Akane.  
  
"No, something is jamming us," snorted Jadeite in irritation.  
  
"Well, we should go say hello. Where is Ranma?" said Akane with her frown deepening.   
  
"There'll be no covering this one up," snorted Nephrite from across the room. He was working on one of the consoles. "The damn thing landed in the middle of Tokyo Park."  
  
"Great," snorted Akane. "We locate Ranma?"  
  
"It seems he's already on his way," said Jadeite as he looked up at her. "He says 'stay out of the way'."  
  
"What? Who does he think he is?" snapped Akane.   
  
"He didn't say don't go, just to stay out of his way. I for one don't feel like arguing with him," said Jadeite. "He usually knows what he's talking about in a situation like this."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Urd stared at the screen in shock. Skuld and Belldandy stood behind her with worried looks on their faces. "No! It's too late!"  
  
"What's going on?" muttered Skuld. "What is that?"  
  
"It's a program created by father. When a race becomes hostile, or threatens life in the universe, this kicks in to destroy it. A life form like that has shown up here," said Urd as she sighed and hung her head.  
  
"What can we do?" asked Belldandy with a worried frown.  
  
"Nothing, there's nothing we can do. We can't stop it," said Urd. "We aren't allowed to do anything. It's a safety program."  
  
"That doesn't sound so bad," said Skuld hopefully.  
  
"No it doesn't, but the program... it won't stop until its killed every living thing on this planet," said Urd sadly.  
  
"Oh! Oh no!" gasped Belldandy. "What about Keiichi!"  
  
"There's nothing we can do," said Urd.  
  
"Why?!" gasped Skuld. "Why would father create something like that?"  
  
"It's a safety protocol. It's designed to protect the rest of the Universe," said Urd. "Normally it sits dormant on a planet somewhere. I'm not sure about the exact location. Occasionally, it will be summoned to destroy a planet that's particularly dangerous."  
  
"That's horrible!" gasped Belldandy.  
  
"But why is it here?" growled Urd. "There's no way it should be on Midigard! Is something wrong with it?"  
  
"We have to find out! Maybe we can stop it!" cried Belldandy.  
  
"It's here, it's already too late. Once it arrives, it destroys everything. Even if whatever it's after is destroyed or leaves," said Urd as she glanced at them with a deep sadness in her eyes.  
  
"No!" gasped Belldandy.  
  
"There's got to be a way!" cried Skuld.  
  
"I only wish there was," said Urd. "Loki said he knew what brought it here, but it won't do us any good to find out."  
  
"Loki!" gasped Belldandy.  
  
"Yeah. I ran into him today, he's still stuck inside that mask," said Urd absently.  
  
"If anyone knows a way to stop a protocol program, it would be him," said Skuld.  
  
"You know he won't help us," said Urd with a frown on her face.  
  
"We've just got to try!" cried Belldandy.  
  
Urd sighed and nodded. "What's the harm in trying? I'll see if I can locate him."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
The trio of aliens stood in the middle of Tokyo looking around.  
  
The tall one frowned as he glanced at the fleeing human population. "Humans, how incredibly typical. It's almost a shame they have such a nice planet. Don't you think so Frieza?"  
  
The smaller one smirked, he was now sitting inside a floating transport of some kind, his thick tail hanging out the side. "I suppose we'll just have to take it off of their hands then."  
  
"You don't need me for such a pitiful planet," snorted the other one. He was only slightly smaller than the eldest one. "Father, do I have to be here?"  
  
"Now Kooler, you know we agreed to do this together. It's so rare that we do things as a family these days," said the largest one with an amused smirk on his face.  
  
"Shall we get started then? I'd like to get this over with," snorted Kooler in disgust. "Humans are so weak. It shouldn't take us more than an hour or two to clear off the whole planet."  
  
"We need to keep it mostly intact," said Frieza calmly. "Let's make a day of it."  
  
"That's the spirit," said King Cold as he smiled at his youngest son.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  



	42. Insertion Part 42

Insertion  
  
Part 42  
  
The Return.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Loki," said Urd as she stood in the middle of the street and glanced around angrily. "Come out! I know you can hear me!"  
  
Belldandy and Skuld both stood nearby, looking on as the elder goddess grew more and more frustrated.  
  
"I don't think he's coming," muttered Skuld with a small frown.  
  
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," said a familiar voice.  
  
The goddesses all turned to see a familiar green headed figure lounging on the roof of a car nearby. "Did you want something? I'm missing all the fun," said the thing lazily.  
  
"I want you to stop this thing," said Urd.  
  
"Do it yourself," said Loki calmly as he looked at his fingernails for a moment.  
  
"We can't," said Urd in disgust. "You know that."  
  
"Ah, but you can," he said as he smirked at them. "You just don't want to."  
  
"We can't," insisted Urd.   
  
"You could easily stop this, don't play the goody two shoes with me Urd," snorted the god as he sat up and crossed his legs, still grinning playfully.  
  
"Bending the rules is one thing, but breaking a direct order from father is something completely different," said Urd calmly. "You know we can't do that."  
  
"Fine, fine," snorted Loki casually. "Why should I?"  
  
"The whole world will be destroyed!" cried Skuld.  
  
Loki smirked at her for a moment. "I know. Isn't it grand?"  
  
"Please! Help us!" said Belldandy with tears forming in her eyes. She looked at him and almost fell to her knees.  
  
Loki arched his eyebrow at this. "A heartfelt plea? Something you don't want destroyed here? My, my..."  
  
"I can't do anything for you, but please!" pleaded Belldandy as she fell to her knees completely.  
  
"Sis!" gasped Urd.  
  
Loki grinned and stood up on top of the car. "Please Bell, it doesn't suit you. That cheery goodness of yours may sway some demons, but frankly it sickens me."  
  
The goddess looked up at him and gasped, tears streaming down her face.  
  
"Don't look at me that way. I'm imprisoned on this world for as long as it exists, stuck inside this damn mask! You think any amount of pleading will make me help you? When the Sub-zero program is complete, I'll be free at last!" He sneered down at her for a moment.  
  
"You! You did this!" gasped Urd.  
  
"Oh, you give me far too much credit," said Loki as he smirked at her. "My power is limited to extreme levels in this prison. I'm hardly capable of bringing such a nasty program to Midigard. I can't even perform a low level program on the Yggdrasil system."  
  
"But you do have enough power to stop this," said Urd as she glared at him.  
  
"Of course, but you're asking me to go against Father's will? To break the rules for you?" he chuckled at them for a moment. "As much as I'd enjoy seeing you all brought down a peg or two by doing it. I'd rather just sit back and wait for my freedom thanks."  
  
"What does he mean?" asked Skuld.  
  
"He's right," growled Urd. "By asking someone else to do it for us, we might as well be doing it ourselves. Father will see it the same way." She paused and turned towards Belldandy. "You already knew that didn't you sis?"  
  
Belldandy looked away. "I won't let it hurt Keiichi."  
  
"Damn," growled Loki. "Something...oh no!" He screamed and jumped up and down. "No! It can't be!" He started to move away and paused when a bolt of lightening struck the ground in front of him.  
  
"Leave it alone," said the message from the almighty on the hood of the car.  
  
Loki snarled and shook his fist up at the sky. "You! You...AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!" He screamed and pulled open the back of his head, ripping himself from his host.  
  
Hikaru Gosunkugi stood dumbly, staring at the mask in his hands for a moment. "What happened?" he muttered to himself. He often had trouble remembering what had happened while he was wearing the mask, but he'd never completely blacked out before.  
  
Urd frowned at him, and was about to force him to give her the mask. However, a rumble from above made her pause and she backed away. She turned towards her sisters, "Come on. We're going home."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Jiro sat looking at the television dumbly. He was a large man in a dirty pair of gray overalls. A toothpick hung from his mouth as he stared at the screen for a moment rather dumbly. "What the heck?" He paused and looked over his shoulder. "Hey! Keiichi! C'mere and check this out!"  
  
Keiichi strolled up with a confused looking smile. "What's up boss?"  
  
"Says here the aliens have landed," said the man as he flipped through the stations. It was on every channel.  
  
"Hey. It's those guys from that Dragon Ball show," said Keiichi with a small frown. "Must be some sort of publicity stunt."  
  
"Dragon Whazzit?" muttered Jiro as he looked at the boy.  
  
"It's a Cartoon show. One of my old friends is kind of an Otaku, I've heard about it that's all."  
  
Jiro snorted and flipped it off. "Oh well, back to work."  
  
"Right," grumbled Keiichi.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"HA! Look at them run!" said Frieza as he blasted a young girl who cowered in front of him with a sphere of black energy. She was vaporized in an instant, leaving her boyfriend screaming as he continued to run. "Weak little things."  
  
"So fragile," commented King Cold as he grabbed the boy and ripped him in half. "Really son, quit sulking and join us."  
  
Kooler simply floated above them, looking rather bored. "Enjoy yourselves and leave me out of this. There's nothing of interest on this pathetic rock."  
  
"I wouldn't say that," said Ranma as he walked up to the group with a confident looking smirk on his face. "Man, that chick was cute too. Can't you evil aliens kill all the ugly people first? Why do you always have to go for the cute ones?"  
  
"You monkeys all look the same to me," commented Frieza as he looked at the newcomers for a moment.  
  
"You must be Frieza," said Chibi-Usa as she smirked at them with an equal amount of calm.  
  
"Oh? And who might you be?" snorted the smallest of the creatures as it floated out of its chair and landed in front of them.  
  
Ryoko hovered above the pair with Hotaru at her side.  
  
"Saturn, Crystal Power," said Hotaru as she glared at the scene below. She was bathed in light and ribbons as her senshi uniform formed over her small and now nude form. Within a second's time, her transformation was over and she smirked. "I feel an immense power. At last, a real fight."  
  
"Huh?" said Ryoko as he looked at the girl in shock. She turned her attention towards the alien group and landed beside Ranma and her younger sister. "Who are these guys? I've never seen anything that looks like them before."  
  
"Oh. That's simple. This is Queen Cold, Princess Frieza, and Kooler," said Ranma.  
  
"That's King Cold and Prince Frieza," said the largest of the creatures with a frown forming on his face.  
  
"Of all the insolent..." snarled Frieza.  
  
Kooler chuckled at this, but remained above them.  
  
"King Cold?" said Ranma as he blinked at the largest of the creatures. "Then why are you wearing lipstick?"  
  
"What?" said the thing as it stared at them.  
  
Chibi-Usa stared at them for a moment and blinked. "Hey! My god! You're right! These men -are- wearing lipstick!"  
  
"You'll die for that," snarled Frieza.  
  
"Let's just destroy them," said Saturn as she glared at the trio and started foreword.  
  
Ranma grabbed her by her collar and pulled her back. "Hold on."  
  
"What?" said the girl as she looked up at him in surprise.  
  
"There's a way to do these things," said Ranma.  
  
"What do you mean?" snapped Ryoko. "We should just kill them right?"  
  
"No. First we talk about how we're going to kill each other for about an hour, and then we fight one on one, hiding our power so they think they have us. Then we run away for a little while when they appear to win. We get scared and talk about how we're going to kill them again. After that, we suddenly boost our power, fight them again, and beat on them for a while. Then they transform and beat us up some more. After that we transform too, and fight them, then they transform evening out the fight for a short time before we finally overpower them, dramatically killing them with the last of our power."  
  
Saturn frowned at him. "I'd rather just kill them now and get it over with."  
  
"Yeah, I'm getting kind of hungry," commented Chibi-Usa.  
  
"Well, maybe we could skip the talking part, that's pretty boring anyway..." said Ranma as he thought about it.  
  
Kooler frowned as he peered at them. "This group, there is something different about them..."  
  
"The monkeys seem to think they can win," said Frieza with a snort.  
  
"Shall we show them the error of their ways?" asked King Cold as he smirked at his son.  
  
"Yes, let's. It's always amusing to see the looks on their faces when they realize how pathetic they are."  
  
"I was just thinking the same thing," said Ranma as he stepped foreword.  
  
"Spore, you and Hotaru take care of the other two, I'll handle the small one," said Ranma as he smirked at Frieza.  
  
"Aw man," grumbled Chibi-Usa as she frowned and stood off against King Cold.  
  
"What is this? A child?" snorted the thing as it looked at Ranma in irritation. "How dare you mock me like this!"  
  
"What a jerk! Leaving the girls with the biggest ones!" cried Ryoko.  
  
"You stay out of this, this is beyond your power level," said Ranma as he glanced back at her.  
  
"Yeah right! You chicken shit!" snapped Ryoko.  
  
Hotaru looked up at her and frowned slightly. "Ranma-sensei is fighting the strongest of them. She paused and looked up at Kooler, who was simply watching. "Perhaps I am mistaken..." She stepped foreword and vanished, appearing next to him.  
  
"Eh?" he muttered as he uncrossed his arms a little and looked at her.   
  
"It seems I am to be your opponent," said Saturn calmly as she watched the others face off below.  
  
"Heh. I wouldn't be bothered," snorted the thing as it frowned at her.  
  
"I see. We shall wait then," said Saturn as she simply floated beside him and watched.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stood glaring at Frieza. The thing was screaming as an aura of power burned around it. It was still in its weakest form, and looked rather strained as it powered up.  
  
"Tell me you can do better than this," said Ranma with a snort.  
  
"What?" gasped Frieza.  
  
"Look. As much as I'd enjoy spending all day fighting you, I'm afraid it's getting late. Why don't you just power up to your strongest level and we can just finish this early?"  
  
Frieza glared at him. "What do you know?"  
  
"I know that this is just a form you use to conserve power. If you don't go all out, you'll lose," he replied as he glared at the thing for a moment.  
  
"Ha! You couldn't handle my strongest form!" snapped Frieza.  
  
"Try me," snorted Ranma coldly.  
  
"Fine! I'll test you!" snapped Frieza.  
  
Ranma smirked at this. "I'm not in the mood for playing around."  
  
The alien attacked him, charging foreword with his hands extended, meaning to demolish the boy with a single attack. He gasped in shock when his strike didn't connect and screamed in pain. "What!? How can this be?"  
  
Ranma had his forearm in one hand, and was squeezing his shoulder with the other. He had a calm smirk on his face as he pressed his fingers down harder, puncturing the thing's skin. Purple blood oozed out of the wounds beneath his fingers. "I'm warning you. You'll die before you get the chance to transform if you don't do it now." He released Frieza, moving back a little to give the thing some room.  
  
The only reply the alien gave was a short angry growl.   
  
++++++++++  
  
Chibi-Usa frowned as King Cold ignored her and started to move towards a large group of people who had stopped to look at the fight in awe. There were dozens of cameras flashing. "Interesting," he said as he looked down at them for a moment. A ball of power formed in his hand and he tossed it towards them idly.  
  
Chibi-Usa appeared in front of the ball and backhanded it into the sky. It sailed away and the large alien paused to watch it move off into the distance. "What?"  
  
"You bastard. How dare you ignore me!" she snapped  
  
"What sort of humans are these?" snapped King Cold as he growled at her.  
  
"YAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" cried the little girl as her aura exploded around her, bathing her in a golden light.  
  
"These aren't humans!" cried the thing in alarm.  
  
Frieza paused his battle with Ranma for a moment as he heard this. "What?" He saw the golden aura that surrounded the little girl and turned to face Ranma again. "What are you?"  
  
The boy was grinning at him, his tail wagging behind his back slowly. "Surprise. I must say, you saving me the trouble of coming to get you for destroying my planet certainly was nice."  
  
"Saiyans!" snarled Frieza as he backed away slightly.  
  
"Eh?" muttered Kooler as he glanced down at the blue haired woman who wasn't fighting, and the girl who was still floating calmly beside her. "So. A nest of Saiyans?"  
  
"Not Saiyans," replied Hotaru calmly. "Super Saiyans."  
  
"That's just a legend," snarled Frieza as he glared at her.  
  
"No, I'm afraid not," said Ranma.  
  
Chibi-Usa blasted foreword, slamming her fist into King Cold's gut, passing through his body completely. He lurched foreword with a look of shock in his eyes as he spat up a huge spray of purple blood.  
  
"Impossible!" gasped Frieza.  
  
"Father?" muttered Kooler as he watched in a sort of stupefied awe.  
  
Chibi-Usa smirked, rather than pull her arm off of him, she lifted him over her head by shifting her arm up. The thing tried to grab her as he struggled, but she merely stared at his face from over her shoulder. "I'll never forgive Pop for making me fight the weakest one."  
  
King Cold tried to speak. "You...can't do this!"  
  
"HAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" screamed the girl as her aura flared to life again. King Cold exploded in a huge burst of power and smoke. When the debris finally cleared away, there was nothing but the little girl standing with her arm raised in the air. "Pathetic."  
  
"This is impossible!" gasped Frieza.  
  
"No, I'm afraid that your days of planet raiding are over Frieza," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"You Monkey!" snarled Frieza as he began to power up.  
  
Ranma turned towards Ryoko and smirked. "Should I wait on him?"  
  
She stared at the scene for a moment and shrugged. "How the heck should I know?"  
  
Ranma shrugged as well. "Nah." He shot foreword, blasting through the field of power that surrounded the alien. He punched the thing dead in his face and sent him into the ground.  
  
Frieza growled as his energy collecting was disrupted and staggered to his feet. "You'll die for that!"  
  
Ranma was already there, he punched the thing again, repeatedly pummeling it and forcing it on the defensive. It was all Frieza could do to keep up. "Damn you!"  
  
Ranma frowned and cupped his hands. "Mokou Takabisi!" he screamed as he sent a blast of power into the monster's chest, it sailed into a grove of trees, passing through several of the thick trunks before landing.  
  
Frieza screamed in rage, his aura exploding around him as he continued to power up. "Damn you! I'll destroy this whole planet!"  
  
"You shouldn't have said that," said Ranma.   
  
"Oh? What are you going to do! You can't stop me!" snarled Frieza "I'll destroy this whole planet, and take you with it!" The alien thing began to laugh out loud.  
  
"That wouldn't be proper," snorted a new voice from behind him.  
  
Frieza paused and looked down to see a purple covered object poking from his chest. "What?" he sputtered as blood began to trickle out of his mouth.  
  
"No one shall lay a hand on him, not until I've finished with him," said Ryoga as he shook the thing off of his umbrella and stepped on it's back. "You're certainly not going to destroy my planet to do it either."  
  
He walked across Frieza's back, popping sounds emitted from the fallen alien. Ryoga paused on his shoulders and glared down at the thing. He lifted his foot up and slammed it into the back of Frieza's head, pushing through it in a rather messy display.  
  
Ranma frowned as he looked at the boy standing opposite him. "Ryoga? Ryoga Hibiki?"  
  
"Indeed," replied the boy as he looked up at him. He was dressed in a suit and still had a bowl hat on his head. "It has been some time Saotome. You blaggard."  
  
Ranma gasped as he backed away. The boy's appearance was far from what the two voices in his head remembered. "We've been so busy lately, that I'd forgotten that he hadn't show up yet!" he whispered to himself.  
  
Ryoga removed his hat as he passed by Ryoko, revealing a small R that seemed to be tattooed on his forehead. "I don't go by Ryoga Hibiki any longer. I am now, Mr. Where." He smirked at Ranma coldly and twirled his umbrella around his hand for a moment. "For almost two years I have hunted you, traveling across the world. For this suffering, I shall destroy you."  
  
Ranma looked confused for a moment, and then his face changed again. "You've got a lot of nerve showing your face to me after what you pulled!"  
  
Ryoga blinked. "Pardon?"  
  
Ranma sneered and pointed at him. "You coward! You dare even speak to me after you ran out on our fight?"  
  
"Ran out!" snapped Ryoga. "I have suffered to..."  
  
"You never showed up! I waited three days for you!" snapped Ranma rudely.   
  
"And when I arrived on the fourth day, you had already run away!" retorted Ryoga.  
  
"Fourth day? You asshole! You're the one who never showed up! How dare you try and put this on me! You acted dishonorably when you were late to your own challenge! I even gave you an extra two days!" retorted Ranma.  
  
Ryoga growled and clenched his fists. "You dare..."  
  
"I dare! You've got no right to show your face to me coward!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"What the heck is going on?" said Ryoko as she looked down at Chibi-Usa.  
  
The girl wasn't paying any attention, she was looking at Ryoga with a rather blank expression on her face. "That's..."  
  
"Ranma Saotome! I have come to avenge my honor!"  
  
"Stuff it! I'm refusing your challenge on the basis that you're a cowardly weenie!"   
  
Kooler simply stared at the scene next to Hotaru, not saying a word. "I cannot win can I?"  
  
"No," replied Saturn. "It would be a short battle. I am not only like them, and a Saiyan as you put it, but I am also the Senshi of Death and Rebirth."  
  
"My family must be avenged, even though I did not care for them much," he replied as he looked at her for a moment.  
  
"I'll make it quick then," she replied as a golden aura appeared around her.  
  
Kooler frowned at this and looked back at the fight that was about to start on the ground. "I shall withdraw then."  
  
"I'm not giving you any choice. You have destroyed countless worlds," she replied calmly.  
  
Kooler simply turned his eyes away from the fight and faced her. "I can't stop you."  
  
She smirked, the Silence Glaive appearing in her grip and she pointed it at him. "Well, how interesting. You really have given up have you?"  
  
"I once thought of myself as the strongest being in the entire universe. You and your friends have destroyed the only two I even thought came close to my power in a matter of minutes. I may be a bit arrogant, but I'm not stupid."  
  
Hotaru's smirk faded away into a rather twisted and evil looking grin. "Go then."  
  
"You're letting me go?" he gasped.  
  
"If you're not stupid enough to try and destroy the planet from orbit. Only two of us need air to survive, and I would surely survive the destruction of the planet. I am designed to destroy it after all."  
  
He frowned at her and nodded. He was intending to obliterate the world from above. He was now reconsidering his options rather carefully. "You're bluffing."  
  
"Think what you like, but you're not strong enough to risk finding out are you?" she said calmly.  
  
He blasted away, moving back towards his spaceship.  
  
Hotaru turned back to the two boys facing off below and smirked again.   
  
++++++++++++  
  
"You'll fight me!" snarled Ryoga as he pointed his umbrella at Ranma. "You've got no choice."  
  
"On two conditions," said Ranma coldly.   
  
"You're in no position to make demands," snarled Ryoga hatefully.  
  
"Actually I am," said Ranma as he glanced at the little girl who stood beside him and her older sister. "You may be stronger than I'd ever thought you'd be, but you're still no match for all three of us."  
  
Chibi-Usa stomped on her father's foot. "You leave him alone you asshole!"  
  
"Ouch! What the hell!? Spore!?" snapped the boy as he looked at her.  
  
"Ryo-chan!" cried Chibi-Usa with huge hearts appearing in her eyes.  
  
"Huh?" muttered the boy dumbly. "Now...now...now dear child! I must insist that..." He looked down to see the little girl attached to his leg like a cute barnacle.  
  
"Ryo-chan! Imagine seeing you here!" she cried happily. "Oh! You're so cute when you're younger!"  
  
"Now see here!" he cried as he shook his leg desperately. "Young lady! I'm afraid that you're too...Hey! Let go of that!"  
  
Ranma simply stared at the scene dumbly, not sure what to say or do. He looked at Ryoko and then back at Ryoga, who was now trying to use his umbrella to pry her loose. "Well, she's your sister all right."  
  
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" cried the woman as she glared at him.  
  
"Saotome! I must insist you get this child off of me!" cried Ryoga as he glared at the boy.  
  
"You hate me. Why should I help you? You coward," said Ranma with a small shrug. He looked up at the sky at Hotaru. "You coming down or what?"  
  
"Fine," said the girl as she floated down and landed next to him. "This is your daughter?"  
  
"Uh-huh," he said as he scowled at the scene.  
  
"A very...interesting child," commented Saturn lazily.  
  
"Come on, let's just go," said Ranma as he turned away.  
  
"Saotome! I demand that you...Keep your hands off of those young lady!"  
  
"My darling!" cried Chibi-Usa.  
  
"I don't feel well," grumbled Ranma as he held his stomach.  
  
"Hey...did we miss it?" asked Akane as she strolled up to them with the rest of the MIB behind her.  
  
"Afraid so," said Ranma. "Man. That jerk Ryoga. I didn't even get to power up."  
  
"Oh," said the girl as she blinked at them.  
  
"Well, that was pointless," commented Ryoko lazily.  
  
"Who's this?" asked Akane as she noticed Ryoko.  
  
"My other daughter, Ryoko, Akane, Akane, Ryoko," said Ranma as he introduced them. "I'm going home now."  
  
"What's going on over there?" muttered Akane as she noticed the commotion.  
  
"Nothing, just some perverts," said Ranma as he brushed it off.  
  
"Damn you Ranma!" cried a voice from behind them.  
  
Akane blinked as she saw Chibi-Usa pulling on someone's leg. He was holding a tree trunk in his arms that was being dragged along the ground as the girl pulled at him.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Belldandy, Urd, and Skuld all looked down at the scene from above.  
  
"What just happened?" muttered Urd.  
  
"They beat them?" gasped Belldandy with a barely hidden joy in her voice.  
  
"It seems that way," commented Urd. "This is weird. Father hasn't said anything to us."  
  
"How can a demon be that strong?" said Skuld fearfully.  
  
"There was more than one," said Belldandy with a worried looking frown.  
  
"So it seems," said Urd with a short nod. "Any demon authorized to work on Midigard can't be this strong."  
  
"So, they're something else then?" asked Skuld.  
  
"I don't know," replied Urd.  
  
"Perhaps we should find out then," replied Belldandy.  
  
"I didn't see the one we were after before though, just those two little girls," said Skuld.  
  
"Who were those two guys?" Urd asked no one in particular.  
  
"Well, it seems that we're not going to find out tonight. We should go back," said Belldandy with a sigh.  
  
"Right," agreed the other two.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
  



	43. Insertion Part 43

Insertion  
  
Part 43  
  
Ready to Rumble.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma looked up and blinked as Akane glared at him angrily. She wiped some sweat off of her brow from the light practice she had just completed and tapped her foot on the floor in irritation.  
  
"Yes it's today!" she snapped at the bewildered looking boy.  
  
"Dang, been so busy I forgot," he muttered as he frowned at her. She was dressed in a leotard with a pair of gymnastics clubs in her hands.   
  
"It figures," snapped the girl as she turned away from him and stomped up the stairs. "I'm going to get ready now. You're coming with me!"  
  
"Aw man. Do I have to?" he grumbled irritably.  
  
"Yup," said Chibi-Usa cheerfully as she smiled at him from her place at the table.  
  
"If I have to go, so do you," snapped Ranma as he walked outside and floated into the air.  
  
"What? No fair!" cried the girl. "Hey! Where do you think you're going ape?"  
  
"Don't worry about it, go with Akane. I promise I'll be there in time for the match. It doesn't start until three right?"  
  
The little girl frowned at him, but nodded her head. If there was one thing that her father had never done to her, it was lie. He had about three hours till it started so he had time before he had to be at St. Hebereke.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
A short time later...  
  
Ranma spun around, slashing at Tenchi with his lightsaber. He had a feral look in his eyes as he hacked at the boy relentlessly.  
  
"Stop it! What are you doing?" cried Tenchi as he was backed away forcibly, barely able to keep Tenchi-ken in the path of the red blade. "Hey!"  
  
Ranma performed a sweeping attack with the sword, forcing Tenchi to jump up. Halfway through the move, he turned it into an upward strike aimed at the boy's crotch. Tenchi managed to block it as he flipped back and gasped as he paused to check himself. "Good, still there."  
  
"Are you finished yet?" snarled Ranma.  
  
"Tenchi!" cried Ryoko as she struggled against the invisible field of energy that held her in place. She growled in frustration and tried to escape even harder. "You leave him alone you bastard!"  
  
Ranma paused and smirked at her. "When I'm finished with him, you're next."  
  
"What?" cried the boy fearfully.  
  
"Defend yourself boy!" snarled Ranma as a dark power seemed to surge through his body. His eyes seemed to darken as well as he snarled and performed a complicated attack pattern that drove Tenchi back even further, forcing him up to the edge of a nearby cliff.   
  
Tenchi staggered to keep his balance as a few stones fell off the ledge behind him. "Whoa! No way!" he muttered to himself as he prepared for the next attack.  
  
Ranma came in low and fast, slashing at the boy's feet and taking out a portion of the ground where he stood. The attack turned Ranma's back to him, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Tenchi descending from above with the sword over his head.   
  
"I've got you!" cried the boy. He landed and froze as another blade shot from the other end of the weapon, pointing directly at his nose. He edged back slightly as Ranma stood up and the blade the tip of Tenchi's nose.  
  
"You just died," said Ranma calmly as he turned around and kept the weapon pointed at the boy, both sides were ignited now. "You have to expect the unexpected. I see what you mean, he's very green."  
  
"Huh?" muttered Tenchi as the boy shut down the weapon and smirked at him.  
  
Ryoko blinked in surprise as the energy holding her suddenly came to a stop.  
  
Yosho appeared from a nearby grove of trees, his hands on Ayeka's shoulders. The princess looked quite upset at the moment and was glaring at Ranma hatefully. The old man nodded sagely and sighed. "Indeed, he's done well so far, but his lack of experience in a real battle definitely shows."  
  
"Yes. He has trouble committing to his blows," agreed Ranma. "One cannot face a real opponent without total commitment. Regardless of whether one is attacking, or being attacked."  
  
"Very true," said Yosho.  
  
"What the heck is going on here?" snapped Ryoko as she glared at the pair.  
  
"I asked your father to help me test Tenchi's ability, so that I might see what area's he needs to be trained in," commented Yosho. "He still needs much work."  
  
"You mean...this was some sort of test?" muttered Ayeka. She had tried to stop the battle, but Yosho had managed to intercept her before anyone else noticed she was there.  
  
"Indeed," said Yosho.  
  
"He's not my dad!" snapped Ryoko.  
  
"You wound me," commented Ranma as he gave her a dry looking stare.  
  
"Deal with it kid!" retorted the woman.  
  
"Now Ryoko, that's no way to talk to your father," said Washuu playfully as she walked out into the clearing.  
  
"What the heck do you want?" snapped Ryoko as she glared at her.  
  
"I came out to see him," said Washuu as she looked at Ranma and smiled.  
  
"Well. I can see you haven't given her gems back. Thank you," he said cheerfully as he bowed to her politely.  
  
"It was no trouble. I just created a field around her that'll prevent her from creating any more of her own for a while either. At least until she figures out that transformation," said the redhead as she smirked to herself.  
  
"And a time after that as well. Just knowing how to do it isn't enough, I want to be sure she can use it," said Ranma with a small frown.  
  
"Done," said Washuu cheerfully. "However, she'll never be as strong as your other daughter. Not in that respect at least."  
  
"I thought as much," said Ranma with a small nod. "Chibi-Usa will be born after I've acquired my tail."  
  
"Yes. I did some checking, your genetic makeup has definitely changed somehow. It's very subtle, almost to the point where I couldn't tell, but it is there."  
  
"Hmmm," muttered Ranma as he closed his eyes and nodded. "So...Chibi-Usa and I are the only true Saiyans then. Barring any other children from the future of course."  
  
"That's right," said Washuu calmly. "In fact, I think it's very likely that the Saiyan race has been recreated through you."  
  
"Oh? What makes you think that?" asked Ranma.  
  
"It's still a hunch, I'll get back to you on that one," said Washuu as she smirked at him.  
  
"All right, no big hurry," said Ranma with a small shrug.  
  
"So, he's like some sort of great warrior thing now?" muttered Ryoko in confusion.  
  
"Humph. Wars do not make one great," commented Ranma.  
  
"A true warrior is one who strives for peace, using his sword only to find a greater inner peace," commented Yosho.  
  
"Zen through the mastery of the sword," said Ranma with a smirk forming on his face.  
  
"Something like that, yes," said Yosho as he coughed into his hand.  
  
"This from a man who gallantly rushed away from his throne in favor of fighting a space pirate?" said the pigtailed boy with a small chuckle.  
  
"Well..." commented Yosho with a blush on his face.  
  
"Hey. You're one to talk. I seem to recall you enjoying yourself quite a bit during that space battle..." said Washuu.  
  
"Yes. I suppose I did," said Ranma honestly. "I never claimed to be great. I'm just the best there is at what I do, nothing great about that."  
  
"Hmmm," said Yosho with a smirk forming on his face. "There is always someone better."  
  
"All meet their own demons in their own ways," replied Ranma. "Such is the way of Bushido."  
  
"Ah," said the old man cheerfully.  
  
"Argh! Stop that! You're making my brain hurt!" cried Ryoko as she moved between them and grabbed them both by their collars.  
  
Sasami walked out and paused as she noticed Ranma standing in the middle of the crowd. "Oh. Hello again!"  
  
"Well, hello Sasami," said Ranma as he knelt down beside her.  
  
"Are you staying for lunch?" asked the girl as she looked at the others expectantly. "It's almost ready."  
  
"No he isn't," snapped Ryoko.  
  
"Ryoko! Don't be rude!" snapped Tenchi. He turned towards Ranma. "You're welcome to stay of course..."  
  
"No, I'd love to, but I've got somewhere to be tonight. Ryoko is coming with me in fact," said the boy as he smiled at her.  
  
"Huh?" muttered the woman as she uncrossed her arms and stared at him.  
  
"I'm not going to have time to train you before then, and I've got to be at Hotaru's afterward. So you're coming with me today," said Ranma as he glared at her.  
  
"Why should I?" snapped Ryoko.  
  
Washuu peered at the woman for a minute and slapped her fist in her palm. "You know. She's about due for a checkup..."  
  
"Okay. I'll go," said Ryoko as she turned to look at him.  
  
"Well, I'd hate to take you away. I mean, getting a checkup is important..." said Ranma.  
  
"I'm going with you. Quit joking around!" snapped Ryoko desperately.  
  
"I suppose I could talk her into doing the checkup later..." said Ranma with a small sigh.  
  
"You realize that I hate you," said Ryoko as she glared at Washuu.  
  
"What? I'm just concerned about my daughter's health and wellbeing!" cried Washuu dramatically. "Come here and give your momma a hug!"  
  
"Can we go now?" muttered Ryoko as she moved behind Ranma.  
  
"Well, we've still got about two hours..." started the boy.  
  
"Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!" laughed Ayeka. "So, the monster woman can't even hug her own mother?"  
  
"You stay out of this!" snapped Ryoko.  
  
"Well, it's so obvious. Look how she treats her own family Tenchi! She'll become cold and unloving to her husband!" said the princess as she leaned on the boy's shoulder.  
  
"Hey. Don't be like that..." started Tenchi as he looked at her.  
  
"It's true!" insisted Ayeka dramatically.  
  
"Say Princess. You look a little pale yourself. When was the last time you went to the doctor for a checkup?" said Washuu as she peered at the girl for a moment and snapped a rubber glove onto her hand.  
  
Ayeka froze and stared at her in horror. "Why...I just went last week of course! I feel perfectly fine! No problems here!" She backed away, laughing nervously.  
  
Tenchi didn't say a word, and merely stood in silence.  
  
"Are you sure? Earth doctor's technology could never find half of the Jurian diseases that could practically infest this planet..." Washuu looked up at the sky and tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I think it's best if we do some tests...just to be safe..."  
  
"I ummm...eep." Ayeka was off like a shot, rushing down the shrine stairs. "I've just remembered that I'd forgotten something at the house!" she cried.  
  
"That's okay. I'll meet her there," said Washuu as she opened one of her dimensional doors and stepped through.  
  
"Well. I guess we can go now. Akane will be pretty upset if I'm late," said Ranma as he started walking.  
  
"Um...right," said Ryoko nervously.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Akane frowned as she exited the dressing room that the school had prepared for the visiting team. Jadeite, Nephrite, Kunzite, and Zocite were all standing in front of her with smirks on their faces.  
  
"Ack! What the heck are you doing here?" she cried in surprise.  
  
"Well, we're here to keep an eye on things," said Jadeite as he stepped foreword and put his hand on her shoulder. "Plus, you didn't really think we'd miss this do you?"  
  
Akane frowned as she looked around at the group for a moment. "Who's watching the headquarters?"  
  
"The world can survive without us for a few hours," said Kunzite with a small snort. "We aren't going to miss this."  
  
"Besides, you look good in a leotard," said Kunzite cheerfully.  
  
Zocite promptly elbowed him in his ribs and frowned at him.  
  
Akane sighed and hung her head. "Jerks."  
  
"Akane Tendo," said a familiar voice.  
  
"Oh no," muttered the girl weakly as she turned to see Tatewaki Kuno standing in the hallway.  
  
The boy looked close to tears. "It is true, you are as beautiful as I imagined you to be in a leotard!"  
  
She narrowed her eyes at him and growled. "What do you want?"  
  
"It drives me to madness!" cried Kuno as he rushed foreword towards her. His charge was stopped cold as he found a rapier like blade pointed at his throat. "What is this?! Who would dare keep me from my love?"  
  
"You know this boy Akane?" said Jadeite coldly as he poked Kuno in his throat a little with the blade.  
  
As tempting as it was, she nodded her head slowly. "I can handle this."  
  
Jadeite smirked at her as the other men surrounded Kuno with dark looking smiles on their faces. "No need for that. You need to be ready for that match, let us deal with him for now."  
  
Akane frowned, but nodded her head as she walked back to the changing room again.  
  
"Honorless curs! How dare you keep her away from her true love! Fear not Akane Tendo! I shall be with you posthaste!"  
  
Jadeite ignored the ranting and frowned at him. "Who are you? How do you know Akane Tendo?"  
  
Kuno blinked as he realized that the men were all wearing black suit and tie uniforms that he recognized. "You are the security..." he mumbled dumbly.  
  
"That's right," said Kunzite as he moved Jadeite aside gently. "Who are you?"  
  
"I am Tatewaki Kuno! Undefeated Kendo Champion, and Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" said the boy proudly. "I am also the most beloved secret desire of Akane Tendo. Let me pass, so that I might be with her at last. Surely she pines away, longing for my embrace!"  
  
"She has to get ready for her match," said Kunzite calmly. "You can't see her at the moment. Leave, before we throw you out."  
  
"I must give her these roses of affection and encouragement personally, and a warning," said Kuno as he held out a bouquet of red roses.  
  
"A warning?" muttered Zocite as he frowned at the boy. "What warning?"  
  
"My sister," said Kuno with a small frown as he glared at them. "She is dangerous. I have little doubt that she will try something...deceptive...in the match."  
  
The former generals all looked at one another for a moment.  
  
"We'll deliver your flowers, and your message," said Jadeite as he took the flowers from the boy's hand. "No visitors are allowed before the match."  
  
"What? Surely you would allow me to..."  
  
"No exceptions," said Jadeite as he glanced back over his shoulder to see his three companions barring the way.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Is he gone?" muttered Akane as she opened the door to let Jadeite in.  
  
"Yes," said the man with a small smirk. "He left fairly quietly once he realized we were security."  
  
"Too bad," grumbled Akane as she sat down in one of the chairs in the room.   
  
"These came for you," said Jadeite as he held forth two bouquets of flowers, one red and one black. "One from the boy, the other a gift from your opponent."  
  
"Black?" muttered Akane as she took them. "That seems like a threat."  
  
"I wouldn't know," said Jadeite as he smirked at her.  
  
"Yes you would, I've seen her file, and so have you," replied Akane as she looked at him. "She's been fairly quiet considering."  
  
"You're right. I believe Ranma had a talk with her," said the man as he nodded.  
  
"What?!" gasped Akane angrily.  
  
"Don't get upset, he'd never ask anyone to throw a fight. You should know that by now," said the man as he scowled at her.  
  
Akane calmed visibly. "Still. I don't need his help."  
  
"Perhaps not," agreed Jadeite calmly. "Kodachi Kuno isn't above assassination. If she had trouble eliminating you that way, it is very possible she would have found a more permanent way of dealing with you."  
  
Akane stared at him. "What?"  
  
"Don't look at me that way. It's true she's never done it before now, but I've known enough assassins in my time to know the type. It wouldn't take much to send her down that path."  
  
"How many assassins could you have known?" snorted Akane in disbelief.  
  
"I had several hundred working for me at one point," said Jadeite calmly. "They make good spies, among other things."  
  
Akane turned away from him. "I still don't know how Ranma met all of you. He's never said anything."  
  
Jadeite smirked at her for a moment. "It's fairly simple really. We used to work together, under the rule of Queen Serenity in the Silver Millenium, some ten thousand years ago. All of us were quite close, brothers almost."  
  
"That past life thing I've heard you mention before?" said Akane with a slightly understanding in her voice.  
  
"Yes. Although, Genaku, or Ranma as you know him, was the only one of us who was actually reborn. The rest of us were slaves under the rule of Queen Beryl." Jadeite growled at this and stared at his fist for a moment. "He found a way to free us, and now she's got some new help."  
  
"Those Youma Lords?" said Akane as things started to fall in place.  
  
Jadeite nodded silently. He turned towards the door too leave her alone and paused, turning for a moment. "Don't go out there with such heavy things on your mind. It's better to think of things like this later."  
  
"Right," said the girl as she looked at the roses in her arms. A hand reached down and grabbed them, pulling them out of her arms forcefully. "EEEK!"  
  
The door burst open and Kunzite rushed in with Zocite. Jadeite was right behind them with Nephrite moving in behind him.  
  
"I thought I taught you idiots about rushing into a room all at once," said Ranma as he glared at them for a moment. "You're easy targets, especially for a trap like this one."  
  
He tossed the roses at their feet and they exploded in a cloud of gas. The four men backed into the hallway, coughing violently and slowly falling to the ground.  
  
Akane stood watching the scene in shock. Ranma was holding up his palm and creating just enough wind to keep the gas on the opposite side of the room.  
  
"What? What was that?" muttered Akane as she looked at the fallen men for a moment.  
  
"Just some sleeping gas, Kodachi put it into those flowers," said Ranma with a smirk on his face.   
  
"What's that smell?" asked Chibi-Usa as she strolled into the room with a bag hanging from her shoulder. "I got em Pop."  
  
"Good, toss them in the corner," said Ranma as he glanced at her for a moment.  
  
Akane smacked him across his face.  
  
"Ouch! What the hell did you do that for?" he cried as he looked at her dumbly.  
  
"You pervert! I could have been getting changed!" she snapped.  
  
"So?" he said with a flat stare.  
  
Akane hit him over the head with one of the chairs in the room. "Pervert!"  
  
"This is why I didn't want to marry you. What's the big deal? There's nothing you've got that I don't have," said Ranma as he removed some of the broken pieces of chair from his hair.  
  
"Huh?" snapped Akane, her face softened, and then turned into anger again. "What do you mean? I'm not good enough for you?"  
  
"Don't put words in my mouth, and stop hitting me," he replied flatly as he caught her punch casually. "You've got a fight coming up."  
  
Akane growled and turned away from him. "I was starting to think you weren't going to show up."  
  
"Yeah Pop, I've been following that Kodachi chick around like ya told me. She's boring!" snapped Chibi-Usa.  
  
"Whatever," grumbled Ranma as he started to root through the gym bag that the girl had brought with her.  
  
"What is that?" asked Akane as she peered over his shoulder.   
  
"Kodachi's supply bag," said Ranma as he tossed a spare leotard over his shoulder.  
  
"You...you...you..." Akane was practically shaking.  
  
Ranma smacked her lightly on the cheek and smiled at her. "Get your mind out of the gutter." He pulled out a pair of gymnastics clubs and flipped the hidden switch on the side. Spikes shot out from the top of the club and Akane gasped and staggered back. "She was going to use these in that match. I took her bag, and replaced it with one with normal tools inside it just like yours."  
  
Akane nodded and frowned. "She was going to cheat."  
  
"Yup," snorted Ranma casually. "I think I'll hide these inside the Kuno mansion, Tatewaki's room would seem like a good place."  
  
"What?" said Akane as she turned to look at him again.   
  
"I can't just leave them here. What if someone stumbles across her bag in your room?" said Ranma calmly. "I won't be gone long. Chibi-Usa, Watch your older sister, I don't want her sneaking off to avoid training later."  
  
"Ryoko?" said Chibi-Usa as she blinked and looked around. "Where is my big sister anyway?" She turned to look at Ranma, but he was already gone. "Damn."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ryoko wandered through the crowd and frowned as she found a vendor at last. It was a small booth in the back of the auditorium. Unfortunately, he was only selling soda. "Damn. What's a girl got to do to find some sake around here?"  
  
The vendor looked at her and blinked. "This is a high school. We can't sell alcohol here."  
  
"What? No alcohol?" said the woman in horror. She scowled angrily and turned away. "That's it, I'm out of here."  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" said Chibi-Usa as she frowned at her older sister.  
  
"Hey kid, I'm goin to find a drink," said Ryoko cheerfully.  
  
"Pop said to keep you here, so you're not goin anywhere!" said the little girl as she smirked at the woman.  
  
"Ha! Like hell!" snorted Ryoko as she walked by the child. She paused though when she felt the energy in the room start to rise. "Damn. That transformation!" She slowly turned to see Chibi-Usa hadn't yet attempted it, but she was ready at a moment's notice.  
  
"You know, I can stop you," said the little girl as she frowned at her.  
  
"You and that damned transformation, you wouldn't stand a chance against me if not for that!" snapped Ryoko as she glared at the little girl.  
  
Chibi-Usa smiled. "Wanna find out?"  
  
"Huh?" said Ryoko dumbly.  
  
"There's a ring right there," said Chibi-Usa. "No powers, how bout it? If you want, we won't even fly."  
  
Ryoko grinned and cracked her knuckles. "You got a deal."  
  
"Come on then," said the little girl as she strolled down towards the ring.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ryoko and Chibi-Usa stood in the middle of the ring. Murmurs of confusion moved through the crowd as they looked on in confusion.  
  
Several of the men standing around the ring began to howl angrily at them.   
  
"Get out of here!" cried the student referee as she walked up to them. "You can't use this ring!"  
  
"Get lost," snorted Ryoko as she shoved the girl and sent her into the ropes. "I won't say it again. Me and the kid have something to settle."  
  
"I'd listen to her if I were you," commented Chibi-Usa coldly. "Ready?"  
  
"Anytime brat," snorted Ryoko.  
  
Chibi-Usa took up a stance after giving a short quick bow. Ryoko did the same, she suddenly realized that she was about to beat up a little girl in front of a large crowd of people. If Tenchi ever heard about this... "Hey. Wait a minute, we can't do this here!"  
  
"Too late to back out now!" cried Chibi-Usa as she jumped into the air and kicked Ryoko dead in her face.  
  
"Ouch! You little brat!" cried the woman angrily.  
  
"Ha! You're too slow and old!" snapped the little girl as she landed lightly in front of her opponent. "Come on!" She moved her arms quickly, in a complicated pattern of blocks and strikes. Finally she settled back and extended one of her arms forward with the other held behind her head.  
  
"I'm gonna kick your ass for that kid!" snapped Ryoko as she charged forward and began to punch at the little girl. She halfway expected the girl to run and dodge, but instead Chibi-Usa stood her ground and blocked every strike.  
  
"You couldn't kick my ass if I let you!" snapped Chibi-Usa as she lashed out and punched Ryoko in her stomach. The woman was bent forward violently and a spray of spit escaped her mouth as she lost her breath. The little girl wasn't finished yet though, she flipped up sideways, lashing out in a curving kick that twisted her completely around in the air and smashed into Ryoko's jaw.   
  
"Damn! She's so strong!" growled Ryoko as she staggered back and closed her eyes from the force of the blow. "How can a kid like that be so..."  
  
"You old bat. You're thinking I'm some little girl aren't you? I'm not a little girl, I'm a little Saiyan. That's more than enough to kick your sorry, flabby butt!"  
  
"Hey! My butt is not flabby!" snapped Ryoko. "I'll have you know I'm the best looking woman you'll ever lay eyes on!"  
  
"Being pretty doesn't say anything for your fighting skills. I'm cuter than you, and stronger!" cried Chibi-Usa triumphantly as she made a victory sign with her fingers and posed proudly.  
  
"Wow! That's my girl!" cried Usagi as she jumped up and down excitedly on the ringside. Ranma was beside her with a scowl on his face.  
  
Chibi-Usa paused and looked at her. "Mom? What the heck are you doing here?"  
  
Ryoko smirked. "I've got you!"  
  
"Huh?" muttered the little girl as she turned and saw a fist connect with her face. She skid across the canvas on her rear, clutching her nose painfully.  
  
"Oub! By doze!"  
  
"Ha!" snapped Ryoko as she rushed foreword and kicked the girl in her gut.  
  
"Dat hurbs do old bad!" snapped Chibi-Usa as she released her bleeding nose and grabbed the woman's leg after she had been kicked in the gut. She tackled Ryoko to the ground, forcing her onto her back.  
  
"Ouch! What the heck are you doing you little brat!" cried Ryoko angrily.  
  
The child jumped up onto her chest, straddling her just in front of her breasts. "I hab oo!"  
  
Ryoko's eyes went wide as she realized that the brat had her arms pinned down. There was nothing she could do as she was beaten in her face repeatedly.   
  
Chibi-Usa paused and glared at her. "Gib ub det?"  
  
Ryoko glared at her. "Never!" She reached up with her legs and grabbed the little girl around her head with her thighs.  
  
"Ub-oh," muttered the girl as she realized what had happened.  
  
Ryoko promptly slammed her headfirst into the canvas.  
  
"No! Stop that!" cried Usagi. Ranma was holding her back forcibly, preventing her from rushing into the ring.  
  
"Let it be," he said firmly.  
  
"How can you say that?" gasped Usagi. "That woman is..."  
  
"Chibi-Usa is taking it easy on her," said Ranma flatly. "Her older sister won't hurt her."  
  
"Older sister?" said Usagi dumbly as she looked up at Ryoko.  
  
"You mean...?"  
  
"No, she's not yours," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"You cheated on me!?" cried Usagi as she hit him over the head with a nearby folding chair.  
  
"We aren't seeing each other," said Ranma as he glared at her. "I can't cheat on you, if we aren't dating."  
  
"But...she's from the future too right?" muttered the blonde as she stared up at Ryoko uncomfortably.  
  
"No. Ryoko is from the past," said Ranma. "She's the child of myself and Washuu."  
  
"You mean, you and that redhead...?" said Usagi as she looked at him.  
  
"Actually, I think Ryoko is more of a clone than an actual child. She just used both of our DNA to make her as I recall."  
  
Usagi looked very relieved.  
  
Ranma was sweating bullets, praying she wouldn't think of asking how she got his DNA in the first place. Those chairs really hurt.  
  
About this point, Ryoko was laid out across the mat as Chibi-Usa nailed her in the jaw with another jumping kick. She struggled to get up, but failed and slumped against the mat on her back.   
  
"Damn!" growled Ryoko as she saw Chibi-Usa descending from above.  
  
"That's enough!" cried Ranma as he appeared in her line of sight and grabbed the smaller girl from her decent effortlessly, snagging the back of her shirt.  
  
"Hey!" cried Chibi-Usa as she glared at him.  
  
"You've won," said Ranma as he set her down and offered his hand to Ryoko.  
  
She took it and was painfully pulled back to her feet. "Damn...have I really gotten that weak?"  
  
"Weak!? I oughta..." snarled Chibi-Usa angrily.  
  
The crowd was going nuts, cheering as the match ended. Ranma looked around and smirked. "Well, that's enough you two. I have no idea what possessed you to do this though."  
  
"You told me to keep her here," replied Chibi-Usa with a shrug.  
  
"It would have been easier if you had transformed," snorted Ranma.  
  
"This was more fun," said the girl as she looked up at him and grinned, a steady stream of blood running down the bottom of her mouth.  
  
"Eek! You're bleeding!" cried Usagi as she pulled the girl aside and practically shoved a handkerchief up her nose.  
  
"Aw mom, it's no big deal! It doesn't even hurt!" said Chibi-Usa with a frown on her face as she allowed the woman to force her head back.  
  
"Well you're getting your clothes all dirty!" snapped the blonde.  
  
"Oh," said the little girl with a small sigh.  
  
"She's pretty strong," said Ryoko as she looked down at the pair.  
  
Usagi gave her a dirty look and turned back to her child again. She frowned at the little girl and got a weary look in her eyes. "This is my child?" she muttered to herself sadly. She wiped the child's face with a clean portion of the handkerchief. The bleeding had stopped easily enough, and she looked very cheerful, despite the bruises that marred her face.  
  
"Hey! Quit scratchin my face with that thing!" sputtered the little girl in embarrassment.  
  
Usagi looked up at Ranma and then back to her. "No. You're his child."  
  
"Hey! What the heck are you talkin about!?" snapped Ranma as he looked down at the blonde in confusion. "You ain't dumpin her off on me!"  
  
"She already did," said Chibi-Usa as she stuck her tongue out at him.  
  
"Stop it both of you!" snapped Usagi. "I won't have you acting like this! Look at her! She looks terrible!" She shoved the girl towards Ranma gently.   
  
"She's all right," said Ranma as he looked at her and smirked.   
  
"All right!? She's got a black eye!" snapped Usagi.  
  
"You call that a black eye? I had worse than that," snorted Ranma. "She's fine, bruises and such are a part of being a martial artist."  
  
Usagi slapped him again.   
  
"Hey! Quit it! She's not hurt!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Wow. I've never seen them fight like this before," said Chibi-Usa in a sort of horrified wonder.  
  
"Huh?" said Ryoko as he looked down at the girl.  
  
"Come on, stop it!" said the little girl as she stood between them. "You two never act this way!"  
  
Ranma was giving Usagi a rather lazy stare. "Sure, whatever."  
  
"I'm sorry," muttered Usagi as she looked down at the girl. "It's just that..."  
  
"I know what it is, you feel sorry for her," snorted Ranma as he looked away from her purposefully.  
  
"That's right. How could we allow her to live this way?" said Usagi quietly. "Is the future so bad that I have to have a daughter like this one?"  
  
"Hey! Getting stronger doesn't always feel good, but I've never been sorry I did it!" snapped Chibi-Usa angrily as she glared at her mother angrily.  
  
"What?" said the blonde dumbly.  
  
"She doesn't want your pity, and she doesn't need it," said Ranma as he glanced back over his shoulder at her before walking away.  
  
"But..." stammered Usagi.  
  
"There's no trouble in the future," said Chibi-Usa cheerfully. "If there was, me and Pop would go destroy it for sure!" The little girl flexed her arm and grinned proudly.  
  
"I see," said Usagi as she looked down at her and sighed.  
  
The lights went out in the auditorium as the events began.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Akane Tendo stepped out into the arena, glancing passively back and forth across the crowd as she strolled through the students as she made her way towards the ring. The four former generals stood around her and escorted her to her place.  
  
She saw Ranma sitting at the ringside, he nodded to her and she jumped up into the ring, landing on the mat lightly with her hands in the air.  
  
The referee introduced her to the crowd as this happened and a spotlight appeared on her from above. "From Furinkan High School! Akane Tendo!"  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Kodachi glared foreword angrily as she prepared to make her entrance. "When I discover who misplaced my bag, I shall destroy them!" she snarled angrily as she sat on the platform that would lower her into the ring from above. "Do you have the bomb ready?" she snapped as she stared at the girl who was responsible for the pyrotechnics of her entrance.  
  
"There won't be one," said Jadeite as he waved at her with his hand on the girl's shoulder. "You're going to play fairly like we suggested. Need I remind you exactly what is riding on this match for you? You don't even have to win to stay ahead."  
  
Kodachi stared at him, hatred filling her soul as she growled angrily.   
  
"Behave yourself. Your feeble attempts at cheating despite our warnings are wearing his patience thin."  
  
"Cheating?" snapped Kodachi. "I was merely fighting in all fairness, before the match!"  
  
"Fighting in all fairness before the match, is against the rules Kodachi Kuno," said Jadeite calmly.   
  
"What?" snapped Kodach indignantly. "There is no mention of this in the rules!"  
  
"We could take this up with the panel of judges below if you would like it," said Jadeite with a cold looking smile.  
  
Kodachi opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off as the man nodded towards the crowd below.  
  
"You're on."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Akane Tendo stared at the girl who landed in front of him and scowled. "Ah, you must be Kodachi."  
  
"Indeed, and you are Akane Tendo?" said the girl hautily.  
  
"You're about to find out what it's like to fight a real martial artist," said Akane.   
  
"Tacchi?" said Kodachi in confusion.  
  
"No! Me damn it!" snapped Akane as she jerked her thumb at herself.  
  
"How quaint," said the girl lazily as she twirled her ribbon skillfully in the air.  
  
Akane grabbed hers and actually managed to spin her ribbon in a square pattern in the air. Unfortunately, she was trying to move it in a circle. "Stupid thing!" growled Akane.  
  
Kodachi smirked. "Most impressive. It seems you have more skill than I've given you credit for!"  
  
Akane blinked and snapped her wrist, snapping the ribbon at Kodachi like a whip.   
  
"Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho!" laughed Kodachi as she blocked it by creating a spiral pattern in front of her, thus shielding the attack effectively. "Good, but not good enough!"  
  
Akane snapped her ribbon back and tossed it over the edge of the ring. Kodachi blinked in surprise at the act, but jumped in shock when a small rubber ball rolled up from behind Akane. The girl snapped her leg back and kicked it like a soccer ball, knocking Kodachi's ribbon away and over the edge of the ring as well.  
  
"Got ya!" cried Akane with a smug looking smirk.  
  
"You'll pay for that!" snarled Kodachi as she took two clubs from her corner and prepared herself.  
  
Akane took the rope and twirled it around her body skillfully for a moment. She paused as she grabbed the rope with her foot and stopped its momentum. "Come on!"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"What's going on?" asked Usagi as she looked at Ranma in confusion. Ryoko and Chibi-Usa were sitting beside him in folding chairs just beside the ring.  
  
"They both suck, that's what's happening," replied Ranma with a sour frown.   
  
"Huh?" said Chibi-Usa dumbly. "I thought this chick was supposed to be some kind of champion!"  
  
"She is, but she's cheated for so long, that she's forgotten how to use the real techniques," replied Ranma with a shrug.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Akane Tendo growled, her arms tied to her sides with the rope she had once hoped to use as a weapon. Now she merely kicked a small rubber ball into her opponent's face repeatedly, doing nothing more than irritating her.  
  
"Stop that you trollop!" snapped Kodachi angrily as she jabbed at Akane with one of the clubs again. She had no idea why the technique wasn't working, it always worked when you stabbed your opponents with the spiked clubs!  
  
"I'll kill you!" snapped Akane as she kicked the ball into the girl's face again.  
  
"Take this then! Razor Hoop!" called Kodachi as she threw a hoola-hoop at the girl, and beaned her in the forehead with it.   
  
"Ouch!" snapped Akane as she crossed her eyes. Her arms were unable to rub the sore spot on her forehead because of the rope that tied them there. "Damn you!"  
  
"Curses!" snapped Kodachi as she resorted to her own rubber ball.  
  
The scene that followed was comical at best. Akane struggling to untangle herself from her rope, while kicking her ball into Kodachi's head and catching it when it came back with her stomach and legs like some sort of soccer practice dummy.  
  
The two of them were standing in the middle of the ring, kicking their balls into each other's faces.  
  
The entire auditorium was completely silent, unable to speak from sheer shock.  
  
Finally, after about three minutes, Akane ducked away from Kodachi's ball, and grabbed one of her clubs with her foot.   
  
Kodachi backed away, blocking the strike with her own club. The pair spun around and spun their weapons in a wide arc, locking them together.  
  
"You can't run from me Kodachi!" snarled Akane.  
  
"I don't need to run!" snapped the girl in retort.   
  
They broke apart and Kodachi was sent staggering back to the edge of the arena.  
  
With a fierce battle cry, Akane slammed the weapon into Kodachi's gut, breaking the ropes and sending her flying out of the ring.  
  
"Fool! A ring out is an impossibility for me!" snapped Kodachi as she pulled out a whistle and blew it loudly.  
  
Akane felt the ring shudder as if trying to move, but then jumped in shock as a crackling sound followed by painful girlish screaming sounded from somewhere below her. "What's that smell?" she muttered as she realized that she smelled...pork?  
  
Ranma calmly lowered the remote in his hand as Kodachi landed at his feet. "Ouch. I bet that hurt."  
  
"What happened?" muttered Kodachi dumbly.  
  
"You lost," said Ranma with a small shrug.  
  
"Impossible! What happened to..."  
  
Ranma walked over and lifted the skirt that covered the edge of the ring. He then held up the remote and showed her the entire gymnastics team from her school smoking painfully under the mat. Electrocuted by the copper wire that was strung across all the handholds they could have used to move the ring. "I told you about cheating. Oh well. You lost, I suppose I can let you off." He shrugged and turned towards Akane. "Good job."  
  
She smirked at him and laughed. "I did it."  
  
"Right," he said cheerfully.   
  
The crowd was cheering excitedly at the upset.  
  
Near the back of the room, Tatewaki Kuno stood up and nodded his head. "So. It appears Akane Tendo has more skill than I had once thought. She defeated even the deception of my sister."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"So, that girl did pretty well," said Ryoko with a short nod as she looked up at the sky.  
  
Ranma nodded and muttered to himself as he walked through the streets with his two daughters.  
  
"Where the heck are we going anyway? This isn't the way back to the shrine," said Ryoko as she glanced around.  
  
"This is the way to Hotaru's house," said Chibi-Usa cheerfully.  
  
"Huh? That chick we met the other day? When those aliens showed up?" said Ryoko in confusion.  
  
"That's right," confirmed Ranma.  
  
"Why the heck would we be going there?" said Ryoko dumbly. She paused and hung her head. "Oh no."  
  
Hotaru rounded the corner and met them. "So, you're here."  
  
"Hiya," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"Can she transform yet?" asked the little girl as she eyed Ryoko for a moment.  
  
"Naw, still having trouble," said Ranma as he looked at her.  
  
"Isn't one fight enough?" whined Ryoko.  
  
"Too bad, this wouldn't hurt her as much if she learned how," commented Hotaru as the aura of energy surrounded her body.  
  
"That's what I keep telling her," said Ranma with a shrug.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Urd stood upright and stared up into the sky for a moment. "You feel that?" she asked.  
  
Belldandy walked up beside her, laundry still hanging from her arms as she moved away from the clothesline. "It's them again."  
  
"All of them together this time," said Urd with a short nod of agreement.  
  
"What should we do?" asked Belldandy.  
  
"What choice do we have?" asked Urd as she turned and looked at her sister with a frown on her face.  
  
"Right," said Belldandy with a heavy sigh.   
  
Both of them moved towards the home, Belldandy going to one of the mirrors, and Urd moving towards the television.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
"Such power!" said Beryl as she glared into her crystal ball, a cold smile on her lips as she eyed the golden haired warrior within the mist inside. "Soon, he'll be mine...forever!"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Tatewaki Kuno stood in the middle of his room, deep in meditation. He frowned at his discomfort, unable to understand why he felt this way.  
  
"What is this feeling that wells up in my neither regions?" he muttered to himself. He stood and the pain left him. "Most unusual." He paused and looked down at his futon, his brow furrowing in confusion.   
  
There was a confusing looking lump in the middle of the mat where he had been sitting.  
  
"Perhaps this is the source of my discomfort?" He lifted the sheet up and blinked when he saw a duffel bag in the middle of his sleeping mat. He lifted it up and inspected its contents. "What are these strange devices? I have seen them before!"  
  
He paused and realized that someone else was in his room.  
  
"So, dear brother. It seems you have betrayed me," said Kodachi as she eyed him coldly as she walked through his door.  
  
Tatewaki simply looked up at her and blinked. "Huh?"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: The Evil Ranma!  
  
  



	44. Insertion Part 44

Insertion  
  
Part 44  
  
Carrot and Ranma's Bogus Journey  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma frowned as he stared at the three newcomers. They were holding practice in the middle of an abandoned lot near Hotaru's home. Ryoko was being pounded by her sister quite nicely; Hotaru was merely meditating off to the side, waiting for her turn to spar. All who were able were currently transformed, and Ryoko wasn't having a nice time of it.  
  
Ranma sighed and held up his hand, halting the match. "That's enough for now."  
  
The older woman staggered back to her feet, looking rather worn and beaten, but not really hurt. "You punk. Why the heck do I have to learn like this?"  
  
Ranma leveled a small playful glance at her. "The times you will need this power, will be battles. It has no other useful purpose that I've found. Using it at any other task would just be a waste of energy."  
  
Ryoko snorted and staggered over to Hotaru's side. "You learned it this way?"  
  
"I found the power on my own," she replied calmly.  
  
Ranma found himself the recipient of a rather nasty stare.  
  
"I learned this way," said Chibi-Usa as she smirked at her. "Hotaru is a special case."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" snapped Ryoko as she glared at them.  
  
"It's nothing," said Ranma. "We have something you don't. That's all."  
  
The woman was about to protest this, but something stopped her.   
  
"So, there you are," said Urd as she stared at him from across the lot. Belldandy moved up beside her with a frown on her face.  
  
"Well, if it isn't the goddesses! How nice!" said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"Demon!" snapped Urd angrily as she started forward.  
  
"Calm down. I'm holding a class at the moment," he said as he nodded towards the trio of girls.  
  
Belldandy blinked at him. "Class?"  
  
"Yes, these three are my students," said Ranma as he stood up and dusted off his pants.  
  
"So, you're some sort of Lore Demon?" said Urd as she eyed him for a moment.  
  
"Lore Demon?" said the boy in confusion. "I'm afraid I don't read much. I'm a little busy for that."  
  
"Pop," said Chibi-Usa nervously.  
  
"Calm down," said the boy as he glanced at her. "All of you." He turned and looked at the goddesses for a moment as he said this. "I'm pretty sure I know what you're upset about, but fighting over it now won't help anything."  
  
"We've come to send you back to where you belong!" snapped Urd.  
  
"Where would that be?" asked Ranma as he arched his eyebrow at the woman.  
  
"Nilfleim," replied Urd coldly as a ball of power formed in her palms.  
  
Ranma narrowed his eyes at her and frowned. "I'd rather not fight, but you two are trying my patience."  
  
Belldandy frowned at this, remembering his actions the last time they met. He'd been running the whole time. "Does he know he's outclassed? Or is it something else?" she muttered out loud.  
  
"You're awful confident," snapped Urd.  
  
"Killing a goddess isn't something I want to do you know. I'm not what you think," he said calmly.  
  
"Oh really?" said Urd coldly.  
  
"No," he said as he smiled at them gently. "I'm actually a pretty nice guy. Come on, can't we talk about this?"  
  
"Urd," said Belldandy as she looked at her older sister for a moment.  
  
"What the heck is going on? Who the heck are these chicks?" grumbled Ryoko irritably.  
  
"Goddesses," said Pluto as she appeared between the two women in a swirling vortex of power. "More than a match for the likes of you."  
  
"Well, I already said I'd rather not," he replied with a simple shrug.  
  
Hotaru stood up and looked at Pluto for a moment in silence.  
  
"At any rate..." started Pluto.  
  
Ranma appeared behind her, holding a sign. "Sleeps naked! Photos only 3,000 yen!"  
  
"Will you stop that?" growled the woman as she glared at him.  
  
Both Goddesses stepped away and gasped.   
  
"He's fast," commented Urd.  
  
"Look, I'd love to get into this with all of you, but you're bothering my class. Could you come back later?"  
  
The Senshi frowned at him and glanced over at Chibi-Usa for a moment. "You shouldn't be here. You don't belong, your very existence is wrong."  
  
The girl stood up and mooned her. "Kiss it Puu!"  
  
Pluto growled and turned towards Ranma. "That is your fault!" she snarled while pointing at the child.  
  
"So I've been told," he replied dryly. "I understand Usagi rather enjoyed it."  
  
"Usagi?" muttered Urd as she looked at the boy.  
  
"You shouldn't be..."  
  
"What? You expect me to let Endimyon get his grubby little claws on such a sweet piece of ass?" snorted the boy as he turned away from her and stuck his nose in the air.  
  
"Eww! Gross Pop!" cried Chibi-Usa.  
  
"Who are you?" asked Belldandy as she stared at the scene in confusion.  
  
"Ranma Saotome," replied the boy with a small shrug.   
  
"How dare you!" snarled Pluto angrily.  
  
"You know...if I'm married to Usagi...he's available..."  
  
"..." said Pluto. "What would you know?"  
  
"I know more than I'm letting you know about," he said with a smirk on his face.  
  
"It means nothing, you have to be destroyed," snapped the Senshi angrily.  
  
"Oh? How noble of you, giving up a life long dream just for some flimsy future that you can't guarantee will come about."  
  
"Who said you were married to Usagi?" snapped Pluto.  
  
Chibi-Usa raised her hand.  
  
"You stay out of this!" snarled Pluto.  
  
"Who are these people?" muttered Urd as she watched the argument.   
  
"They seem to have forgotten about us," said Belldandy with a worried looking frown.  
  
Ranma lazily picked at his ear, looking at the sky casually. "You know, the goddesses might be upset you left their gate unguarded..."  
  
"Hey. That's right! What the heck are you doing here anyway?" said Urd as she glared at the woman for a moment.  
  
Pluto blinked and stared at them for a moment. "I uhh...I left the Senshi of Time in training to guard it. She needs the practice..."  
  
"Shirking your responsibility that way? How shameful!" gasped Ranma.  
  
"Mind your own business!" snapped Pluto.  
  
"At any rate, lying to your bosses and telling them I'm a demon..."  
  
"I never told them that!" snapped Setsuna hotly.   
  
"How do you know she works for us?" said Urd as she eyed the boy for a moment.  
  
"Huh?" Ranma turned to look at her and grinned. "She's my ex-fiancee of course." The truth was, he was just guessing.   
  
"You're a threat to the future of this planet and the Galaxy!" snarled Pluto.  
  
"Actually, I'd say I'm your only hope...Puu," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"Don't you dare call me that!" snapped the Senshi angrily.  
  
"What is he talking about?" said Urd as she stared at Pluto for a moment.  
  
"He's..." for a brief moment, she considered lying to them just to be rid of him. However, lying to a goddess was never considered a good idea. "He's Genaku's reincarnation."  
  
"I see," said Belldandy as she looked him up and down for a moment.  
  
"We don't need him," said Pluto as she glared at the boy for a moment. "He's too dangerous to leave wandering the Earth. He's already changed the future once, and the past as well."  
  
"Has he?" asked Belldandy as she looked at him for a moment and frowned.  
  
Ranma snorted at them. "You don't really think the Senshi can beat those Youma Lords without me do you?"  
  
"They haven't awakened their true power yet," said Pluto coldly.  
  
"Right, they haven't even reached their Super forms yet," said Ranma with a smirk on his face. "You still don't have the crystal, and that one thing was the weakest of them."  
  
Pluto narrowed her eyes at him. There was no way he should have all this information. She looked at Chibi-Usa.  
  
"Pluto, you should leave now," said Hotaru as she stood up and stared the woman down.  
  
"Who are you?" snapped the woman as she glared at the child.  
  
Hotaru detransformed, a cold looking smirk on her face. "Someone you can't lead around blindly."  
  
The woman gasped and stepped back. "Saturn!?"  
  
"I've been watching you since I woke up. I must say, I'm quite disappointed in you," said the girl calmly. "It pains me to see you reduced to this."  
  
"How dare you!?" cried Pluto. "Allying yourself with him?! You have no idea what he's done to me!"  
  
"You are mistaken Pluto, I know exactly what he's done to you in the past," she replied calmly. "I was there after all. He is, and always will be my Sensei."  
  
"So...he isn't a demon?" asked Urd as she looked at Pluto.  
  
"Unfortunately, no," replied the woman with a frown on her face.  
  
"Well. I'm glad that's settled," said Ranma as he turned away.   
  
"Cocky little mortal isn't he?" snorted Pluto.  
  
"He has the power to destroy a world, something no mortal should have," said Belldandy.  
  
"Well, I've saved this one a few times," commented Ranma as he glanced back at the goddesses. "I don't want much, just a little peace and quiet. I've managed to get her younger friends off my back, but she's rather persistent."  
  
"That doesn't excuse you for what you did," replied Urd coldly.  
  
"I can't fix it," he said as he glanced over his shoulder at her. "I've also got a class to teach if you'll excuse me."  
  
"Let me kill him," growled Pluto.  
  
"Leave him alone," said Urd.   
  
"What?" said Setsuna in shock.  
  
"He's right about one thing, we can't touch him," said Belldandy. "He is to be judged as everyone else will be, and he's the only mortal on the planet strong enough to face what is coming. For now, he is off limits."  
  
Pluto frowned. "What do you mean?"  
  
"He and his friends defeated the Sub-Zero program," said Urd calmly. "That's no easy trick."  
  
"You came here to kill him didn't you?" retorted Pluto.  
  
"No, we came here to send him back to Nilfleim. We thought he was a demon," said Urd calmly. "If he isn't, there isn't much we can do at the moment."  
  
"Since when are you so passive to the activities of the mortal realm?" said Pluto sharply.  
  
"Don't forget who you're talking too," warned Urd.  
  
"Right," said Pluto as she bowed her head slightly. "Forgive me."  
  
"I know you're upset, but there are rules we have to follow these days," said Urd calmly.   
  
"So, what can I do then?" asked Pluto.  
  
"Stop talking about killing me right in front of me, that's what," said Ranma as he glanced at them with a frown on his face. "Jeez, don't you have any tact?"   
  
Pluto frowned at him and turned away. "I'll deal with him later then."  
  
"You shouldn't even be here," said Belldandy with a chiding tone.  
  
Pluto quickly vanished into the porthole she created before they could say anything more.  
  
"Honestly. She used to be so responsible!" muttered Belldandy under her breath.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
About an hour later, Ranma was sitting with his mother sipping tea lazily at the Saotome home. The others had all returned to their respective homes after the training had ended.  
  
"Your father still eludes me," grumbled the woman with a frown forming on her face.  
  
"Well, he is good at running away. I'll say that for him if nothing else," commented Ranma dryly.   
  
"We've got a lot to talk about," said his mother calmly.  
  
"Oh?" he said as he arched his eyebrow at her.  
  
"Yes. I would like you to come stay with me," she said as she sipped at her own tea calmly.  
  
"What brought this on? I told you I'd like to finish the school year at least," he replied calmly.  
  
"It is obvious that you have no intention of marrying any of those girls," said Nodoka as she leveled a small smirk at him.   
  
"True enough," agreed Ranma.  
  
"As a matter of fact, Nabiki seems to be afraid of you," continued Nodoka.  
  
"I suppose she is," agreed Ranma.  
  
"Do you wish to tell me why?" asked Nodoka.  
  
"She thinks I'm crazy," he said with a small shrug. "No big deal."  
  
"Are you?" prodded Nodoka with an unusual amount of calm.  
  
"That's a matter of perspective," he replied. He noticed her hand pass over his cup when she thought he wasn't paying attention. He said nothing and didn't see anything inside the liquid. It didn't even ripple.  
  
"I feel you are as ready as you're going to be," said Nodoka as she smiled at him.   
  
"Ready for what?" he said as he picked up his cup and drank the rest of his tea, leaving it in his mouth for a moment to taste for anything unusual before swallowing. "Mother."  
  
"Yes my son?" she asked.  
  
"What have you been slipping me in my drinks lately? I haven't been able to figure it out."  
  
The woman paused and looked at him for a moment innocently. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Every time we get together this way, you put something into my cup. I haven't felt any different lately, and I can't figure out what it might be."  
  
"My, you are perceptive," said the woman with a smirk on her face.  
  
"Oh?" he said as he arched his eyebrow at her.  
  
"Just a little of my own power," said the woman with a small shrug. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice."  
  
"Power?" he mumbled as he looked at the cup.  
  
"It was the subtlest way I could think of," she replied sweetly, a hint of malice in her voice as her gaze turned cold suddenly.  
  
Ranma stood up and frowned at her. "Something is up with you."  
  
"Yes my son," she replied with a small nod. "I have been quite active since you and your father left me all those years ago."  
  
"Busy huh?" he said as he crossed his arms. "Busy with what?"  
  
"You should know, the darkness inside you has been slowly eating away at your very being since the day you returned to me," she said as she stood up and smiled at him.  
  
Ranma stepped back as a sort of shimmering image washed over her body. "Oh shit!"  
  
"My son, now you are mine," said Beryl as she glared at him coldly.  
  
Ranma felt a pain in his shoulder and slumped down to his knees in shock and agony. "What the hell? That mark!" He jumped out of the room, dashing through the door as the woman watched him calmly.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Five minutes later he was leaning against the wall of a building in the streets of Tokyo. He scratched at his shoulder madly, finally ripping it away to reveal a swelling red mark. "Damn! This is because of her!" snapped Carrot as they stumbled into an alleyway and fell into a pile of garbage bags.  
  
"What is that?" snapped Dan painfully.  
  
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" cried Ranma as he turned their head towards the mark, it was looking at them.  
  
They stumbled out of the pile and staggered forward as it grew larger and larger, pulling away from their body.   
  
"What the hell?" cried Carrot in shock.  
  
A head, exactly like theirs was looking back at them, giggling madly. "Hiya!"  
  
"Shit!" snarled Dan as it continued to pull away from them at an alarming rate, forming a torso of it's own as well.  
  
The thing punched them in the face as they stumbled away smacking them relentlessly. "Ha! Take this, and this!"  
  
Carrot decked it across its jaw.  
  
The thing blinked and glared at them for a moment before continuing the assault. This time, the trio attacked back leaving the appearance of demented Siamese twins beating on each other.  
  
Finally, Carrot maneuvered the thing into a wall and it fell back, finally separated from them.  
  
"Well, that wasn't very nice," said their doppelganger.   
  
"Who the hell are you?" snapped Ranma angrily as he moved them into a combat stance.  
  
"You're good Ranma, and I'm bad Ranma," said the thing merrily. It started to do a little dance in front of them, chattering as it smacked them repeatedly.  
  
Ranma frowned, and the lightsaber appeared in his grasp. He poked the thing in its face with it and grinned. "Good, Bad, I'm the guy with the lightsaber."  
  
The thing merely grinned at them and they paused, a sudden pain forming in their chest. "What?" muttered Carrot dumbly.  
  
"Heh. I've seen that movie too," said the evil Ranma as he watched them slump down in front of them, the reversed end of the lightsaber poking through their chest. His face changed, no longer the idiot's grin and now a mask of calm intelligence.  
  
"Damn," muttered Ranma as he found himself on his back. The others hadn't spoken yet. Or more precisely, couldn't speak. "I'll get you for this," he muttered.  
  
"How? You're already dead?" said the thing. It turned away and waved at them as it strolled out into the street. "Sayonara."  
  
Ranma felt the world go black.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
He woke up and blinked as he pushed himself up with his arms and glanced around. "Where am I?"  
  
He paused when he noticed another figure lying beside him, passed out cold. "Who?" He rolled the man over and gasped as he recognized him, it was a person he'd only seen in his dreams. "Carrot?"  
  
The man groaned and sat up painfully, he shook his head and looked at the pigtailed boy for a moment. "Ranma?"  
  
"What happened? Are we asleep or something?"   
  
"We must have passed out, that damn thing got us," said Carrot as he staggered to his feet and helped Ranma up as well.  
  
Ranma blinked as he realized that the boy's arm was solid, he was grabbing him. "Hey. I can touch you."  
  
"Huh?" said Carrot dumbly as he realized it. "Wha?" Ranma's fist was the next thing he saw. "Ouch! What the hell was that for?"  
  
"I've been wanting to do this for a long time now," said the pigtailed boy coldly as he moved into a combat stance.  
  
"We can worry about that later! Where the hell are we?" said Carrot.  
  
Ranma paused and looked around. "Funny you should mention that..." he commented as he realized what was around him.  
  
"Oh fuck," said Carrot simply as he glanced around as well. They were standing on top of a large pillar of jagged stone, all around them flames and boiling lava roared angrily. There were millions of others below them, screaming and writhing in agony.   
  
"Hello boys," said a voice from above them.   
  
They both turned to see a woman staring down at them from above, a cold smile on her lips. "Welcome to eternity."  
  
Ranma blinked as he recognized her. "Hey. You're that demon chick from before..."  
  
"I was hoping you'd stay alive longer," said the woman as she landed between them. "Too bad. Oh well, off to eternal damnation with you!" She smiled cheerfully and snapped her fingers. The pair vanished in a flash of light.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Dan frowned as he found himself standing next to Pissant in an elevator of some kind. "Where the heck are we? Is this another one of Ranma's weird dreams?"  
  
"I don't know," said Pissant with a shrug.  
  
Dan looked up at the ceiling. A single speaker was above them, and it began to play Kenny G music. Immediately he started screaming as if in pain. "Oh shit! We're dead, and we've gone to hell!"  
  
Pissant was smiling cheerfully and trying to hear the nice music over Dan's screaming. "Quiet down would you? I like this part!"  
  
"Noo! I have to spend eternity with you?!!" said Dan in horror. He paused and noticed that he could see the annoying voice for the first time. "Hey. I can see you..."  
  
Pissant blinked and glanced at him. "So you can." He was a blond boy with shoulder length hair, he actually didn't look as wimpy as Dan had thought he would, but was still on the smallish side.  
  
The elevator stopped, and the pair looked at one another as the doors opened. They stepped out and glanced around in confusion. Soft music played all around them, and there was a large set of gates in front of them.  
  
An old man in white robes smiled at them cheerfully. "Welcome!"  
  
Dan glanced around. "Heaven?"  
  
"Indeed! Such fine mortals!" said the old man cheerfully. "Come! Come!" he beckoned to them.  
  
"There must be some mistake. There's no way I should be here," muttered Dan to himself.  
  
"The sign of someone who truly belongs here," said the old man with a wise looking smile.  
  
"Wow! Neat!" squealed Pissant happily as he looked at the city on the other side of the gates.  
  
The old man peered into a book and smiled at them warmly. "Oh my! This is the first time any of your kind has appeared here! What a fine day it is!"  
  
"Our kind?" said Dan in confusion.  
  
"Saiyans. We've never seen a single one pass through the gates!" said the old man happily.  
  
Dan blinked and looked behind him, the tail was still there. Pissant had one as well. "Whoa."  
  
"Well, it seems you both don't have much of a record. Only a few months on the two of you," said the old man cheerfully. "Seems not one of you has done much at all."  
  
"Um...We were kind of stuck in someone else's body," said Dan as he looked at Pissant and shrugged.   
  
"Yes," agreed the cheerful looking spirit.  
  
"Well, that explains some of it I suppose," said the old man as he calmly closed his book.  
  
"But...I had a whole life in my own body," muttered Dan in confusion.  
  
"Yes, it seems there was a bug in the system a while back," said the old man with a sagely nod. "You were mistakenly placed into someone else's body. Out of another dimension no less. It is of little consequence. Only the deeds you performed in this world matter."  
  
Dan blinked; Carrot and Ranma were the ones who did almost everything of importance. He'd done little, and hadn't even killed anyone. Not from lack of trying so much as not really having the opportunity. "Oh."  
  
"Hey! Lucky break!" said Pissant as he smacked the boy on his shoulder.  
  
"Hey. Where are Carrot and Ranma?" he wondered out loud.  
  
"Those two?" said the old man with a small frown on his face. "They are where they belong. Disgusting creatures, they destroyed an entire world! I was backlogged for a week!"   
  
Dan looked at him for a moment and blinked. "Oh." After a moment he shrugged his shoulders and smiled to himself as he walked through the gates with Pissant.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ash Ketcum stood overlooking the dark cloud of mist that had appeared in the middle of the room. He was standing on a balcony in the middle of a theater, watching the famed Pokemon opera 'King Picaku' with his friend's Mist and Brock.  
  
"Prepare for Trouble!" cried a voice.  
  
"Make it double!" said another voice.  
  
"Oh no! Not these guys again!" whined Ash as he stood up from his seat with his friends.  
  
"To protect the world from devastation!"  
  
"To unite all people's within our nation!"  
  
"To denounce the Evils of truth and love!"  
  
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"  
  
"Jessie!"  
  
"James!"  
  
The pair appeared from the middle of the could and posed proudly, a familiar figure hanging his head in between them. The pair elbowed him and he glared at them.  
  
"Junior Trainer Carrot," he muttered lamely.  
  
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"  
  
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight," said Carrot as he pulled a small popper from his pocket and pulled the string, sending a rather pathetic stream of confetti into the air.  
  
"Meowth! Dat's right!" said Meowth as he appeared with them.  
  
"Man, who could have known hell would suck this much," grumbled Carrot lamely.  
  
"We have come to steal the famous acting Pokemon!" cried James.  
  
"We'll stop you!" said Ash and his crew as they appeared in front of them.  
  
"Oh no! It's those kids again!" cried James.  
  
Carrot looked at him in irritation and frowned. "You know. I'm getting a little sick of all this."  
  
"Huh?" muttered everyone as they turned to look at him.  
  
"How come I'm taking orders from you weenies? You're idiots! I'm smarter than the three of you combined!" he snapped.  
  
"Hey! You'd better watch it kid!" snapped Meowth.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," grumbled Carrot. "Look..."  
  
"Obey your superiors and steal those pokemon while we keep these brats busy!" snapped Jessie as she slapped him.  
  
Carrot growled at her, but stumbled off to do her bidding. "I can't believe I'm doing this still." He frowned as he looked down at the small electric rat as it prepared to shock him. "All this just so I can be some pokemon trainer. I don't wanna be a pokemon trainer!" He blinked as if he had just thought of that. "Hey. I -don't- want to be a pokemon trainer!"  
  
Everyone looked at him.  
  
"Then why are you doing this?" said Misty as she stepped forward. "You could be our friend! You don't have to work for these two!"  
  
Carrot blinked and looked at her for a moment, and then back to Jessie and James. "Nah. These things are worth money!" he cried as he turned to look at the Pikachu in front of him. He ripped out a section of the ground and hefted it over his head. "Heh!"  
  
The Pikachu screeched and stared at him as he swatted it like a fly and knocked it out. "I wonder how much it's worth to his owner to get him back?" he chuckled to himself as he stuffed the animal into a sack after putting it into a Pokeball.  
  
"Still a jerk," grumbled Misty.  
  
Carrot turned to smirk at her. "I'm through with these idiots!" He pointed at James and Jessie. "I can do better on my own!"  
  
"You little ingrate!" snapped Jessie as she moved to slap him. He decked her dead in her face.  
  
Everyone looked on in shock as Jessie toppled over and fell flat on her back out cold.  
  
"Stop him! Pikachu!" cried Ash as he released his pokemon.  
  
Carrot chuckled and rolled off to the edge of the stage, pulling one of the spears used in the production into his grasp as he did so. "Come on you little rat!"  
  
Pikachu blinked, Carrot had three pokeballs on his belt that he normally used to fight him with.   
  
"Well? Aren't you going to fight? I'm challenging you to a pokemon battle!" cried Ash.  
  
Carrot swat the rodent aside with the spear, the blade was little more than a piece of plastic, but the wooden staff suited his needs nicely. "Naw. My pokemon all suck. I mean, I've got a Chansey, a Ditto, and a Psyduck for god's sake!" He pointed his pokeball at Pikachu and captured him. Grinning, he put that into his bag as well.  
  
"No! Pikachu!" cried the boy as he rushed forward.   
  
Carrot slammed the spear across his face, sending the boy sprawling across the ground in pain. He looked up at him with tears in his eyes. "No you can't!"  
  
"Watch me," replied Carrot coldly as he rushed towards the other two trainers.  
  
They backed away in alarm, taking their own pokeballs from their belts.   
  
"No! Get away!" cried Misty.  
  
"Move it chick! Before you get hurt!" snapped Carrot as he dashed by them, smacking them both aside with his makeshift staff.  
  
They weren't hit very hard, and staggered for a moment before tumbling into the laps of some rather shocked spectators.  
  
Jessie, James, and Meowth simply stared in shock, unable to speak.  
  
"He...he did it!" muttered Jessie.  
  
"That little brat beat them!" gasped James.  
  
"Dis can't be!" lamented Meowth.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"You've done well," said Geovanni as he looked at the boy kneeling before him with a sack in his grasp.  
  
"You're going to pay me for this," said Carrot as he looked up at the man coldly.  
  
"Of course not! You're making the name of Team Rocket proud! That should be reward enough!" said the man with a small chuckle.  
  
"From now on, my loyalty is bought," said Carrot as he looked up at the man and smiled darkly. "You either pay me, or I walk out and sell these things on my own. I'm sure the owner would be more than happy to part with a few thousand to get them back."  
  
Geovanni glared at him and stood up in his seat. "What?"  
  
"You heard me," said Carrot with a chuckle of his own.  
  
"Brat! You forget who I am!" snarled the man as he stepped down and raised his hand as if to smack him. He paused when he heard a clicking sound and felt something against his belly.  
  
Carrot was smiling at him, the barrel of a gun pointed at the man's abdomen. "Do you have any idea who I am?" he asked in amusement.  
  
"Well, I'm certainly impressed," snorted Giovanni. "I never expected anyone so ruthless to show up here."  
  
"What are they going to do to me? Send me to hell?" said Carrot calmly as he stared at the man coldly.  
  
"They just might," said the man as he nodded to himself. "They say that's what things like this get you, but then...it's never bothered me."  
  
"I'm already in hell, if I have to be here, I'm going to do it my way," snarled Carrot.   
  
Giovanni nodded and picked up a briefcase from beside his seat, sliding it across the ground towards Carrot. "Here. I think we might work well together."  
  
"Stick me with those idiots you had me with before, and I'll kill them," said Carrot as he dropped the bag and turned away with the case in his hand.  
  
"I'll remember that," said the man with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Hell indeed," snorted Carrot as he walked out of the room. "I'll show them who's punishing who."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma was cowering in the corner, nothing but darkness all around him as he huddled protectively from the dark things that surrounded him. "No! Get away!" He turned to look at them as they closed in, their demonic eyes glowing gold as they closed in around him. His entire body was covered in scratches and claw marks. "No! Leave me alone!" he wailed pathetically as the demons yowled all around him.  
  
He wanted to become one of them, for the darkness to take his soul away and the madness to take him into oblivion. This time, it wouldn't come, and he knew it. He would spend eternity cowering as he was, the demonic creatures attacking him at their leisure. Shuddering he looked down at the ground, his tears evaporating away as he sobbed. "No! I can't! I..."  
  
They jumped on him, just as they had for as long as he could remember. He would spend days under the claws before they backed away, forcing him to wait in agony for a time. He screamed as he felt their teeth biting at his flesh, and their claws scraping him away. This time, he knew there would be no release, no technique that would make him invincible. He screamed in terror and simply sat while they tore at him.  
  
Then it hit him, demons or no, they were just cats. He felt them tearing at his body and slowly rose to his feet. He glared at his shaking hands and felt disgusted with himself, falling into a deep depression. "Is this...what I've become?" he muttered to himself as the animals clung to him and continued to attack, despite him standing.  
  
He slowly turned his head and glared at them, a simple chi blast would be enough, but not for him. Now, he would at last have his revenge.  
  
"Heh," he laughed and lifted one of the ones on his shoulder by the scruff of its neck. "Bad kitty."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Mara glared at the lesser demon overseeing the torture of the two youths. "What the hell is this?" she growled at him. They were lying on their backs with rather evil looking smirks on their faces in the middle of a boiling pool of magma.  
  
"I don't know! I used the templates you told me to for their torment!" cried the demon pathetically.  
  
"They're winning!" she snapped at him. "Do something about it!"  
  
"I'm trying!" snapped the lesser demon as he turned and summoned a pair of large ugly demons. "Do something about this!" he screamed at them.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Well. I haven't seen you in a while," said Carrot as he smirked at Ash and his friends. He was standing on the edge of a boiling lake of lava, deep within a mountain. Magmar lay at his feet, covered in the white powder of a fire extinguisher. The boy chuckled and lifted one of the balls up, catching the animal easily.  
  
"This isn't right! You have to use pokemon to catch pokemon!" cried Misty.  
  
"Oh? And who's going to stop me? I don't care about your pathetic league, I'm a rich man," said Carrot as he eyed them for a moment in amusement.  
  
"Doing things like this for money isn't right!" cried Ash.  
  
"Money...I don't really care about the money, or the power," said Carrot calmly.  
  
"Then why?" gasped Ash.  
  
"Sooner or later, I'm going to catch someone's attention, and when I do..." The boy's grin widened.   
  
"What? What do you mean?" cried Brock.  
  
"If you stick around long enough, you'll find out," said Carrot as he turned and saw Giovanni walking into the room calmly.   
  
"Well done my loyal servant," said the man as he walked up next to him and pat him on the shoulder. "You're going straight to the top."  
  
"You!" cried Ash in shock.  
  
"Well, Mr. Giovanni, you've outlived your usefulness," said Carrot as he turned towards the man.  
  
"Eh?"  
  
Carrot shoved him in his chest, plummeting him into the lava below. "I'm in charge of Team Rocket now."  
  
"What?" gasped Ash.  
  
Jessie and James appeared from behind a rock and stared at the boy in shock.   
  
"You killed him! You killed the boss!" cried James.  
  
"Yeah! You won't get away with dis!" snapped Meowth as he appeared as well.  
  
"Oh? Who's going to contest my rule of Team Rocket now? You?" said the boy as he glared at them.  
  
Jessie smacked Meowth on the back of his head. She rushed up to Carrot's side and leaned into his chest. "Oh Boss! You know you were always my favorite trainer! We could be beautiful together!"  
  
Carrot snorted and eyed the trio of trainers for a moment. "Go away, there's nothing you can do now."  
  
"What?" said Ash dumbly as he stumbled back.  
  
"Go play in your pokemon league, live your pathetic lives out, and stay out of my way. If I ever see you interfering in my business again. I won't even kill you."  
  
"He's just letting us go?" muttered Misty.  
  
"Yeah," muttered Brock in confusion.  
  
"You see, I won't hurt you Ash Ketchum, but your mother..."  
  
"What?" said the boy as all the color drained from his face.  
  
"Wow! A brilliant plan!" squealed Jessie.  
  
"Get off me before I become annoyed," snorted Carrot calmly as he shoved her aside. He pulled a gun from his pocket and pointed it at Ash. "All of you have families, and I know where all of them live. Thanks to my little adventures with these idiots, I've met them at one point or another. You can continue to get in my way if you want, and go home to find your family dead, your homes burned. If you're off stopping my plans, you won't be there to protect them will you?"  
  
Misty shuddered. "Ash...we should go..."  
  
"But...we can't let him get away with this!" cried the boy in frustration.  
  
"He's right Ash, he's got us. There's nothing we can do," said Brock as he glared at the evil man hatefully. "We can't protect them, not when we're away all the time."  
  
Carrot turned as something made a noise from in the lava behind him. "It's about time," he commented lazily as he strolled back into the center of the cavern. "You should leave now." He tossed the trio the bag containing the pokemon he had just caught.  
  
Jessie and James looked on dumbly.   
  
"What are you doing?" gasped James.  
  
"I never cared about any of this," he replied casually. "I've just been trying to attract someone's attention. "Someone I could take out my real frustrations on." He cracked his knuckles and looked on as a hideous thing blasted up from the magma. It was fat and covered in scales. Two bat-like wings jutted from its back, and a set of large horns rose back behind its head just over its eyes.  
  
"You're becoming troublesome mortal," said the thing angrily.  
  
"I'm not the one in trouble," said Carrot as he grinned at the thing and spread his feet apart. A golden aura of power surrounded his body as the tail he kept hidden around his waist uncoiled.  
  
The demon blinked in surprise.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma was sleeping soundly, a rather contented smile on his face as he lay in the middle of the room, unmolested by the animals that now cowered in fear on the edges of the wall.  
  
It was a rather unpleasant scene really, as Ranma was lying in and was also covered in the remains of around thirty of the things. He yawned and stretched his arms as he sat up and blinked. "Huh?"  
  
"You're not taking your torture like you should human," said the skinny demon that lumbered into the room and glared at him. It was around ten feet tall, with wings and horns like his counterpart.   
  
"Who are you callin a human?" snorted Ranma as he glared at it for a moment.  
  
"Eh?" said the demon as it looked down at the boy who appeared to have sprouted a tail.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Mara stared at the scene in shock from outside the two souls. "Er...umm..."  
  
The lesser demon sweat nervously as he watched the carnage play out inside the minds of the two saiyans. "Maybe you should have said something...or sent some stronger demons?"   
  
"Shut up," growled Mara.  
  
"My, how interesting," said a horrifying voice from behind them.  
  
Mara and the lesser demon both whirled around and fell to their knees.  
  
"Hild!" gasped Mara in shocked surprise. "What brings you here?"  
  
"Bring them to me," said the demon queen as she eyed the two souls for a moment. "But wait until they've finished playing with your friends."  
  
"Yes!" cried the pair as they bowed a little lower, scraping their faces against the dirt.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Hild stared at the two souls in front of her, they glared at her but without much malice in them. "Who are you?" asked Ranma.  
  
"I am Hild, queen of the damned," she replied calmly as she eyed them. The room was only darkness, and they could only see a pair of legs, white fingernails, and the eyes of the demon in front of them. "It seems you two have managed to escape your torment. A most impressive feat."  
  
"Yeah...well..." snorted Carrot.  
  
"It only took you both twenty years to do it as well, most unheard of," said the demoness as she smirked at them.  
  
Neither of the boys looked surprised at this.  
  
"You wouldn't call us here unless you wanted something," said Carrot calmly as he looked up at her without fear.  
  
"You wish to avenge yourselves?" asked Hild.  
  
"Of course!" snapped Ranma as he moved towards her a single step.  
  
She narrowed her eyes at him, but he didn't move any more, so she let it pass. "I can offer you the chance. However, there is a catch..."  
  
"What's that?" asked Carrot. He was also deeply interested in this offer.  
  
"You will become one again, but it won't be the same this time." said Hild calmly.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome staggered to his feet, he was in the middle of a dark alleyway somewhere in what looked like a destroyed section of Tokyo. "Where the hell are we?" he muttered angrily as he staggered through the darkness for a moment.  
  
"Carrot?" muttered Ranma as he tried to think.  
  
"Yeah. I'm here. I feel sick as hell though," grumbled the other voice in frustration.  
  
"What happened to us?" asked Ranma as he noticed a few dirty looking people running away from them through the alleys in terror.  
  
"I dunno, last I remember, we were talking to that Hild chick. There was more after that, but I think she took it away."  
  
"So? Now what?" asked Ranma as they seemed to feel a little better and get their bearings straight.   
  
"Come on, let's check out where we are," said Carrot.   
  
They jumped up onto the nearest rooftop with a single bound, landing lightly on the top of the building. "What the..." muttered Ranma in horror as he stared out into the distance in shock.  
  
"Oh man," said Carrot as he stared out at the remains of Tokyo. There was little more than shells of buildings remaining. Destroyed, burned, decimated. "What the hell happened?"  
  
"I think...we did," said Ranma as their jaw hardened in anger.  
  
"That evil us..." said Carrot in horror. "But..."  
  
Everything seemed to make sense, without them around, he could easily take out those who might be a threat to him later before they suspected anything was wrong with him. "Damn," growled Carrot. "We've got our work cut out for us then."  
  
"It's too late already," said Ranma sadly.  
  
"Maybe, but I for one am not going to let this bastard enjoy whatever he gained by doing this." Carrot clenched their fist in front of their face and looked at it for a moment. "Oh...Oh no! No! Noooooo!" He fell to his knees clutching his head in horror.  
  
"What? What is it?" cried Ranma in alarm.  
  
"Look at us!" cried Carrot.   
  
Ranma blinked and looked down at their body. Something was indeed different. A nearby metal vent, long since covered in dust and soot, was roughly cleaned away with a swipe of their arm. The reflection was dirty, but still visible.  
  
A figure dressed in black, red, and white, was staring back at them. A huge red cape hung over their shoulders, and a pair of green eyes peered soullessly back at them. "What the hell?" gasped Ranma in shock.  
  
"We...we're a hellspawn!" cried Carrot as he shoved his fist through the metal in frustration.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Angela, we have one," said Belldandy as she walked into the room where the angel was relaxing.   
  
She was a beautiful woman, with long red hair and a stunning body. She paused and looked at her master in confusion. "Hellspawn?"  
  
"Yes," confirmed Belldandy.  
  
"Why would they send one there? The place has already fallen," said the woman as she stood up and frowned.  
  
"There is still the faintest glimmer of hope there," said Belldandy. "I fear if this problem isn't taken care of, it will vanish forever."  
  
Angela nodded slowly. She knew the world was lost, there were a few desperate souls remaining, but they would soon be lost, once the evil power that had consumed the world grew tired of playing with them.  
  
"It is a dangerous place," said Belldandy.  
  
"I know," said Angela as she lifted up her spear and gave the woman a hard frown. She vanished in a flash of light, leaving Belldandy standing alone.  
  
"Good luck. I wish I could bring myself to return with you, but..." she turned away and left the room in silence.  
  
++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Heh. Well, now that I've pulled the unexpected on you, I'll bet your wondering what the hell is going to happen next? What happened to everyone? What of the rest of the collective? How did this change things? How on earth am I going to fix this mess? And finally, how the hell am I going to keep something like this funny? Stay tuned to find out! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  
  



	45. Insertion Part 45

Insertion  
  
Part 45  
  
Dark Earth  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"What is this?" said Carrot as he stood on the rooftop overlooking the remains of Tokyo.  
  
"What do we do?" asked Ranma in horror. "What happened to us?"  
  
"Hild sent us back to Earth," said Carrot calmly. "I'm gonna have to explain some things to you about Hellspawn."  
  
"You know about this?" said Ranma in surprise.  
  
"Yes, and it isn't good," said Carrot calmly. "We're a high level demon in training, sort of."  
  
Ranma didn't say anything in response to that. He merely stared down at the remains of the city in silence.  
  
"Basically, if what I know is true, we have a limited amount of power available to us. When we use it up, we go to the final test. If we survive, we become a leader of hell's army."  
  
"We..."  
  
"We can't waste our power, we don't know what we're facing here," said Carrot as he interrupted Ranma and continued. "The first thing we need to do, is find out our situation. We need to see if we have any allies left first, then we can plan an attack from there."  
  
"So? Where do we go?" muttered Ranma numbly.  
  
"Nerima would be a good bet. We may be able to find out what happened to everyone there, if nothing else."  
  
"Right, if we can get to Akane and the others..." started Ranma.  
  
"Akane and the others are probably dead," said Carrot.  
  
"What?!" gasped Ranma in shock.  
  
"Our evil self would have gotten rid of our friends first, to make sure that they didn't get in the way," said Carrot calmly. "Some of them may have managed to escape, but don't count on it."  
  
Ranma was once again speechless.  
  
"We know there are still people left, that's something," said Carrot.   
  
"So, we should go to Nerima then," muttered Ranma quietly.  
  
"That's right, we should get moving. The sooner we can fight that bastard the better. He's probably made a few friends as well," said Carrot calmly.  
  
"What do you mean?" growled Ranma.  
  
"The planet is still here, so we didn't destroy it. It looks to me more like we took over," said Carrot with an unusual calm in his voice.  
  
"Took over?" muttered Ranma in confusion.  
  
"That's right," said Carrot. He turned their gaze towards a tall building in the middle of the city. It was the only place that didn't look destroyed. A large red banner hung from the side, with the emblem of a black dragon curling into an infinity sign.  
  
"Let's go get him!" snarled Ranma hatefully.  
  
"No," said Carrot as he stopped them.  
  
"What?" gasped Ranma in confusion.  
  
"We don't know anything about our new power, our power levels, or our enemy. He's had twenty years of training to fall back on. Plus he's probably fought our old friends, meaning he'll be stronger than we were. First we have to find out about our limitations, and our weaknesses."  
  
Ranma growled, but stopped. "You're right."  
  
"We may be able to find some friends as well," said Carrot. "We aren't sure who survived, if anyone did."  
  
"What are we waiting for then?" said Ranma as he turned towards Nerima. He paused as he sensed something behind him. "Who?"  
  
"Well, what have we here?" said an amused sounding voice.  
  
They slowly turned to stare at the newcomer. "Who the hell are you?" He stepped back as Carrot recognized the figure standing before them. "Ryu Kumon."  
  
Ryu was a man in his thirties, dressed in a black shirt and camouflage pants. He had a white bandanna tied across his forehead and a long scar ran down the side of his face. "You've heard of me?"  
  
"Hmmm, maybe I have?" replied Ranma as he pretended to think about it.  
  
"Well, I've not seen you around before. Who are you?" said the man with an amused sounding chuckle.  
  
"I am called...Spawn," replied Ranma with a small shrug.  
  
"Well, that's interesting. I was never expecting to see another super hero around. Ranma did away with most of them years ago."  
  
Spawn narrowed his eyes at this and chuckled. "I'm no hero."  
  
Ryu smirked at this. "Oh? You certainly look the part."  
  
"Appearances can be deceiving," he replied calmly.  
  
"No matter, I'll just get rid of you either way," said Ryu calmly.  
  
"Oh? Planning to kill me are you?" said Spawn as he spread his feet apart.  
  
"Those are my orders," said the man with a shrug. "You understand."  
  
"Who would order... Oh my. You work for Ranma Saotome don't you?" said Spawn as he seemed to realize what was going on. He didn't appear to be very surprised by this though.  
  
"That's right," said the man as he grinned back at the thing for a moment.  
  
"It doesn't matter, you can't kill me," said Spawn as he relaxed his stance.  
  
"Why not?" asked Ryu.  
  
"I won't say just yet," replied the thing. "Funny thing about running into you. I was just looking for someone who could tell me a little bit about this place."  
  
"I'm not going to allow you to let you live long enough to ask anything anyway," said Ryu as he moved into a fighting stance.  
  
"That's okay. I was planning on torturing you to find out anyway," said Spawn.  
  
Ryu backed away as the heavy looking chains around the thing's waist seemed to come to life, snaking through the air around its body. The cape fluttered in a non-existent wind behind it and it crossed its arms in front of its chest.  
  
"Take this! Demon God Assault..." the man's attack was cut short as his opponent vanished from in front of him suddenly. A sharp burning pain in the back of his neck suddenly cut off his breathing and he found himself dangling off the side of the building.  
  
"What? This is..." he gasped as he struggled in the iron grip of the newcomer.  
  
"First, I have to make sure you can't just land when I drop you," said Spawn as he lashed out with his foot twice.   
  
Ryu screamed in pain as he felt his shins snap like twigs from behind.  
  
"Now. Is there any resistance? Anyone who opposes Ranma Saotome?" asked the thing almost cheerfully.  
  
"What? No one with enough strength to matter!" replied the boy angrily. He was able to breathe again at least.  
  
"Where?" asked the thing coldly.  
  
"If we knew that, we'd have destroyed them already!" growled Ryu through the pain.  
  
"Ranma has allies. Who are they?" asked Spawn.  
  
"Everyone knows that!" snarled Ryu.  
  
"I've been away for a while, humor me," said the thing as he shook him a little and got the desired response.  
  
Ryu screamed in terror and clutched the thing's arm. "The Youma Lords!" he gasped.  
  
"Oh?" said Spawn. "Is that all?"  
  
"I've told you everything! Let me go!" cried the man desperately.  
  
"Tell me one more thing, and I'll release you," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"What?" growled the man angrily.  
  
"Is that where I can find Ranma Saotome?" Spawn nodded towards the tower.  
  
"Yes!" gasped Ryu in frustration. "Now pull me back!"  
  
"I said I'd release you, I never said anything about pulling you back onto the roof," said Spawn calmly.  
  
"What?!" cried Ryu right before Ranma let him go and calmly watched him plummet to the ground below.  
  
"Why did we do that?" muttered Ranma in horror.  
  
"Because he lied to us," said Carrot calmly. "Ranma has more allies than the Youma Lords."  
  
"What?" muttered Ranma in shock.  
  
"I can feel the presence of some familiar dark power," said Carrot with a hint of anger in his voice.  
  
"You can feel it?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"You can't?" asked Carrot.  
  
"No...I..."  
  
"Wait a minute!" gasped Carrot in horror. "We'd be together, but different! That's what she said!"  
  
"Huh?" muttered Ranma in confusion. He gasped when his costume seemed to melt away from his body, pulling off of his torso. It turned to look at him for a moment, completely empty on the inside.   
  
"Shit," said the costume as it frowned at him somehow.  
  
They merged together once again and jumped off of the rooftop into the street. "Still alive?" he commented as he saw Ryu dragging himself out of a crater a few yards away.  
  
"What do you want?" said the man as he looked up at the intimidating figure painfully.  
  
Ranma smirked beneath his mask and winked at the boy while wagging his finger at him. "Now that...is a secret." With that, he vanished into the shadows leaving Ryu alone.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Nerima Ward. There was hardly anything left of the place. Little more than the shells of buildings remained behind, with a few shops and homes having only partial roofs.   
  
Standing in the middle of a familiar road, Ranma glanced around and frowned. "Tofu's place," he said as he nodded towards the remains of the clinic. "Let's go."  
  
"Why are we going in here?" asked Ranma in confusion.   
  
"Curiosity," replied Carrot as their eyes adjusted to the darkness easily. "There's someone in here."  
  
Ranma was about to say something when Carrot intervened. "Let me. Hello, you'd best just come out. I'd rather not have to dig you out of this mess."  
  
A scraggly looking older man stepped out from his hiding place behind a medicine cabinet. "Who are you?" He wore an old brown dogi, and a pair of glasses. He was a tired looking man, who's long ponytail was starting to gray. Tofu, the man still lived there.  
  
"The others as well," said Carrot coldly as he forced his eyes to glow green for a moment.  
  
Tofu rushed forward, screaming a battle cry in anger.   
  
The attack was stopped easily by the intimidating thing as it grabbed him by both wrists with a swipe of his hand held him in the air. Ranma was now about seven feet tall, and it was easily done. "Calm down."  
  
Tofu growled under his breath and struggled for a moment, kicking the thing with his feet.  
  
"I'm not going to hurt you, or anyone in here. At least, not yet," said Carrot calmly.  
  
Tofu paused. "What do you mean 'yet'?"  
  
"I don't particularly care about you," said Ranma as he glanced around the darkened room and noticed a few figures were hiding in the edge of the shadows, watching the battle in silent horror. "I can also see quite well in the dark, none of you fools are hiding from me."  
  
There was a collective gasp from within the shadows and Ranma threw the doctor aside. "Behave yourself for a moment, and I may help you."  
  
"Help me?" stammered the doctor. He narrowed his eyes and stood up. "What can you do to help me?"  
  
"I can heal those wounded people you're trying so hard to protect Doctor. Particularly, the one who is about to die."  
  
Tofu stepped back and frowned. "Stay away from them."  
  
Ranma ignored him and walked into the shadows, a growing green light forming in his palm. "Hello my friend," he said as he shoved aside the cowering man and child who had moved in front of the dying woman protectively.   
  
She screamed in agony as he placed his hands on her, the wounds that were hidden by the shadows closing quickly as they glowed with a green light. "Hurts, don't it?" he asked her jokingly as he moved away.  
  
Tofu rushed him from behind, grabbing his arm and trying to force it up and away from her. The healing was completed though and Ranma turned to face the man, ignoring his attack casually. "If you're quite finished Tofu, I'll get to why I've come here."  
  
The doctor backed away, frowning at him. "Who are you? What are you?"  
  
"Heh. It's a secret," replied Ranma calmly. "In any case, you've been here for a while now. I'd wager a little over twenty years."  
  
Finally showing a bit of spine, several of the people in the shadows rushed out, attacking the newcomer with anything they could get their hands on. Crutches, scalpels, even bedpans. The attack wasn't even avoided, the thing's cape reached out and subdued them by growing and splitting into strips to grab their limbs and necks.   
  
"I saved that woman's life, you owe me a little civility at least," said Ranma calmly as he looked at them.  
  
"Let them go!" cried Tofu in anger.  
  
"I'm not hurting them," replied Ranma calmly. "I'll release them when I leave. I'd rather not have to do this more than once."  
  
"What do you want here?" growled Tofu as he backed away.  
  
"Information," said Ranma calmly as he eyed the man cautiously. "Would you mind not moving any closer to that tray of needles doctor. You'll find they aren't very effective against me anyway."  
  
Tofu frowned and finally sat down on a worn looking chair. "Who are you?"  
  
"I am called Spawn. My mission here is a secret," said Ranma as he looked down at the man and refused to sit down when offered a seat opposite the doctor.  
  
"I can't give you any information, whatever it is you want to know, I can't help you," said the man as he shook his head slowly from side to side and seemed to calm down a bit. The people in the thing's cape had stopped struggling and were starting to calm as they realized that it wasn't causing them any pain, it was just holding them.  
  
"You don't know what I want," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"You're here to take on Ranma Saotome, that's obvious; either that or you're working for him. Either way, there's nothing I would know that would be of any use to you. I'm just a doctor, taking care of what's left of humanity in this burnt out place. That's probably why he hasn't bothered us."  
  
"You call this not bothering you?" said Ranma in amusement as he looked around.  
  
"After the attack from the sky that caused all this, they left us alone for the most part. Killing those strong enough to oppose them, and anyone who tried to rebuild anything. As long as we left things as they were, and simply lived quietly, they didn't bother us. We're even allowed to farm. Not that it does us any good, weather is too unpredictable, and the ground is scorched. Fallout also hurts the weather, not as bad as a Nuclear attack would have been, but still enough to keep us from growing much of anything."  
  
"Attack from the sky?" said Ranma in confusion.  
  
"What?" muttered Tofu dumbly as he looked at the thing for a moment. "If you're going to mock us, just get out now!"  
  
Ranma raised his arm, and a dozen six-inch spikes shot from his costume along the forearm. "I can do this with any part of my clothing."  
  
Tofu caught the implied threat and settled back into his seat again.  
  
Ranma sighed and crossed his arms after retracting the spikes. "I've been elsewhere for the last twenty years or so. I missed out on a lot apparently."  
  
Tofu looked up at him and frowned. "Elsewhere?"  
  
"None of your business. Tell me what happened."  
  
"Around twenty years ago, Ranma Saotome was the head of a large security corporation. His activity during that time is largely unknown, even today. One day, he just went nuts. He killed most of his partners and employees. A few tried to fight him off; he was too strong though. Eventually, he killed or beat them all."  
  
"Some of these people are still alive?" asked Ranma calmly.  
  
Tofu looked up at him and frowned.  
  
"I won't ask who they are Tofu, I'm not an idiot, and I know you wouldn't tell me even if I did," said the thing calmly.  
  
"Yes, a few of them survived," said the doctor calmly.   
  
"Continue," said Ranma icily.  
  
"Right," grumbled the doctor in irritation. "As I was saying. They basically took over the planet, him and those monsters of his. He picked up a few allies here and there. Most of them are dead now too. He killed them when they got a little too ambitious."  
  
"Interesting," said Ranma as he nodded at this. "Who works for him now?"  
  
"No one really knows who they are," said Tofu. "If you see them, you've done something to piss them off. You don't live long enough to tell anyone what you've learned. There are rumors...that one of them used to be one of the Sailor Senshi. No one knows for sure."  
  
"That seems, doubtful," said Ranma as he narrowed his eyes a little.  
  
"Yeah, well..." Tofu sighed and hung his head. "He's a busy man. Doesn't bother with the likes of us these days. Once they used the starships to destroy the military and most of the population, they just ignored us."  
  
"Starships?" said Ranma with a frown on his face.  
  
"Yeah. They have an armada of ships in orbit. No one knows where they came from. Some people think he's some sort of alien, and had all this planned. Others think they were built here in secret. No one knows for sure."  
  
"That...hmmm..." Ranma looked thoughtful and motioned for the man to continue.  
  
"After that, they never used them again," said Tofu. "No one is sure why. Most likely because they're so strong that they don't need them anymore. Once the bulk of us were gone, it was just a matter of keeping population at a controllable level. Not very difficult with things the way they are."  
  
"Most interesting," said Ranma as he nodded. "Do you know how many he has with him? High ranking officials or whatever."  
  
"I wouldn't call them officials," said Tofu calmly. "They ignore us, like I said. Occasionally, one will come out and wipe out a martial artist or two, or some sort of uprising. That's rare though, there's not really anything to rebel against. They don't oppress us, just ignore us."  
  
"Well, someone lives in that tower. They have to eat something," said Ranma calmly as he looked over his shoulder.  
  
"There aren't many of them in there. Occasionally, a ship will land there. We think it's a supply ship, possibly going to another place on the planet to get food, or bringing supplies from another planet. No one really knows. It could be worse in other countries. We have no means of communicating with anyone. I'd imagine no one does."  
  
"Anyone tried to sail to somewhere else?" asked Ranma as he narrowed his eyes at the man in a sort of thoughtful manner.  
  
"Of course. They are never heard from again in most cases," said Tofu with a small shrug. "We think that's one of the things they won't let us do."  
  
"There are no laws?" said Ranma in a slightly surprised tone.  
  
"We're sort of village commune. Less than a thousand people in any given area. More than that, and they get nervous and people start dying."  
  
"Total control then," said Ranma with a small sigh. "That's got to be difficult to keep up."  
  
"Not particularly. Many women are sterile now, we think it's from a mild sort of radiation from the blasts they used to destroy the cities. Those that do have children don't have many. There's not enough food to sustain us otherwise."  
  
"Humanity has been pushed back a few thousand years," said Ranma with a small shrug.   
  
"That's a simple way of putting it, yes," said Tofu.  
  
"What of those who once lived here?" said Ranma suddenly.  
  
"Huh?" muttered the doctor in confusion.  
  
"I was once a resident of this place," said Ranma calmly. "That is all I will say. I am curious as to...who did not survive."  
  
Tofu frowned as the thing's face fell. He could see it even with the mask covering his features.  
  
"Who?" asked the man calmly.  
  
"The Tendo family, the Kuno family, Masaki family, Saotome family..." Ranma looked up at the man and noticed a scowl on his face.  
  
"Oh. I see," said Ranma with a small chuckle in answer to the glare. "Those are some of the ones who you speak of, who may have survived. I won't press you then."  
  
Tofu looked surprised at this announcement.   
  
"I've learned all I need too," said Ranma as he walked by the man and put his hand on his shoulder as he passed. "Take care of yourself Doctor."  
  
"Right," muttered Tofu in confusion. After the thing left he turned to look at the way it had gone. "Who was that? How did he know who I was? What is he? There was no...no life in him..."  
  
Ranma appeared behind him again, melting from the shadows. "It's a secret," he replied as he melted back into the darkness.  
  
Tofu was lying on his back clutching at his chest as he gasped in surprised shock.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma frowned to himself as he walked along the shattered sidewalk. Beside him was the shattered remains of the Tendo Dojo. It was simply gone.  
  
"This really sucks," said Ranma.  
  
"You're tellin me?" said Carrot in retort. "Look, he's up to something."  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Our other self, he's up to something big. This population control, it's...too much. It's only a short-term solution. Even he wouldn't be able to keep it up long. Not unless he swept the entire planet every few years and killed everyone. Even then, he couldn't find every place people could hide."  
  
"I think I get it. He can't...right?" said Ranma as he seemed to understand.  
  
"That's right, there's just no way to do it. Especially if he's ignoring what's going on like Tofu said."  
  
"So? What's that mean?" grumbled Ranma irritably.  
  
"I don't know," said Carrot in frustration. "Come on. We've got to train ourselves, and learn all we can."  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Kumon. What a state you're in," said the blonde woman who sat on the throne and smirked at the pathetic man who was crawling across the ground in front of her painfully.  
  
"Help me! Damn it! Don't just look at me!" snapped the man.  
  
"Why should I?" she snorted in disgust. "You failed, and it was a rather pathetic failure at that."  
  
"Something beat him," said a low voice with a slightly angry edge to it. "Baka. You had better have a good explanation for this."  
  
"Oh. Hello darling," said the blonde woman as she turned to face Ranma Saotome. He was standing in the doorway, wearing a black kung fu outfit. It was simple and comfortable looking, but fit his body loosely. A long four-foot ponytail hung down his back, and his face was only that of a twenty five-year-old man.  
  
"Kumon, explain yourself," said Ranma calmly as he strolled across the hallway and sat down next to the woman.   
  
"We should kill him, just for being so pathetic," said the woman with a rough sounding snort.  
  
"Tochi, shut up," said Ranma in annoyance.  
  
"Of course," said the woman with a small frown on her face.  
  
"It was some sort of idiot in a costume," growled Ryu as he looked up at the man and grit his teeth. "Broke both my legs and dropped me off the side of a building."  
  
"Who was he?" asked Ranma.  
  
"I don't know, I've never seen him before," said Ryu as he looked aside in disgust. "He was very strong."  
  
"Strong huh?" muttered Ranma to himself. "Well, it shouldn't pose too much of a problem."  
  
"Right," growled Ryu angrily.  
  
"I'll send out Hotaru," said Ranma with a shrug.   
  
"You failed," said Tochi as she looked down at the man with an angry snarl. "Beaten by some costumed buffoon!"  
  
"Calm down," said Ranma as he glared at her again. "He was obviously in over his head."  
  
Ryu frowned at this, but said nothing. He hung his head and touched the floor with his forehead. It was disgusting to him, they simply tossed him into the room on his belly after he'd returned and left him there. He couldn't stand or kneel in his condition.  
  
"We have no use for such weakness," argued Tochi coldly.  
  
"Ha! He's still useful," said Ranma. "Weak compared to this newcomer or not. There aren't many humans as strong as he is, he can still be used to keep them in line."  
  
"I won't fail you again," said Ryu in anger.   
  
"I know you won't," said Ranma with a small shrug. "If you run into this man again, you are to escape and find help. Don't try to do it alone again."  
  
The man merely nodded and Ranma motioned for the armored guards standing off to the side to take him away. "Get him fixed up, then kick him out. He's got work to do."  
  
"Why did you let him live?" said Tochi as she looked at him in confusion.  
  
"I'm not so stupid as to weaken my own forces. Ryu won't fail on purpose, and he's not dumb enough to try and stab me in the back."  
  
"I sometimes wonder if Beryl really was your mother," said Tochi with a small snort.  
  
"Heh," said Ranma as he stared forward and waited.  
  
"What do you want? I'm busy," said Hotaru as she strolled into the room and glared at the pair hatefully. She was a beautiful looking woman with short cut black hair that ended just above her shoulders. Her lithe form was clothed in a black leather fuku and the Silence Glave was resting lazily in her right hand.  
  
"Ah. Konichiwa! Hotaru-chan," said Ranma as he stood up and smiled at her warmly.  
  
"Don't call me that! I've told you about that," said the woman icily.  
  
"Oh, very well. Nine-chan then," corrected Ranma.  
  
"What is it?" she snapped, not bothering to correct him. She knew it would be futile anyway.  
  
"We have a problem, someone new has shown up. I want them dealt with," said Ranma as he walked up next to her and forcefully grabbed her hand and walked her over to the large window that took up most of the east wall.  
  
"Send some of those Amazon women then," said the angry looking woman as she snatched her hand back after they had reached the place. "I'm busy."  
  
His hand snapped out and grabbed a handful of her hair, he pulled back forcefully and she grunted in pain. "Don't forget who is in charge here."  
  
"Yes. Not you," she replied calmly as she stared him in the eyes.  
  
"Oh, all right. I don't feel like trying to bully you into it anyway," said Ranma with a shrug. "You're still going though. This is something that should be taken care of right away."  
  
"Why not send that brat of yours then?" said Hotaru angrily.  
  
"Because, you're stronger," he replied calmly. "I want this to be out of our hair."  
  
"The brat should be enough," said Hotaru as she turned away.  
  
"Let me get this straight, you want me to send the weakest of my most powerful soldiers, then move up to the stronger ones like some sort of step system?"  
  
"That's right!" snapped Hotaru. "I'm tired of dealing with every Yahoo that comes along and irritates us by getting a little to strong for comfort!"  
  
"No," said Ranma calmly. "You'll go and deal with it, and you'll do it now. Otanoshimi kudasai." He slapped her rear and pointed towards the door.  
  
Hotaru narrowed her eyes at him. "Fine."  
  
"Think of it as stress relief," said Ranma cheerfully as he waved at her. She stormed out of the room in a huff and left the pair alone.  
  
"She seems angry," commented Tochi casually.  
  
"She fights better that way," replied Ranma with a small shrug. "Kinda pathetic really, all that training I did when she was little was wasted on that dumb bitch."  
  
"Still, she is useful," said the blonde casually as she played with her hair for a moment and shrugged.  
  
"That she is," agreed Ranma.  
  
"Sir!" said one of the guards who walked into the room.   
  
"Nani?" grumbled Ranma with a small frown on his face.  
  
"We found an intruder on the first floor," said the guard as he saluted the man.  
  
"Oh?"   
  
"Yes sir. This man," said the guard as two more men brought in a young man with brown hair and striking blue eyes. He had a scar running across the bridge of his nose and was staring at him hatefully.  
  
"What was he doing in here?" asked Ranma as he arched his eyebrow.  
  
"We aren't sure, his friends are being interrogated as we speak," said the guard.  
  
"Friends?" said Ranma as he looked at the guard again.  
  
"Yes sir. There were three of them, a young woman, a little boy, and this one."  
  
"Why bother only bringing one of them to me?" asked Ranma.  
  
"This one seemed particularly interested in speaking with you," said the guard calmly as he stepped aside.  
  
Ranma walked over to where the prisoner was being held and looked down at him. "Yes? What is it that you want? You know you're going to spend the rest of your rather short life in a very small cell now."  
  
"Bastard! I'll kill you!" snarled the boy as he struggled in the guard's grip for a moment. After he couldn't escape, he spit at the man and growled when he moved aside to avoid being hit calmly.   
  
"Oro? Whatever for?" asked Ranma in mock confusion.  
  
"You! You killed my mother, my sister, and my fiancee!" growled the boy hatefully. "I'll have my revenge! Just you wait!"  
  
Ranma looked up at the guard and sighed. "Kill his friends, right now. All of them."  
  
The boy looked at him in horror. "Wha?"  
  
Ranma pulled a gun from behind his back and promptly blew his brains out. "Shimatta! These angst ridden hero types certainly are annoying." He looked up at the guard and frowned. "Are his friends dead yet?"  
  
"Yessir!" he replied nervously as he gave a salute as he pulled his radio away from his ear.  
  
"Excellent. Make sure, if they aren't, call me before you try to apprehend them," said Ranma as he turned back towards his throne calmly.   
  
"You're to nervous," said Tochi as she stood up and began to rub on his shoulders.  
  
"It's better to err on the side of caution," said Ranma calmly.  
  
The woman bent down and kissed him deeply. "This is why he trusts you with these things I suppose."  
  
Ranma merely nodded, a smirk forming on his face. "Perhaps Kuno will enjoy going out for a hunt himself. I've got a bad feeling about this one."  
  
"You worry too much, I'll help you forget all about this," said the woman as she smiled at him. It was inhuman, almost splitting her face in half with rows of jagged teeth.  
  
Ranma sighed. "Only if you wipe that stupid grin off of your face. I told you about doing that to me, it kills the mood."  
  
"It's my true form," she said with a small playful pout.  
  
"I only care about how you look now," snorted Ranma as he grabbed her by her waist and grinned at her. "Beauty is only skin deep, and you're damn ugly that way."  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Well, what have we here?" Ranma arched his eyebrow as he moved into the shadows on the outskirts of Nerima.   
  
Three familiar looking women stood in the middle of the street. They were poised as guards. He melted away into the darkness completely, passing by them unnoticed. "They're too young..." said Ranma to himself as he moved closer.  
  
One of them turned her head and frowned. "Halt!"  
  
Her companions moved in unison, scanning the area.  
  
"What is it?" asked one of them.  
  
"I thought I saw someone," muttered the girl as she turned back to guarding again.  
  
"You did," said Ranma as he looked down on them from the top of a nearby rooftop.  
  
The trio gasped and stepped away from him in shock. "Who are you?" challenged the one who had seen him.  
  
"Oh my. Spotting me is quite impressive my dear," said the thing that stared back at them. "I do believe those are the uniforms of the Senshi. You're not the Senshi I remember though."  
  
The girls backed away from him defensively.  
  
One of them staggered forward again, challenging him. "I asked you a question!"  
  
"I don't feel like answering it," he replied with a shrug. "Now. You're too high spirited to be the young Ami of my memories. Her chest was a lot smaller too..."  
  
The girl got an enraged and embarrassed flush on her face. "What?"  
  
"What do you want here?" she growled.  
  
"Nothing really, I'm just passing through," said Ranma casually, he leaned back so that he was lying along the top of the roof. "Maybe."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" snapped the blonde who moved up beside her companion.   
  
"Oh! Another one! You must be Minako's child, how quaint!" said the thing as it sat up in a rather contemplative pose. "And you, you must be dear Makoto's loving daughter!"  
  
The quiet girl stepped ahead of her friends. "You knew my mother?" There was a sort of hope there.  
  
"Didn't make it did she? That's too bad," said Ranma as he frowned at her.  
  
"What? How dare you!" snapped the girl as electric energy crackled around her.  
  
"Temper!" chided Ranma playfully as he wagged his finger at her. A green curve of light formed along the path of his finger in the air. "You don't want to wake everyone up do you?"  
  
"Who is this guy?" said the new Mercury.  
  
"I suppose you should call me something," said the thing playfully. "Spawn seems fitting. I might hang around a bit, seeing as you've managed to catch my attention."  
  
"He's a real jerk!" snapped Jupiter as she glared at him.  
  
"What's going on here?" said a new voice.  
  
The trio of girls spun around to look at the thirty something woman who stood in the middle of the street.  
  
"Hmm?" muttered Ranma as he turned to see a very familiar figure glaring up at him. "Usagi? But...that's stupid! Why wouldn't he..."  
  
"Who are you?" she demanded as she stepped out of the shadows and into clearer view.  
  
Ranma felt a shudder run down his spine at what he saw. He suppressed it and kept a somewhat amused looking smirk on his face that was visible through the mask. "You must be Usagi, or should I say, Sailor Moon." The woman turned her head towards him, two dead sockets staring back at him from where her eyes used to be. She had a worn looking cane in her hand as well.  
  
"Don't you dare call her that! You monster!" snapped the new Venus hotly.  
  
"Oh? Well I apologize then, I didn't know it was a soft spot," said Ranma with a small shrug.  
  
"Who is this?" asked Usagi.  
  
"He says his name is Spawn. He knows our parent's names," said Mercury as she walked up to the woman's side.  
  
"He seems familiar," said Usagi as she continued to stare off into space.  
  
"Would you mind looking in another direction. That's very unsettling," said Ranma calmly as he jumped down to the street. He kept his distance though, opting to stay close to the shadows.  
  
"I'm sure," replied the woman as she followed him with her face and frowned. "What do you want?"  
  
"I suppose I could just tell you, but it would be more fun to wait and watch for a while," said Ranma as he began to move into the shadows. "Don't worry, you'll be seeing me around."  
  
"That sounds like a reason to worry to me," said Usagi coldly. She moved towards him fearlessly, with a grace that was very disturbing to him.  
  
"Not the klutz you used to be I see," he commented.  
  
"Hiding in the shadows from me is useless," she said with her frown deepening.  
  
"I'm not hiding, the shadows just feel better for me," he replied calmly. "Besides, your friends are a bit nervous. I wouldn't want them attacking a poor traveler for no reason."  
  
"I see," said Usagi as she turned her head in the direction of the girls for a moment. "Calm down, all of you."  
  
The trio reluctantly complied and hung back, waiting and ready.  
  
"Now. Who are you? I don't remember anyone named Spawn. You seem familiar though, and you know me."  
  
"Who I am? Well, that's been asked a lot today. I'm kind of tired of answering it," said Ranma with a small chuckle.  
  
"Tell me who you are, and perhaps we can offer you a bed, and some food," said Usagi with her face growing lighter.  
  
"Many thanks good lady, but I don't belong with you," he replied. "I prefer keeping my own bed thanks."  
  
"As you wish," she said as she turned away from him. "I'll have to ask you to pick someplace outside of this village though. We don't know you."  
  
"I'd planned on it anyway, people are annoying. You're as kind as ever, even if you do have the motive of keeping an eye on me in your offer. It's really your most irritating trait, makes it hard to dislike you."  
  
Usagi paused and seemed to look at him again, as impossible as that was.  
  
"Before I leave, I have a question for you," said Ranma from the shadows.  
  
"What is it?" muttered Usagi absently.  
  
"Why aren't you dead? You're a rather nasty threat to him," said the thing. She could almost hear his smirk. "Those girls as well. Leaving senshi around is rather stupid, especially after he went to all this trouble."  
  
Usagi faced him again. This time her face was a mask of barely contained rage. "Don't ever ask that of me again. Demon!"  
  
"Heh. Closer than you think!" said Ranma as his presence faded away, his entire being melting into the shadows completely.  
  
"No way!" muttered Venus.  
  
"That was an interesting trick," said Mercury.  
  
"Is he the enemy?" asked Jupiter nervously.  
  
Usagi smiled slightly at the memories that question brought back. "Perhaps, perhaps not. Maybe he can tell us."  
  
Ranma chuckled as he appeared on the other side of them, from a different set of shadows. "I thought as much. You've developed the ability to sense the presence of others. Most impressive for a brain dead klutz."  
  
"I'm impressed that you hung around to find out," countered Usagi. Her face was serious once again. "You still haven't answered my question."  
  
"Now that...is a secret," replied Ranma as he vanished again, this time for good.  
  
"Man, he is a jerk," growled Jupiter.  
  
"Remain on guard, call for help if he returns again," said Usagi as she started walking back into the village again.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"What's with you?" asked Ranma as they rested in the branches of a tree near the edge of the village. "You're acting all weird today."  
  
"I'm making the best of our situation," said Carrot calmly. "It's fun to watch them react to me saying that."  
  
"Why don't we just get their help?" asked Ranma in frustration. "That was Usagi! Those girls were Senshi!"  
  
"We don't know how useful they might be," said Carrot. "I'd rather hang around and observe things for a while. There's no hurry."  
  
"What about that energy thing?" grumbled Ranma.  
  
"We only have to worry about that if we end up fighting. I plan to avoid that as much as possible. Remember our real target," said Carrot coldly. "Whatever happens, he's our objective in the end. Any minions he might have gotten are just a bonus."  
  
"Hotaru, she's coming isn't she?" said Ranma as he frowned and looked up at the sky for a moment.  
  
"Yeah. That bitch Mistress Nine has her," confirmed Carrot. "We'll have to ask her about that when she gets here."  
  
"Yeah," grumbled Ranma in irritation. "D'ya think he'll recognize us?"  
  
"Probably, he'll think it's still all four of us most likely," said Carrot as the looked at the stars through the branches above them. "We should use that to our advantage, but facing him now would be a bad idea. It's better if he doesn't know who we are right away. If he sees us, he'll most likely put it together pretty quickly."  
  
"So, we avoid him for now?" said Ranma in disgust.  
  
"Yup. That'd be the best way to do this," agreed Carrot.  
  
"I hate it when we have to sneak around!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Yeah I know. You like facing your problems and all that crap right?"  
  
"Damn right! Why can't we just..."  
  
"Barge in and get ourselves killed?" said Carrot.  
  
"Well...no, but..."  
  
"I'd like to have some idea about what it is we're facing," said Carrot.  
  
"Yeah. I get it, I guess," grumbled Ranma. "Get offa me."  
  
"Huh?" muttered Carrot as he complied. "What is it?"  
  
Ranma decked him and sent him spiraling to the ground. The costume landed in a clump of cloth and remained there for a moment. "Man, that felt so damn good."  
  
"Ouch! You asshole!" snapped Carrot as he sat up and looked up at him. Ranma laughed out loud, he looked ridiculous, like some sort of two-dimensional man sitting on the ground.  
  
"Yeah! Well live with it ya jerk! I'm lettin you off easy!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Die!" cried Carrot as he jumped up and attacked Ranma, slapping him silly and sending him down to the ground as well. It was difficult to make a good fist as thin as he was.  
  
"Hey!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Come on punk!" growled Carrot as he jumped down and landed on top of the undead thing below him, covering him like a canvas.  
  
Ranma grunted in pain as he felt hundreds of blows all around him, punching his body everywhere. "Damn you!" he cried as he punched up and managed to knock the wind out of the attacking costume.  
  
They fell to the ground roughly, Ranma struggling with the cloth as the battle raged on.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Several hours later...  
  
"Are you done yet?" gasped Ranma as he looked at the limp costume lying across his belly and slapping at him weakly.   
  
"Yeah. I hope you learned your lesson from that ass whooping I gave you!" snarled Carrot.  
  
"Hey! I kicked your ass!" snapped Ranma angrily. He would have attacked, but found himself unable to move.  
  
Carrot reared back once more, and decked him with a particularly hard slap across his face.   
  
"Right, we'll call it a draw then," said Ranma.  
  
Carrot slumped down on top of him again, unable to move. "Right. Damn you're ugly."  
  
"How come I'm tired?" grumbled Ranma. "I thought dead things didn't get tired."  
  
"How the hell should I know. All I know about this is stuff I read out of some comic book. Your guess is as good as mine."  
  
"Oh," said Ranma numbly as he passed out.  
  
Carrot followed right after him, giving a small laugh. "I win..."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Evil Ranma is using Gratuitous Japanese on purpose. I'm trying to keep it kind of light, so that it doesn't detract too much from the story. Here's a list of definitions for those who are curious.  
  
Nani = What?  
  
Baka = Dummy, idiot.  
  
Shimatta = Damn it!  
  
Otanoshimi kudasai! = Have a good time!  



	46. Insertion Part 46

Insertion  
  
Part 46  
  
The Hunted  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"What are we going to do today, Carrot?" asked Ranma as they watched the sun rise in the distance.  
  
"The same thing we do every day, Ranma," replied the costume calmly.  
  
"Huh? What's that?" muttered the undead thing in confusion.  
  
"Try to take over the world!" said Carrot as he stood up and pointed at the sky dramatically.  
  
"We do that ever day?" muttered Ranma as he thought about it.  
  
"Never mind, come on," grumbled Carrot as he started moving them towards the village again.  
  
"Where are we going? Why back this way?"  
  
"I want to keep an eye on this place," said Carrot calmly.  
  
"We're gonna go see Usagi?" asked Ranma.  
  
"No, we're going to avoid her. She can sense us. I want to do a little spying," said Carrot.  
  
"Oh," said the undead thing with a small shrug. "Okay."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Just outside the village, they looked down at themselves for a moment and frowned. "We need a disguise. People will notice us like this."  
  
"Well duh," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"Shut up, I'm going to try and disguise us," said Carrot. They shimmered for a moment and shifted forms. They now appeared to be a rather wimpy looking black man in a dirty cloak.  
  
"Asian! I want to look like an Asian!" grumbled Carrot. "Damn. I can't turn into anything but this."  
  
"Huh?" muttered Ranma as he looked at their hands for a moment. "Well, it's still better than before."  
  
"Not by much, we'll still stick out like a sore thumb. We're taller than everyone else is, even if not as much as before. Plus, there probably aren't a whole lot of non-Japanese nationals left."  
  
"Most of the foreigners would have been military," said Ranma, as he seemed to understand.   
  
"Right, the first ones to be killed," agreed Carrot. "It should do if we don't try and speak to anyone. Just sort of linger around, and see what we can hear. Don't forget this won't hide us from Usagi. It's only superficial."  
  
"Right," grumbled Ranma.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
The inside of the village was surprisingly busy. There were more than a few hundred people wandering around in the early morning. It wasn't that difficult for them to stay out of sight for the most part. None of the rubble or decimated buildings were cleared away. They could still hide in the shadows and be near the people in most cases, but still had to move through the streets a little in order to navigate. Most of the people didn't notice them; those that did gave them a small frown and ignored them. It probably wasn't unusual to have drifters pass through.  
  
The information they had managed to get was mostly useless banter between talkative women. Some of the relationships within the village, love and rivalries between people he'd never heard of. One group of women were talking about how nice it was to be safe in times like these. The conversation drifted to how brave the new senshi were. Ranma discovered that there were now four of them left. Usagi seemed to be some sort of political figure as well, judging by the few times he'd heard her name dropped in various conversations.  
  
The oddest thing was, the village didn't appear to be in hiding at all. The senshi were spoken of openly, no one seemed very fearful of attack of any kind. "This is strange," muttered Carrot to himself.  
  
"What?" whispered Ranma.  
  
"If I was a spy for you know who, I'd know about the senshi, Usagi, and probably a lot more before I went back and reported," said Carrot calmly. "I'm betting he knows about this place, and who's here."  
  
"So?" grumbled Ranma.  
  
"This place is dangerous to him. Four Senshi, one we haven't seen yet. Usagi, who to his credit is blind and not Sailor Moon anymore...but still..."  
  
"Maybe he just doesn't care," said Ranma with a small shrug. "He beat or killed everyone else right?" There was a hint of anger in his voice as he said this.  
  
"Maybe, or maybe there's a reason he doesn't have to fear them," said Carrot carefully.  
  
"You think they're working for him?" muttered Ranma dumbly.  
  
"No. I think that he's got his hands on something that keeps them in line," said Carrot.   
  
"What?" said Ranma as he blinked and tried to think about it.  
  
"Probably the Silver Imperium Crystal," said Carrot with a small sigh. "More bad news for us."  
  
"So...what do we do now?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Time to see if we can find the boss now," said Carrot as he backed into an alleyway and vanished into the darkness, or more precisely, he tried to.   
  
A beam of light shined on him and he shielded his face from it.  
  
"Why would you be looking for me?" said a stern sounding female voice.  
  
"Who?" muttered Ranma as he backed into the wall and slowly lowered his hands, allowing his eyes to adjust. "Well, well. Who have we here?"  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
A figure appeared in a flash of light in the middle of an unoccupied area of Tokyo. It was a woman with long red hair, she was dressed in dirty looking clothes and wore an old looking brown cloak on her body. She glanced around and smirked. "Back on Earth again." Angela, the angelic warrior stood proudly, overlooking the sunrise and simply watched it for a moment.  
  
She looked down at her feet and smiled at the assortment of weapons that was there. Various guns and a few hand grenades. "Using my powers would be a bad idea this time, at least until I can find this thing," she reminded herself absently as she kneeled down and began to put them on. She smirked as she did so, loading each gun as she strapped it onto her body somewhere, either on the holsters at her hips, or using the arm slings on them.  
  
"Dakishimeta kokoro no KOSUMO  
atsuku moyase kiseki wo okose  
kizutsuita mama ja inai to  
chikai atta haruka na ginga."  
  
She began putting shells into a shotgun and continued to sing cheerfully.  
  
"PEGASASU FANTAJI- sou sa yume dake wa  
daremo mo ubaenai kokoro no tsubasa dakara  
SEINTO Seiya shounen wa minna  
SEINTO Seiya ashita no yuusha oh yeah  
SEINTO Seiya PEGASASU no you ni  
SEINTO Seiya ima koso habatake."  
  
Twirling the weapon skillfully on her finger, she flipped it onto a holster that hung from her back and put on two bandoleers of shotgun shells and the hand grenades while humming the instrumental to the song to herself.  
  
"Doko made mo kagayaku sora ni  
omae dake no seiza wo mezase  
sono hi made makerarenai sa  
inochi kakete idonda BATORU."  
  
Finally, she stood up and dusted off her pants lazily, walking into the city with a dark smirk on her face, singing as she went.  
  
"PEGASASU FANTAJI- daremo ga yume miru  
jiyuu to iu tsubasa hiroge kakete yuke  
SEINTO Seiya shounen wa minna  
SEINTO Seiya kodoku na senshi oh yeah  
SEINTO Seiya PEGASASU no you ni  
SEINTO Seiya ima koso habatake..."  
  
She paused and looked up in alarm, something zoomed over her head. She dove to the ground rolling on her back with a handgun in her grip as it sailed overhead. "Shit! Did they spot me?"  
  
A woman in a black leather fuku blasted by, ignoring her completely as he continued on her way.  
  
"Saturn," muttered Angela as she stood up again and watched her fade into the city. "Apparently my friend has attracted some attention of its own." She frowned a little at the thought of it. She was hoping to avoid any entanglements with the new rulers of the planet. It wasn't her job to deal with them after all, at least, not yet. Shrugging her shoulders she continued to walk towards her target.  
  
"PEGASASU FANTAJI- sou sa yume dake wa  
daremo mo ubaenai kokoro no tsubasa dakara  
SEINTO Seiya shounen wa minna  
SEINTO Seiya ashita no yuusha oh yeah  
SEINTO Seiya PEGASASU no you ni  
SEINTO Seiya ima koso habatake..."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Well, if it isn't Akane Tendo," said Ranma as he eyed the woman standing in front of him. She was in her early thirties, and had grown her hair out again. She didn't have any visible scars, and was wearing a white shirt with black slacks. Her shoes were worn out and scuffed, but still had a little polish on them.  
  
"Who are you?" snapped the woman as she raised a handgun up to his face and frowned.  
  
Ranma smiled at her. "That's a secret."  
  
"I don't have the patience for games. Who are you, why have you been sneaking around," she snapped angrily as she edged a bit closer.  
  
"I haven't seen you in more than twenty years," said Ranma as he looked her up and down and ignored the threats.  
  
"I know you?" she asked firmly.  
  
"I know you," he replied cryptically. "I go by Spawn. You may call me that."  
  
"Take off that mask," snapped Akane.  
  
"You wouldn't recognize me if I did," he replied simply.  
  
"Oh?" she said as she backed away from him. He did seem familiar, but she couldn't place it.  
  
"My face was burned off, as well as most of the rest of me," he said simply. "In any case, I'm surprised to see you around still. I would have thought he'd kill you."  
  
Akane slowly lowered her gun and scowled at him. "I'm no threat to him, he made a deal with my sister to keep me alive."  
  
"Oh? Did he?" said Ranma calmly as he turned his back to her and looked at his surroundings again. "Nabiki could be a very useful tool to someone like him."  
  
"I do know you...but..."  
  
"Don't think too hard on it," he replied without looking back. "I'm not really all that interested really. I've been gone for a long time, I wanted to see what happened to everyone I knew since I've been gone."  
  
"Gone?" she asked as she aimed the weapon at him again.  
  
"Yes, I've been away for the past twenty years. I've just returned to Japan after a long journey," he replied.  
  
"Where are you from?" she asked.  
  
"Really! Hitting on me already?" asked Spawn playfully.  
  
"We'd be willing to offer you a lot for information about anywhere else in the world," said Akane as she lowered the weapon again.  
  
"Oh? Well, there's nothing you have that I want," he said with a small shrug.  
  
Akane frowned at this, but seemed to accept it.  
  
"I'm curious about a few things, I thought I might be able to pick something up by wandering around a bit and listening," said Ranma with another shrug.  
  
"Looking for information. A spy maybe?" ventured Akane.  
  
"If I was, what would you do?" he asked her calmly.  
  
"Nothing. He doesn't bother us, and we don't bother him," said Akane with hatred very clear in her voice.  
  
"You mean, he doesn't kill you, and you pray that he never gets it in his head that he might want to," said Ranma with a small snort.  
  
Akane growled at this, but didn't argue with him.  
  
"Not much of a resistance," snorted Ranma casually.  
  
"Resistances don't last long. Most of the leaders here tried more than once, they only got their followers killed," said Akane.  
  
"Yourself included?" asked Ranma as he arched his eyebrow at her a little.  
  
Once again, the weapon was trained on him. "Shut up," she snapped painfully.  
  
"Broken, completely," muttered the thing to himself as he looked away from her.   
  
"What?" she growled.  
  
"Nothing. Answer one question for me," he said as he turned to look at her again, a small frown on his face. "What happened to Usagi? She's not Sailor Moon anymore, and seemed upset when I mentioned it."  
  
"You're not willing to tell me anything, why should I tell you?" asked Akane.  
  
"Because you don't know how far I'm willing to go to find out," said Ranma calmly. The chains that hung from his waist lashed out, knocking the gun from her grip and snatching it off the ground. He was holding it and flipping it over curiously before she could react.  
  
Akane growled and backed away. She paused and looked at the ground. "Around twenty years ago, he captured her and used her."  
  
"Used her?" said Ranma as he arched his eyebrow slightly.  
  
"Raped her, so that his daughter would be born," said Akane coldly. She was glaring at him hatefully. "She kept trying to escape, and we tried to help her...but he was too strong. After one of the more successful attempts, he blinded her. She got pregnant a few months later. After she had the child, he kicked her out and threw her into the streets."  
  
"Disgusting thing," growled Ranma under his breath.  
  
"Why are you so interested in my wife's past?" said a male voice from behind him.  
  
Ranma turned to see a man landing on the ground behind him, having jumped from the rooftop.  
  
"Mamoru," said Ranma calmly as he looked the man up and down. "I can't imagine him allowing you to live."  
  
"Allowing me?" said the man as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "It isn't from lack of trying."  
  
Ranma snorted and looked back at Akane. "He wasn't trying very hard then."  
  
"What would you know?" snapped Akane.  
  
Ranma snorted again and pulled off his mask. "Because he is the one who caused this. Because of that bastard, I have seen hell."  
  
Both of them backed away from the scarred dead thing that stared at Akane.   
  
"Now. Why I want to know about anyone's past is my own business. You have been quite helpful though, even though you don't realize it."  
  
"You're trying to take on Ranma and his goons?" snorted Mamoru.  
  
"He's got the Silver Imperium Crystal, that's why the Senshi won't attack him isn't it?" asked Ranma as he put his mask back on.  
  
"How would you know about that?" gasped Mamoru.  
  
"It would have to be something big to keep those hotheaded chicks at bay. I figured it would be something like that. Until now, I wasn't sure."  
  
"What good does this information do you?" asked Usagi as she appeared from the street and stared at the thing.  
  
"Well. Hello again," said Ranma as he looked at her. "Nice seeing you again...err...sorry..."  
  
Usagi smirked at this, while Akane and Mamoru both looked at him angrily.  
  
"I did apologize," he said to them.  
  
"You didn't mean it," said Usagi as she walked up to him.  
  
"Don't!" cried Mamoru as he rushed over to her and tried to hold her back and get between her and Ranma.  
  
"If he wanted me dead, he would have killed me last night," said Usagi calmly.   
  
"How and why I kill Ranma are my own business," said Spawn as he stepped back away from the pair a little. "I didn't come here to ask for help, I just want to know what it is I'm facing."  
  
"It is a good thing, because I would not help you," replied Usagi calmly. "Our survival depends on our remaining quiet and out of the way."  
  
"Pathetic, I find it hard to believe that he could have broken you all so easily," said Ranma coldly.  
  
"How dare you!" snarled Mamoru.  
  
"I thought you'd fight to the death," said Ranma as he ignored the man and stared directly at Usagi.  
  
"My own death, but not to the death of all humanity," she replied with an equal amount of calm.  
  
"That makes sense I suppose," replied the thing with a small nod. "You've certainly grown wiser, Meatball Head."  
  
"I'm not going to stand here and take this!" snapped Akane as she started forward towards him.  
  
"Stop!" snapped Usagi.  
  
"Still has a temper I see, that always was her biggest fault," said Ranma. "In any case, I'm more interested in information than manpower at the moment. I didn't come here expecting help. Finding all of you alive is a surprise I'll admit."  
  
"You can't do anything in return for our helping you," said Usagi. "You'll die alone when you try to fight Ranma. That is all I can hope for."  
  
"I might beat him," said Ranma with an annoyed looking frown.  
  
"I cannot even spare enough hope for that," said the woman curtly. "If you do fail, I do not wish this place to be connected with you."  
  
"I'll leave if you tell me what I want to know," said Ranma with a smirk on his face.  
  
"You'll leave now," said Mamoru angrily.  
  
Ranma lashed out with his chains, pinning the man to the wall easily. He looked at the women and frowned. "He's not hurt."  
  
Mamoru struggled for a moment and growled. He did appear to be unharmed though, the women stepped back cautiously, both looking for a place to strike.  
  
"Calm down, I'll release him when we're finished talking," said Ranma calmly.   
  
"Let him go. Now," demanded Akane as she moved forward and punched out at him.  
  
This time the long red cloak lashed out and pinned her to the opposite wall, holding her quite firmly.  
  
"Want to try your luck?" asked Ranma as he glared at Usagi.  
  
"No," said Usagi.  
  
"Good," replied the thing casually. "Now down to business. Where are the other Senshi?"  
  
"Dead," said Usagi almost mechanically.  
  
"You said Nabiki was working for Ranma, that's why this one is still alive..."  
  
"She's alive, because she escaped after Ranma killed Nabiki," said Usagi coldly.  
  
"She got a little to hot to handle?" said the thing with a confused looking frown on his face.  
  
"She grew ambitious, but had no real power. She started dealing under him, and got manipulative," said Usagi with a shrug.   
  
"He killed her when she got annoying," spat Akane from her place on the wall. "That bastard."  
  
Ranma looked thoughtful. "I can see that I've got more planning to do than I'd thought." He paused when he noticed Usagi backing away with a horrified look on her face.  
  
"Well, it's too bad you'll never get the chance to carry out your plans," said a new voice from above them.  
  
Ranma slowly turned to see a dangerously familiar figure floating above them just over the rooftop. "Mistress Nine."  
  
Hotaru frowned at this. "You've been talking." She was looking at Usagi as she said this.  
  
"I...never told him that..." stammered the woman.  
  
"I knew who you were before I came here. You aren't very good at hiding your aura," said Ranma as he released Akane and Mamoru from the wall.  
  
Nine raised her eyebrow at this. "I have no need to hide my power."  
  
"No, but I do," he replied as he floated up to the same level as her.  
  
"Well, what a surprise. You can fly," said Nine as she smirked at him. It was obvious she was far from impressed.   
  
"Are you going to try and kill me, or are you going to float there and talk about it all day?" asked Ranma calmly.  
  
"I'll do more than try!" snarled Nine as she blasted forward and punched at him.   
  
Ranma avoided the strike easily and shot back through the air over the village, moving away from it a fair distance before stopping.  
  
"That was impressive," commented Nine before she followed after him.  
  
They met in the air again, Nine lashing out with a kick aimed at his temple. The wildly flailing chains that hung from the thing's waist blocked it.   
  
"You're gonna have to do better than that!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"I'll destroy you yet!" snapped Nine angrily as she continued to attack.   
  
"Ha! You're too slow!" snapped Ranma.  
  
Nine's limbs were a blur, but her opponent was clearly faster.  
  
"Damn you!" snarled the woman angrily.  
  
"Who could have guessed that little Hotaru would grow up so cute," taunted Ranma. "Too bad she has a bad personality, or I might have been interested."  
  
"I'm too much for you to handle!" retorted the woman. She didn't look even slightly worried, despite her anger.  
  
"Try harder," said Ranma as he dodged another kick with ease.  
  
"Fine then!" growled Nine. "Silence Glave Surprise!"  
  
"Oh shi-" Ranma was engulfed by the wave of energy. He was pushed into the ground and impacted hard. A shockwave of energy draining power spread out across the ground for a few hundred yards, completely destroying any matter it touched along the surface of the ground. When it was over, there was nothing left but a level patch of dirt.  
  
"Weakling," snorted Nine as she turned back towards the village. "Now to deal with you."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Usagi frowned as her two companions watched the rather spectacular end of Spawn.  
  
"He didn't last long," commented Mamoru as he touched his wife's shoulder.   
  
"Did you expect better?" commented Akane with a snort.   
  
"She's coming back," said Usagi as she looked up at the sky.  
  
"What?! Why?" gasped Akane in horror.  
  
"Telling him all we did was a breach of the treaty," said Usagi with a heavy sigh. "This is the end of this place."  
  
"I'll get the girls, we need to leave," said Akane as she turned away.  
  
"What about the villagers?" snapped Mamoru.  
  
"I will spread the warning," said Usagi as she turned out of the alley.  
  
"I'll help," said Mamoru firmly.  
  
"You'll both die," said Akane coldly as she looked back at them for a moment from over her shoulder.  
  
"Then we will," said Usagi with a disturbing calm.  
  
"Goodbye," said Akane with tears filling her eyes as she rushed away.  
  
"Wait!" cried Usagi with a shocked look on her face. "It's not over yet!"  
  
"Then we have a chance!" said Mamoru. "Work quickly, if he's still fighting, we may have time to evacuate!"  
  
"There is something different about this one," muttered Usagi. "Something familiar..." She ignored the other two as they rushed off to spread the word around within the village and merely watched a point in the sky nearby.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Nine frowned as she spun around in the air and gasped. "What?!"  
  
Ranma was floating in the air with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "That was a mistake."  
  
"How can you still be alive?!" she snapped.  
  
"Alive?" he chuckled. "Whoever said I was alive?" He didn't even look scratched from the attack, and she saw it hit dead on.  
  
"This can't be!" growled Nine in frustration.   
  
Ranma spread his arms out and his cape and chains shot forward, wrapping around her arms and legs, holding her firmly in place. "Ha. I'm afraid it's going to take more than that to beat me."  
  
Nine growled angrily as her energy began to build rapidly. She screamed in anger as a golden aura formed around her. "Fine then! I'll destroy you!"  
  
The chains did not weaken, and the cape did not tear.  
  
"You think you're the only one who can do that?" said Spawn as his eyes began to grow brighter. His entire body bulked up a little and a disturbing gold and green aura burned around him.  
  
"Impossible!" cried Nine in shock.  
  
Carrot ignored her struggles and spoke to Ranma. "I want you to focus on what I'm going to try Ranma."  
  
"Huh?"   
  
"Just do it, you'll understand if it works," said Carrot angrily as he focused his glare on Nine.  
  
The woman began to scream in pain, thrashing her arms wildly against the chains that held them. She was desperately trying to clutch her head.  
  
"Where are you?" growled Ranma as he stared at her.  
  
"What are you doing? What are you..." Nine's eyes went wide. "No! How did you get in here! This can't be!"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Inside Hotaru's head, an intimidating demonic figure stood over the cowering dark figure that now cowered back. "You can't do this!"  
  
Spawn smirked at her, his mask splitting into a fanged grin as his chains lashed out. Rather than moving to hold her, they now had spikes on the ends of them that thrust into its body. "You've been a very bad girl. It's time I introduced you to some friends of mine from back home. They'd love to meet you."  
  
"What?!" screamed the thing through the pain of it's wounds. The spikes worked like barbs, catching in her astral body.   
  
"We're going on a little trip you and I," said Ranma coldly. A flash of green light formed, and they vanished.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Nine found herself sitting on her knees clutching at her head. She realized that the pain had stopped and that she was now surrounded by a bright orange glow. "Where am I? What happened? How..."  
  
"Welcome to my world," said Ranma as he looked down at her. He was standing over her with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "You're going to be here a while."  
  
"Welcome back my child," said a booming voice from all around them.  
  
"Who is that? Where have you brought me?" snarled Nine as she stood up and glared at him hatefully.  
  
"I brought you a present," said Ranma as he looked down at the cowering thing and smirked.   
  
"How nice, we've been expecting this one for some time now," said Hild with a light sounding laugh.  
  
"Who are you! Show yourself! I'll destroy you!" cried Mistress Nine as she stood up. A large shadow engulfed figure appeared in front of her. She backed away, suddenly realizing that she was in way over her head.  
  
"Welcome to Hell, enjoy it," said Ranma as he vanished in a flash of green light.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
When they appeared again, they were holding Hotaru's body in the same manner as before, still floating above the Earth. She was out cold, and had a painful frown on her face.  
  
"Well. Should we go back?" asked Carrot with a small chuckle.  
  
"That felt really good," said Ranma.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
They landed in front of a large group of evacuating citizens and smirked. "You can go home now. She's not going to be destroying anything for a while."  
  
Akane pushed out from behind the crowd and her jaw dropped. "You beat her?"  
  
Mamoru jogged up from the rear as well. "What's the hold up? I...No way..." He looked sort of awed as he looked at the scene in front of him.  
  
Ranma was holding Hotaru in his arms like a sleeping child.   
  
Akane paused when she saw that the woman was still breathing. "She's still alive!"  
  
"So?" asked Ranma calmly.  
  
"Idiot! When she wakes up, she'll..." said Mamoru angrily.  
  
"Probably start crying, because of all the horrible things Mistress Nine made her do," said Ranma as he looked down at the girl for a moment.  
  
"What?" muttered Akane dumbly.  
  
"She was possessed," said Ranma with a light smirk on his face. "This is the Senshi of Saturn."  
  
"What are you talking about? If she's possessed..." mumbled Mamoru.  
  
"No, she was possessed," said Ranma as he brushed by the pair and walked through the crowd. It parted for him and he carried the girl back into the village. "She is fine now."  
  
Usagi was standing at the back of the crowd, blocking his way. "If what you say is true..."  
  
"Don't bother me. My friend needs help," said Ranma as he shoved her aside and continued towards one of the buildings.  
  
Usagi didn't try to stop him. "If what he says is true, then that woman is anything but fine," she muttered to herself.  
  
A young girl with long black hair walked up beside her. "What's happening?"  
  
"Return home Mars, take the others with you. We'll meet with you later. I have much to do right now," said Usagi as she turned to the crowd. "Return to your homes. This is over for now. I will keep you informed."  
  
+++++++++  
  
Ranma knelt over Hotaru as she lay on a futon inside one of the homes. No one had dared enter yet and he smirked down at her.  
  
Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him for a moment. "Ranma?"  
  
He put his finger to her lips and shushed her. "Quiet. That's a secret," he said gently. "Are you two all right?"  
  
"Yes..." stammered the familiar mannerism of Saturn. "We..."  
  
It was quickly destroyed as she burst into tears and grabbed him around his neck. "I knew it! I knew he couldn't really be you!"  
  
He froze awkwardly and gently pulled her away. "Shh. No one can know who I really am, for obvious reasons."  
  
"How? Why? Where have you been?" gasped the woman.  
  
"I dunno, I dunno, and Hell," he said.  
  
She blinked at him. "Hell?"  
  
"I pissed off some goddesses or something," he replied with a small shrug.  
  
"Oh," muttered the girl as she shifted uncomfortably. "You've come back...to kill him?"  
  
"Yes," he said as he smirked at her for a moment. "But that means I have to get by everyone else too. Not easy."  
  
"You have no idea," said Saturn with a frown on her face.  
  
"I was hoping you could tell me, but not just yet. You need rest," he said calmly.  
  
She nodded and lay back on the futon. "I'll help however I can."  
  
"Don't worry. I always win in the end," he said as he smirked at her. With that, he stood up and walked out of the room to wait. Soon Usagi and his old friends would show up. He sat down and listened to the woman cry herself to sleep.  
  
+++++++++  
  
Akane stood outside the home impatiently as Usagi barred her way.  
  
"Why can't we go in?" she snapped.  
  
"Give them a moment, I don't think they are going anywhere," said Usagi. "We need to collect ourselves as well. If this wasn't some sort of trick, then we just watched someone take down one of Ranma's strongest soldiers."  
  
Akane frowned at this, it seemed too good to be true.  
  
"I've put the family somewhere else," said Mamoru as he walked up to them. "Rather rude of him to just take over someone's house."  
  
"They will get over it," said Usagi calmly. "The important thing is what we do now."  
  
"Right," said Mamoru with a slightly cynical edge to his voice. "We'll just storm the castle right behind this yahoo, is that it."  
  
"I doubt if he's stupid enough to try," said Usagi as she looked at the door to the home for a moment.   
  
"I don't trust him," said Akane coldly.  
  
"Neither do I," said Usagi. "We must wait and see."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
In the distance, a well muscled figure stood on top of a building watching. He said nothing, but clenched the Katana in his grip tightly for a moment. "It seems they were wise indeed to send me out on this mission. Hotaru has failed, and only the might of the Blue Thunder may prevail in this battle. Such a foul demon must be eliminated posthaste."  
  
Tatewaki Kuno smirked to himself as he turned back onto the roof and moved towards the stairwell. "A battle worthy of my prowess I hope. We shall see."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Something is up with Kuno, but what is it? And what about Angela? You'll have to wait! BWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAA!  
  
A little short this time I know, but if I write more, the rest will be crappy, cause I'm so tired.  
  
TBC...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	47. Insertion Part 47

Insertion  
  
Part 47  
  
The Mighty Swordsman  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma sat with Hotaru, nodding to himself with a frown on his face.   
  
The young woman found herself surprised at how expressive the mask he wore was. It was almost as if it wasn't there at all.  
  
"So, the Amazons are with him as well?" said Ranma as he looked at her.  
  
"Yes, they reside in China," said Hotaru.   
  
"They aren't much of a threat," said Ranma with a small nod. "Makes me wonder why he bothered though."  
  
"He says it's because of some promise he made. Keeping them around for the next three thousand years or something."  
  
Ranma looked at her and blinked. He remembered that conversation, it was a rather open ended agreement rather than a promise really. "He doesn't seem like the type to keep his word."  
  
"He always does, but he tends to make promises that swing his way. He may promise not to kill you, and then have someone else do it for him instead," said Hotaru.  
  
Ranma nodded again, his scowl deepening. "I think I understand."  
  
"The Amazons are left alone, they are the largest commune of humans we know of," said Hotaru with a small frown on his face. "He does keep a close eye on them though."  
  
"Shampoo and Cologne?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Shampoo is still here, Cologne died some time ago," replied the woman quietly.  
  
"What does she do for him?" prodded Ranma.  
  
"Nothing, Shampoo exists outside the organization. She lives in the city, protected by the agreement with the Amazons as long as she behaves herself," said Hotaru. "She's the only one not working for him that's free to travel at will. She doesn't though, I think it's because of all the other attempts that didn't make it."  
  
"Keeping the countries out of contact with one another is a good idea," agreed Ranma.  
  
"Helps prevent them from working together," confirmed Hotaru. "Not that it would do them any good."  
  
"Of course," said Ranma with a short nod. "Who else is working for him that I might know?"  
  
"Chibi-Usa is his right hand," said Hotaru hatefully. "That little bitch...she was in on it from the beginning. Hiding under that cute little girl and making sure things went the way they were supposed to."  
  
"Mousse and Ryoga?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Hibiki is just a showpiece for Chibi-Usa's arm now. I don't think his mind is there anymore, he moves on his own, but doesn't ever speak," said Hotaru calmly. "Who is Mousse?"  
  
"Nevermind," muttered Ranma with a frown on his face. "Anyone else I should know of?"  
  
"Tatewaki Kuno, he's very dangerous," said the woman as she looked at him.  
  
"I could beat Kuno with one arm," snorted Ranma as he frowned at her.  
  
"Don't count on that, he's not the man you once knew," she said as she glared at him.  
  
"I can handle that idiot any time," said Ranma with a disgusted frown. "He's nothing to worry about."  
  
"What about the three remaining Youma Lords?" asked Ranma.  
  
"There's only two of them now," said Hotaru calmly. "Ranma isn't in charge."  
  
That caught him by surprise. "Huh?"  
  
"The real leader of our little family is the black youma, Kuroi. He lives off planet, in the starships overhead." Hotaru looked up and glared at the ceiling in the room for a moment. "He's the most dangerous, but he never bothers us. So I suppose Ranma is the one in charge down here."  
  
"You said there's two of them."  
  
"Yes, the other one is the female."  
  
"Tochi," snorted Ranma. "What happened to the other one?"  
  
"He went insane a few years back, the other two killed him with that impersonator's help," said Hotaru with her hateful frown deepening.  
  
"Tried to push your plans ahead a little? Or did he try and revive Metallia?" asked Ranma as he smirked at her.  
  
"I'm not sure," muttered Hotaru as she looked at him in surprise.   
  
"Which planet are you terraforming?" asked Ranma lazily.  
  
"Mars," mumbled Hotaru as she stared at him dumbly.  
  
"Thought as much, waiting until the other planet is finished before you destroy this one?"  
  
"That was the idea," said the woman as she looked away. "How did you know about that?"  
  
"I figured it out after I heard you were using ships to fly in supplies. It was either that, or you'd found someplace on Earth that you could grow food. That would require a place that wasn't blasted to hell already, and a large number of slaves. Two things I wouldn't leave behind."  
  
Hotaru nodded numbly.   
  
"Using Amazon farmers?" inquired Ranma casually.  
  
"Yes," said Hotaru dumbly.  
  
"That's the real reason he's still letting them hang around in such large numbers," he commented with a sort of contemplative nod.  
  
"I suppose so. I'd never really thought about that."  
  
Ranma turned his head and smirked as he looked at the door. "Hiding in the shadows won't do you any good. Come in."  
  
A young woman with long black hair entered and frowned at him. "I was sent to see how you were doing."  
  
"Well, you must be Rei's girl," said the thing cheerfully as it stood up and smirked at her.  
  
The girl backed away, slightly unnerved by the intimidating form.  
  
"Shy?" he chuckled. "You four look a lot like your mothers, but you sure don't act like them."  
  
"You knew my mother?" asked the girl dumbly.  
  
"I knew her," he said with a short nod. "Tell me, what is your name?"  
  
"Mars," said the girl nervously.  
  
"Mars?" he replied in amusement. "Are you all named after the planets you represent?"  
  
"Yes," said the girl. She looked uncertain, as if trying to decide if she had been insulted or not.  
  
"Who is with you? They wouldn't send you in here all alone," said Ranma as he turned his back to her and looked around the room. "Ah! There you are!"  
  
Mamoru walked through the doorway and looked at him angrily.  
  
"What on Earth are you doing here Mamoru?" asked Ranma with an amused looking smirk.  
  
"Spying on you," he replied sharply. "I still don't trust you. Neither does anyone else here."  
  
"Good," said Ranma. "I don't want your trust. I'm going to kill Ranma, and all of you here are too weak to do anything but get in my way. You're pathetic shells, long since broken in spirit. Useless to me."  
  
"How dare you!" he snapped. He remained where he was.  
  
"Your lives have been hard for the past twenty years, but it can't begin to compare with what I've seen."  
  
"What would you know?" snorted the man in disgust.  
  
"More than you'll ever know about," said Ranma calmly.   
  
"You know all these people, but none of us remember you," said Mamoru as he narrowed his eyes at the thing for a moment.  
  
"I remember him," said Hotaru calmly.  
  
"You'll forgive me if I'm not convinced."  
  
"Stop it," said Mars quietly. "I wasn't sent here to listen to you bicker."  
  
Ranma blinked in surprise at the statement. "She's right. We all have more important things to worry about."  
  
Mamoru frowned at him. "Like what?"  
  
"Like what that power that's approaching us is," said Ranma as he strolled past the pair and out the door.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Angela frowned as she stood in the middle of the street calmly. A gang of punked out young men stood around her.  
  
"Hey babe. You lookin for a good time? Cause we sure is, and we think that you're gonna help us find..."  
  
His pathetic attempt at intimidation was cut short as a loud bang resonated off the walls of the decimated buildings. He slumped down with a huge hole now present in his chest.  
  
The large handgun in the angel's hand was holstered quickly after the shot was fired. "I don't have time for clichés. Move now, or die."  
  
The rest of the gang scattered like roaches, vanishing into the dark alleyways.  
  
Angela snorted and continued on her way, tugging the edge of her cloak's hood down over her face a little more.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma frowned as he noticed the streets of the village were empty once again. He stood in the middle of the street and glanced around. "Something is up."  
  
"What's going on?" said Mamoru as he jogged out behind him.  
  
"Get back inside and watch over Hotaru. She's weak from our battle. Don't let her come out, no matter what."  
  
He looked up the street and gasped. "No!"  
  
"Do as I say. I'll handle this," said Ranma coldly.  
  
The man looked at him and backed into the doorway, only halfway because of what Spawn had told him to do.  
  
A bulky figure seemed to melt out of the mirage of heat that rose from the pavement in the afternoon sun.   
  
Ranma frowned as his features became more visible, he was surprised to say the least, when he noted the large man wearing a kendo uniform. "Tatewaki Kuno."  
  
"So. I have found you at last demon. You can no longer hide from the sword of righteousness."  
  
Ranma blinked at this. "Man, this idiot hasn't changed at all."  
  
"Tremble in terror! For you now face the might of the Blue Thunder!" said Kuno as he raised the Katana in his hand into the sky.  
  
"I'm not impressed," said Ranma calmly. "Your power is nothing special. Stronger than most, but you're hardly a threat."  
  
"You must be a most foul demon to this place of beauty and light, shadowing your darkness over these lovely maidens."  
  
Ranma chuckled at this. "You're absolutely right for once in your miserable life, Kuno. I am indeed a demon."  
  
"So, the evil does not bother to mask its villainy. My light of truth was too much for you to hide from the might of..."  
  
"Oh for god's sake! Shut the hell up! Can't you talk like a normal human being?" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Fine. Tell me who you are and why you're here. You must be quite powerful if you managed to defeat Mistress Nine all alone."  
  
Ranma's jaw dropped like it had a lead weight in it. He shook his head for a moment. "This is really too weird. Go back to the way you talked before. I had no idea how disturbing it would be to hear normal speech from you, Kuno."  
  
"You know the Mighty Blue Thunder? No doubt you've heard of my prowess in battle, and have come to feebly attempt to take my title of 'Greatest Fighter in the Universe' away! I'm sure the battle will be pathetic and short," said Kuno without missing a beat.  
  
"You'll find my feeble attempts aren't very feeble..." Ranma paused. "Err...wait. I mean my attempts won't be very feeble. Yeah."  
  
"It is difficult to come up with dramatic dialogue for battle on the fly," said Kuno with an understanding nod.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Ranma.  
  
"It matters not your strength! For I shall fell you easily, no matter how mighty you are! For I am the most great!" said Kuno as he held his sword in the sky. Lightning crashed behind him dramatically.  
  
"Greatest," said Ranma.  
  
"Pardon?" said Kuno as he looked at the thing, still standing in his pose.  
  
"Most Great is wrong. It's 'greatest'."  
  
"Oh," said Kuno. "Never mind that! Come, let us do battle!"  
  
"But, I haven't done my introduction and dramatic pose yet," said Ranma.  
  
"Eh? Oh, very well..." muttered Kuno as he relaxed a bit and waited.  
  
"I am Spawn! Warrior of hell and demon in training! You will never defeat me mortal!" cried Ranma angrily. His cape flared out and his chains seemed to levitate off of his hips by an unseen force. "Prepare yourself! You will never defeat the evil that stands before you now!"  
  
"Most impressive," said Kuno with an appreciative nod.  
  
"Thanks," said Ranma.  
  
"May we begin?" asked Kuno as he stepped back into a defensive Kendo stance.  
  
"Okay," replied the thing with a shrug.  
  
"Have at thee knave!" cried Kuno as he rushed forward and slashed at the thing with his Katana.  
  
Ranma sidestepped easily, and frowned as he realized that Kuno wasn't any faster than he was when he was younger. "You haven't improved at all. Those muscles are just for show."  
  
"I have no need to improve upon perfection! Only my strength has increased with time, my undefeated prowess is more than a match for you demon!" roared Kuno as he rushed again and passed by Ranma.  
  
The demon jumped and avoided a quick slash easily, landing lightly on the ground behind the kendoist. "I'm not in the mood for playing around. I'm just going to kill you and be done with it."  
  
"He's fast! Surely his unholy powers are preventing my strikes from felling him! Such magics are all that could possibly disrupt my perfect aim!" growled Kuno as he slowly turned to eye the monster for a moment.  
  
Ranma charged, slashing out with his chains and claws as he dove towards Kuno in a headlong attack.  
  
"Fool!" roared the man as he readied his Katana.  
  
Ranma swatted the weapon aside with his bare hand, snapping the blade in two as he lunged forward and raked his other claws across Kuno's chest.   
  
The kendoist screamed in pain and fell to his knees. clutching the wound in shock. "Impossible!"  
  
"You're pathetic Kuno. The servant of a monster more ugly than I could ever be," snarled Ranma as he clutched the man's head and lifted him up.  
  
"Silence! You know not what you speak of!" growled the boy.  
  
"Ranma Saotome is a sorcerer more evil than any demon I've ever met. You're serving him like the pathetic dog you are. I'm curious as to why."  
  
"Heh. Saotome? The ruler of the planet? I he is my Lord, as a Samurai, I must serve him until death. He honorably relinquished his claim upon Akane Tendo to me, and asked that I join him in bringing peace to the world."  
  
"Akane?" said Ranma as he tossed the pathetic man on the ground in the dust and stood over him with a scowl on his face. "You pathetic weakling. You mean to tell me that you did this, for a mere woman?" He pointed at the devastation around them.  
  
Kuno chuckled. "Peace has been achieved, there is no war."  
  
Ranma frowned at this. "I see...but Akane Tendo is here."  
  
"I await the day that my tigress comes into my arms willingly. One day, she will bring my son to live with me in the tower. Until that time, she is no doubt training him to be a warrior fitting his station as a ruler of the planet. When she returns to me, there will be much rejoicing."  
  
Ranma felt his blood run cold. "Son?"  
  
"Yes, for a time she declared her love to me, and laid with me," said Kuno as he stood up and frowned at the man. His chest was puffed out and he looked quite proud. "As before, she showed her love to me with her battle prowess, and her demure nature prevented her from voicing her love. Still, after our son was born, she left me to take him upon a voyage of training."  
  
Green flames danced around Ranma's body, his anger and hatred filling him with power. "Oh. I see."  
  
"Indeed. Your dark power protects you as I imagined it would. Thus, I must resort to my own magics to defeat you." Kuno sneered at him.  
  
"I'm going to tear you apart Kuno, you have no idea the torments you are about to endure," said Ranma calmly as he looked at the man with all the life of a statue in his body.  
  
"So you say. The thunder of justice will never fall to your darkness monster! Behold! I am the light and the darkness as one! A god among men!"  
  
Ranma gasped as the man pulled something from his robes and held it into the air. "No! That..." He rushed forward, attempting to stop the insane man from completing the act. He didn't make it.  
  
"Hahahahahahahahahahaaa!" laughed Kuno as the Mask finished melding to his face. "Oh. A little hellspawn has come to play with me. How nice!"  
  
"Loki!" growled Ranma as he backed away cautiously. "I should have known that idiot had something like you to have lived this long."  
  
The green headed Kuno blinked in surprise. "Oh? You know of me?"  
  
"What do you get out of helping him? It doesn't seem like the god of chaos to work for a mortal, as powerful as he might be." Ranma narrowed his eyes and desperately tried to think of a way out of the mess he had found himself in. "I knew I should have killed him right away. Hotaru tried to warn me about this..." he muttered to himself.  
  
"What do I get? Oh, I suppose I'll tell you, since you can't do anything about it anyway." It grinned at him for a moment and smirked. "I get out. When this world is destroyed, I will be released from my prison, Metallia's connection with this dimension will be severed, and I'll finally be able to return home."  
  
Ranma nodded at this. "So, you're using him?"  
  
"It's somewhat mutual I'll admit, the boy youma and I have an understanding," said the green headed thing that leered at Ranma in amusement. "I can see Hild is upset that someone is doing a better job of destroying the world than her. How petty she is."  
  
"Whatever. I'm not really able to say much about that," said Ranma with a small frown on his face.   
  
"Yes, I know. Tell me Hellspawn, how do you intend to fight a god? You're not even a full demon yet."  
  
"You're not really a god anymore," said Ranma as he glared at the thing.  
  
"Oh?" snarled Loki as he frowned at the thing.  
  
"That's right. I know quite a bit about that form of yours. Your power has been severely weakened, but you're basically invulnerable."  
  
"My power may be weak, but it is also limitless. A convenience you don't share," said Loki flatly.  
  
"That's a lie," said Ranma as he smirked at the thing. "If that were true, you'd still be attached to the first host you managed to con into putting you on."  
  
Loki frowned at this. "You know too much."  
  
"I suppose I do," replied Ranma coolly.  
  
"At any rate, you won't live long enough to do anything about it!" snarled Loki as he vanished.  
  
Ranma seemed to fade from the street as well, moving at an incredible speed towards where the God had once been standing. "Damn! He's faster than us!" he muttered as he appeared a short distance down the road, his golden aura burning around him brightly.   
  
"Indeed I am!" chuckled Loki as he appeared behind them and slammed a mallet down on their heads.  
  
Ranma lurched forward, but wasn't knocked down by the blow. "Shit!"  
  
"Come on, you can give me a better fight than that can't you?" sneered the thing as it shoved a bomb into his hands and shoved him in the chest. Ranma staggered back and was blown back into a wall when the bomb exploded in his hands. "Such a weak thing for a hellspawn. Hild is losing her touch."  
  
"You're one to talk," grumbled Ranma as he stood up from the rubble his impact had created. "Picking an idiot like Kuno for a host."  
  
"Idiots make the best hosts I've found," said Loki with a calm shrug. "All I had to do was tell him that with me he'd be invincible, and would be able to finally take that which he wanted most."  
  
"Akane," growled Ranma hatefully.  
  
"Yes, such a sweet virgin she was too," said Loki with a wild grin on his face.  
  
"Ranma! You've got to calm down!" snapped Carrot as he suddenly stopped them from attacking. "He's playing you like a flute!"  
  
"Calm down? She was our friend! Is our friend! How can you..."  
  
"What good will we do her if we die now?" replied Carrot calmly.  
  
Ranma seemed to relax a bit and took deep angry sounding breaths.  
  
Loki watched the scene in confusion. He couldn't hear the conversation, and hellspawn were usually easy to enrage. They weren't made from the best kind of people after all.  
  
"All right, what do we do?" asked Ranma coldly. "Tell me how to take this bastard down."  
  
Loki frowned as the thing's gaze intensified, the gold aura that surrounded it suddenly became very focused and had a slight green tint to it. "He's up to something..."  
  
Ranma vanished in a flash of light, and Loki scowled as he whirled around in every direction, searching for where it had teleported too. He paused when it didn't appear. "What? He's run away? Smarter than I thought he'd be." A hand reached down and grabbed Loki by his head from above. "What?!!" screamed the god in alarm.  
  
"You didn't look up," said Ranma coldly as he dug his claws into the back of the thing's head and began to rip it apart. He was floating upside-down just over his head. His cape and chains hanging from him as if he had reversed gravity and was standing on the ground.  
  
Loki screamed and struggled, grabbing the thing by it's arms and trying to pry his hands away and rip his arms off at the same time.  
  
Ranma screamed with effort as Loki's fingers dug into his flesh. His aura burned brighter than ever as he pulled harder and harder, prying the thing off of Tatewaki's head forcefully.   
  
"Nooo! Nooooooooo! NOOOOOO*" cried Loki as he was finally removed, almost pulling Kuno's face off in the process. Kuno slumped down on the ground and gasped before he passed out.  
  
Ranma glared at the mask in his claws for a moment, thinking to himself for a moment. "What to do with you?" He smirked to himself for a moment, vanishing in a green flash of light.   
  
Moments later he appeared in space glaring at the floating rock in front of him for a moment. It was a large asteroid in the orbit of Jupiter. He placed the mask there and frowned for a moment. "Goodbye Loki. You can stay out of trouble here for a while." With a shove of his wrist, the asteroid plummeted into the atmosphere of the planet, vanishing into the center of the red storm that raged across the surface. He vanished again in another flash of light, appearing in front of the fallen Kuno again.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
No one knew what had happened, most of the villagers had hidden away. Usagi was the first to emerge from one of the buildings. "It seems you've won again."  
  
Ranma looked at her for a moment and nodded. "Tell me. Where is Akane Tendo?"  
  
"None of your business," said Usagi sharply.  
  
"I'll find her myself then," he replied as he started walking.  
  
"Wait! Why do you want to know?" asked Usagi sharply.  
  
"That is a personal matter for her," said Ranma calmly.  
  
Mamoru had emerged from the building with Mars at his side. "Who are you really?"  
  
"That is still a secret. When the time comes, I'll tell you," said Ranma calmly.  
  
The villagers slowly emerged from their homes, looking on in a sort of stupefied shock at the warrior who had managed to defeat two of the invincible minions so far.  
  
Ranma turned to look at them all. "I suggest you all find another place to live. Once word of this gets to him, he will eliminate this place from the planet. I'm not going to be hanging around to stop him much longer."  
  
There was a murmur of surprise through the crowd at this.  
  
"Wait! You've already beaten..." started Jupiter as she emerged from the crowd.  
  
"I've managed to catch two of them by surprise," said Ranma as he glared at her. "The next time they come here, they will be in greater numbers, and even I could not take them all on." He turned away from her coldly. "I'll fight him on my own terms and in my own way. If you stay here, you will die."  
  
Usagi nodded calmly. "He is right. This will not be ignored."  
  
"We'd best get moving then," agreed Mamoru.  
  
Akane stepped out of the crowd and looked at Ranma for a moment. Her features unreadable.   
  
"You have a son?" asked Ranma as he glared at her for a moment.  
  
"I...Who told you that?" she asked in horror.  
  
Ranma dropped Kuno at her feet.   
  
She stared down at him in horror. "Kuno..."  
  
"Is it true?" asked Ranma calmly.  
  
Akane nodded. "He would have been fourteen."  
  
"Dead?" asked Ranma.  
  
"He died with my family. Kuno never knew about it, he used to come here every few months and ask me about him." She kicked the fallen man in his ribs hard and spit on him. "He'd always spend the night," she almost screamed. She kicked him again and again, stomping on his body mercilessly. "Always! No matter where I'd run! I could never hide, I could never..."  
  
Ranma frowned as he watched her and put a restraining hand on her shoulder. "If you have the stomach for it, you could help me torture and kill him."  
  
Akane glanced at him for a moment. "Wha?"  
  
"Hotaru was possessed, this one...he has no excuse. I'm going to kill him, and personally escort him to hell. I don't want it to be a quick death. Perhaps you could help me with that?"  
  
"Who are you?" muttered Akane dumbly as she looked at him again, trying to find some familiarity in him, a feature on his face, a mannerism she recognized. It was there, but she could not grasp it.  
  
"I'll tell you," said Ranma as he looked at her. "But not here. Brace yourself Akane, this is really going to suck."  
  
The small crowd of spectators that were around them gasped as the pair vanished in a flash of light.   
  
++++++++++  
  
Akane screamed as she found herself in the middle of a wasteland. It wasn't far from the village. She stumbled to her knees and emptied her stomach onto the sand. Kuno was awake now as well, and had a similar reaction, he managed to contain his lunch and merely shuddered on the ground, curled up in a fetal position in pain.  
  
"What was that?" gasped Akane painfully.  
  
Ranma looked down at them and smirked. "Teleportation. Doesn't feel very good does it?"  
  
"Wha?" muttered Akane as she looked at him.  
  
"I ripped our bodies apart on a molecular level and reformed them here."  
  
"Don't ever do that again," growled Akane as she managed to stand.  
  
"I shouldn't do it at all really. I don't really have the power to spare," muttered Ranma, more to himself than them.  
  
"Who are you?" asked Akane.   
  
Kuno was groaning on the ground and rolled onto his back. "I fight on..."  
  
Ranma stepped on his gut and pushed him back onto the ground as he attempted to rise. "Not yet bright boy. Your fun is just starting." He turned to look at the woman who was sitting nervously nearby and glaring at the two of them hatefully. "I know what you're worried about. Wondering why I brought you out here all alone? I'm sorry to say that I'm not equipped for that, it isn't possible for me to rape you."  
  
"Why is that?" growled Akane as she seemed to calm a little.  
  
"Because, I am a demon," said Ranma calmly. "I was sent from hell to destroy Ranma Saotome."  
  
Akane frowned at this. "Yeah right. Tell me another one," she spat as she turned away.  
  
"Don't believe me?" chuckled Ranma in amusement. "Or is it just that you'd rather believe that the gods would never allow this if they existed?"  
  
Akane glanced at him for a moment. "Why would a demon care about this? I'd think this would be what you wanted."  
  
"Someone high up is a little pissed off that someone is doing a better job of destroying the world than they are," said Ranma with a small shrug. "Jealousy."  
  
Akane snorted and looked down at Kuno for a moment. "What are you planning on doing with him?"  
  
Kuno was barely able to speak, much less move. Still very disoriented from having the mask pulled from his head forcefully.  
  
"I think you'll either like what I have planned, or you'll run away screaming."  
  
++++++++++  
  
Akane looked on in a sort of terror at the scene in front of her. "My god!"  
  
"Yes, impressive isn't it," said Ranma from beside her.  
  
Kuno groaned painfully from where he was suspended in the air. Thick straps of wet rawhide left him dangling from several tree branches on a dead trunk they had been teleported near too. He had a gag over his mouth and his eyes were wide with pain. Rather than tie the strips so that they would tighten and pull him apart, Ranma had tied them so that they would pull him higher up, and into the blades that were now stabbing him along the back of his body.   
  
The demon had rigged a board with hundreds of blades jutting from the bottom of it just over the man. Blood was already running down from behind him and onto the ground below, only to dry up into the dust.  
  
She sat down in the dirt and watched in horror as the man was tormented. He stared at her with pleading eyes, begging her to free him.  
  
"The same eyes you probably used to beg him with," said Ranma coldly when he noticed Akane's horrified face. "Remember what he stood for, what he did to you and your family."  
  
The girl's face hardened into a mask of hatred as she glared at the man.   
  
That was when Kuno realized that there would be no escape. He started to scream from beneath the gag.   
  
Ranma waved his hand over a small stone nearby and smirked at the woman. "I'm giving you a choice. You can end his pain, or you can intensify it." A knife appeared on the stone, with a small wooden box next to it.  
  
"In this box, are a number of rather sharp needles, and a chart with acupuncture points. These points will cause a maximum amount of agony to him before he dies. I should note, that most of them are in the groin area."  
  
Akane looked at it and said nothing.  
  
Ranma looked at Kuno for a moment and pointed to the knife when he looked back at her. "This knife. Use it to cut the rope that holds the blades over his body, and his suffering will end. The choice is yours."  
  
Akane looked at him as he stood up and turned towards the village. "It's about a fifteen minute walk back. Don't take too long, or he'll die before you decide."  
  
Akane frowned as she looked at the knife and the box, moving her eyes back and forth for a moment. "Revenge? Or mercy?" It was not an easy choice. Still, one had to be made. She reached out and made her decision.   
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma's welcome back to the village was anything but warm. "Where is Akane?" growled Mamoru.  
  
The four young senshi stood behind him, eyeing the newcomer hatefully.  
  
"She is dealing with Kuno. She should return shortly. If you wish to find her, I suggest you start walking that way. It's about fifteen minuets away. I also suggest that you don't bring a weak stomach, or such young eyes to find her. She might not be finished with him yet."  
  
"What?" gasped the man in shock.  
  
"I don't imagine she'll be more than an hour or so," said Ranma calmly as he looked over his shoulder. "I've come for Hotaru. She and I should be leaving."  
  
"She's in the same place you left her," said Usagi as she emerged from the home where the girl was resting.  
  
"Thank you," replied Ranma as he brushed by her.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"You're back," said Hotaru as she looked up at him calmly.  
  
"That's right. Do you feel ready to go? We can't stay here long," said Ranma calmly.   
  
"I know. It is time to leave," she said with a light smile on her face. "You defeated Kuno?"  
  
"He won't be bothering us again," said Ranma.  
  
"I see," said Hotaru calmly as she rose to her feet. "You've changed."  
  
"Time and torment will do that to people," said the thing calmly.   
"So, where will we go?" asked Hotaru as she glanced at him.  
  
"Away from here, someplace where we can wait and pick our battles," replied Ranma calmly.  
  
"What of the others here?" she asked as she glanced at him.  
  
"They'll be in less danger without us," he replied.  
  
"We should leave then." Hotaru stood up and walked out the door, with Ranma right behind her.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Usagi watched the village disappear into the distance. Her face was sad, but not too much so. It had served its purpose well until now, but was far from a home to them. Such moves were not uncommon.  
  
Mamoru walked beside her, a strangely disturbed look on his face. When Akane Tendo had returned to the village as the thing had said she would, she was covered in blood. He had rushed to aid her, but found out that she wasn't injured.  
  
"I'm finished," she said as she looked at him. A strangely haunted look in her eyes. "I'm free."  
  
Not knowing what to say, he had nodded at her. She walked over to the large fountain that supplied the village with water and simply walked into it fully dressed, rinsing most of the blood away.   
  
After that, the whole place packed what little belongings they had and left.   
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Oh, Okasama," said Ranma as he peered into his mother's eyes. "You would be so proud of me I think."  
  
Beryl stared back at him soullessly from within the crystal encasing.  
  
He smirked at her and stepped back. Only her head was inside the crystal, her body on the other side of the room, in a similar prison. "Ah well. I suppose you'd still be her if you hadn't tried to force me to be your servant. You never were one to think about things for very long though."  
  
"Sir!" said one of the guards that walked into the room and saluted him.  
  
Ranma paused and looked back at him with a frown on his face. He was completely nude. "What is it? This had better be good."  
  
The guard glanced down at the man's feet for a split second, where Tochi was sleeping soundlessly in the nude. She was on top of a bearskin rug, halfway buried in the fur of the animal.  
  
"Neither Kuno nor Hotaru have reported back yet sir," said the man as he swallowed hard.  
  
Ranma narrowed his eyes at this. "Nani?"  
  
"I thought it would be best to inform you now, rather than wait until later sir."  
  
"Very good, Captain," said Ranma as he frowned and nodded.  
  
"Lieutenant sir," corrected the man.  
  
"Not anymore," said Ranma as he walked by him and grabbed his pants from where they were hanging. On the antlers of a stuffed deer, the room was full of such trophies.  
  
"Thank you sir!" said the man as his jaw hardened.  
  
"How long has it been?" asked Ranma.  
  
"They haven't reported in about six hours sir," said the man.  
  
"They are supposed to report in every hour," he said as he frowned at the man.  
  
"It's not unusual for them to go three or four without doing it sir," said the man as he kept up his pace and strolled just behind his leader.  
  
"Of course. Those prideful idiots," growled Ranma hatefully.   
  
"What should we do sir? Shall I inform Dark Lady?"  
  
Ranma frowned at him. "No. I'm not going to send her out alone. I want a full sweep of the area from the starship, destroy everything. I'll go myself, and take both Tochi and my daughter along."  
  
"Sir!" snapped the man as he turned away to carry out his orders.  
  
"Shimatta," he growled as he threw open the doors of his throne room and strolled in. "Kuroi."  
  
"Yes?" asked a voice from a nearby speaker system.  
  
"Kuno and Hotaru haven't reported back in."  
  
"So? Do you always have to react this way when this happens? Those two are hardly reliable."  
  
"I'd rather be sure," said Ranma coldly. "I think there's something new in the area."  
  
"Take care of it," said Kuroi calmly.  
  
"I am working on it," said Ranma. "It may take a little time, especially if it's managed to avoid those two idiots."  
  
"Very well."   
  
Ranma pressed a button on the arm of his throne. "Wake up Dark Lady."  
  
"Sir!" came the reply.   
  
+++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Angelic interlude!  
  
  



	48. Insertion Part 48

Insertion  
  
Part 48  
  
Angelic interlude!  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma walked through the wasteland with Hotaru, both were moving in silence as they contemplated their next move.   
  
"Hey Ranma," commented Carrot as they walked.  
  
"Huh?" replied the thing.  
  
"I just figured something out."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"This sucks."  
  
Hotaru looked at him in confusion for a moment. Ranma was strangling himself again. This had happened several times over the course of their trip.  
  
"Idiot. You keep forgetting that I'm not inside you anymore, so that doesn't work. Besides, we don't need to breathe anymore anyway. Already dead remember?" said Carrot.  
  
"Shut up," grumbled Ranma irritably.  
  
"I haven't said anything," replied Hotaru in confusion.  
  
"Um..." Ranma realized that he had said that out loud. "I wasn't talking to you. Sorry."  
  
"Oh. Right, the other guys," said the woman cheerfully. "I'd almost forgotten."  
  
"Well, there's only one now," he muttered irritably. "And he's just now figured out that this sucks."  
  
"Smart guy," said the woman as she turned away and continued walking.  
  
"I didn't mean right now. I mean in general," said Carrot inside his host's head.  
  
"What do you mean?" grumbled Ranma.  
  
"This whole fusion thing bites."  
  
"You're tellin me?" growled Ranma.  
  
"Oh come off it," snorted Carrot in retort. "Look, I'll admit it's inconvenient. However, up until this point, I've been having a pretty good time of it. I just realized that I'm not anymore. It blows."  
  
"What the heck kind of idiot are you?" snapped Ranma. "How could you say all that was fun?"  
  
"We had it pretty good for a while there. I'll admit the whole hell thing really sucked, but otherwise, think about it. We were rich, handsome, and stronger than anyone else alive! We had lots of friends, and we had all kinds of adventures! I even kind of miss having Dan around."  
  
"You miss that insane..." muttered Ranma in disbelief.  
  
"Well, I'll admit I'm not all that upset over Pissant leaving, but you've got to admit Dan was useful at times."  
  
"I guess so, but you two were always fighting," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"Well, I suppose so, it was good natured though," replied Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"You beat the crap out of each other on a regular basis!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Well...I..."  
  
"It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't get beat up too every time you did it!" snapped the angry hellspawn.  
  
"I didn't say I wanted him back Ranma, just that I kind of miss having him around a little," said Carrot irritably. "He had his uses. Besides, this hell bent revenge thing doesn't suit us all that well. I'll be glad when we kill him, and then all we have to worry about is becoming a demon."  
  
"That isn't a good thing," snorted Ranma irritably.  
  
"We don't have much choice," pointed out Carrot. "Like I always tell you, you've got to make the best of your situation."  
  
"Making the best of our situation? How the hell do you think we got into this mess!?" snapped Ranma angrily.  
  
"It wasn't all my doing you blowhard," snorted Carrot. "You had a hand in this as well, so don't go pulling a 'Carrot, because of you I've seen hell!' on me buddy."  
  
"Right," grumbled the thing dejectedly.  
  
"Look. All I'm saying is if we have to do this, we might as well enjoy it," said Ranma. "I'm tired of being all angsty. That's mostly your doing, I've been trying to have a little fun, but you keep ruining it."  
  
"What the hell do you want us to do?" snorted Ranma.  
  
"I dunno. We'll think of something," replied Carrot. "Anyway, I wonder what happened to the Masaki family? Ryoko isn't with them, she's probably dead."  
  
"Pluto too, he'd have killed her if he could," pointed out Ranma.  
  
"I wouldn't count on that. She's probably hiding out on Pluto," said Carrot calmly. "Can't be sure though, those starships may have been used to flush her out. Now that I think about it, you're probably right. He'd have destroyed the time gates, to prevent time travel."  
  
"That's not good," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"If he's allied with the Amazons, that means that time traveling mirror is out too," grumbled Carrot with a heavy sigh. "I'll bet he managed to destroy it."  
  
"Those goddess chicks don't like us either. If they're even still around..." grumbled Ranma sadly.  
  
"He wouldn't have killed them, I'm not even sure if he can," said Carrot.   
  
"Why not?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Too risky. It might piss off the wrong people gods who might be able to overpower him too easily, he also might have lost Loki's support. Can't be sure about that though. No telling on how he'd react to a mortal killing a god."  
  
"Wouldn't they have tried to fight him?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Probably, but getting rid of them would be easy enough," said Carrot. "Just kill Keiichi. If he's gone, Belldandy would have to go up to heaven with him."  
  
"Keiichi? You mean that mechanic guy?" muttered Ranma in surprise.  
  
"Yeah. He made a wish that Belldandy be with him always, if he died, then..."  
  
"She'd have to go wherever he went," said Ranma as he seemed to catch on.  
  
"Right, she's probably not able to leave heaven anymore, not unless he tags along anyway," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"At any rate, we should figure out what we're going to do next," said Carrot as he changed the subject suddenly.  
  
"Wait until they're alone and attack them one at a time?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Well, it seems I was able to teach you a little," commented Carrot dryly. "Yes, but I don't know how we're going to manage that."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Huh?" said Hotaru as she turned to look at her companion.  
  
"When can we find them alone. I mean individually?" repeated Ranma as he stopped and crossed his arms.  
  
"What do you mean?" muttered Hotaru in confusion.  
  
"I'm not stupid enough to take them all on at once. I'm going to need to get to them individually."  
  
The woman nodded at this and frowned. "I'm afraid I can't be of much help then."  
  
"Huh? You should know of something," he pressed.  
  
"Well, no actually. Mistress Nine kept to herself. All of them are like that for the most part. The only time I ever saw the others was when Ranma summoned us together, or sent us out on a mission with one another. We didn't particularly care who did what other than that."  
  
"Each having their own agenda," muttered Ranma with a small frown.  
  
"Right. Mistress Nine's plans were disturbed when Ranma destroyed the planet with those lasers. She couldn't collect enough power to resurrect Pharo 90. Plus, he basically prevented her from doing it with other means."  
  
"Oh?" asked Ranma as he arched his eyebrow.  
  
"Yes. You see he kept her busy. She was probably the one he sent out the most, but he usually limited her missions. If she ventured off to collect a little power, he punished her."  
  
"Seems like she'd try to do something about that," commented Ranma.  
  
"He was stronger, and faster than she was. There wasn't much she could do to him. Plus, he was very careful with her."  
  
"She's plotted against him several times?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Yes. He was planning on using my final attack to actually destroy this planet when he was finished. Pharo 90 would have just wiped out everything, the whole system."  
  
"Saturn couldn't supply enough power to do it on her own?" asked Ranma.  
  
"No," she said with a small shrug. "She needed more power. Once her direct connection to me was severed, she had to find other means of supplying the power she needed. Basically, you foiled her plans twice. Once when you repaired Saturn and separated the three of us, and once when the other you killed most of the life on the planet."  
  
"What about the talismans?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Ranma killed the owners. You can't take the talismans from a dead senshi. You can kill them to steal them, but it's impossible to get to them without the senshi being alive."  
  
"So...you're the only Outer Senshi left then," said Ranma with a short nod.  
  
Hotaru merely nodded.  
  
"This just gets better and better," grumbled the thing with a heavy sigh.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Kuroi sat in front of a large view screen on the deck of the large starship that orbited Earth. He smirked as a familiar figure dressed in the robes of the Juraian Royal Family appeared in front of him. He still looked like a young boy of no more than nine years in age.  
  
"Ah, Prince Tenchi. To what do I owe this unexpected surprise?" he said to the image in front of him.  
  
"I've come to take a last look at the Earth," he replied diplomatically. "It is my home planet after all." His voice was laced with venom as he said this and glared at the boy.  
  
"Fine. Keep your distance, I'll allow you as close as Venus," said the youma calmly.  
  
"Very well," said the prince calmly.  
  
"Do not worry young prince. Soon Metallia's link to this dimension will be severed completely."  
  
"Monster. Destroying a whole planet..."  
  
"Is quite necessary I assure you. I'm sure the Juraian officials have explained this to you in great detail," said the youma.  
  
"I will never forgive you for this," spat the boy.  
  
"Well, you aren't Emperor yet. I'm sure Yosho feels the same way, but by the time you are, it would only be a pointless war. Something I'm sure neither of us wishes to happen. So many would die for a dead planet."  
  
Tenchi growled at this.  
  
"Metallia's link to the dimension is Earth, and the life there. Once it is gone, we'll be quite safe. I've been suppressing her attempts to escape her prison thus far, but it won't hold out forever." The evil youma smirked at him. "That is why all of the Youma were localized in Japan. That is where her grip is the firmest."  
  
"Why not just destroy that place then? Why the whole planet?" snarled the angry prince.  
  
"Because it would not destroy her link, merely weaken it for a time. Her grip would be on an empty patch of water, rather than an island," replied Kuroi calmly. It was obviously an old conversation. "She'd just have to send her Youma a little farther away to gather what she needs. The population control is one of the safeguards that we created to prevent her from gathering energy easily."  
  
"It isn't worth it," snapped Tenchi hotly.  
  
"I could have just killed you and your little family you know. I graciously offered the Jurai Government the chance to take you away, however forceful that might have been."  
  
Tenchi turned his head away shamefully. "..."  
  
"How are those lovely wives of yours these days? Enjoying them? Ryoko is quite rude, she never calls her father anymore."  
  
"Shut up," snapped Tenchi hatefully.  
  
"I know what you're thinking, Washuu was a liability my boy, she would have attempted to stop us, as would you. Had you been allowed to remain on the Earth that is; you'd be dead too, if you had remained."  
  
"Tsunami out," said Tenchi as he cut the communication off.  
  
"Keep an eye on him," said Kuroi as his face fell into a frown. "If he tries anything, send the entire fleet after him. Tsunami or not, he's not dumb enough to try and fight off our entire navy alone."  
  
"Sir!" replied one of the men who worked on a console nearby.  
  
Kuroi smirked. Ranma was indeed the perfect man for the job he'd given him. Keeping entire families alive for their military was a stroke of brilliance. There were no men working for them who had lost any family, so they had much less fear of revenge driven morons attempting to disrupt them internally. They were also treated well, and told of the reason for destroying the planet. Of course, when they moved to the new planet, they would all be killed. None of them were aware of that though.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Hotaru sat down on a tree stump in the middle of a dead forest. Ranma stood beside her and leaned against one of the dead trees casually.  
  
"You're not tired?" she asked him.  
  
"I don't get tired easily anymore," he replied calmly.  
  
"Oh," she muttered to herself as she relaxed. "We've been walking all day."  
  
"Yup," he commented calmly.   
  
Hotaru frowned suddenly and sat up. "What's that?" she muttered.  
  
Ranma's attention was also focused in the same direction. "I'm not sure. You stay here and rest, I'm gonna go check it out."  
  
Hotaru looked at him and frowned. "Maybe..."  
  
"I think I know what it is. If I'm right, you won't be much help to me anyway. Just stay here, and I'll come back in a little while," said Ranma.  
  
The woman nodded and seemed to relax a bit. "Don't take too long."  
  
"Right," said Ranma as he started off in the direction of the power they had felt.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Well, you've been doing well," said Mara as she appeared in front of him a short distance away from where he had first felt her.  
  
"What do you want? I'm busy," he said calmly.  
  
"I've come with a warning," she said calmly.   
  
"Oh?" he said with a smirk forming on his face.  
  
"Yes. The gods have sent a hunter after you," she replied calmly. "You'd best be on your guard."  
  
"An angel," he grumbled irritably.  
  
"Yes," she replied with a slightly surprised frown.   
  
"I'll handle it," he replied as he turned away.  
  
"Don't be so cocky," she said irritably.  
  
"I think I can deal with one angel," he said as he glanced back at her.  
  
"Well. Let's find out shall we?" she said with an evil looking grin forming on her face.  
  
Ranma stepped back as the woman's body began to grow and distort. "Oh shit."  
  
Mara's grin widened as she grew to over ten feet tall. Her body became gray, and four large horns that curled in front of her huge bug like eyes from the top of her head and the side of her face. Her body had become skinny and lithe, and her hands had grown into gigantic claws. "You think you're strong enough to beat an angel do you?" snarled the thing wickedly.  
  
Ranma stepped back. "So, you're showing off for me eh?"  
  
"Showing off?" she chuckled.  
  
Ranma had moved back into a defensive stance to await the coming attack.   
  
"Come on little Spawn!" snarled Mara as she lumbered forward. "Show me how strong you've become!"  
  
Ranma jumped forward, punching at her.  
  
She swat him aside easily laughing as he crashed through one of the trees.   
  
"Damn," he grumbled as he stood up shakily.  
  
"Weakling! You won't last five minutes against an Angel!" snarled Mara as she lumbered towards him.  
  
Ranma jumped up, avoiding a strike from the thing's claws.  
  
The chains lashed out, missing the thing's head as it simply shifted. "Ha! You're slow!"  
  
"I didn't miss," said Ranma as he floated back, causing the chains to become tight suddenly.  
  
"Eh?" muttered Mara in confusion as she glanced back. Her jaw dropped into an angry scream as a dead fallen tree slammed into her face, one of the twisted branches came through the back of her head. "Gluck..." stammered the thing as it staggered painfully.  
  
Ranma landed on its back, bringing the chains up tight like horse's reins. "Come on bitch! Let's see how long it takes me to tame you!"  
  
Mara roared in anger, jumping up and down and tossing him around violently. She tried to roll over on top of him, but he shifted aside and crawled onto the top of her head. She began to thrash more and more violently, attempting to smash him into the trees. He held firmly though and dug his heels into her sides.   
  
After about two minutes, she finally got some of her senses back and reached up to grab him with her claws. He nimbly jumped aside and landed on the ground, rolling through the dust onto his feet again. "Ready to go again?" he asked her.  
  
She glared at him for a moment and bit through the tree, crushing the center to splinters. "That was impressive. I've never had such a young hellspawn give me such a good fight. You didn't even use any of your power."  
  
"I'm going to need it if I want to kill the other me," he said calmly.  
  
She shrank back into her original form and smirked at him. "We'll have to remember this game later," she said as she walked up to him and pushed herself against his chest.  
  
Ranma frowned at this, but said nothing.  
  
"Bye bye handsome," she said as she vanished into the shadows.  
  
"Is she suggesting what I think she is?" muttered Ranma with a slightly sick look on her face.  
  
"Hey. I might take her up on that, if she doesn't look like that thing again next time," commented Carrot.  
  
"EEW!" exclaimed Ranma in disgust.  
  
"So, back to Hotaru then?" asked Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"No. Back to hell with you," said a feminine voice from the shadows.  
  
"Huh?" said the pair as they turned to see someone staring at them from a perch nearby. "Who the..."  
  
She jumped down, clothed in a dirty brown cloak. "I've come to send you back where you belong, Hellspawn."  
  
"You must be that angel," said Carrot as he backed away from her.  
  
"Heh. Indeed," she chuckled as she glared at him from the shadows of her hood.  
  
"Hoping to catch me in a weakened state, after fighting with that demon?" snorted Ranma. "I haven't even broken a sweat."  
  
"Not surprising, seeing as all your pores have been burned off," she commented dryly.  
  
"Look lady. I've got something to do here, and I don't want to waste my power tangling with you. How about we do this later?" said the thing as it looked her up and down. "You and I can fight all you want, after I've killed Ranma."  
  
"I don't think so," said the angel coldly. "You'll fight now, and go back now."  
  
Ranma frowned at her. "I'm not gonna be able to get out of this one."  
  
"I'm afraid not. Die!" she snarled as the cloak flew off, revealing a stunning woman with long red hair. Her body was mostly hidden under the huge number of firearms that she wore.  
  
"Oh fuck," said Ranma as his eyes grew wide.  
  
The angel opened fire with an M-60 machine gun, blasting everything in front of her.  
  
Ranma moved into the air, skillfully dodging bullets as she adjusted her aim. He felt a few of them rip into his body, but ignored them. They weren't doing enough damage to really hurt him as Carrot was absorbing the shots, and he'd only been hit six times.   
  
"What the hell is this!?" cried Ranma dumbly as he landed in front of her. She jumped back and pulled a pair of Uzis from her sides and trained them on him. "What the hell kind of angel uses guns?"   
  
"A smart one," snapped the woman as she opened fire.   
  
Ranma dodged by leaning back and flailing his arms, the bullets passed all around him as she fired on him.  
  
"So...you've seen that movie too," commented the angel.  
  
Ranma was standing in front of her with his arms crossed over his chest. "Yeah."  
  
"It doesn't matter. You can't win," she snarled.  
  
"Look lady..." started Ranma irritably.  
  
"Die!" snarled the angel as she pulled a rocket launcher onto her shoulder.  
  
"Oh man," whined Ranma as he staggered back.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Hotaru arched her eyebrow as she saw the explosion in the distance. "What the hell is he doing?" She paused again as something else caught her attention. "Oh shit! Not now!"   
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma frowned as he glared at the sheet that covered Kuno's body. "I never liked him much anyway." The village that had once been home to the commune now smoked in the distance, little more than a series of craters in the earth now.  
  
Chibi-Usa strolled up beside him. She looked to be in her mid-twenties and was wearing a long black evening gown. Ryoga stood wordlessly on her arm, his face almost as expressive as a stone mask. A dark smirk formed on her face as she looked down at the body. "He was useful though."  
  
"Why do you think I kept that idiot around for so long?" he snorted casually.   
  
"No sign of Hotaru, or the mask sir," said one of the men who strolled up to him and saluted.  
  
"Keep looking," he said to the man calmly. "An interesting way to die." He kicked the sheet-covered body and snorted in disgust.  
  
"I almost wish we didn't have to kill whoever this is," commented Tochi as she floated down beside them.  
  
"We'll use the computer back at the base to locate the mask. It would have survived. It's probably buried," he commented lazily. "Hotaru was probably incinerated, but make sure. I want a DNA check of the ashes, find her."  
  
The soldier saluted him and turned away to pass out orders to his men.  
  
"Something about this bothers me," said Tochi.  
  
"Baka! We lost two of our people, they weren't weaklings either," said Ranma as he stared at her for a moment.  
  
She frowned at him and turned away. "I think your over cautiousness may pay off this time."  
  
"It usually does," he replied calmly. The group paused suddenly, looking off into the distance. "Who is that?"  
  
"There's two of them, quite strong," said Chibi-Usa with a smirk on her face.  
  
Ryoga gave a low feral growl.  
  
"Behave yourself darling," she said as she smacked him lightly on the arm.  
  
He looked at her for a moment and said nothing. His eyes began to glow with a strange power though.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma frowned as he looked at the smoldering end of his cape and glared at the angel. "How much ammo does this chick have?" The ground was covered in shells, and she showed no signs of letting up any time soon. Each time one weapon was spent, she'd simply switch to another. This had been going on for almost fifteen minutes now.  
  
"Die damn you!" she cried angrily.  
  
"Stop it!" snapped Ranma as he dove by her and slashed with his claws. She dodged and fired a few more shots at him with the large pair of handguns she now sported.  
  
Ranma managed to avoid being hit yet again, and rolled across the dust to his feet.  
  
The angel frowned as the weapons in her hands fell into two clean-cut sections. She growled and threw them to the ground. "Damn!"  
  
Ranma looked at her, she didn't appear to have any more weapons on her. "Finally!"  
  
"I guess we do this the old fashioned way," she snorted as a large spear appeared in her hand.  
  
"Haven't you had enough yet?" snapped Ranma irritably.  
  
"You haven't seen the beginning of my power yet!" she snapped.  
  
"Look lady, I don't have time for this. Could you just go away please..." He paused suddenly as he looked at the assortment of weapons that was lying around on the ground. "Wait a minute..."  
  
She frowned at him as he looked at her again.  
  
"I only no one person stupid enough to pull something like this!" said Ranma as he pointed at her.  
  
"Huh?" muttered the angel in confusion.  
  
"Dan! It has to be!" cried Ranma. "What the hell do you think you're doing asshole!?"  
  
Dan blinked as she looked at the thing in front of her. A smirk appeared on her face as recognition seemed to sink in. "Hey. Pissboy, it's Carrot and Ranma."  
  
"Well. I can see you didn't waste any time, you jerk," snorted Ranma as he frowned at the woman. "That must suck, having to be a chick."  
  
"Is it them?" muttered Dan as she glared at the hellspawn in front of her. "Yup. You're one to talk brain boy, at least I can still take a piss."  
  
"I thought it took three spirits to make an angel," commented Carrot irritably as he ignored the barb. "You and Pissant, but who else?"  
  
Dan frowned suddenly. "Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to do this?"  
  
"Huh?" muttered Ranma in confusion as he found himself looking down the shaft of her spear.  
  
"Oh man. Still an asshole," grumbled Carrot.  
  
"Ha!" cried Angela as she dove for them, slashing wildly with her spear.  
  
"Cut it out!" snapped Carrot.  
  
"I'll send you to hell!" cried the enraged woman.  
  
"You and what army?" snapped Carrot. "You forget, you're just the muscle! We're the skill and the brains! You can't win!"  
  
Angela missed again, cutting a huge gash in the ground. "Hold still damn you!"  
  
Inside Ranma's head, another conversation started while the angel was distracted. "We're gonna have to kill him!"  
  
"No prob!" agreed Ranma.  
  
"We can't overpower him, don't even try. He doesn't have the same limits we do. We're gonna have to take him down the hard way. We don't have the energy to spare otherwise."  
  
"Damn, this won't be easy," commented Ranma.  
  
"We're gonna have to try and outsmart them, not too much of a problem, but he can throw around enough power that it won't be as easy as it sounds."  
  
"Quit talking to yourself and fight!" snapped Angela.  
  
  
"Take this!" cried Ranma. He slashed out with his claw and managed to break the woman's armor, specifically her top.  
  
Angela screeched girlishly and covered her breasts.  
  
"Damn it! This is no time for that!" cried Dan.  
  
"Shut up!" said a familiar sounding voice. "He might see..."  
  
"Did see," corrected Carrot as he smirked at them with his arms crossed over his chest.  
  
A new voice unfamiliar tone entered the angel's voices. "He's right. Stop being a baby and kill the demon."  
  
"That was a woman," muttered the hellspawn as he uncrossed his arms slowly and glared at her.  
  
"Perceptive, isn't he," she asked him as she forcefully removed her arms from her chest. It seemed to take a bit of effort.  
  
"Very, he's a smart one," confirmed Dan.  
  
"You'd better not be thinking perverted thoughts about us!" snapped Pissant angrily.  
  
Ranma was about to reply to that when the woman intervened. "He couldn't if he wanted to. I've never seen a Hellspawn that could."  
  
"Stop talking about that!" snapped Carrot irritably. "It ain't our fault it ain't there anymore! It got burned off in hell damn it!"  
  
"Are you ready to die?" asked the woman coldly.  
  
"Yeah! Bitch!" agreed Dan.  
  
Ranma arched his eyebrow as he noticed the angel pinch herself on the leg. "As interesting as this is, we're about to have company," said Carrot as he looked over at the horizon.  
  
"What?" said Angela as she turned her gaze in the same direction. Several figures were closing in fast. "Damn!"  
  
"Heh. We can worry about this fight later, we don't have time to argue right now. We've got to leave, right now."  
  
"Too late!" growled Angela hatefully.  
  
Ranma turned his gaze upward again and frowned. Chibi-Usa was holding a wand over her head and glaring down at them. "Moon Killing Escalation!"  
  
Ranma dove into Angela and pulled her to the ground before he even thought about it. Then, the energy wave hit.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  



	49. Insertion Part 49

Insertion  
  
Part 49  
  
Ranma's Revenge.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Chibi-Usa landed on the ground lightly, a cold smirk on her face as she ground her foot into the tattered looking red cloak that lie in the dust. "Too easy," she muttered as she turned to look at her father.  
  
"So it seems," agreed Ranma as he noticed that there was nothing left of the threat except the tattered looking cloak. He hadn't even gotten a good look at them.   
  
"Well, so much for the threat!" said the woman as she threw her head back and laughed cruelly.  
  
Ranma paused and turned his gaze to the ground. An odd looking spear was resting nearby, it was strangely familiar, and yet he couldn't place where he'd seen it before.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Angela was in a panic. All around her there was nothing but a red liquid. She thrashed wildly as she felt the thing gripping her from behind.  
  
"Calm down!" said a voice inside her head.  
  
"He's got us!" she replied.  
  
"I'm not going to hurt you, at least...not yet," said the voice again.  
  
Angela paused, realizing that the voice was Carrots. Ranma was holding her from behind, but not doing any more than that. "What's going on? Why did you save me?" she growled in reply as she seemed to relax a bit.  
  
"I didn't, he did," snorted Carrot. "He probably did it without thinking after he saw that brat attack us."  
  
"Well, now what?" snapped Angela angrily.  
  
"Now, you just sit back for a minute. Your spear is outside, so don't bother trying to attack us. This is our little world, and you're in over your head. Besides, I've got to take care of a cocky little bitch right now."  
  
Ranma released her and pushed away through the liquid like substance that surrounded them.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Not much of a trophy," snorted Chibi-Usa as she looked down at the tattered rag at her feet. "Tell me father, what should we do with it?"  
  
"Leave it for all I care," replied Ranma as he glanced around the area. "Seems you got both of them. Don't be so rash, I'd like to have found out who they were."  
  
"Indeed," agreed Tochi as she moved up beside him.  
  
Ryoga was standing as still as a statue nearby, frowning coldly at the scene as usual.  
  
"Well, I suppose I could..." Chibi-Usa gasped in horror as she looked down. Her feet were sinking into the cloth as if it were made of liquid. "What?!"  
  
"No!" cried Ranma in alarm as he moved towards her.   
  
Two black claws reached out of the cloth and grabbed the woman. She was pulled inside of the cape before anyone could do anything to stop it.  
  
"Spore!" cried Ranma as he dove for her, only to impact on a solid surface. He punched down in anger and glared at the cape. "Damn!"  
  
"What happened?" muttered Tochi dumbly.  
  
"It's a damn hellspawn!" snapped Ranma angrily. "Shit! It'll have to come out sooner or later. Get ready!"  
  
Ryoga nodded calmly and Tochi growled.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Chibi-Usa struggled against the claws that now held her by her neck. She held her breath desperately as the burning liquid seemed to seep into her body through her skin. The thing that held her was wearing a costume that seemed to reach out for her on it's own, holding her arms and legs down with chains and slivers of cloth.   
  
"I have you now," said the thing almost cheerfully as it lashed out with its claws.  
  
"No!" she screamed, releasing a large amount of the precious air inside her lungs. Her aura came to life, burning brightly and forcing the thing to release her. Desperately she shot upwards, hoping it was the right direction. Shooting out of the liquid and into the air.   
  
The others stood around, staring at her in shock.  
  
She opened her mouth to speak, and suddenly found herself surrounded by beams of power from her allies. The one her father shot tore through her chest with no resistance. "What?" she muttered in shocked horror. A cold laughter seemed to fill her head as she looked down at the large hole now present in her bust. She hadn't escaped the thing, it had let her go.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Now!" cried Ranma as he shot a powerful bolt of energy at the thing. Tochi and Ryoga responded by shooting smaller waves of power on either side of it, preventing it from dodging.  
  
It had shot out of the cape, attempting to escape them with sheer speed; a deadly mistake.  
  
Ranma smirked as he looked down at the fallen thing and kicked it with his foot. "It's dead. Easier than I'd thought."  
  
"It was female," commented Tochi with her eyebrow arched. "Interesting. I wonder if it's anyone we might know?"  
  
"We wouldn't recognize it if it was," snorted Ranma. "It probably came back looking for revenge. We should cut it up, and destroy the costume. Just to be sure." He pointed his hand down at the thing and smirked as the suit began to melt away from the body. He could swear he heard giggling. "No you don't. You're not going..." His words died out in his mouth as he looked down in horror. "No!"  
  
Chibi-Usa was staring back up at him lifelessly.  
  
"Destroy that thing!" snarled Ranma angrily as he pointed down at the cloak.  
  
Ryoga growled and began to burn with energy, Tochi merely stood looking down at the dead woman wordlessly.   
  
"Oops," she muttered under her breath.  
  
Ranma was about to release a huge blast of power, when a black object shot out of the cloak, taking him in the chest like a bullet.  
  
"Die!" snarled the hellspawn as it tackled him to the ground.  
  
"Fool!" snapped Ranma as his body burned with the golden power. He shifted aside, only to take the blow full on.  
  
"Weren't expecting that were you?" said the hellspawn as it attacked again, connecting across Ranma's jaw.  
  
"What is this?" gasped Ranma as his eyes went wild. He was clutching his cheek and staring at the ground in disbelief and hatred. "You! I'm going to destroy you!" His rage exploded, and his aura doubled in an instant.  
  
Spawn chuckled. "Not if I kill you first!" His aura blasted out as well, dwarfed by Ranma's, but also tinted with a sickly looking green color.  
  
"What the hell is that?" muttered Tochi as she stepped back away from the thing. Everything about it felt wrong.  
  
"Me? I'm a hellspawn. In return for me leading the army of hell, I was given power, and the chance to avenge my death at his hands," said the thing as it pointed at the enraged Ranma.  
  
"Don't just stand there you idiots! Kill it!" growled Ranma angrily.  
  
Tochi nodded and moved into a combat stance. Ryoga grunted and looked at the thing for a moment, standing completely still.  
  
Ranma looked at him. "Don't think you've been freed just because she died!" He backhanded his companion in his face. "Avenge your master, and maybe I'll be kind enough to kill you when this is over."  
  
Ranma didn't waste any more time after that. "Die!" he cried as he charged forward with his claws extended.   
  
Tochi intercepted him with a flying kick that knocked him back. The thing landed on its feet though, and didn't seem injured at all.  
  
"Don't play with this thing. Transform now!" snapped Ranma as he appeared beside her.   
  
She nodded and her body began to grow, Ryoga and Ranma slowly circled around the thing, watching it carefully.  
  
Tochi's form shifted into a golden version of the Takibi monster. A huge dinosaur like creature with a spiky finlike protrusion jutting from the top of its head.  
  
Spawn was assessing his options carefully. Ranma was the real target, but it wouldn't do him any good to attack him if the other two managed to kill him because he ignored them. "Damn. We need to get away!" snapped Carrot.  
  
"Right," agreed Ranma as their situation didn't appear to be getting any better.  
  
Angela was hanging back behind the crowd, with her spear in her hand. She narrowed her eyes at him and scowled. It was obvious he wouldn't be getting any help from her.  
  
"Ingrate!" he called to her.   
  
She snorted and turned away, only to find Tochi blocking her path.   
  
"Where do you think you're going?" snarled the creature as it stared down at her.  
  
"All I care about is killing him, if you manage to do it, it's just less work for me," she replied calmly.  
  
"Oh?" said the thing with what looked like amusement on its face.  
  
"Die!" cried Ranma as he fired a huge bolt of power at the thing.  
  
Spawn dodged easily, but noted the rather large explosion behind him, as a huge section of the ruined city in the distance disappeared. "Not good. We've pissed him off."  
  
Ryoga rushed him, lashing out with his fists.  
  
Spawn swat him aside with a backhand, and the boy was sprawled across the ground. He got back up, as if nothing had happened and charged again, this time with Ranma moving in with him.  
  
Spawn blocked fervently, barely keeping up with the pair as they did their best to kill him. He was fast enough to avoid taking any real hits, but not enough to counterattack with both of them fighting him.  
  
"Damn," grumbled Ranma as he found himself in a stalemate with the thing. "If you think I'm going to allow you to escape, after killing my daughter, you're sorely mistaken!"  
  
Spawn gasped as he found himself leaning forward in an all too familiar pain. His arm had been cut clean off from attempting to block, and he now had a familiar Katana jutting from his belly. "Cheater..." he gasped. It was oddly poetic that he had been stabbed with the Saotome family blade.  
  
"Whoever you are, you should stay dead this time," growled Ranma as he twisted the blade. "My daughter won't be dead for very long, you see. I can revive her."  
  
"How are you going to manage that, without this?" said Spawn as he chuckled and held up the Silver Imperium Crystal.  
  
"What?" gasped Ranma in shock. "NO!"  
  
The thing vanished in a flash of green light, leaving an empty blade.   
  
Tochi frowned as she glanced back, momentarily distracted from her stand off with the angel.   
  
"Damn," growled Angela. She twirled the spear in her hand, and raked it across the side of Tochi's face, causing her to scream in pain. Her claws came up to clutch her muzzle as she stumbled back away from the woman. "That's for making me lose him." In a flash of light, she vanished as well, in search of her prey.  
  
Ranma screamed, waves of power shooting from his body as he literally exploded in anger. Tochi and Ryoga both stood silently, seemingly unaffected by the display that wiped out everything within a mile.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Spawn stumbled to the ground, green blood flowing from his wound freely. He coughed and started to glow with the green energy again, the wound slowly closed up and healed. "Damn, that sucked."  
  
"Well, he's on the run now," offered Carrot. "We have the Silver Imperium Crystal, and we've managed to take down three of them."  
  
"So now what?" asked Ranma painfully. He glanced down and frowned as he realized that the wound had not completely healed. "What the?"  
  
"Something wrong?"  
  
"I can't heal this wound..." grumbled Ranma.  
  
"What? Why not?" asked Carrot dumbly.  
  
"Because I'm out of power," said Ranma in horror.  
  
"Oh shit," grumbled Carrot.  
  
Angela appeared in front of him in a flash of light. She held her spear down at him and narrowed her eyes. After a moment of simply staring at him she frowned. "Shit. I'm too late."  
  
Ranma chucked at her calmly, resting with his back against a tree. "Well, I'll be seeing you around I suppose."  
  
"The hell you will," snorted Angela calmly. "You're nothing but food for the army of the damned."  
  
"You should know me better than that by now," said the dying thing as it smirked at her.   
  
"In any case, you're off limits for the moment," she snarled hatefully. "You did fail your mission though, which is a bit of a consolation to me."  
  
"Bastard, you always were," said Ranma weakly.  
  
"Just die," said Angela as she turned into a ball of light and shot up into the sky.  
  
Ranma found this funny for some odd reason and the world slowly faded away. "Funny, I thought we'd had more power than that."  
  
"Well, going Super didn't help us much," commented Carrot. "I'll see you when we get there."  
  
"Right," grumbled Ranma as he finally blacked out.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"Welcome," said Hild as she glared down at the pair from her throne. She had a cold smirk on her face as she simply watched them for a moment. "It seems it's already time for your test. I expected it to take a few years at least. How amusing."  
  
"Right," commented Carrot lamely. "Look, who do we gotta fight? How many are there?"  
  
Hild leaned forward, her eyes seemed to be laughing at them both. They merely stood there, neither one was particularly afraid or intimidated by her anymore. "First you must decide who you must serve."  
  
"Serve?" said Carrot with his eyebrow arched slightly.   
  
"You must choose a higher demon to be your master. I understand Mara has taking quite a shining to you."  
  
"The hell!" snapped Carrot irritably. "Look lady, we don't serve nobody!"  
  
"That's right!" agreed Ranma. "I ain't servin no stupid chick!"   
  
Hild glanced at him for a moment for the comment, but he didn't appear to notice. "Really?"  
  
"Heck no!" they both replied fearlessly.  
  
She reared her head back and roared with laughter. "Oh! How wonderful!"  
  
The two boys looked at one another for a moment in confusion. "Huh?"  
  
Hild grinned. Both of them defied her completely, and totally without fear. "This definitely grows interesting."  
  
"What the heck is she laughing about?" asked Ranma in confusion.  
  
"I dunno, but I wish we could get this stupid test over with," grumbled Carrot.  
  
"You've already taken it," said Hild calmly.  
  
"Huh?" replied the pair in unison again.  
  
"Why you foolish demons, you've just passed it," she chuckled.   
  
"Wait. You mean...that was it?" grumbled Carrot in disbelief.  
  
"You were sufficiently vengeful throughout your entire time on Midigard. You also tortured a man to death, delivered a soul to me personally, fought off Mara, died for revenge, and were strong willed enough to be defiant to the Queen of Hell."  
  
"Oh," said the pair dumbly.  
  
"In any case, I now grant you full demonhood," said Hild calmly. "You should enjoy it, well mostly. You do have to live in hell after all. Although, you'll be doing the tormenting from now on."  
  
"Wait. You mean we can't go back and..."  
  
"Of course not. There are rules against things like that. You'll be given a First Class Unlimited Ranking of course, seeing as you're now a General."  
  
Ranma and Carrot looked at one another for a moment.   
  
"Screw this."  
  
"I'm gone."  
  
"Huh?" muttered Hild as she watched them turn away. "Where do you think you're going?"  
  
"Hey. The only reason we agreed to this was so we could kill that other Ranma," said Carrot.  
  
Hild stood up and glared at them. "You don't wish to learn what it means to defy me."  
  
"Hey! It was part of the test wasn't it?" grumbled Carrot as he glanced back at her. "You should expect this sort of thing from us. We passed after all, right?"  
  
"How do we get out of here?" asked Ranma as he ignored them. He was looking around in confusion.  
  
"I dunno. Is there a map or something?" asked Carrot. He blinked and looked over his shoulder, in a hallway just outside the room, there was a large map with a 'You are here' arrow pointing to a spot on the thirteenth level.  
  
"Man, we gotta climb all those stairs?" grumbled Ranma as he pointed the stairwell out.  
  
"Well, I suppose so. This is hell, stuff like that is supposed to suck," said Carrot with a small shrug.  
  
Hild sat back down and shook her head in disgust. Sooner or later the pair would return. No one could leave without her authorization anyway. Well, there was that doctor, and the weird Hibiki kid, but they weren't supposed to be here yet anyway.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Hotaru scowled as she looked at the body in front of her. She had stumbled across it not five minutes after leaving to find her companion. She had found him.  
  
"Damn you. Now I'm all alone..." she muttered. It wasn't a battle she could win. The destruction of the world would take them all with her now. That would have to do. Tears began to well up in her eyes, she'd long since thought she'd run dry of them.  
  
She started to turn away, when she noticed something in the now rotting corpse's claws. It sparkled slightly and she bent down. Ranma was decomposing at an alarming rate, his costume faded and torn as if it had been there for years. Her eyes went wide as she saw what it was. "This is..."  
  
She had the Silver Imperium Crystal. Somewhere deep inside her, a small glimmer of hope began to form.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"Where the heck are we?" grumbled Carrot as he looked around. They were both standing in the middle of a hallway with various open doors.  
  
"Level twelve I think. We need another one of those signs," said Ranma irritably.  
  
"Hey. What's that?" asked Carrot as he looked into one of the rooms.  
  
"I dunno..." muttered Ranma as he looked into the room and went pale. "EEW! Gross!"  
  
"Hey. It's Hitler," muttered Carrot as he saw the soul being tortured inside the room.  
  
He was sitting on an operating table, whimpering like a baby. A blind doctor was standing over him with his eyes stitched shut. He was giving the man a circumcision with a rusty looking tool.   
  
The doctor looked up at them and smiled. "Would you like to try?"  
  
Hitler was muttering gibberish in German, looking at them with pleading eyes.  
  
Ranma backed away, and Carrot shrugged.   
  
"Sure thing," said Carrot as he walked calmly into the room.   
  
"What?" gasped Ranma in shock.  
  
"This is for inspiring Saving Private Ryan! I had to sit through that movie for three hours!" cried Carrot. "Even if it was a pretty good flick. Oh, and Shindlers List too! Both of them were too long!"  
  
Ranma staggered back, feeling a little weak. He turned away from the scene.   
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Carrot was still wiping the blood from his hands as they stumbled into another section of hell. "Man, that was harder than I thought it'd be. I guess there's more than just snipping to it."  
  
They walked into the middle of a desert. It was a rather small desert, hardly the size of a mid- sized room. A man was standing in the middle of the room, chained to a large rock, mere inches away from a small spring. "Water! Please let me have a drink!" wailed the man.  
  
"Huh?" said Carrot as he looked down at the pathetic figure as he groped for the pool. "What the heck?"  
  
"Please kind sir! Could you scoop me a handful before you pass! I've forgotten what water tastes like!"  
  
Carrot blinked. "Tastes like? Water doesn't taste like anything. It's water."  
  
Ranma shrugged and scooped up a handful of water.  
  
Carrot smacked him in the back of his head. "Don't do that!"  
  
"Huh? Why not?" muttered the boy as he dropped his handful of water into the sand.   
  
The man dove for it, scooping up handfuls of dry sand in a pathetic attempt to catch it before it was soaked in.  
  
"We're demons. We aren't supposed to help them, we're supposed to torture them. If he's here it's because he deserves it."  
  
"Oh," said the boy in reply as he looked down at the crazed man eating sand.  
  
"Come on," grumbled Carrot as he pulled on the boy's arm and led him away.  
  
The next room was a maze, literally.   
  
"Oh now what?" said Carrot as he threw his arms into the air.  
  
"Excuse me, could you tell me the way out of here?" muttered a ghostly looking figure who walked up to them.  
  
Ranma and Carrot blinked and looked at the man for a moment. "Um. No?" said Ranma.  
  
Carrot sighed. "No. Do it like this." He pulled a worn looking sheet of paper out of his shirt and handed it to the man. "Here's a map. It's pretty dark in here though." He pulled one of the torches off of the walls and handed it to the man.   
  
A look of complete euphoria crossed the man's face. "I've been wandering these halls for three hundred years!"  
  
"Are we supposed to be doing this?" asked Ranma with a slightly nervous frown.  
  
Carrot turned to look at him, catching the end of the map on fire, seemingly by accident. "Huh? You were the one who wanted to give that guy a drink."  
  
"Augh! NO!" cried the unfortunate soul as the map burned in front of his eyes. He tried to grab it, but the argument between Carrot and Ranma heated up, and it was waved around just out of his reach.  
  
"Hey! You're the one who stopped me!" snapped Ranma. "Then you go and do something like this?"  
  
"Well, I didn't think you'd mind!" retorted Carrot as he tossed the burning map to the ground, where it burned away completely.  
  
"Augh! The map!" cried the unfortunate soul as he dove for the ashes.  
  
Carrot looked down at him and smirked. "See, wasn't that fun?"  
  
"Huh?" muttered Ranma in confusion as he realized what had happened.  
  
"I'm glad to see that you're getting into this," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"Getting into what?" said Ranma in confusion.  
  
"Never mind, let's just go," said Carrot with a small sigh.  
  
"Um...okay..." said the boy with another shrug.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Our army?" asked Carrot as he blinked and looked down at the small demon in front of him.  
  
"Yes sir, that is quiet correct. I was told there would be only one general," said the diminutive creature with a short bow.  
  
"Only one?" muttered Ranma in confusion.  
  
"Got me," replied Carrot. "Anyway, you say all these demons are ours?"  
  
"Yes sir," muttered the tiny creature nervously.  
  
"They have to do whatever we say?" said Carrot with his grin widening.  
  
"Um...that is correct sir," said the demon.  
  
"Wow, there's a lot," muttered Ranma in awe as he looked down at the horde.   
  
"One million demons sir. Quite impressive," said the creature cheerfully.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Carrot jogged along cheerfully, with Ranma at his side.   
  
"C-130 rolling down the strip!" he called as he ran.  
  
"C-130 rolling down the strip!" chorused the demons in unison.  
  
"Twenty Airborne Rangers on a one way trip!" continued Carrot.  
  
The demons repeated that line as well.  
  
"Mission top secret, destination unknown!" continued Carrot.  
  
The demon horde continued to sing the cadence.   
  
Ranma shook his head and sighed as he kept up the pace easily.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Hild frowned as she watched the army of demons tear around the tenth level of hell in a jog.  
  
"I love you!"  
  
"I love you!"   
  
"You love me!"  
  
"You love me!"  
  
She smirked slightly at the screams of pain that particular cadence caused some of the souls that they passed near too. They had already been there for about twelve hours, and already one of them was adjusting well. The other one would come around soon enough though. She hadn't finished with them, and she'd get around to it. They worked so well as a team. They also generated a lot of anger when they were stuck together; a definite plus for a demon.  
  
She sighed and went back to her throne.   
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
"What do you guys do for fun around here?" asked Ranma as he looked at a group of his soldiers after they had finished their five-mile run.  
  
"Fun?" asked one of the things. They were all relatively alike, things with leathery skin and horns. Mostly teeth and claws, with bad breath and evil glints in their eyes.  
  
"You must do something," said Carrot irritably.  
  
"Well, we like to torture the souls," offered one of them dumbly.  
  
"We already did that," said Carrot flatly. "What else?"  
  
"The unvirtuous young maidens are fun to visit," said another. "They're on level seven."  
  
"Not my thing," muttered Ranma uncomfortably.  
  
"We look to normal for that anyway," agreed Carrot with a slightly sick look on his face. "They might actually enjoy having us there, and we can't have that."  
  
"Dere's da bar," said another one of them in the back.  
  
"Ah! Now you're talkin!" said Carrot happily. "It isn't Karaoke night is it?" he muttered with a slight frown.  
  
"It's always Karaoki night," said another one of the horde.   
  
"Oh, right," muttered Carrot. "Forgot where I was for a minute there."  
  
"Bar?" grumbled Ranma with a small frown on his face.  
  
"Yeah. I haven't had a good stiff drink since I got stuck with you," said Carrot irritably.  
  
"We've had a few drinks," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"I want a real beer damn it! Not that Sake crap," snorted Carrot.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"It figures. Coors Light and Middle Eastern Beer only," grumbled Carrot as he sat with a green bottle of some terrible beer in his hand.   
  
"What's the big deal anyway?" said Ranma.  
  
"It isn't really," said Carrot with a shrug as he took a swig and made a disgusted face.  
  
A group of dead musicians were chained to a few chairs around the stage, listening to the Karaokiers butcher their songs horribly. Occasionally a groan of pain would float over to them over a particularly bad tune.  
  
"So, now what?" asked Ranma as he leaned against the bar and frowned. "This is pretty boring."  
  
"Well, you're supposed to try and get laid," said Carrot as he eyed a group of female demons that walked by. They were in various states of undress, and didn't seem to care much about anything that was going on around them.  
  
"What?!" gasped Ranma in horror.  
  
"What? Don't try and pull that honorable virgin crap on me Ranma. What's going to happen? Are you going to go to hell for sleeping with someone before you're married?"  
  
The pigtailed demon blinked at this. "Hey...you're...right..."  
  
"Of course I am," snorted Carrot.   
  
"Still..." muttered Ranma uncomfortably.  
  
"Hello boys," said a familiar voice from behind them.  
  
They both turned from the bar in unison.  
  
Mara was standing there with her hand on her hip. She had a smirk on her face, and a bottle in one hand. "Don't tell me you're interested in those lower class whores." She nodded towards the group of demonesses that had walked by them a moment before.  
  
"Just window shopping," commented Carrot with a small frown.  
  
"Oh?" said Mara as she pulled a bridle from behind her back and looked at him. Her smirk grew into a full-blown grin.  
  
Carrot was off of his stool in an instant, moving up beside her. "I'll see you around Ranma."  
  
The pigtailed demon simply stared at him in a sort of disgusted awe. "Hey! You can't leave me here!"  
  
"Sorry buddy," said Carrot as Mara pulled him away by his arm.  
  
The instant he was more than ten feet away, Ranma found himself pulled off of his stool by an unseen force, after a moment he found himself sliding across the floor on his back.   
  
Carrot paused and looked back at him. "Oh. I guess I really can't leave him here."  
  
Mara got a dangerous glint in her eyes as she looked down at the boy. "Well, maybe he can join us?"  
  
Carrot frowned at her. "You got any cold water?"  
  
"No freakin way!" cried Ranma in horror.  
  
"Just a thought," replied Carrot with a shrug. "Anyway, this could pose a problem."  
  
Mara pouted at him and swung the bridle in front of his face.  
  
"Right," said Carrot as he started pulling her out of the room, dragging Ranma along the ground in the dust behind them.  
  
"You jerk! Stop!"  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Carrot took a drag off of his cigarette and looked up at the ceiling. An image of an ex-president's current activities could be seen. "You'd think he'd damn himself here with a better looking woman. Jeez that guy will do it with anyone."  
  
The pig in the image with him squealed loudly.  
  
Carrot looked at Mara for a moment. "Is it the pig that's damned, or him?"  
  
"He is the pig. We switched brains. Anyway, I find it promising," commented Mara from beside him on her bed. "To think that it took so little to tempt him. Maybe someday it'll be that easy with everyone."  
  
"Man. I hope not," grumbled Carrot. "I'd like to think they'd retain some semblance of taste."  
  
"There aren't very many anymore. In-bounds are slow these days," commented Mara with a heavy sigh.  
  
Ranma sat up from the floor at the foot of the bed. "Do you mind? It's bad enough you kept me up all night already!"  
  
"Fine," muttered the pair as they looked away from each other.  
  
"It's not like you couldn't have joined," said Mara as she glanced at him with a small frown on her face.  
  
"Let him be. He'll come around. He's going to be here a while," grumbled Carrot.   
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Hotaru looked at the small dusty settlement and frowned. "Damn, not here either."  
  
She started walking again, secretly wishing she could just fly around, or use the computer at the base to locate them. She started walking through the town and paused. She could feel life here, someone was around.  
  
"What are you doing here?" asked a familiar voice.  
  
"Well. Mamoru," said Hotaru as she turned to look at the man who was standing on one of the rooftops. "Hello again."  
  
"What do you want?" he snapped harshly.  
  
"I'm looking for Usagi," said the girl calmly.  
  
"She's not here," he replied angrily.  
  
"I know that. Why are you here?"  
  
"I was sent to find out who you were," he replied.   
  
"That means I'm not far off," she said with a thoughtful frown.  
  
"You aren't welcome," said Mamoru.  
  
"I'm not asking your permission," said the girl calmly. "But I think you'll bring me to her when I tell you what I have to offer."  
  
"Not a chance," he replied coldly.  
  
"Not even if I were to give her the means to heal her eyes?" said Hotaru calmly.  
  
"What?" muttered the man in shock.  
  
"Her eyes, and so much more than that," said Hotaru as she unwrapped a small dirty cloth and held up the crystal to him. "Now. Take me to Usagi."  
  
He growled and stepped back, unsure of what to do. After a moment of thought, he turned his head away and snorted. "Fine. Follow me."  
  
Hotaru nodded and started walking after him as he jumped down and started off to the west.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: The Return of Sailor Moon?!  



	50. Insertion Part 50

Insertion  
  
Part 50  
  
The Return of hope.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Angela kneeled before Belldandy, a frustrated frown on her face as she lowered her head in shame. "I've failed."  
  
"Yes. I know," replied the goddess with an unusual amount of calm in her voice. "You tried your best."  
  
The angel looked up in surprise at this. "What? I..."  
  
"We must prepare, as a new demon enters the fold, so must a new god be born, in order to retain balance."  
  
Angela gaped at her in shock. "But..."  
  
"There is nothing that can be done, you are not the first to fail," replied Belldandy calmly.   
  
"I see," said the angel with her frown deepening.   
  
"Rise Angela, the new goddess of Vengeance," said Belldandy as she put her hand on the woman's shoulder.  
  
"But I failed!" said the angel.  
  
"Yes, but you did try your best," replied Belldandy. "Your service to us over the past fifteen hundred years has been flawless until now."  
  
"Fifteen hundred years?" said the woman dumbly as she stared at the goddess.  
  
"Only two of you are new here remember?" said Belldandy with an amused looking smile. "The other has been here for some time."  
  
"Vengeance?" muttered Angela as she looked up at the goddess.  
  
"A negative emotion?" replied Belldandy as she smirked at the woman.   
  
"I always thought so..." said the woman with a frown on her face.  
  
"Vengeance is more than revenge, it can be righteous and noble as well. Not all Vengeance must end in death," said the goddess as she turned away.  
  
"I see..." said the new goddess as she stared at her feet. When she looked up again, three markings adorned her face. Small triangles set up to form a larger one on her forehead.  
  
"Do not concern yourself with him any longer. The lords of hell will not attack until Ragnarock, and that is some time away I think." said the woman calmly.  
  
Angela frowned at the thought. "When they do come, I'll be waiting for them."  
  
"Yes, you will. The world is ready for a goddess like you as well. The death of the hellspawn has brought a new hope to Midigard. A light that could benefit from your power."  
  
"A new hope?" muttered the Goddess in confusion.  
  
"Yes, the Silver Imperium Crystal has been released from the evil that once held it. Soon it will be in the hands of someone who could bring about a new age," replied the Goddess calmly. "A righteous quest, and a need for your blessing. It will not be an easy battle, and they are still..."  
  
"They aren't strong enough," said Angela as she nodded at this.   
  
"No, they are not," confirmed Belldandy with a sad looking smile.   
  
"I'll do all I can," said Angela with a firm resolve forming on her face.  
  
"I know you will, that is why you were chosen," said the Goddess as she left the new deity and walked out of the room.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma glared up at Hild with a rough sounding snort, Carrot stood beside him with his arms crossed over his chest.   
  
"What do you want?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Why did you call us again? We were just acclimating," said Carrot.  
  
Hild smiled at this, they were still as fearless as ever. It was rather refreshing actually, normally her minions cowered before her fearfully. They would fall in line soon enough, after a little experience. It wasn't something she wished to deal with just yet.  
  
"Well?" snorted Carrot.  
  
"You are the perfect demon for the job," said Hild to herself.  
  
"There's two of us you know," snorted Ranma.  
  
"No there isn't, that's all in your mind," said Hild calmly.  
  
Ranma and Carrot looked at each other and blinked. They both gave a small shrug and turned to look at her again.  
  
"I have a job for you two, it'll get you out of my hair for a while," said the Queen of the Damned as she frowned at them. "There is a new hope for humanity."  
  
"You want us to kill it?" asked Carrot with his eyebrow arched.  
  
Ranma didn't look like he thought that was a very good idea, and Carrot obviously didn't care for it much either.  
  
"No. I want you to help it in fact," said Hild calmly.  
  
"Help it?" muttered Ranma dumbly. This was a surprise to the both of them.  
  
"To put it simply, we aren't getting much inflow these days." The demoness stood up from her throne and walked between them. "Humanity is slowly dwindling away. Midigard was once a prime source for souls. Other worlds have life that either don't have souls, or are ruled in such a way that we don't get much inflow from them. There are also the other demon lords to consider, they take a large chunk of that from us. We usually only get overflow from them. We're falling behind, and that is unacceptable."  
  
"So you want us to save the world, in order to increase production," said Carrot as he nodded in understanding.  
  
Hild waved her hand, and a ball of power with Usagi's image in it appeared there. "You are to help this one, once she receives the Silver Imperium Crystal. When she has performed her task, you are to destroy her, and prevent her from uniting the people."  
  
"Use her to destroy the threat, and then destroy the possibility of Crystal Tokyo," said Carrot with an understanding nod.  
  
"Yes. You do understand," said Hild with a smirk growing on her face. "Midigard will fall into a lull for a while, but soon the tribes that have already formed will flourish, and become independent nations. Leading down the path of destruction once again."  
  
"Meaning production will return to normal," said Carrot with an understanding nod.  
  
Ranma growled, he didn't like this at all.  
  
"You are a demon, and you can't interfere directly any longer, but you man help clear the way, and help her in other ways."  
  
"What's that mean?" said Ranma in confusion.  
  
"We can't kill the other us ourselves, but we can make sure she gets the chance," simplified Carrot.  
  
"Excellent," commented Hild.   
  
"I thought you weren't going to send us back to Earth?" said Carrot as he looked up at her and frowned.  
  
"I lied," said the demoness calmly. "Sooner or later you would have been sent back, if not for this, then in a few hundred years. Just to keep things on track."  
  
Ranma and Carrot looked at each other for a moment. They both shrugged and looked back at Hild. "Sure," replied Carrot.  
  
"It wasn't a request, it was an order. Now go!" snapped Hild angrily.  
  
The pair vanished in a flash of fire.  
  
She sat back on her throne again and sighed. The one would be able to keep the other in line. That was one of the reasons she put them together that way. Carrot could ensure that Ranma didn't cling to his humanity and those stupid noble feelings he still harbored. It also seemed that they hadn't quite realized that they were more than just partners now, they were a single being.   
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Whether or not it was a coincidence or not, neither would ever know. A flash of light and a pillar of flame appeared on the surface of the planet at the exact same time. One a goddess stepped out of, and the other a demon.  
  
Ranma turned his head in surprise and frowned.  
  
Angela did the same.  
  
"You!" the cried in unison.  
  
Ranma crossed his arms over his chest and chuckled. "Well, well. If it isn't our old friend."  
  
Angela stepped back and growled. She hadn't changed much in appearance, but Ranma now looked like his old self again. "What are you doing here demon?"  
  
"I've come to help Usagi become Sailor Moon again. You?"   
  
The angel narrowed her eyes at this. "I doubt that."  
  
"Well, you can doubt all you want," snorted Ranma as he shrugged his shoulders and started walking.  
  
"Where do you think you're going demon!" cried Angela as her spear appeared in her hand.  
  
"I'm gonna go find Usagi. Put that thing away, I'm a full demon now. You can't kill me anymore."  
  
Angela frowned at this, but complied. "If it meant my own death, I'd do it in an instant!"  
  
"But you don't know if it will mean your own death...wait a minute. What do you mean 'your own death'?" said Ranma as he looked back at her. He smirked when he noticed the new markings on her forehead. "Oh! You've been promoted too! Congratulations."  
  
"Stuff it," she snapped in retort. "I'll destroy you one day. Count on that, it's just been delayed."  
  
"Man. What crawled up your ass?" snorted Ranma as he looked over the horizon. "Where is she anyway?"  
  
"None of your business," snapped Angela.  
  
"Dan was never this pissy before," snorted Ranma as he crossed his arms over his chest and frowned at her.   
  
"Well, I'm not him," said the woman sharply.  
  
"I figured that out," said Ranma as he brushed her off. "I know two of you, but the third one eludes me. She obviously knows who we were though."  
  
"It's none of your business," said Angela coldly.  
  
"Fine, be that way. There's Hotaru," said Ranma as he nodded his head.  
  
In front of them, Hotaru was being lead towards a small village by Mamoru.  
  
"Tux boy," said the demon calmly. "He's taking her somewhere. I'll bet I know where too."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Hotaru frowned as she glanced at the buildings all around her. She could feel the people inside looking at her, watching her from within the shadows. Fear was the most prevalent emotion she was picking up from them.  
  
"Where is she. We don't have time to waste. It won't take them very long to figure out where this is," said Hotaru coldly.  
  
Mamoru frowned as he glanced back at her. "I know."  
  
"Usagi!" called Hotaru as she stopped following him and turned towards one of the buildings. "Usagi, come out! I know you're here!"  
  
She actually found herself surprised by the woman's appearance. Her senshi stood all around her, scowling at her.  
  
"What do you want? I thought I made it clear that you and your demon friend are not welcome here," said the blind woman calmly.  
  
"I've brought you something," said Hotaru as she pulled the folded cloth from behind her back. "My sensei gave his life, so that he could get it back from them." Her words spoke volumes of respect for the dead man.  
  
"Did he?" asked the woman calmly as she waved her arms. The senshi dispersed from in front of her allowing her to move forward. "What is this rock?"  
  
"It is the Silver Imperium Crystal," said Hotaru calmly. "The ultimate force of power on this planet."  
  
"That isn't possible...my daughter..."  
  
"Your daughter is dead," said Hotaru without a hint of emotion in her voice.  
  
Usagi froze and reached out slowly with her hand. "No..."  
  
"You cry for her?" snorted Hotaru in disgust as she shoved the crystal into the woman's hand.  
  
"She was my child..." muttered the woman in horror.  
  
"No. She was his child," corrected Hotaru.  
  
"She never had the choice," retorted Usagi.  
  
"Regardless, she was evil, and you knew she had to be destroyed," said Hotaru calmly. "I'd have used this to kill them myself, but I don't know how."  
  
Usagi looked at her and frowned. "With this...I can..."  
  
"You can become Sailor Moon once again. In fact, the Black Lady no longer prevents you from using your powers. You can finally face that thing, in a fight where you have a faint hope of winning. However, I'm not just going to give it to you. I want something in return."  
  
Usagi frowned at her. "So...what is it that you want?"  
  
"I have heard that this crystal can raise the dead."  
  
"I don't know much about it," admitted Usagi.  
  
"You know enough," growled Hotaru.   
  
"Very well," said Usagi as she raised it over her head. "I believe I already know what it is that you want."  
  
Hotaru nodded and stepped back.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"She's using it already?" muttered Ranma as he approached the scene from nearby. Angela was taking up the rear, a hateful scowl on her face as she kept up with his lazy stroll. "That's stupid. Ranma will feel the energy released...why would she? Is she trying to heal the world? It would only be destroyed again!"  
  
"No. She's not using enough power for that," commented Angela.  
  
Ranma gasped as he suddenly fell to his knees. "What the?"  
  
"What is it?" muttered Angela. She backed away in horror as his body began to fade slowly away. "What? No!" She suddenly realized what was happening.   
  
Ranma slumped face first into the dust, and vanished from sight.  
  
Angela staggered back, and fell on her rear. She suddenly felt very weak. "What has she done?"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Usagi gasped in horror at the figure that now lay on the ground at her feet. He was nude, and curled up in a fetal position. A black and gold aura surrounded his body as he lay there breathing slowly.   
  
Unfortunately, it was a face she would never forget. Lying in front of her in the dust, was Ranma Saotome.  
  
"You tricked me!" she sputtered in horror as she looked at Hotaru.   
  
"No," said the woman calmly as she shook her head. "He is not Ranma Saotome. Not the man you know."  
  
"I can see it!" snapped Usagi as she pointed at him. She paused suddenly and realized that she could indeed see it. She slowly waved her hand in front of her face and gasped. "I can see again!"  
  
"So it seems," said Hotaru with a small nod.   
  
Usagi looked down at herself, she was once again dressed in a familiar uniform. The guise of the Sailor Senshi barely covered her form. "I...have returned..."  
  
The four senshi all fell to their knees around her. Looks of shocked awe on their faces.   
  
The group turned towards Ranma Saotome and glared down at him hatefully. "What of this one?" asked Jupiter.  
  
"If you touch him, you deal with me," said Hotaru coldly.  
  
The figure in the dust groaned painfully and slowly staggered to his feet. "What the hell just happened? Where am I?" He blinked as his eyes began to focus, Usagi's blue eyes glaring at him hatefully was the first thing he saw. "Ouch." He clutched his head and staggered into Hotaru.   
  
The woman supported him for a second before he regained himself. "Where are my clothes?"  
  
"You don't have any yet," chuckled Saturn as she looked him up and down.   
  
"Why is Sailor Moon here?" he grumbled as he glanced around and found all of the Senshi staring at him in the nude.  
  
The younger girls were staring with a mixture of hatred and embarrassment. Usagi just looked angry.   
  
"Hey lady. I ain't done nuthin yet," he grumbled irritably as he glared back at her. He regained his balance finally and flexed his arms.  
  
Everyone present gasped as his clothes seemed to appear all around him, covering his body like a liquid. It was the familiar Chinese dress of his youth, a red shirt and black silk pants, both fitting him loosely.  
  
He gave a rough sounding snort as he inspected his apparel and frowned at them. "I didn't need you to revive me you know. I was on my way to help already. I was sent by Hild to assist you in destroying Ranma."  
  
"Hild?" muttered Usagi dumbly.  
  
"The Queen of Hell," said Ranma calmly. "I'm a demon."  
  
Usagi gasped at this. His eyes were glowing with a golden green tint as he looked back at her again. "Why would..."  
  
He winked at her and wagged his finger. "Now that...is a secret."  
  
"In any case, I was told I can't interfere directly any longer. There are rules against that," said Ranma with a frown on his face.   
  
Usagi looked at him skeptically. "I suppose I should believe you. For now anyway."  
  
Ranma paused as he got an odd look on his face. "What the?" He glanced around at those around him and frowned. "Just a moment." A flash of green light was all they saw after that as he teleported away.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome was staring down at a dusty spot in the middle of nowhere. "What the hell? What's going on?"  
  
Carrot was somewhat disturbed as well. "How the hell did you idiots get here?"  
  
Dan scowled angrily. "Just fuckin great! Can somebody explain this?"  
  
"No," snorted the female voice hatefully.  
  
"Oh dear," muttered Pissant.  
  
They all paused as a flash of light appeared before them. "This is a fine mess," snorted Urd as she looked at the sheet of paper in her hand. "How the hell did this happen?"  
  
"Urd!" the all cried at once.  
  
The goddess looked at them. "Hello. We've got a major problem here."  
  
"No shit," grumbled the pigtailed boy.  
  
"Somehow, the most unlikely scenario we could possibly think of has occurred," snorted Urd. "We didn't predict it, as impossible as that sounds."  
  
"Would you explain this scenario to us then?" snorted the boy angrily.  
  
Urd frowned at him. "No one has ever tried to resurrect a demon before. Not in a literal sense. Usually, it doesn't work, because most forms of resurrection are useless on someone who's been dead long enough to become a demon or an God."  
  
"So?" snorted the boy.  
  
"So. When they tried to revive you, the doublet system kicked in. We can't have an imbalance, so rather than destroying one of you, or overriding the crystal. It just shoved you both together, taking the easiest route."  
  
"What does that mean Urd-sama?" asked the boy as his tone changed dramatically.  
  
"It means you're a mess," said the Goddess with a sigh. "You've got no real classification. To put it simply, we don't know what to do with you. The best option, would be for you to kill yourself. Then you should all return to normal."  
  
"As you wish," said the feminine sounding voice.  
  
It changed dramatically once again. "I don't think so."  
  
"What?" gasped Urd dumbly.  
  
"Kill myself? Yeah right!"  
  
"You must be the demon talking," said Urd.  
  
"But, we aren't really a demon anymore are we?" said Carrot calmly. "We're a man again."  
  
"No you aren't," said Urd coldly. "You'll never be a man again. Part of you is connected to the Yggdrasil system, and the other part is linked to the dark power of hell."  
  
Ranma smirked at her suddenly. "So. We're neither a god, nor a demon any longer? We're something completely different? Something completely new?"  
  
Urd suddenly looked very uncomfortable at the look she was getting. "This isn't a good thing," she ventured.  
  
"Says who? You? You're just trying to get yourself out of trouble," said Ranma calmly. "I think I'll stay this way for a while."  
  
His face suddenly changed. "The hell we are!"  
  
"You can't kill all of us," he replied to himself. "Besides, we've got a job to do. Help Usagi become Sailor Moon again. That was your mission wasn't it?"  
  
The angelic half of him nodded slowly.   
  
"Well, we all want the other Ranma dead. Who's strong enough to kill us now?" said the other half calmly.  
  
"You still can't interfere directly," said Urd calmly.  
  
"We can't?" muttered Ranma as he frowned at her. "We're stuck in a mortal body. We can die, and we can fight."  
  
"You think that a mortal body would last ten seconds with the power of a god and a demon inside it? No. That's just a shell to hold you all together. You were resurrected though, so you are alive, and you can be killed. You're hardly a mortal though," said Urd calmly.  
  
"So, you're not even sure if you can kill us," said Ranma calmly as he looked at her.  
  
"There's a way, it's just a matter of finding it," said Urd calmly as she crossed her arms.  
  
Ranma frowned at this. "That doesn't sound very fun."  
  
"Regardless, it must be done," said Urd calmly. "Ready?"  
  
Ranma shot forward, lashing out at her as she tried to charge her power. "No!"  
  
Urd gasped and moved out of the way barely in time.   
  
"You're afraid of something aren't you? I'm too much like you aren't I?" Ranma glared up at her. "You were born a goddess, but I wasn't, and I'm half demon and half god like you."  
  
"It means nothing, you're dangerous. You're not like me," she snapped in reply.  
  
"You're right, I'm not," agreed Ranma. "I think I'm gonna stay this way too."  
  
"You can't," said Urd firmly.  
  
"You can't stop me," he replied with a shrug. With that, he vanished once again.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Usagi was standing with Hotaru at her side when Ranma appeared again.   
  
"I'm baaaaacccckkk!" he said cheerfully as he spread his arms. "Whole, complete, and totally..."  
  
His speech was silenced as he promptly decked himself in the face. "Ouch!" he cried dumbly.  
  
"What the hell?" muttered Akane as she stood up from where she had been sitting nearby.  
  
Ranma was struggling with himself in the middle of the street. The meeting within the town suddenly came to a stop as everyone stopped to look at the man fighting with himself in the middle of the road.  
  
"You asshole!"  
  
"How dare you speak to Urd-sama that way!"  
  
"Ingrates!"   
  
"I figured you assholes would be happy to see us!"  
  
"Fat chance loser boy! I'm gonna kill us!"  
  
"No way are we gonna get stuck with each other again!"  
  
"Please stop fighting!"  
  
"Gah! Why'd you have to bring the whiny boy back with ya?"  
  
"Stuff it dark boy!"  
  
"That's enough!" cried Usagi angrily as she stood over him and stared down.  
  
Ranma looked up at her and blinked. He was pulling on his pigtail, and punching himself in the face repeatedly. Finally, his struggles weakened and he stood up. "Huh?"  
  
"Who are you?" snapped Usagi as she pointed at him.  
  
"I'm Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts! I'm the real Ranma Saotome!" he cried triumphantly. "I've come back from heaven and hell to make sure that dumbass fake me goes down!"   
  
Everyone looked at him and blinked.  
  
"But...I'm not allowed to fight him directly. I can only help you," he said sheepishly.  
  
"What?" gasped Hotaru as she looked at him in shock.  
  
"Sorry Hotaru. It's the rules. Once I became...what I am...I became unable to interfere directly."  
  
Usagi blinked and looked at the dark haired woman. "Who is this? I was expecting that man you had with you before."  
  
Hotaru frowned. "That was him. He was just..."  
  
"In my larval stage!" said Ranma proudly. "I was a hellspawn. A sort of maturing demon."  
  
"You weren't mature yet?" said Usagi dumbly.  
  
"That's right. That's why I was able to fight Ranma still, but since I...um...matured..."  
  
"You can't anymore. Is that it?" grumbled Hotaru.  
  
"Um. Right," said Ranma sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.  
  
"Damn. I might as well have left you dead!" snapped Hotaru as she glared at him.  
  
"You won't be sorry," said Ranma with a strange glint in his eyes. "Not by a long shot."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"This is not good," commented Ranma as he glared at Tochi and Ryoga angrily. "We're being killed off." He was sitting on his throne with a laptop closed on his lap.  
  
"That's an understatement. That thing has managed to destroy most of our strongest fighters single-handedly," commented Tochi. She was standing in front of him with a smirk on her face, looking more amused than anything else.  
  
Ryoga merely stood silently off to the side, staring at nothing.  
  
Ranma frowned as he tapped his fingers on the top of his laptop. "I'm going to locate the crystal and go get it, after that we should be able to revive Chibi-Usa at least."  
  
"What of Kuno and Hotaru?" said Tochi.  
  
"Losing Mistress Nine wasn't particularly bad. We'd have needed to destroy her sooner or later anyway," commented Ranma coldly. "I'll admit we may have to revive her, depending on how bad our situation is, but it may not be necessary."  
  
Tochi nodded at this, not bothering to comment.  
  
"We must destroy this hellspawn," snarled Ranma coldly.  
  
"It has been a few days," commented Tochi. "He's been very quiet."  
  
"Too quiet," agreed Ranma. "I also haven't been able to get any readings on the Crystal as of yet. Whoever has it, isn't using it."  
  
"Right," grumbled Tochi to herself.  
  
Ranma's laptop beeped. He smiled and flipped it open. "Well, it seems someone has used the crystal at last."  
  
"Shall we go?" asked Tochi.  
  
"No. Summon Ryu Kumon. We'll send him in to investigate."  
  
Within five minutes time the man was kneeling before them.  
  
"What is it?" he asked calmly.  
  
"I want you to go and scout," he said calmly. "Your orders are simple, assess the situation, and do not engage. You're on an information-gathering mission, not a combat one. If you're spotted, come back immediately."  
  
"Right," said the boy with a frown on his face. He bowed and turned towards the door.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"So. Now what?" asked Sailor Moon as she frowned at Ranma. "Do you expect us to charge them head on?"  
  
"No. I expect them to come to us," he replied with a smirk on his face.  
  
The senshi didn't like the sound of that. They shuffled about uncomfortably.   
  
"Ranma will see the energy released by the crystal. I doubt if he'll be unable to track it. When he does, you'll be ready for him."  
  
"What? That's suicide!" cried Mamoru.  
  
"Not with me here it isn't," said Ranma coldly.  
  
"What good are you going to do us?" snapped Akane. "You said you can't fight!"  
  
"No. I can't, but..."  
  
"But?" said Hotaru doubtfully.  
  
"You can," he replied calmly. "You're stronger than you realize. That Crystal is a very powerful ally, and I'm a powerful ally as well."  
  
The others didn't like the look he had given them at all. It was one of supreme confidence, but also had a dark edge to it.  
  
"I do not think that there will be another chance," said Usagi calmly as she looked at her friends and family for a moment.  
  
"Well. Shall we begin?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Begin what?" asked Akane nervously.  
  
"Your training of course," he said calmly.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Four hours later...  
  
Ryu Kumon frowned as he looked at the group that was standing in the middle of the street in the decimated town. "Senshi."  
  
They didn't appear to be doing anything but standing there. He frowned and pressed one of the buttons on his watch before speaking into it. "I've found the source. The Senshi have the crystal."  
  
"Most unfortunate," commented Ranma from the other side. "What are they doing?"  
  
"Reading, all the young ones have some books," said Kumon. He paused. "Wait. There's something else..."  
  
"What is it?" asked Ranma calmly.  
  
"It's another Senshi...no! Two of them!" said the man as he ducked a little lower behind the destroyed wall he was using as cover.  
  
"What?" commented Ranma in a sort of calm surprise.   
  
"Two new Senshi...both of them older than the ones we know," said the man. "One...blonde...I think it's Usagi."  
  
"Sailor Moon," growled Ranma from the other end. "And the other?"  
  
"It looks like...no way!" Ryu ducked behind the wall completely.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"It's Mistress Nine! She's betrayed us!" snapped Ryu.  
  
"Definitely not good," said Ranma calmly. "Why would she though? Unless..." There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment. "Return to base. Our plans have changed."  
  
"Sir?" muttered Ryu dumbly.  
  
"Come back, there's nothing more that can be done," said Ranma.  
  
"As you wish," grumbled the man as he shut down his connection.  
  
"Well, it seems that you've outlived your usefulness, Ryu," said a dangerously familiar voice.   
  
"Huh?" said the man as he jumped to his feet.  
  
Ranma Saotome stood over him with a cold scowl on his face. "Sir?"  
  
"Heh. I'm through with you Ryu," said the boy calmly.  
  
The battle-scarred man realized something was definitely wrong immediately. "Oh shit." The Ranma in front of him was younger than the one he knew. A ball of red power was in his hands and he smirked down at the man evilly. "Goodbye."  
  
Ryu never even got the chance to scream. He was vaporized in a small burst of power.  
  
"Damn, they know about Hotaru," grumbled Ranma as he scowled at the scorched portion of the ground where Ryu had been.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Return to me my child," said Hild coldly as she summoned Ranma Saotome to her.  
  
The boy appeared to her, standing in the middle of her throne room once again. He slowly turned and smirked at her. "Hello again."  
  
"What has happened?" she inquired calmly.  
  
"Nothing of any importance," he replied calmly.   
  
"Oh?" she said as she arched her eyebrow slightly. "When were you planning on informing me that you'd become merged with a god?"  
  
"Never. I knew that you already did know," he said with a small shrug.  
  
"Release her to me, she may be valuable when we storm the heavens."  
  
"I don't think so," said Ranma calmly.  
  
Hild's smirk faded. "What?"  
  
"You're not getting her away from me," he said as he glared at her for a moment fearlessly.   
  
"Impudent little..." started the demoness.  
  
"You think you can command me?" he snorted in amusement. "I'm not a demon anymore. You can't order me around. Not that you could in the first place."  
  
"You're nothing but a servant. I could destroy you with a thought," she said coldly. "Release the goddess to me, and I may forget this impertinence."  
  
Ranma smirked at her coldly. "No. Go ahead and destroy me. If you can." He vanished into thin air, leaving her frowning at where he had been.  
  
"Most interesting," commented Hild to herself.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma blinked at where he found himself next. Clouds billowed around the tall spires of heaven. He was floating in the middle of the place glancing around in confusion. "What? How the hell did I end up here?"  
  
"Who are you?" snapped a voice from behind him.  
  
He slowly turned to see Belldandy glaring at him with a ball of power in her hands.  
  
"Ranma Saotome," he replied. "I'm not quite sure how I got here. I think I overdid it when I teleported out of my meeting with Hild."  
  
"I see," replied Belldandy as she scowled at him.   
  
He frowned when she didn't lower her energy ball, and several scores of angels appeared around him. "Um. Could you stop that?"  
  
"What do you want here?" she asked firmly.  
  
"Nothing. I told you it was an accident," he said calmly. "How do I...ah..." A grin formed on his face as he realized all he had to do was teleport away again.  
  
"You're not going anywhere until you..." said Urd as she appeared in front of him.  
  
He promptly slapped her across her face. "Give it up already!"  
  
Belldandy blinked at this.  
  
"Jeez, for goddesses you sure are irritating," snapped Ranma as he put his hands on his hips. "Look. I like how I am right now, and you ain't doin nuthin to me. So give it up already!" He paused as someone started screaming obscenities inside his head. "Well...most of me likes it anyway." He was forced to grab his right hand in order to prevent it from choking him. "Cut it out you crazy chick!" He vanished in another flash of light.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Okay. We're gonna settle this before Ranma we have to fight Ranma and his goons," said Carrot as they appeared in the middle of a barren desert on the Earth.  
  
"Fine by me," said Dan with a small shrug.   
  
"Crazy chick," grumbled Ranma irritably.  
  
"You're going to do like Urd-sama says and separate us!" cried the woman.  
  
"Quit shouting," commented Pissant. "We can talk about this like gentlemen...and ladies."  
  
"I oughta..." growled the woman hatefully.   
  
"He did correct himself," commented Carrot.  
  
"You stay out of this! How could you traitors do this to me?!" snapped the woman as she spoke to her two original companions.  
  
"We're used to it," said Dan with a shrug. "You're the one who was all gung-ho about killing the evil demon and all. I was just havin a little fun."  
  
"Who the heck are you anyway?" snorted Carrot. "We don't know you do we? You've been hell bent on destroying our ass ever since we met you."  
  
"Do you have any idea the humiliation I've had to endure because of you?" she snapped hatefully.  
  
"No," replied Carrot.  
  
"Does the name Ranko Saotome ring any bells?" she growled.   
  
"Yeah...but what has that got to do with..." Carrot paused. "I'll be damned..."  
  
"What is it?" muttered Ranma in confusion.  
  
"You've made a laughing stock out of me! Acting like some ditzy schoolgirl! The humiliation I've had to endure!"  
  
"Very tragic story! Whoever drown in spring, take body of young girl!" said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"Argh!" snarled the woman as she tried to choke him again.  
  
Carrot pulled their arm away from his throat again calmly. "Cut it out."  
  
"You and that damn Ranko of yours! It was disgusting!"  
  
"I only did it when Mom was around," commented Carrot. "Or when I thought we might get free food...or when I wanted to tease some loser guy who kept hitting on us...or that one time when we stumbled into that store that sold used panties...or..."  
  
"Shut up!" snarled the woman as the arm reached for their throat again.  
  
Carrot bitch slapped the whole lot of them. "I said stop it!"  
  
"What's your name anyway?" asked Ranma.  
  
The woman seemed to back off a bit. "I am...Xianfu."  
  
"Xianfu? What are you? Some kind of Amazon?" snorted Carrot.  
  
"I am not one of those man hating lesbian freaks!" snapped the woman in retort.   
  
"Sorry, the name threw me off," said Carrot with a shrug.  
  
"What a tomboy," snorted Ranma.  
  
"Every girl who practices the art is a tomboy or an Amazon to you?" she snapped in retort.  
  
"Basically," said Carrot with a shrug. "If they're any good at it anyway."  
  
"So. Now what?" asked Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Now you'll all do as I say, and kill yourselves so we can get back to normal!" snapped the woman hatefully.  
  
"We aren't going to kill ourselves," snorted Carrot.  
  
"Traitors!" she snapped.  
  
"But...that would hurt," whined Pissant.  
  
"Don't look at me. I don't care," said Dan with a shrug.  
  
"I ain't gonna do it," said Ranma.  
  
"Nope, no way," commented Carrot.  
  
"Die!" she cried as she tried to choke them once again.  
  
"This could get annoying," said Dan.  
  
"You're tellin me?" snapped Carrot as he held the arm back again.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Usagi frowned at her old outfit. "I never realized how short this was before..." She brushed at the skirt on her fuku and blushed.  
  
"Why do you think I followed you around so much when we were younger?" asked Mamoru with an amused sounding chuckle.  
  
"Pervert," she said weakly as her blush flushed some more.  
  
"Let's not forget child molester," commented Ranma as he appeared before them. "How are things going here?"  
  
"Well enough," said Usagi with a short nod.  
  
"Good. We attack in two hours," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"Attack?" muttered Usagi in confusion. "I will not!"  
  
"We have no choice," said Ranma calmly as he turned to look at the tower in the distance. It was barely visible, but with the city mostly wiped out, it was easy to see a fair distance away. "Ranma sent a spy, and he knows you have the Silver Imperium Crystal and Sailor Saturn."  
  
"So, surprise is gone," said Akane as she stood up from where she had been resting. No one else had noticed her, as she was behind a small boulder nearby.  
  
"It's worse than that," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"How could it be any worse?" snorted Mamoru angrily.  
  
"He's going to destroy the entire planet," said Ranma as he turned to smile at him.  
  
"What?!" cried the others in shock.  
  
"Quite simple really. It was his plan from the start," said the boy as he glanced at all of them in amusement. "He's been terraforming Mars for the past fifteen years or so. I suppose he's been putting it off until that project was finished. Rather than face you, armed with that crystal and the senshi of death and rebirth, he'll destroy the planet and move on."  
  
"What? Why?" gasped Usagi in horror.  
  
"Because he knows that you have a chance," replied the boy calmly as he glanced at her. "He's on the defensive now. We're going to have to go get him. Otherwise, he'll just destroy the planet from orbit."  
  
"He can do that?" muttered Akane dumbly.  
  
"I'm going to do something about that. It's your job to make sure he doesn't escape," said Ranma as he looked at them for a moment. "Once Ranma is destroyed, I'll make sure that those starships aren't a threat anymore."  
  
"How are you planning to do that?" asked Mamoru.  
  
"That is a secret," said the pigtailed demon god calmly. "Don't worry. I'll handle everything once he's gone. As long as I'm only assisting in the fight, I can do a lot. I can't kill him for you though."  
  
"Right," grumbled Akane angrily.  
  
"You'll see," said Ranma as he vanished again.  
  
+++++++  
  
"Are we ready?" asked Ranma as he smirked at Tochi.   
  
"We can leave any time," said the woman as she glanced at him with a smile on her lips.  
  
"Good. We should leave at once then," he said calmly as he stood up from his throne and started walking. "Ryoga. Come with us."  
  
The boy said nothing as he unfolded his arms and followed after them.  
  
"You're to make sure no one stops us from escaping. I'll allow you to remain behind, to be destroyed with the planet," he looked at his son-in-law and frowned. "Give my regards to my daughter when you meet her. I'm sure she'll be pissed I'm abandoning her."  
  
For the first time in almost twenty years, Ryoga had a faint looking smile on his face. His eyes gave away nothing but hatred though.  
  
"Perhaps we should work on a replacement," said Tochi as she put her hand on her lover's shoulder.  
  
"Maybe," he replied as he stepped onto an elevator. Ryoga stopped in front of the doors. "Make sure no one gets by," said the pigtailed man as the doors closed.  
  
Ryoga turned away from the doors in order to stand guard.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
The six senshi stood together in front of the doorway to the building. High above, a starship was preparing to take off on the rooftop almost forty stories above them.  
  
Mamoru was taking up the rear with Akane at his side. He was dressed as he hadn't been in years. A tuxedo and mask, with a dangerous looking rapier at his side. "Why are we here?" he snorted in disgust. "We've come a long way to die."  
  
"Because he wasn't lying," said Sailor Moon calmly.   
  
"How do you know? I bet we can't trust him," said Mamoru. "For all we know, he's leading us into a trap."  
  
Hotaru frowned at him, but didn't argue.  
  
"He is," said Akane. "Ranma would have prepared for us."  
  
"How right you are," said Ranma as he appeared behind them with the same insane looking smirk on his face. "However, if you want to save the world, you have to continue forward. Sorry, that's just the way things are."  
  
"Right," growled Mamoru.  
  
"What the hell ever happened to 'You can do it Sailor Moon! Believe in yourself!'?" said the boy as he glanced at Mamoru for a moment.  
  
"I grew up and realized that sometimes it takes more than believing in yourself to survive."  
  
"How cynical," snorted Ranma. "You just wanted an excuse to grab some fourteen year old in lewd ways."  
  
"That is enough!" snapped Usagi. "For the first time in fifteen years, I believe we can do this!"  
  
"You're right, you can," said Ranma calmly. "Not because you're Sailor Moon, or because you believe in yourself either."  
  
"Why then?" muttered Jupiter nervously. None of the new senshi had spoken much, far too afraid to say anything during the trip here.  
  
"Because you've got me on your side," said Ranma calmly as he winked at her. "I can give you more than a confidence boost...if you're willing to trust me a little." He turned towards Akane and frowned slightly. "You did once."  
  
"Look what it got me," she replied harshly.  
  
"Point taken," he said with a small shrug. "Things are about to heat up. I suggest you prepare yourselves."  
  
They steeled themselves and strolled into the building.  
  
Ryoga Hibiki stood in front of the elevator, a harsh looking scowl on his face as he stared them down.   
  
The group of travelers moved into a combat stance waiting for the battle to begin.   
  
Ryoga strolled forward for a moment and simply stared at them for a moment. His face turned into a hateful snarl. "They're on the top floor." He stepped aside and pushed the button on the elevator.  
  
The doors opened and everyone stared at him for a moment.  
  
"What are you waiting for? Go get that bastard!" snarled Ryoga hatefully.  
  
"Um...don't you work for him?" asked the young senshi of Mars.  
  
"I was enslaved by his daughter. When she died, I was free..." He hung his head in shame. "I knew I wasn't strong enough to beat him anymore, so I just went on as I always did. I could never get the nerve to face him. Now, I'll die anyway."  
  
Akane paused and glanced around. Ranma was gone. "Where did?"  
  
"Let's go," said Sailor Moon firmly.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma floated in deep space, staring at the starship in front of him calmly. He was far to small for the ship's sensors to pick him up. Or rather, for them to care about. He smirked to himself and waited patiently. "I hope you believe down there. This won't work very well if you don't."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stood on the ramp to his starship and frowned. Tochi was beside him, staring at the group who rushed out onto the deck to meet him. "What? You got by Ryoga so easily?"  
  
"I am Sailor Moon, and..." started Usagi.  
  
"I know who you are. Please don't start that again," snorted Ranma as an aura of gold energy burst to life around him, changing his hair as well.  
  
Usagi snorted as she steeled herself. This was really going to hurt.  
  
"Just destroy them and be done with it, don't bother playing with them," said Ranma as he looked at Tochi.  
  
"Right," said the woman as she started to transform.  
  
Ranma seemed to vanish into thin air, moving far to fast for the senshi to follow. He appeared with Hotaru in his grip, holding her over the edge of the roof. "Pathetic. You might have stood a chance if you had trained a little, if only enough to unlock at least your super forms."  
  
"Silence Glaive Surpr..." muttered Hotaru quietly.  
  
Ranma snapped her neck and dropped her off of the edge.  
  
"No!" cried Usagi as she and the other senshi rushed in to attack.  
  
The golden lizard monster that had once been Tochi appeared in front of them and hissed, driving the young girls back.   
  
Sailor Moon watched in horror as it started to take them apart easily, separating them and singling them out with only a few well placed slashes.   
  
"This isn't going well. We aren't going to survive!" snapped Mamoru as he moved up behind her.  
  
"As I'm sure you've figured out, you'd have died anyway," said Ranma. "I was just on my way to give the order to destroy this pathetic world!"  
  
He appeared in front of the pair, grabbing Mamoru by his neck almost casually. He tossed him over his shoulder without so much as batting an eye, and the man plummeted off the edge of the building.  
  
"No!" muttered Usagi in horror as she tried to move after him. Ranma grabbed her by her shoulders and stopped her.  
  
"I am glad, that you decided to die with some dignity though," he said to her quietly. "I'd much rather do this, than something so impersonal."  
  
"Usagi! The crystal! Use the..." Akane's cries were cut off as Ranma simply waved his hand at her. She slammed into the door they had entered through and slumped down to the ground as it bent inward.   
  
"Yes. Use your precious crystal!" snarled Ranma as he swat it out of her hand. She was shaking so badly that she was barely holding onto it anyway. His hands gripped her body again as he pulled her back into him and glared into his eyes.  
  
"So. My one time lover, how does hopelessness really feel?" he said with his cold smirk growing into an insane looking grin.  
  
Usagi shuddered in revulsion, the memory of his violation playing in her mind again. "No...get away..." she whimpered pathetically.  
  
Ranma suddenly released her and was thrown back when something struck him from behind.   
  
"Flare Arrow!" cried the senshi of Mars as she managed to get a shot in, despite being busy from her battle with Tochi.  
  
The dragon thing was holding the limp form of Sailor Mercury in her claws, and her muzzle was frozen shut. Jupiter was under one of her feet, struggling weakly.  
  
Akane was lying still where she had landed, her eyes squeezed shut and tears flowing down her face. Ranma's final words to her were echoing in her mind, something he'd whispered to her right before she'd noticed he had vanished. "You've got to believe in me, if I am to help you."  
  
"I told you not to play with them!" snarled Ranma as he shoved his palm out towards Mars. She sailed into the air, and vanished over the ledge with a terrified scream.  
  
The dragon roared at him, shattering the ice mask that Mercury had created before she passed out. It squeezed the girl in her claws and she made a sickening crunching sound. Blood exploded from her head, out of her mouth, nose, eyes, and ears.   
  
"Kill them!" snapped Ranma. He paused as he heard something quiet, and strangely familiar. "What the?"  
  
"Darkness beyond twilight..."  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma floated in space smirking to himself as the words came to him, the will for it to happen. "Crimson blood that flows, buried in the flow of time is where your power grows! I pledge myself to conquer, all the foes who stand, against the mighty gift bestowed, to my unworthy hand!" He smiled as the red energy seemed to burn around him like an aura. "Well, goodbye." He chuckled and pointed his palm at the starship.  
  
+++++++++  
  
"Energy reading sir!" cried one of the men inside the ship.  
  
"What?" growled Kuroi as he spun around. "Where?"  
  
"Outside the ship!" exclaimed the man in alarm. "It's...it's growing at an alarming rate!"  
  
"What is it?" snapped Kuroi angrily. "On screen!"  
  
He frowned as the image came to them. Ranma Saotome was floating outside the ship, grinning madly as an aura of power flickered around him.   
  
"Betrayer!" snapped Kuroi in horror. It was already too late though.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"...Let the fools who stand before us be destroyed by the power that you and I possess! Dragon Slayer!" cried Akane as the ball of energy forming in her hands exploded suddenly, shooting into Ranma's chest as he backed away with a look of shock in his eyes.  
  
"This can't be!" he cried in anger. He tried to push the energy away as it began to eat through is skin, burning him away slowly. "I can't be defeated by you! I'll destroy everything!" He roared in anger as he felt himself impact into the side of the starship that would have taken him off of the planet. "So close!" he muttered as his power failed, the impact with the ship breaking his concentration finally. He shot through the other end of the ship, carried by the beam of the spell and into the distance. Finally, a huge explosion of power surrounded him, and he felt his body vaporize before his senses disappeared forever.  
  
Tochi's jaws hung open as she watched her lover die. The innards of Sailor Jupiter fell out of her maw as she gaped at the impossible; a mere human defeated Ranma. A human who had discovered a new kind of power. Something she'd never felt before. "What was that?" she growled as she turned to face the girl with a snarl on her lips.  
  
Akane scowled at her. "Magic."   
  
Tochi backed away as she noticed Usagi rise to her feet as well. Inside her mind, Kuroi's dying scream filled her senses, disorienting her for a moment. "What? Kuroi too? This is...there's no way!" When she looked up again, it was already too late.  
  
"Dragon Slayer!" cried Akane hatefully as she finished the spell once again.   
  
Tochi roared as the spell consumed her, and finally destroyed her.  
  
Akane gave a small laugh before she passed out.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
In the orbit of the planet, Ranma smirked as he looked at the debris that floated around him. There was little left of the starship. "I win." He vanished with a smirk on his lips.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Usagi struggled over to where the crystal was lying on the ground. Taking it into her hands, she held it gently to her bust. "It's over. Kami...at last, it's over!"  
  
Akane woke up slowly, sitting up and muttering to herself about how much pain she was in.   
  
"Your hair?" muttered Usagi.  
  
Akane blinked and felt her head for a moment, unsure of what she was talking about. "Huh?"  
  
"It's...white..." muttered Usagi as she stared at the girl.  
  
"It's temporary. Besides, that's a good look for you," said a familiar voice from all around them.  
  
"Huh?" muttered Akane as she staggered to her feet.  
  
Ranma appeared in front of them, the only two survivors of the battle. "Well. You've won," he said to them.  
  
"How did you..." muttered Akane as she looked at her hands.  
  
"I'm more than an demon Akane," he said as he eyed her for a moment. "I'm something completely new. Something not even the gods were expecting."  
  
She frowned at him in confusion.  
  
"What?" asked Usagi.  
  
"I'm the first Mazoku," he said with a small chuckle.   
  
"The first?" muttered Akane.  
  
"Well, I'll see you around, you've got a world to heal, and some friends to bring back to life," said Ranma as he glanced around at the death that surrounded them. "You might want to go pull your friend off that ledge. She believed before you did Akane," he said as he pointed towards the edge of the building.  
  
"Huh?" stammered Akane.  
  
Usagi blinked and rushed over to where he had pointed. Peering over the side, she saw the senshi of Mars clinging to the ledge with a painful expression on her face.  
  
"Mars!" cried Akane as she reached down to help pull her up.  
  
The young girl grabbed her, and within moments she was on the rooftop again.  
  
"Well, that was certainly interesting," chuckled Ranma as he started to walk off.  
  
"Wait! Where are you going?" asked Usagi as she stepped towards him tentatively.  
  
"I've got something to find," he said with a small scowl on his face. "I'm hoping I was wrong about something, but I'd like to be sure."  
  
"Oh. Thank you," she said as she gave him a deep bow.  
  
"You're the second most powerful thing on this planet now Usagi, under me that is." He looked at her and smirked again. "Well, maybe not." He glanced at Akane for a moment. "At any rate, you've got a world to build. What do you think you'll call this place after you rebuild it, your highness?"  
  
She blinked at him. "What?"  
  
"Neo Queen Serenity. I asked you what you were going to call this place once you rebuild it?" he asked her calmly.  
  
"I...I don't know?" she muttered in confusion. Apparently what he'd just said hadn't sunk in yet.  
  
"Crystal Tokyo has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" he asked Akane.  
  
"Wait...you mean?" said Usagi dumbly.  
  
"Don't leave your friends dead too long Usagi," he said as he vanished.  
  
"Right," said the woman as she looked at the crystal resting in her palm for a moment. She raised it over her head, and closed her eyes as the power washed over her. "Come back! Heal the world!" she whispered to herself as the energy spread out across the surface of the entire world.  
  
From space, Ranma smirked as he watched. "So, now it begins."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
What? This isn't the end?!   
  
No way no how! Bwahahahahahaha! Dark stuff should be mostly over now, but what is it that Ranma's looking for?! And how the hell can I keep this going from here? You'll just have to wait!  
  
P.S. Yes, I know it's called the Dragon Slave in the Slayers. However, Lina Inverse mentions that the name degraded from Dragon Slayer over the course of time. Meaning what exactly? That this is the past in the Slayers Universe? Well...maybe...maybe not. Heh.  
  
Sorry to those of you who wanted the collective to stay separated, but I wanted this arc to end.   
  



	51. Insertion Part 51

Insertion  
  
Part 51  
  
An old friend returns  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma turned away as the surface of the planet below him changed from a dull gray, into a lush green and brown. The power of the Silver Imperium Crystal washed over the entire planet, giving it new life as it enveloped it completely, cleaning the air and water of the debris that still hung in the air from the fallout of the starship's weapons. He chuckled to himself and looked out into space.   
  
"Where are we going?" asked Ranma.  
  
Carrot's smirk widened into a grin and he nodded into the distance. "Just to see if an old acquaintance is still around. I doubt it, but we'll never be sure until we check it out for ourselves."  
  
With that, they vanished in a ball of light.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga Hibiki stood outside the former headquarters of the ruling class superhumans that had once held the entire planet in an iron grip. "Well, goodbye." He smirked to himself as he turned towards the people standing around him.   
  
Beside him all of the senshi stood watching, Akane had her arms crossed over her chest beside them, with Mamoru frowning in a sort of contemplative way.  
  
"Destroy it," said Usagi calmly.  
  
They senshi nodded, each forming a ball of power in their hands. Akane and Mamoru hung back and waited patiently as the energy from the women slammed into the side of the building, creating an explosion that shattered the lower levels. The building imploded, crumbling into the ground.   
  
"What now?" asked Ryoga as he looked at them for a moment with a sort of sad and wistful look about him.  
  
"We rebuild," said Usagi. "I'll return to my village, and we can begin from there."  
  
"Right," said the man as he turned and looked off into the distance.   
  
"What about you?" asked Akane.  
  
"You're letting me go?" he said in confusion.  
  
"We don't have any way to hold you," replied Mamoru. "Besides, you were a slave. I don't think you're any threat to us."  
  
"I've got a lot to answer for," replied the man as he watched the beginning of the sunset. "Without Chibi-Usa or Ranma as an anchor, I'll start getting lost again. This time, maybe I can do something. Metallia is still out there, and Ranma isn't around to destroy those youma she keeps sending here."  
  
The women all nodded at this. Mamoru turned away, not giving any indication of caring about the man.  
  
"What about you Akane?" asked Usagi. "Are you going to stay with us? You did say that you would leave once this ended."  
  
The woman smiled at her old friend and hung her head. "I can still feel him inside me you know. That power I used...it's still there. I have a feeling...that it was only the beginning of something much bigger."  
  
"You have no idea," said a new voice from behind them.  
  
Everyone whirled around, only to find an odd looking figure standing behind them.   
  
It was a man in his early twenties. He had a plain looking brown cloak and baggy clothes. In his hand was a wooden staff with several jewels on it. He smirked at them, his eyes almost completely shut as he brushed his shoulder length dark violet hair out of his eyes with a gloved hand.  
  
"Who are you?" asked Usagi as she stepped up to him and frowned.  
  
"Me? No one in particular; Just a wandering priest really," said the man casually. "I was attracted by all the commotion, and thought I'd come see what the ruckus was about."  
  
"A priest?" said Akane as she looked at him and blinked.  
  
Hotaru moved up to the front of the group. There was something about this man that bothered her. "What do you want?"  
  
"Want?" said the man as he arched his eyebrow at her. "It's just a little unusual to see such a large group of people standing out in the open these days, especially dressed like you are. I was curious more than anything else."  
  
Usagi frowned at Hotaru and gently pulled her back. "Ranma Saotome is dead."  
  
"Is he?" said the man as he smirked at her. "Hmmm. That is good news, I suppose." His voice hinted that he knew more than he was letting on. "In any case, I'll be seeing you around. I doubt if things are going to get any less interesting."  
  
"Right," muttered Akane as she looked him up and down for a moment. There was something familiar about the way she felt when she was near him.  
  
"What do you mean? Less interesting?" asked Usagi.  
  
"Well, I can't really be sure, but I've got a feeling that evil is far from vanquished. It could be right under your nose." He turned and started walking away from them.  
  
"Wait!" called Akane as she jogged after him with a determined look in her eyes. "Who are you?"  
  
"Who am I? I told you," he replied calmly as he paused and glanced back at her with his eyes opened a little wider. The woman gasped as she saw the golden irises that looked back at her. "If it's a name your interested in, you can call me...Xellos." He turned back to walking again and left them.  
  
Akane frowned at this and looked back at her friends. "Goodbye."  
  
"Wait! Where are you going?" called Mamoru as he realized she wasn't moving back towards him.  
  
"After him! He knows something!" said Akane as she started jogging away.  
  
The Senshi simply watched as she moved away into the horizon.  
  
Ryoga stepped away as well, moving towards the sunset. "I should get going too."  
  
"Wait! We could use all the help we can get," said Sailor Mars as she stepped towards him tentatively. "We've got a lot to rebuild."  
  
"I'm sorry. I wish I could, but I'll get lost before I'm of any use to you. I've been cursed my whole life, Ranma was just the worst of my curses."  
  
The women looked at him in confusion.  
  
"Maybe I can help!" said Usagi as she clutched the crystal to her bust and looked at him sadly.  
  
"When I think I deserve it, I'll take you up on that," replied the man as he smiled at her and continued on his way.  
  
"We should go home too," said Mercury as she looked at her companions and sighed.   
  
"She's right. It's getting late, and the village is probably worried about us."  
  
"They knew we were dead the instant we left, they won't be expecting us back," said Venus. She had been relatively quiet so far.  
  
Sailor Moon smiled at them all. "You go on ahead, I've got something I want to do, before I return home."  
  
"But..." said Mamoru in shock.  
  
"Ranma is gone, there is nothing I cannot handle alone out here at the moment," she said as she smiled at him. "Don't worry."  
  
Reluctantly, he nodded. "I see. Tell them I said hello," said the man as he ushered the girls away."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Usagi walked for an hour through the ruined streets. The shattered concrete was now teeming with life. Small animals roamed about, and plant life seemed to cover almost every surface that it could cling too.  
  
It was the center of Tokyo, a place that once was the home to buildings that threatened to touch the stars in her mind. Now, it was little more than a pile of stones and rubble. She gasped at what came into view as she moved over to where she had last seen her oldest and best friends.  
  
The place where they had died, instead of a few piles of stones, she found something she had definitely not been expecting. Six statues, all of them proud and tall, each bearing the likeness of the dead senshi.  
  
She staggered over to them and fell to her knees. "What?"  
  
Tears fell from her face as she read the names on the plaques at the bottom of each statue. They bore both their Senshi titles, and their real names. "My friends! Who did this?"  
  
"Who indeed?" said a familiar voice from behind her.  
  
She whirled around and saw Xellos standing there, smirking at the statues as he looked up at them. He was holding his hand up to his eyes, as if to shield them from the moonlight. The whole place had a sort of eerie glow about it. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Imagine meeting you here!" he said cheerfully.  
  
"Where is Akane?" said Usagi as she glared at him for a moment and realized that she wasn't following him any longer. They had gone off in a completely different direction.  
  
"They would be proud you know," said Xellos as he ignored her question. "Such strong children."  
  
Usagi's face softened at this and she looked back up at the statues. "I know."  
  
"I guess someone decided that they deserved some sort of remembrance," said the priest as he shrugged. "Still, it is odd. These weren't here the last time I passed this place."  
  
"Pluto and Saturn are not here," commented Usagi.  
  
"Well, Saturn is still alive...and Pluto..." Xellos trailed off.  
  
"You know something, don't you?" she said as she looked at him for a moment. She wasn't sure what to make of this strange new mysterious figure.   
  
"What could I possibly know?" he asked her innocently.  
  
"At any rate, I'm sure these are here for a reason. I wonder what it could be?" he said calmly as he started walking away again. "Oh well. I'll leave you alone. Sorry to intrude."   
  
Usagi watched him go, and knelt before the statues. "You would be proud of them. He's right about that." She looked up at the flawless likenesses wistfully. "They seem to be your exact opposites almost at times, other times I can see you in them as if you had been reborn."  
  
She paused, the two statues on the end of the right side had something unusual about them. A strange glowing on the base of the statues caught her eyes and she stood up and walked over too them. "No way!" she muttered as she looked down at the base of the statues.  
  
Sitting at the feet of both Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, were two transformation pens. She reached out and took them into her hands, looking up at the statues in awe. "I see. So, whoever did this, does have a reason."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma frowned as he looked around at what he had found. Little more than an asteroid field. "Well, this is it. So much for the time gates."  
  
"What would you want with the Time Gates?" asked Xianfu.  
  
"I hadn't really thought about it," said Carrot. "More like, I hadn't really decided if I wanted to go back or not yet."  
  
"What?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"With the Gates of Time, we could have gone back and stopped all this from happening," he replied simply. "That would either create a paradox, meaning that there would be two Ranma Saotome running around, ourselves and the old good us..."  
  
"Or?" said Dan.  
  
"Or, it would have erased us, and let the other us continue on as before. With none of this happening."  
  
"You're forgetting something," said Xianfu.  
  
"What's that?" asked Carrot.  
  
"There's the possibility, that once we go back, we could become what we destroyed."  
  
"Doubtful," said Carrot. "He did some things that I would never do. I doubt if any of us have it in us."  
  
"Then where did he come from?" countered the woman.  
  
"In any case, it's a relatively moot point," said Carrot. "It's likely that this world would have been erased from existence if we had gone back."  
  
"Meaning that we'd never have gone through what we went through, so how could we go back and stop it from happening?" said the female voice calmly.  
  
"There is another possibility," said Carrot.  
  
"What's that?" asked Ranma.  
  
"We'll need more power to do it though, a lot more," said the voice calmly. "We're hardly worthy of the title of 'Lord of Nightmares' now. Even though we are the only Mazoku around."  
  
"That's foolish," said Xianfu coldly. "We can take whatever title we wish."  
  
"She's right," said Ranma in confusion.  
  
"Oh. That's right, you guys don't know about 'The Slayers'," said Carrot with a small chuckle.  
  
"What's the Slayers?" asked Pissant in confusion.  
  
"I'm not going to allow you to play with time that way anyway. We've set things right, so now we destroy ourselves, and go back to the way we were before."  
  
"What makes you think we will?" asked Carrot.  
  
"I'll make you!" she snapped.  
  
"That's not what I meant. Even if you could destroy us, what makes you think we could ever go back to what we were before? Urd? You're counting on her word?" Carrot snorted in amusement.  
  
"What?" said the woman angrily. "How dare you talk about Urd that way!"  
  
"What? You got a thing for her or something?" asked Dan.  
  
"I most certainly do not have a 'thing' for Urd!" said the woman as her temper rose even more. "I just know how to show proper respect!"  
  
"Proper respect? We outclass her," said Carrot calmly.  
  
"What?" stammered the woman.  
  
"She's just a Second Class Limited Goddess. We are at the very least, a First Class Unlimited Demon, plus whatever you are. Put that together, and we outrank her no matter how you look at it."  
  
"Second Class, Unlimited," supplied Dan.  
  
"Right," said Carrot with a shrug. "In any case. I doubt if she knows what will happen if we do manage to kill ourselves. She's probably just guessing. That would seem to fit."  
  
"What would you know about Urd-sama!?" snarled Xianfu.  
  
"More than you'll ever realize," countered Carrot calmly.  
  
"Hey. What's that?" asked Ranma as he noticed something floating through the debris a short distance away.  
  
"This whole place is thick with energy," said Carrot as he turned towards what the boy had seen. "Residual from the explosion, and probably some left over magic from the Time Gates."  
  
They floated over to what they had seen, and found a small piece of carved stone and metal.  
  
"It's a piece of the Time Gate," said Dan.  
  
The thing crackled with energy, a few sparks flying off of it.   
  
"Yup," said Carrot. "Nothing really useful."  
  
He reached out and touched it, only to jump and pull his arm back in shock as the power from within the artifact crackled across his arm. "Yow!"  
  
"What happened?" stammered Ranma.  
  
The tiny piece of the time gate crumbled away in front of them. It seemed to melt away into dust.  
  
"I dunno," said Carrot.  
  
"We absorbed it," said Dan dumbly.  
  
"Can we use that?" muttered Pissant. "Maybe we can go back and fix things with it?"  
  
"No," said Carrot as he felt a tiny tingle from the magical power they had absorbed. "It's just residual magic power. Not a specific power. Without the time gate as a focus, there's nothing to change the energy into the kind we'd need to manipulate time."  
  
"So? Now what?" asked Ranma. He paused again, his eyes growing wide this time. "Hey! What the heck is that?!"  
  
"Again?" grumbled Carrot. His voice trailed away as he realized what the boy was staring at.  
  
It was a red sphere of energy, floating freely in space. "Hey. What is that?" he said dumbly.  
  
"I just asked that!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Let's go check it out," muttered Dan.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Prince Tenchi," said one of the men on the bridge to the Tsunami as he bowed and walked away after handing the boy some sort of computerized report.  
  
The boy was watching the planet calmly. Whatever the energy reaction that had occurred was, it seemed to breathe a new life into the place. "Have we assessed what it was?"  
  
"No sir. Our sensors have lost the flagship, and whatever that power is, it seems to be stabilizing," said one of the men who was working at a nearby console.  
  
"Right," muttered the man as he frowned again. He didn't look any older than when he had left the planet fifteen years ago.  
  
"Perhaps it's some sort of super aging weapon?" said one of the men.  
  
"Accelerating the aging of the planet until it destroys itself?" asked Tenchi calmly.  
  
"That's our best guess sir," said the man with a short nod.  
  
"I didn't come all this way just to watch the planet die," he said with a heavy sigh. "Maybe I should leave now."  
  
"Shall I set a course back for planet Jurai?" asked another one of the men.  
  
"No. It's my home world, I owe it enough respect to watch it die," he said calmly. "Even if I know in my heart I don't want to."  
  
One of the men at another console jumped up. "Sir! We've found the flagship!"  
  
"Onscreen," said Tenchi as he stood up.  
  
A close-up of the planet revealed what looked like scrap metal floating through the atmosphere, pieces of it falling into the surface and burning away as they plummeted down.  
  
"What is this?"  
  
"That is the Flagship sir!" said the man.  
  
"Where is the rest of the fleet?" asked Tenchi as he stood up in alarm.   
  
"On Mars sir," said the man as he glanced up at the boy. "They don't appear to have realized anything is wrong yet."  
  
"Contact my Grandfather," said the Prince as he strolled forward and leaned against the rail that separated the upper and lower portion of the bridge.   
  
"Sir!" said one of the men.  
  
A few moments later, the young face of Yosho appeared on the screen. "Tenchi. What is it?"  
  
"Something has gone wrong on Earth," said the man as he looked up at his grandfather. They were almost a mirror image of one another, with the exception of Tenchi's hair. He had kept it short on the top, and now sported a long ponytail.   
  
"So. They are..."  
  
"No," said Tenchi. "I don't think that they are."  
  
"Sir. The planet... it's stabilized completely!" said one of the dumbfounded men nearby.  
  
"What is going on Tenchi?" asked Yosho as he narrowed his eyes.  
  
"It's like it's been reborn!" muttered the nearby tech in shock.  
  
"I think something has gone wrong with our old friend's plans," said Tenchi with a smirk on his face.  
  
Yosho arched his eyebrow at this, but said nothing. "I see. Do not try and approach the planet yet boy."  
  
"Understood. I'll keep an eye on things though," he said calmly.  
  
"That would be wise," agreed Yosho. "I'll see what I can do on this end."  
  
Ryoko's face popped up on the screen. She looked the same as ever and growled into the screen. "Tenchi! I'm on my way!"  
  
"Ryoko!" gasped the Prince in shock.  
  
"I shall also accompany her," said Ayeka as she appeared on the screen as well. She was older now, and had a sort of regal air about her. She appeared much like Funaho, but was much younger.   
  
"I don't want you near here until I'm sure about what's going on!" he snapped.  
  
"Try and stop me!" snapped Ryoko. "Come on Princess, we're leaving!"  
  
"I'll take my own ship thank you!" she snapped in retort.  
  
"Miyaaa!" said a familiar voice as another head appeared on the screen.  
  
"Ryo-ohki is right! She's faster!" said Sasami as she appeared on the screen as well, filling it up even more. She now looked like an older teen, but Tsunami's influence was much more dramatic. Rather than the childlike innocence she once held, she spoke with a firm and authoritative voice.   
  
"How many people are listening to this?!" cried Tenchi as he hung his head.  
  
"I think it's a wonderful idea!" cried Queen Funaho.  
  
"I won't allow it!" snapped Emperor Azusa.  
  
"What was that darling?" said Queen Misaki cheerfully. She appeared about ready to put him into a headlock.  
  
"Argh!" said Tenchi as he almost fell over.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma floated in deep space, simply looking at the red sphere in shock. "Hey...it's..."  
  
"Pluto!" gasped Ranma.  
  
"No it isn't," retorted Carrot. "It's Tsuki."  
  
They all peered into the surface of the Garnet Orb. Inside was a slumbering figure, curled into the fetal position. She was older now, with her long hair rivaling that of her former charge. She appeared to be in a state of suspended animation, protected by the talisman that her mistress once guarded along with the Time Gate.  
  
"What should we do?" asked Ranma.  
  
"I dunno. Can we do anything?" muttered Carrot as he peered down at her. He reached out to touch the orb, and found that it gave a little, rather like a balloon.  
  
"The magic is growing weaker," said Xianfu.  
  
"I can see that. It probably won't hold out much longer," said Carrot with a small sigh. He poked at it again, and the red sphere popped like a bubble. "Shit!" he cried as he grabbed her. Holding her in his arms, he extended a protective area of power around himself, keeping her safe from the void.  
  
"We can't just leave her here!" cried Pissant.  
  
"Why not?" grumbled Dan irritably. "As soon as she wakes up, she'll probably try to kill us again."  
  
"Hey! You're right!" said Carrot cheerfully. "We should do something for her. I'd feel bad if we just left her out here to die."   
  
"He's right," agreed Ranma. "I ain't leavin her here."  
  
Carrot reached into his pocket and smirked as he pulled the cap off of a black marker.  
  
"What are you doing?" asked Xianfu dumbly.  
  
"Having a little fun," he replied with a shrug as he drew a pair of glasses and a mustache on her face. "Heh. All right. What should we do with her?"  
  
"We should take her back to Earth," said Ranma.  
  
"Well, I suppose so," grumbled Carrot. "Where on Earth though? She might enjoy the poles?"  
  
"Japan, Carrot," said Dan with a sigh.  
  
"You guys are no fun," snorted the boy as he started flying away from the asteroid field. "Come on, help me think of something, Ranma."  
  
"Well, how about we let the others find her in a vat of lime jello?" offered the boy.  
  
"Naw, we did that to Mercury when we found her after that fight on Titan all those years ago," said Carrot.  
  
"Yeah. Hey! You mean I did that right! How do you know about that anyway?"  
  
Carrot paused and they stopped flying again.  
  
"How the heck do I know about that?" he muttered dumbly. "Wait a minute! I remember being Genaku too! What the hell?"  
  
"You do?" said Dan dumbly.  
  
"You mean?" said Ranma.  
  
"None of you guys can remember?" finished Carrot.  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Uh-uh."  
  
"Of course not! Why would I remember being a man!?"  
  
"Well, you remember having a thing for Urd. I was just assuming..." said Carrot.  
  
"You asshole! If we weren't holding her..." started Xianfu.  
  
"I'm not the one fondling her breast," countered Carrot.  
  
Xianfu gasped and moved her hand. She hadn't even realized that her hand was there. "That's not funny!"  
  
"Denial," said Carrot.  
  
"Definitely, she's even got the lesbian hater denial thing. Must be..." said Dan in agreement.  
  
"Yup. Suppressed desire and all that," commented Carrot with a sagely nod.  
  
"You jerks! I'm denying it because it isn't true!" snapped the angry woman.  
  
"Um. Can we go back now?" muttered Pissant. "And stop teasing her! It isn't nice!"  
  
"Well, she's not nice either," retorted Carrot.  
  
"You're only making it worse," said Pissant sharply.  
  
"Right! What?! Hey! You traitor!" growled Xianfu.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Akane frowned as she strolled through the new wilds of Japan. There were a lot of things she recognized running around. Trees, plants, most of the animals. However, mixed in with the old, were some completely new and unknown things. Strange looking plants and animals scurried around through the brush. Most of them had been fairly small creatures, like rodents and birds. There was a rather odd looking deer she had noticed a short time ago as well.  
  
She'd been walking for about a day and a half now. Mostly enjoying herself, despite the fact that she had not seen the mysterious figure again since she left her friends. It was just refreshing to get out into the wilderness that had been gone, or sparse for so long.  
  
"Well, well, what have we here? A pretty little girl, traveling all alone," said a rough sounding voice.  
  
Akane cursed under her breath. She'd been so involved with nature, that she'd gotten careless and allowed herself to be surprised. Bandits like these men were hardly rare these days.  
  
There were five of them, and they had surrounded her easily. Their clothes were little more than things they'd scavenged from the ruined city. Dirty and torn, with several layers. They also had makeshift weapons, stone knives and clubs made of wood and pipe. She snorted and faced them.  
  
"Go away."  
  
"No. I gotta make a living see. I think I might take anything valuable you might be carryin," said the lead man. He was a gigantic oaf from the look of him.  
  
Akane narrowed her eyes at him. By valuable, he meant food, or supplies. Money was worthless these days, gold and jewels had little importance either. Mostly people kept them for sentimental value more than anything else. "Does it look like I'm carrying any supplies?" She spread her arms out revealing that she hand no traveling bag or anything else.  
  
"No. We didn't realize that until it was a little too late," said the large man with a shrug. His men chuckled to themselves around him. All of them were smaller than him, and not one of them was even remotely handsome.  
  
"Goodbye then," said Akane as she turned away.  
  
"You got something we want though," said the man as he barred her way with his arm.  
  
Akane turned her head to him very slowly. Her eyes had grown cold as she simply watched his face for a moment. "Speak very carefully, your life depends on it."   
  
"I think you should pay a toll for crossin our road. Ya see, the boys and I don't see many pretty girls around here. What do ya say? Wanna have a little fun?" he grinned at her, revealing a grill of missing teeth and cavities.  
  
Akane fought back her rage carefully. There was no doubt in her mind that she was going to hurt him, but he had only asked. At least, so far. "No."  
  
He stood up to his full height and frowned at her. "You sure. We don't look like much, but we can show a lady a real good time. We might even pay ya. We got food, clothes, all sorts of stuff. If you're good enough. Why don't you hang around?"  
  
Akane had been shown a good time before. Kuno's face, clad in that mask flashed through her mind. "I'm going to hurt you," she said simply.  
  
"No need to be like that babe. We ain't the bad sort," said the man as he picked at his ear for a moment. "Never take more than we need really. Just gotta survive."  
  
"Well, you don't need to steal anymore. There are plenty of animals around to hunt," she replied coldly. "I'm going to teach you what it means to steal from now on."  
  
"Teach us?" said the man as he glared down at her. "What could you teach us? Got some tricks in that cute little body of yours?"  
  
Akane raised her hand into the air, a power seemed to blow up from the ground all around her. "Explosion Array!"  
  
"Huh?" said the huge bandit dumbly. The ground at his feet exploded upwards, shooting him hundreds of feet into the air.  
  
The other men backed away as Akane turned to face them. "Well, that was nice, and I learned something new. I'd rather do it the old fashioned way though." She cracked her knuckles and grinned at them with an evil glint in her eyes.  
  
The men tried to run away, but she was too fast. She pounded them into submission easily, snapping bones and jaws with punches and kicks as she tore into them. It brought back memories of her days at Furinkan, but also a hint of anger as she remembered the cause of those troubles. "Kuno!" she screamed as she raised her fist into the air. The bandit in her grip cried out in fear.  
  
"Please don't kill me miss! I'll never steal again! I swear!"  
  
She paused and seemed to realize what she was doing. A horrified and disgusted look crossed her face as she tossed him to the ground. "Damn. I almost lost it."  
  
She frowned when something seemed to come to her. A new sound, clapping.  
  
"Well! That was most impressive!" said Xellos as he clapped. He was sitting in the branch of a tree, watching the whole affair. "You do seem to have a lot of pent up anger though."  
  
"You?!" she said as she glared at him. "What do you want? What business of yours is it?"  
  
"Why, I thought you were looking for me," he said calmly.  
  
She blinked and backed away. "Who are you? I know there's more to you than you're letting on."  
  
"There is?" he said with a mocking thoughtful frown on his face. He jumped down beside her and twirled his staff playfully as he walked towards her. "It's nice to know someone thinks I'm special. Did you want something?"  
  
"You were just a destination," she replied with a shrug.  
  
"Hmm. In an odd way, that makes sense," he said cheerfully. "After all, there aren't really very many 'places' left are there?"  
  
She blushed and nodded.  
  
"Well, now that you've found me, what are you going to do?" he said as he leaned against a tree and watched her for a moment.  
  
Akane was uncomfortable with his gaze and shifted her eyes away. "I don't know. I guess I'll keep going."  
  
"Hmm. I'll bet it'll be interesting. We'll meet again," he said as he started walking in the opposite direction.  
  
Akane frowned as he vanished over a hilltop. She turned and went on her way as well.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Usagi frowned as she looked at the Crystal in her hands. "With this, I can unite all the people in the world. I can create a utopia, where everyone is happy."  
  
The Senshi kneeled on the ground around her, and Mamoru nodded his head at her side. The people in their village murmured amongst themselves. Most of them fell to their knees as well, in awe of the woman who had freed them. The few who didn't, were mostly still confused about how they could have survived.  
  
"A perfect world, that is my wish," said Usagi. She fingered the crystal for a moment, focusing before trying to use it.  
  
"It seems like a lot of trouble to go through, merely to trade one tyrant for another," said an unfamiliar voice.  
  
"Huh?" muttered Usagi.  
  
Everyone in the village turned to face the newcomer.   
  
"Who are you!" demanded Sailor Mars as she glared at the man. The senshi stood around her, backing her up.  
  
The man chuckled. He had long red hair and a trenchcoat. Hefted over his shoulder was a large broadsword still inside it's sheath. "I am called Gaav." He smirked at the women and strolled through the crowd a little closer.  
  
"You dare call the new Queen a tyrant?" snapped Mercury boldly.  
  
"What are you going to do? Beat me up and prove me right?" he said as he glanced at her.   
  
"He is right. Stand down," said Usagi. "You are welcome stranger."  
  
Gaav smirked at this. "I'm glad. What are you planning to do with that?"  
  
"I'm going to bring peace to the world," she said calmly. "With it's power, I can create a place where..."  
  
"Where everyone is enslaved, by your so called cleansing?" he interrupted.   
  
"What? No! I'll only use it to ensure peace and happiness!" she said defensively.  
  
"By taking away everyone's free will? Forcing them to bend to yours?" he said coldly. His smirk turned into a scowl.  
  
"What?" gasped Usagi. "It's not like you say!"  
  
"Isn't it? What is it like then?" he replied calmly.  
  
"What does it matter!? Everyone will be happy!" snapped Venus. "Love and justice will..."  
  
"Justice? It is just to free an entire world, just so that you can throw your own yolk of slavery onto it?" said the man calmly. "I'm afraid I can't allow that."  
  
Usagi gasped as his blade came out from it's sheath. Before anyone could react, it had been swung in a wide arc. She stumbled back, holding her hands up to her face. "No!" She blinked and realized that she wasn't cut. "What?"  
  
Gaav smirked at her, still holding his blade in the completed stroke. "I wish your new world the best of luck, but you'll do it without this I think." The Silver Imperium Crystal slid down the edge of the blade and into his waiting palm.  
  
"No!" gasped Mamoru as he started to move forward.  
  
"Careful. You might get hurt," said the man as he jumped back and cleared the crowd of dumbfounded villagers in a single bound.  
  
"What are you going to do with that?" snarled Mars as she stepped forward.  
  
"Me? Nothing but keep you from using it at the moment," said Gaav calmly. "Goodbye." He vanished into thin air.  
  
Usagi fell to her knees, watching in shock as the crystal was spirited away by the stranger.  
  
"Who was that?" gasped Mamoru.  
  
"I...don't know!" said Usagi as she stared at the ground in horror. "We can't just let him have that crystal! We've got to find him, and get it back!"  
  
"He must be a youma!" said Mercury in horror.  
  
The crowd of villagers murmured amongst themselves fearfully.  
  
"What do we do?" said Mamoru as he looked at his wife for a moment.  
  
"That's easy," said the woman firmly. "We got get it back."  
  
The senshi stood around her, all of them with firm resolve on their faces.  
  
The only one missing, was Hotaru. She was standing off to the side, watching the events quietly. She had not spoken, nor tried to stop anything that had just occurred. "Who was that? What's going on here?" she said as she narrowed her eyes at the scene. Secretly, she was relieved she didn't have to step in to stop Usagi. However, that didn't mean that she could just leave the crystal in the hands of an unknown either. She looked up towards the sky and frowned. "Ranma. Where are you? Do you have anything to do with this? Or is it something else?"  
  
One thing she was fairly certain of, was that this had nothing to do with Metallia. He was far to smart for a Youma, especially the dumb beast that had been showing up recently. She had dealt with enough of them while under the evil Ranma's employment to know.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Deep in space...  
  
Ranma sighed as he shot through the void with the girl in his arms. "This is getting boring."  
  
"Well, I don't want to risk teleporting while we're carrying her," said Xianfu.  
  
"She's got a point," agreed Carrot. "We haven't exactly got that down yet. We might accidentally take her to hell or something. Much as I don't like her, she doesn't deserve that."  
  
"Hey. What's that up ahead?" asked Dan dumbly.  
  
"Venus," said Carrot.  
  
"No, not that. It's next to Venus," snapped Dan.  
  
"Huh? I dunno...hey! That's...Tsunami?" Carrot paused their flight and blinked. "What the heck is Tsunami doing here?"  
  
"I dunno," said Ranma in confusion. "What's Tsunami? It doesn't look like a storm to me."  
  
"It's the name of that ship up ahead. It's a Jurian starship. What's it doing here?" said Carrot in confusion.  
  
"You certainly have a lot of information," commented Xianfu.  
  
"Yeah. That's what I do," replied Carrot with a shrug. "That ship is the most powerful starship in the Juraian fleet. "Why is it here? Tenchi and the others are probably dead."  
  
"Yeah, probably," said Dan.  
  
"You're right, we don't know. They might have escaped to Jurai when things got too hot here," said Carrot. "I'd never thought about it much, it seemed unlikely."  
  
"So? Now what?" asked Ranma.  
  
"I guess we should go say hello," said Carrot with a shrug.  
  
"Won't they try and kill us when the see who we are?" asked Dan.  
  
"Probably. I'm sure they'll cool off once we explain things," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"Wait. What do you mean 'kill us'?" said Ranma.  
  
"I think it's a good idea," said Xianfu.  
  
"You would," snorted Carrot in irritation. "Anyway, I'm getting tired of making this field for sleeping beauty here. We can dump her off on them if nothing else. Let the Jurians deal with her for a little while."  
  
"Okay," said Dan with a shrug. "Let's go."  
  
"Try not to break too much, we do want to at least try and be friendly," said Carrot.  
  
They blasted towards the ship, not noticing the other craft closing in on the Tsunami from the other side of Venus.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Ryo-Ohki is approaching, summon his highness!" said the officer on duty aboard the starship.  
  
"I'm already here," said Tenchi as he strolled out onto the bridge.   
  
Everyone stood up and saluted him as he sat down and ignored them. "Welcome back."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Isn't it obvious? O_O;  
  



	52. Insertion Part 52

Insertion  
  
Part 52  
  
Raid on Tsunami!  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Where the hell am I?" muttered Akane as she looked around with a scowl on her face. She sighed and hung her head, it didn't matter much really, she wasn't going anywhere in particular. "Great, I suppose I'll just go this way." She started down a nearby road and simply walked.  
  
In the shadows, a figure watched her calmly. Chuckling to himself as she wandered. "I think it's time she found a destination. Don't you agree?"  
  
A shorter figure looked up at him and snorted; it sounded like the voice of a young boy. "I've got other things to do, she's your problem." The child vanished leaving the taller man alone.  
  
"Oh. I suppose you're right. How to manage it though... Ah! I've got just the thing!" He melted back into the shadows.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Akane was not in a good mood, it was hot, she was tired, and she hadn't eaten in a while. The problem with food was easy enough to fix, considering the amount of wildlife that now roamed around. She could rest as well, but the heat was something she had no real control of. "Damn. I never knew how much wandering aimlessly sucked." She wiped her brow and sat down on a rock.  
  
She pulled out a small folded cloth that she had been carrying inside of her shirt; she unwrapped it and frowned. It was meat, sort of. In truth it was more like charcoal, on the outside anyway. The interior was hardly cooked at all. Still, it was food. She bit down on it and made a face, but continued to snack on it anyway. "I've got to work on this."  
  
A sound caught her attention and she looked up from her lunch. "Huh? What's that? It sounds like..." Turning her gaze, she noticed a small spring nearby. She almost thought she would cry tears of joy. Jumping up, she rushed over to the spring and removed her clothes. After all, who would possibly see her in the middle of nowhere?  
  
After a moment, she was relaxing in the cool water. "Ah. This is nice."  
  
She froze when she noticed an image within the pool. "Huh?" She blushed and shrieked when she saw herself sitting in the middle of Mamoru's face. "EEEEEEEEEE!!!"  
  
She quickly rushed over to the edge of the pool, but calmed when she saw that it was just an image. "What the? What kind of weird pool is this?" She blinked and relaxed a bit more.  
  
A scene was playing out before her. Her eyes went wide with shock as a tall red-haired figure attacked the senshi. "What! No!" She rushed over to the image and tried to attack the man as he stole the Silver Imperium Crystal from Usagi. "Bastard! You give that back right now!" she screamed.  
  
"I'm afraid they can't here you," said a familiar voice.  
  
Akane blinked and looked up to see Xellos standing at the edge of the water, peering at the scene as well.   
  
"Imagine meeting you here!" he said cheerfully.  
  
"Mega Brunt!" screamed Akane as she blasted him with yet another new spell.  
  
Xellos stood there looking singed and frowned at her. "That wasn't very nice."  
  
"You pervert! How long have you been there?" she screamed as she dove deeper into the water and covered herself up.  
  
"Not long. Don't worry, I didn't see much," he said apologetically.  
  
"What do you mean much!?" she snapped angrily.  
  
"It's not my fault you're naked in the middle of nowhere," he replied calmly. He finally turned his back to her and sighed. "If you don't want me to see anything, go ahead and get dressed."  
  
She scowled at him and quickly did so behind him, keeping a watchful eye. He remained turned away and turned around after she had finished without her saying anything. She narrowed her eyes at this, but said nothing.  
  
"This pool seems to be a result of the unusual amount of magic that's been going around lately," said the man calmly as he looked into the water curiously.  
  
"Magic?" she said as she followed his gaze.   
  
Gaav was just leaving the old village.   
  
"It has the power to show things, past, present, possibly even the future," he replied calmly. "Most interesting."  
  
"So, what was that?" she asked as she continued to glare at him.  
  
"I believe that was the past. Most unfortunate," said the man cheerfully.  
  
Akane frowned as her eyes fell to the now normal pool of water. "Then that means..."  
  
"It seems that the Silver Imperium Crystal has been stolen," said Xellos with a short nod. "I wonder why someone would steal it?"  
  
Akane glanced up at him again. "How would you know what it is?"  
  
"What? The Crystal? The weapon of the famed Dark Sailor Moon? Chibi-Usa wasn't exactly secretive about the fact that she had it," replied the man with a shrug.   
  
Akane nodded, it was a plausible explanation. "Who was that guy? Why did he steal the crystal? What's going on? He doesn't look like any Youma I've seen before."  
  
"You're right, he isn't a Youma," said Xellos.  
  
"Who is he then?" she said as she frowned at him.  
  
"How should I know?" he replied with a shrug.  
  
"You seem to know a lot," she replied.  
  
"It comes with traveling as much as I do," he said with another shrug. "I hear all sorts of interesting things."  
  
"I'll bet you do," snorted Akane angrily.  
  
Xellos smirked at her, and touched the water with his staff again. The act went unnoticed and Akane turned away. "Well. This is certainly interesting."  
  
Akane turned to see him looking into the pool again, this time with a frown on his face and a slightly worried look.  
  
"What is it?" she asked as she looked over his shoulder and gasped. "No!"  
  
Gaav was standing in the middle of a burning town, holding the crystal over his head and laughing. A dark shadow loomed overhead, filling the sky completely.  
  
"What is that?" gasped Akane.  
  
"The future this time, a possible one anyway," replied the man. "This does not bode well."  
  
"I've got to do something!" cried Akane.   
  
"That would seem to be wise," said Xellos with a short nod.   
  
"Do you think it could tell us where I can find this guy?" she asked him.  
  
"Huh? I don't know, maybe," he said with a shrug. He closed his eyes and held out his hand over the water dramatically. The pool glowed and another image formed. This time it showed a mountain with a castle built into the side of it. The sun was rising behind it, and the ocean could be seen nearby.  
  
"It's a castle, on the eastern coast," he said calmly.  
  
Akane's jaw almost dropped. "How did you do that?"  
  
"You should know," he replied calmly. "You didn't think you were the only person who could use magic did you?"  
  
"This pool is yours?" she asked him.  
  
"Why would I make a pool like this?" he asked her. "There's a lot of magical energy floating around these days."  
  
Akane nodded and looked at the pool again. "So. I guess I'm going east then."  
  
"Well, best of luck to you. Who knows, we may meet again," said Xellos as he turned away and started walking.  
  
Akane was relieved more than anything else. She still didn't trust him at all.   
  
As he walked away, she never saw the smirk forming on his face. He had indeed created the pool, just to send her on her way. There was no real reason to tell her that though.   
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Mars, the Amazon colony...  
  
"Elder, we have not received any word from Kuroi in some time," said a young woman who bowed before the shriveled old woman who stared at her. They were inside a large hut, that rested in the center of hundreds of smaller ones.   
  
"What? This is most unusual," said the hag thoughtfully. Several other older women sat around her, ranging from late forties, to around her own age. "Have we attempted to contact them ourselves?"  
  
"Numerous times elder, there is no response," confirmed the young Amazon.  
  
"This is most distressing," said one of the older women who sat next to the head elder.  
  
"Indeed. We shall send two ships to investigate," said the Elder calmly. "Go and give the order at once."  
  
"There's no need. I can tell you what happened to them," said a child's voice from the doorway.  
  
"What?" gasped the old woman as she stood up and frowned. "Boy! What do you think you're doing here? If you were any older, you would be killed for interfering with the business of your betters! You will be severely punished!"  
  
The young boy strolled out into the room fearlessly, glaring at them. He was a beautiful child, and the women gasped. "I do not recognize him!" commented one of the older women.  
  
"You? My better?" snorted the boy calmly. "I think not."  
  
"Child, watch your tone..." warned the old woman.  
  
"Your predecessor would realize how much danger she was in. You're not even smart enough to consider it," said the boy calmly.  
  
This caught the room by surprise.  
  
"What would you know of Cologne?" snapped the Elder hatefully.  
  
"That is for me to know," he replied.  
  
"Seize him! At once!" snapped the old woman as she pointed a familiar looking staff at the boy.  
  
The guards standing at the door moved in to grab him, but were promptly thrown away by an unseen force. They slammed into the walls and fell to the ground out cold.   
  
The boy chuckled and continued to stare at the old woman.   
  
"What are you?" gasped the Elder in shock.  
  
"I've just come to tell you that the flagship has been destroyed, and to banish you and your people to Mars for the rest of your miserable existence."  
  
"What?" gasped the elder.  
  
"You betrayed your entire race, left them to die for your own survival. It's pathetic..."  
  
"How dare you! Hateful thing! You do not know what you are facing!" snarled the elder as she jumped down to meet him on the ground.  
  
"I know exactly what I am facing, do you have any idea what you are?" he replied calmly.  
  
"Tell me then," she snapped.  
  
"I am Phibrizzo, the hell master..." he chuckled as a burning light began to form in the back of his eyes. "And this place, is now hell."  
  
"What?" stammered the woman.  
  
"I've changed my mind. There's no need to banish you and your people. In fact, I'm going to send some of you to the Earth personally." His tone told them there was more to that than he was letting on. "As my servants. My master has granted me the power to enslave you all. Your children will be mine, as will your children's children. For the rest of eternity, your people will be hated by the humans on the blue planet. You'll become the monsters you truly are."  
  
The elder gasped as a wave of power erupted from the boy's body.  
  
"What are you doing?" she gasped as she fell to the ground in pain.  
  
He grinned at her as she began to grow and swell. Slowly, the women within the room began to fall, each deforming as they writhed in pain on the ground. "Mine." He said calmly as he watched them change. "You're all mine."  
  
The energy wave overtook the entire planet, every Amazon settlement was touched by it. All of the people began to fall, their bodies changing and swelling as they changed into something else.  
  
Phibrizzo smirked as he walked up and sat down on the head elder's throne. "Now, my monsters. We should prepare for the trip."  
  
The elder looked at her claws, her vision blurred by the light within the room. She tried to speak, but only the grunting sound of a troll escaped her lips. She roared with terror, clutching her head. The others in the room followed. Each had changed into something different, some more horrible than others.  
  
"I think the master will be pleased with your punishment," said Phibrizzo calmly. "Now. Go, and set up a temple. We'll need one for our trip to Earth."  
  
++++++++++  
  
Gaav smirked as he looked into the mirror in front of him. "So, you are almost ready?"  
  
"It will take a few days to set things up on my end," said Phibrizzo as his image flickered in and out of existence.   
  
"Understood. The Senshi will have to build their paradise in their own. I hope our plans don't disrupt them too much." He held up the crystal and grinned.  
  
Phibrizzo laughed at this and nodded. "Right."  
  
"The time is growing near. We must prepare for Metallia," said Gaav with a frown forming on his face.  
  
"Metallia?" asked the young Mazoku in confusion.  
  
"I have recently received word from the master on this. It seems she'll be needed after all."  
  
"We aren't going to seal her away again?" asked Phibrizzo.  
  
"No. Plans have changed, we'll be using a more permanent solution."  
  
"I see," said the young Mazoku with a short nod. "Just make sure things stay on track."  
  
"Xellos could be a problem, he exists outside our mission," said Gaav.  
  
"It can't be helped, worry about your end."  
  
"Agreed." Gaav turned away and waved his arm, causing the mirror to vanish.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma chuckled to himself as he walked out of one of the rooms onboard the ship and dusted off his hands. "Well, that takes care of her."  
  
"So now what?" asked Dan.  
  
"We should go say hello, it's only polite," said Carrot.  
  
"Okay," agreed most of the others.  
  
"You perverted assholes! I can't believe you did that to her!" snapped the only one who didn't.  
  
"She'll get over it," replied Carrot. "Probably not for a while. Kinda wish we could be there when she wakes up though."  
  
They wandered through the empty halls within the ship for about ten minutes. Not bumping into anyone.  
  
"Man, sure is quiet around here," commented Pissant.   
  
"I guess so," said Carrot with a shrug. "Let's see what's going on in here."  
  
They walked into a new room, where a tree was sitting in the middle of a pool of water.  
  
"Ships core," commented Carrot as he walked over to the huge trunk and put his hand on it.   
  
"You know too much," said Xianfu irritably.  
  
"So what?" snapped Carrot in retort.   
  
"Who are you?" said Tsunami's voice inside their head.  
  
"Gaaah! Another one!" screamed Ranma in terror.  
  
"Relax, it's just the tree talking to us," said Carrot.  
  
"Oh my! It's quite crowded," commented the Goddess as she realized how many voices were inside the head of the person touching her.  
  
"You're tellin me?" grumbled Ranma.  
  
"Quit complainin," snapped Dan.  
  
"Stuff it!" countered Ranma.  
  
"That's enough! We have a guest!" chided Pissant.  
  
"I say we let them kill each other," said Xianfu irritably.  
  
"Will you cut it out with the suicide thing already?" grumbled Carrot.  
  
"Never!" retorted the girl. "We're gonna kill ourselves like we were told to! Stop procrastinating and just do it!"  
  
"Sorry about her, she's on the rag," said Carrot to Tsunami.  
  
"Oh dear," exclaimed the tree in confusion. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"  
  
"Well, we're Ranma Saotome. We just stopped by to drop off a friend of ours, and say hello."  
  
"Ranma Saotome?" gasped the tree in shock.   
  
"Yeah...Oh. Him. Sorry, we aren't him. He died a few days ago. We're sort of...well...He was our bad side. He got loose and killed us. We came back and got him finally, but it took like twenty years."  
  
"Oh," muttered the tree as it calmed down. "Could you stop draining my power then?"  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma dumbly.   
  
"What do you mean?" asked Carrot in confusion.  
  
"Please stop touching me...I feel faint..." said Tsunami in alarm. "No! Stop it!"  
  
"Gah!" cried Ranma as he pulled their hand away. It was still tingling from the power he'd absorbed. "What the heck are we doing?"  
  
"I dunno. I wish we'd stop it," said Carrot irritably.  
  
"I hope she's all right," grumbled Pissant.  
  
The lights went out suddenly, leaving the whole ship in total darkness.   
  
"Oh crap," said Dan.  
  
"Oh my god! You killed Tsunami! You bastards!" cried Xianfu.  
  
"Maybe she does have a sense of humor after all?" said Carrot in surprise.  
  
"What have you done!?" lamented the woman. "We must commit ritual suicide in order to cleanse our honor!"  
  
"Or maybe not," said Dan flatly.  
  
"We should probably leave now," said Carrot nervously. There was a lot of shuffling about within the ship.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Tenchi smiled as he greeted his two wives and their younger sister. "You're here!"  
  
"Tenchi!" cried Ryoko as she flew into his arms.  
  
Ayeka frowned at this, but walked up and bowed politely. "I hope you are well."  
  
"I am," he said cheerfully.  
  
The lights went out.   
  
"What happened?" said the prince as he looked around in alarm. They slowly began to dim a little, enough so that they could see at any rate. "Oh no!" He pushed Ryoko away and rushed by Ayeka.  
  
Sasami was lying on the ground, out cold.   
  
"She fainted?" muttered Ryoko dumbly.  
  
"Sasami! No! Are you all right Sasami!?" cried Ayeka as she moved up next to her sister.   
  
Ryo-ohki had detransformed and was now sitting on the young teen's chest, meowing pathetically.  
  
"What happened to her?" cried Tenchi.  
  
"Take her to the infirmary at once!" commanded Ayeka. Several men nodded, and helped their prince lift her onto a stretcher.   
  
"Sir! There's an intruder!" cried another man who rushed into the room suddenly.  
  
"What?" gasped Tenchi. He looked down at Sasami and gasped. "Tsunami! To the core! At once!"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma was walking along with his hands in his pockets, whistling to himself cheerfully. "Man, we still haven't seen anybody."  
  
"Where are we now?" asked Carrot. "Even hell has directories. You'd figure Jurai would put them on something this big."  
  
"It does?" asked Dan in confusion.  
  
"Yeah," said Ranma.  
  
"Halt! Hold it right there!" cried a group of armed men who rounded the corner.   
  
"Hiya!" said Ranma cheerfully as he waved at them.   
  
The men stood in a battle ready pose and waited for him.  
  
"So, you gonna arrest me or what?" asked the pigtailed boy after a moment of standing there.  
  
The soldiers blinked and looked at one another.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"We found him in the hallway, he was just wandering around. He let us capture him," said the lead guard as he stood next to the prince.  
  
Tenchi was glaring at the boy inside the wooden prison hatefully. "You've got a lot of nerve showing up here. You'll be killed, you know that right?"  
  
"Huh? What for?" said the boy as he stood up from where he was sitting and smiling at them.  
  
"What for? You dare ask me that!?" snarled Tenchi.  
  
"Well yeah. I think you got me mixed up with someone else. He was older anyway," said the boy as he grinned back at his captor.  
  
"Huh?" said Tenchi dumbly. He was starting to realize something was wrong. "What do you have to say for yourself."  
  
"It's kind of a long story, but I'm not the guy who you think I am."  
  
"Don't believe a word of it," said a new voice.  
  
"Ryoko! Hey! You never call," said Ranma as he put his face up against the branches that held him and grinned at her.  
  
She promptly decked him.  
  
He staggered back, clutching his nose. "Ouch! That wasn't very nice!"  
  
"I'll show you how nice I can be!" snarled the woman as a blade of energy formed in her hand.  
  
"Set a course for Jurai!" snapped Tenchi.   
  
"You're not thinking of taking this monster to Jurai are you?" cried Ryoko.  
  
"We'll put him in trial, and then execute him," said Tenchi coldly.  
  
"Ranma died though," said the boy inside the cage as he looked at them.  
  
"What?" said Ryoko as she looked at him.  
  
"I'm not Ranma...well, I am, but I'm not the guy who took over Earth and all that," he said with a dumb grin on his face.   
  
"You won't escape this time," she snapped.  
  
"Okay. I'll just sit here for a while then," said the boy as he smiled at her. "I guess I'll see you in a while then."  
  
Tenchi narrowed his eyes at the boy and turned away.  
  
Ranma sat down and looked up at where Ryoko was still glaring at him. "D'ya gotta stare at me?"  
  
Her face contorted and she spit on him.  
  
"Eew!" he cried in shock. "I'm gonna get ya for that later!"   
  
She turned away and left him alone.  
  
"So now what?" asked Ranma.  
  
"We wait for a while. I wanna get some sleep," said Carrot.  
  
"Okay," said Pissant.  
  
"I don't like this," said Dan.  
  
"I think it's a perfect idea," said Xianfu cheerfully.  
  
"You just want them to execute us," countered Carrot.  
  
"Is that such a bad thing?" she asked.  
  
"Yes," said Ranma.  
  
"Well, it's too late now," she chimed cheerfully.  
  
"Not really, we can leave any time we want," said Carrot. He waved his hand and the bars holding them spread apart. With another flick of his wrist, they closed again. "We should relax for now though."  
  
"Right," agreed Ranma as they lay down for a little sleep.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Is it really him?" asked Ayeka as she looked up at her husband.   
  
"It is," confirmed Tenchi.  
  
"That bastard. We finally have him," snapped Ryoko as she punched her fist into her palm.  
  
"Do we?" said Tenchi with a scowl on his face. He looked at Ayeka. "How is Sasami?"  
  
"She's resting. She just got a little tired it seems. There isn't anything wrong with her, not that we can find anyway."  
  
Tenchi nodded at this. "We all need some rest."  
  
"Well, the princess can rest, but you're not," said Ryoko as she grabbed him by his arm.  
  
"Ryoko. I'm tired," he whined.   
  
"I haven't seen you in a month!" she countered as she pulled him into his room and opened the door.  
  
Everyone froze.  
  
Sprawled out on his bed was Tsuki, she still had the mustache and glasses drawn onto her face, and was now wearing a pair of his boxers, with the rest of the contents of his underwear drawer spread out around her on the sheets.  
  
Ryoko clutched Tenchi's arm so hard that it hurt him. "Who the heck?" he muttered. It was then he realized who was with him. "Uh-oh."  
  
"So...you're tired are you?" asked Ryoko through her teeth.  
  
"Yes dear. I do believe you have some explaining to do," agreed Ayeka as she cracked her knuckles.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Sasami woke up slowly and shook her head. "What happened?" she muttered to herself. "Where am I?"  
  
"You're in the infirmary dear," said the nurse who was attending her.   
  
"Oh. What happened to me?"  
  
"Just a little fainting spell, that's all," said the woman sweetly.  
  
"Oh. I guess I got a little excited," muttered the teen nervously. "I can't remember why though..."  
  
"It'll come back to you," said the woman cheerfully.  
  
"What's that? Who's screaming?" said Sasami as her eyes suddenly went wide.  
  
"Oh my! I hope Prince Tenchi doesn't hurt himself again. He gets so embarrassed when I have to treat him sometimes."   
  
Sasami blushed profusely and hung her head. "I think I'm gonna go take a nap now." She started to get up, but the nurse pushed her back down. "Here is fine. I don't want you walking around just yet."  
  
"All right," said the girl as she lay down on her back. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Nobody knows, the trouble I've seen! Nobody knows my sorrow!" sang Ranma as he hit a small tin cup against the branches of his prison.  
  
"Shut up Dan!" snapped Xianfu.  
  
"This is boring. Are those two idiots still sleeping?" he asked her.  
  
"Yup," said Pissant lazily. "I'm starting to get kinda tired myself."  
  
"We have been using a lot of power lately," agreed Dan.  
  
"Not so much we should be tired though," said Xianfu with a scowl on her face.  
  
"We've been flying through the void for a couple of days now, holding that stupid girl," countered Dan.  
  
"I guess so. We should rest, if only to recharge," agreed Pissant.  
  
"Oh, all right," said Xianfu with a sigh.   
  
++++++++++++  
  
Gaav strolled into a large empty room. Dramatic organ music played in the background as he waved his arm and summoned his mirror.  
  
A dark shadowy figure stared back at him, speaking in a low hissing tone. "It is done?"  
  
Gaav bowed to the floor and hung his head. "Yes master! Your plan is coming together as you envisioned it."  
  
"Yes? Well that never lasts long," said the figure. It paused and looked down at him. "Stand up! Look at me when you're speaking to me! I hate that!"  
  
"Of course," grumbled Gaav as he stood up and dusted off his pants. "Is the music really necessary though?"  
  
"Yes," said the shadow coldly.  
  
"Very well. I have obtained the crystal, Phibrizzo has cursed the Amazons as you had requested, and Xellos is off doing whatever it was that you told him to do."  
  
"That is my business," said the thing.  
  
"Of course, I wasn't asking master," said Gaav.  
  
"At any rate, things should get more difficult. There is no doubt that the senshi will try and retrieve the crystal, and prevent you from resurrecting Metallia. Be cautious."  
  
"Of course," said Gaav as he nodded his head. "What should I do when they do try?"  
  
"Stop them, but don't kill them. I still have uses for them," said the shadow.  
  
"As you say," commented Gaav as he nodded his head. The image vanished, leaving him alone once again.  
  
With a smirk on his face, he pulled a remote control from his hand and turned off the gothic organ music. "This should prove interesting."  
  
++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: The trial of Ranma!   



	53. Insertion Part 53

Insertion   
  
Part 53  
  
The Trial of Ranma  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Akane walked along the beaches of Japan, a frown on her face as she strolled through the sand. She was walking along the tree line, taking advantage of the shade the branches provided. "This sucks," she muttered to herself. She hadn't seen anyone for some time now.  
  
Giving a heavy sigh as she walked she stopped and looked out over the ocean. "Where is this stupid place?" She hadn't realized just how much beach there was. Still, she had to find the mountains; sooner or later she'd stumble on to them. "This is pretty boring."  
  
Falling flat on her back, she paused as she looked up and saw something looking down at her in confusion. "What the?"  
  
It was standing just behind a bush, and looked just as surprised as she did to be there. It was a hulking creature, humanoid, with two fangs jutting out from the bottom of its lower lip. It's arms hung almost to the ground, and it wore a loincloth and held a wooden club in its hands.   
  
"Oh shit," she muttered as it seemed to snap out of it and raised the club over it's head.   
  
With a roar it slammed it down into the sand, forcing her to roll out of the way. "What the hell are you supposed to be?" she snapped as she jumped into a combat stance.   
  
The thing snorted and growled, stalking forward slowly. It swung the weapon at her a few times, driving her back. "What the hell?" she grumbled as she dodged. Finally, she saw an opening and rushed in, punching it in the gut with all her might.  
  
The thing staggered back in pain, but after a moment, it merely rubbed the spot in irritation and started forward again.  
  
Akane gasped as she saw the bruise that had already started to form melt away. "Uh-oh..."  
  
It charged her again, raising the club over its head. She reacted by snapping her foot into its jaw, sending it sprawling onto its back.  
  
She cursed as it stood up as if nothing had happened. Backing into a combat stance once again she snarled at it angrily. "What does it take to put you down ugly?"  
  
It frowned at her and turned its head, giving a barking sound into the woods.  
  
Akane simply stood silently as five more emerged from the woods, surrounding her completely. "Damn." She changed her stance after they had moved in. "So, you want to play rough do you?" Magical energy started to build up around her and she grinned at them with a wild look in her eyes. "All right then! Get ready!!"  
  
A new voice interrupted her and she paused in confusion. "Huh?"  
  
"Demonic Crystal!"  
  
Three of the creatures fell over, all of them encased in ice. The others didn't seem to notice, and tried to attack Akane in her confusion. She dodged and jumped into one of the thing's face, turning and bouncing away as one of its companions tried to swat her and ended up flooring his friend.  
  
The creature stood up from being on its back and shook its head for a moment in confusion. It quickly regained its senses and they focused on her again.  
  
"What are these things made of?" muttered Akane in surprise as she backed away.  
  
"Freeze Arrow!" cried the voice again. A man jumped in front of the things and shot a spell that froze another one of them in their tracks.  
  
"You!" gasped Akane as she recognized him immediately.  
  
"You look like you might be in a spot of trouble luv," said Ryoga as he tipped his bowl hat at the woman.   
  
"I can handle myself!" she snapped in retort as she raised her hands over her head. "Fireball!"  
  
The two remaining creatures shrieked in terror as they were hit with a ball of flames that promptly exploded, consuming them in flames and sending them to the ground in a pair of smoking heaps.  
  
"Of course, I could have been mistaken," said Ryoga dumbly. He was dressed in a suit and tie, with a western style umbrella held carelessly over one shoulder. "I do believe we've met before," he commented as he smiled at her.  
  
"You were in the tower, one of Ranma's men," she said with a frown on her face.  
  
"Ah yes," he said as he frowned to himself. "It seems we meet again."  
  
"What are you doing here?" she snapped at him.  
  
"Traveling, and running into monsters these days," he said as he frowned at the things. "I'm not sure where they're coming from, but they've been all over the place over the past few days."  
  
Akane frowned at this, but said nothing.  
  
"It's dangerous to travel. All sorts of new monsters have been popping up all over. I've heard stories of dragons as well, but I've not seen one for myself."  
  
Akane looked at him for a moment and sighed. "I guess I should thank you for helping me, even if I didn't need it. This is the first time I've run into anything like this."  
  
"Is it?" he said as he looked down at one of them.  
  
"Yeah. What are they? You say there's more?"  
  
"Of these things? I'm not sure. I've seen a lot of monsters over the past few days, but this is the first time I've seen something like this."  
  
"There's different kinds?" she said in horror.  
  
"Yes. These are relatively weak. You won't do very well if you keep trying to fight them with your fists. I've found that out the hard way." he looked up at her and smirked. "It's dangerous to travel alone."  
  
"I wonder if this has anything to do with the Silver Imperium Crystal?" she muttered.  
  
"Pardon?" he said in confusion.  
  
She frowned at him and thought about it for a moment. "I guess I can tell you. Someone's stolen it."  
  
"Oh dear!" said the man almost prissily.  
  
Akane scowled at him for a moment. "I'm leaving now."  
  
"Wait! It's dangerous to go alone!" cried the man as he followed after her.  
  
"I don't need any help," she snorted as she turned to look at him again.  
  
"I didn't mean for just you," he replied calmly. "I'd rather not be walking around by myself either."  
  
"You don't know where I'm going," she said as she started walking.  
  
"I wasn't going anywhere in particular," he said with a shrug as he moved up beside her. "There are things out there that I'd rather not meet again on my own. Things you shouldn't meet on your own."  
  
"Like what?" she snapped.  
  
"Those beastmen I stumbled onto last night were particularly nasty," he replied with a shrug.   
  
"Beastmen?" she said in confusion.  
  
"Werewolves," he supplied calmly.  
  
"I'm looking for trouble you know. You'd be better off going on your own."  
  
"I'm wandering to atone for what I did while I was under Ranma's control. Maybe helping you would be a step in the right direction," he said calmly.  
  
Akane growled. It seemed as if she wasn't going to get rid of him, at least, not short of blasting him. She couldn't do that, he'd just helped her out. "Fine. Do what you want."  
  
"Oh. Right then," he said cheerfully.  
  
"Stop with the stupid accent already!" she snapped.  
  
"Accent? What accent? I hope I'm not picking up nasty habits! Oh bother," he said prissily.  
  
Akane rolled her eyes and continued to walk.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Tsuki woke up and looked around. She gasped as she found herself in some sort of prison. "What? Where am I? Mistress Pluto?" she looked around and stood up shakily. "What happened?"  
  
"Awake are you?" said a chillingly familiar voice.  
  
"No!" she muttered in horror. She clutched her head and fell to her knees. "No! Mistress! No!!" Sobbing violently, she fell to her knees and clutched at the grass at the bottom of the unusual cell. "Mistress...why?"  
  
Ranma frowned at this and stood up inside his own cell. "Are you all right?"  
  
She snapped her gaze up at him. "Die! Dead Scream!"   
  
Ranma blinked at her as nothing happened. "I'm afraid that won't do you any good. Pluto is gone."  
  
"What?" she muttered in horror.  
  
"Ranma destroyed it," said the boy calmly as he looked at her with a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry."  
  
Tsuki leaned against the branches of her prison as tears ran down her face. She'd been cleaned up before she'd been placed inside the cell, and didn't realize the position she had been in when they'd found her.   
  
Ranma was almost thankful for that given the pathetic condition she was in now. Well, most of him anyway. Carrot was a little upset, muttering something about them being 'spoilsports' or something.   
  
"Are you all right? What happened?" he asked her gently.  
  
Tsuki scowled at him and then her face softened. "Where are we?"  
  
"On a Juraian Starship. I've been mistaken for that monster who destroyed the Earth, and your world. I had you with me when they captured me."  
  
"Who are you?" said the woman in confusion. She looked a lot like the old Senshi of Pluto did, wearing the same clothes and the same hairstyle though. The long violet locks gave away who she was in reality though.  
  
"I'm the real Ranma Saotome," he said with a smirk on his face. "That bastard stole my life, and used my position to take over."  
  
"Right," muttered Tsuki hatefully. "There was only one Ranma Saotome."  
  
"There still is," said the boy calmly. "I killed the other one. Well, it wasn't exactly me who did it, I just helped a bit."  
  
"I'll destroy you for what you've done," she hissed as she tried to reach for him through the bars of her prison.  
  
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about girl. If I was Ranma Saotome, why would I be in this situation?"  
  
"The Jurians finally got the balls to capture you!" she snarled.  
  
"I can leave any time I want to," he countered calmly. "I suppose there's no point in talking to you about it. These people won't listen either."  
  
She snorted at this and turned away. "Well, I'm not going to help you."  
  
"I didn't ask for your help," he said calmly. "I'm afraid I've missed out on a lot over the past twenty years or so. I was dead for a while."  
  
"You expect me to believe you?" she snapped hatefully. "I'm going to help them string you up!"  
  
"I could have just left you floating in space, until the Garnet Orb gave out. You had maybe a year's worth of protection left at most."  
  
Tsuki frowned at this. "What do you mean?"  
  
"What year is it?" he asked her calmly.  
  
"1990," she supplied.  
  
"Seems Fifteen years ago is when things started to heat up then," he said to himself. "I'll bet that's when he started everything."  
  
"What do you mean fifteen years?" said the woman as she clutched at the branches of her prison.  
  
"It's 2005," he said calmly. "Ranma Saotome, or the one you know is dead. The Senshi have all returned, and Crystal Tokyo is just now beginning."  
  
"What?" said the woman in shock. "You...you're lying!"  
  
"Am I?" he said with a chuckle. "Ask our captors when they visit us next."  
  
The pair sat in silence until a man entered the room with two small trays of food and water.   
  
Tsuki stood up and moved forward.  
  
"Stay back please," he said calmly.  
  
"What year is it?" she asked him.  
  
"Calendar year 175," he said to her.  
  
"She's from Earth," said Ranma from where he was resting in the back of his cell.  
  
"Oh. I believe it's 2005 there," said the man as he handed her the tray.  
  
She stared at him in a sort of shocked awe. "But...fifteen years?"  
  
"What's the last thing you remember?" asked Ranma casually, more out of boredom than anything else.  
  
"Shut up!" she snapped hatefully.  
  
"Sorry. Didn't realize it was a soft spot," he mumbled quietly.  
  
Tsuki broke down into tears again, falling to her knees as the memory floated back to her.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"The planet is lost," said Pluto as she looked at her charge.  
  
"Mistress?" muttered Tsuki in horror.  
  
Overhead, the gray slivers of the Star fleet could be seen. They were preparing to unleash another barrage of fire down on them.   
  
"It is too late, all is lost," said Pluto calmly. "We are about to be destroyed, and the timegates with us."  
  
"We'll use them to stop it!" cried Tsuki.  
  
"How?" said Pluto calmly.  
  
"There must be a way!" cried Tsuki in terror. "Please Mistress! We have to try! It can't end like this!"  
  
"He has won," said Pluto with an icy tone.   
  
"What?" said Tsuki in horror. "No! I won't accept that!"  
  
"Then perhaps, you are more worthy than I," said the woman as she shoved something into Tsuki's arms.  
  
"What?" sputtered the young woman dumbly, not yet realizing what she had done.  
  
"Goodbye, my..."  
  
A red light formed around Tsuki's body, and everything went black.  
  
Pluto merely looked at the figure inside the garnet orb, and raised her arms into the sky as the first massive laser slammed into the surface of the planet, vaporizing her in an instant.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"So. You're awake," said an unfamiliar voice from outside her cell.  
  
"Huh?" she muttered as she snapped out of her memory. Sadness was still etched into her features.   
  
A young man knelt before her, his eyes were very gentle, but his face was somewhat stern. He also appeared to have a black eye.  
  
"Who are you?" she asked softly. "Where am I?"  
  
"You are on board my ship, the Tsunami," he said to her calmly.  
  
"Tsunami? This is the Juraian Flagship?" she stammered.  
  
"Yes. I am the Crowned Prince of Planet Jurai..."  
  
"Tenchi Masaki," said Tsuki before he could finish. "I know who you are."  
  
"Then you have the advantage," he said with a smirk on his face. "What were you doing in my room?" His face fell as he remembered the result of her discovery.  
  
"Your room?" she stammered.  
  
"Ah. That would have been my fault," said Ranma cheerfully.   
  
"I'm not speaking to you," snapped Tenchi.  
  
"Well, so what?" he snorted defiantly. "She's been asleep for the last fifteen years. In a state of suspended animation."  
  
"Then how does she know who I am?" said Tenchi as he looked at her for an answer.  
  
She backed away from his gaze slightly, with her face becoming a mask of ice.   
  
"She's the Senshi of Pluto," said Ranma calmly. "The past, present, and future are all an open book to her. Or rather, they were before Ranma Saotome destroyed the Gates of Time along with the rest of her planet."  
  
Tenchi frowned at this. "Is it true?"  
  
She nodded gently and looked over at Ranma for a moment. He still had that dumb looking grin on his face.  
  
"Why did you bring her here?" he asked the boy.  
  
"Why? I didn't want to just leave her floating there. This was the first place I could find to dump her off." The pigtailed boy stepped out of his prison, the bars shifting aside for him.   
  
"What the?" muttered Tenchi in shock.   
  
"It wouldn't have been right," continued Ranma almost casually. He turned to look at the prince. "Is Sasami all right? I had an accident when I first came here, and I hope she wasn't injured."  
  
Tenchi stepped back, the Wings of the Light Hawk forming in his grip as he growled at the young boy angrily. "Get back in your cell!"  
  
Ranma smirked and reached out, touching the weapon with his hand gently. "I'm afraid I haven't quite figured out how to control this yet. I was planning on staying in deep space until I did. Finding her sort of put a damper on those plans. I was taking her back to Earth, when I ran into you."  
  
Tenchi fell to his knees, a look of complete horror on his face as Ranma absorbed the energy from his weapon into himself. "I'm not sure if I'm just replacing what I'm using or just absorbing new power. I've been using an awful lot these days."  
  
"What are you?" said Tenchi.  
  
"I am a god, and a demon," he said with a shrug. "I call myself a Mazoku."  
  
"What do you want?" said the Prince as he stood up and backed away.  
  
"I thought it might be nice to visit my daughter. I haven't seen her in over twenty years," he said calmly.  
  
"What?" said Tenchi dumbly.  
  
"Ryoko was not his daughter. She was mine," he said simply as he waved his hand and opened Tsuki's cage.  
  
The girl rushed out to attack him, and he stopped her with one hand, shoving her against the wall. She closed her eyes and waited for a moment. When nothing happened she blinked and looked at him in confusion.  
  
"I'm not going to hurt you. Stop acting like that," he said calmly. "Are we on our way to Jurai?"  
  
Tenchi nodded and cautiously moved towards the door.   
  
"If you're going to run away and get help, I won't stop you," said the pigtailed boy calmly.  
  
"So. You've become a youma!" snarled Tsuki.  
  
"No. I only drain magic energy. For example, if you were still able to activate your senshi powers, I might drain those. From what I've found anyway, I haven't been able to figure out how I can control it yet."  
  
"Bastard!" she snapped.   
  
"Oh stop that! I didn't kill your precious Pluto! I wasn't even around fifteen years ago!" he snapped. "Jeez." He tossed his arms into the air and walked around inside the small garden. He did pause though, when a few small wooden logs appeared in the air around him. "Great."  
  
Ayeka appeared in the doorway with Ryoko beside her. Tenchi stood between them, and a mass of guards moved up behind them.  
  
Ranma sighed and touched the field that surrounded him. "It sure is nice of you to keep feeding me this way, but I really wish you'd stop."  
  
"What?" muttered Ayeka as her energy field failed. "No!"  
  
"I'll get him!" snarled Ryoko as she charged him. Her hair changed into a golden color, and grew longer.   
  
Ranma simply stood there, moving a single arm at an insane rate of speed and blocking her every strike with ease. "Temper. You're getting sloppy daughter."  
  
She gasped and backed away cautiously. "Damn!"  
  
"What are we going to do?" asked Ayeka nervously.   
  
"I don't know!" growled Tenchi.   
  
"He's like some sort of vampire!" snapped Ryoko as she suddenly felt weak and staggered a bit. Her hair changed into a bright red color once again as well.  
  
"That would be a good way to describe my little problem," he agreed. "I'm supposed to be training in how to control it." He sighed as another field of power surrounded him, this one stronger than the last by hundreds of times. "Sasami I suppose."  
  
The guards stepped aside as the teenager appeared in the doorway. "You! You hurt Tsunami!"  
  
"It was an accident," he supplied cautiously. "Look. I'm sure you realize that putting this much energy around me is a bad idea. Could you stop it please? I'd rather not cause another blackout cause you pass out again."  
  
Sasami smirked at him and turned towards Tenchi. "This isn't Ranma."  
  
"Huh?" said everyone in the room in confusion.  
  
The young girl smiled at the boy. "He spoke with Tsunami, before the accident. He's really weird, she thinks so anyway, but he's not evil."  
  
"Huh? I'm part demon! How did she not pick up evil?" he muttered dumbly.  
  
Sasami sighed. "He didn't come to destroy us anyway," she muttered halfheartedly. "He actually seemed quite nice to her."  
  
"Thanks space tree!" he said as he pat one of the walls in the ship affectionately. His fingers tingled slightly for a second and he jerked back. "Oh. Sorry about that."  
  
"Who is he?" asked Ayeka in confusion. "He certainly looks like Ranma."  
  
"And I look like a teenage girl," countered Sasami. "Ryo-Ohki looks like a cute fuzzy little animal."  
  
"I see your point," said the princess as she looked at him.  
  
He was smiling cheerfully at her.   
  
"Who is he then?" asked Ryoko with a distrusting frown on her face.  
  
"I'm not sure," said Sasami. "He's definitely not Ranma though."  
  
"Actually, I am, I'm the real Ranma. That guy was just an imposter!" said the boy happily. "He killed me, and I was dead for about twenty years or so. Then I came back, and killed him, with the help of some friends of course."  
  
"Friends?" asked Tenchi.  
  
"The Senshi!" said the boy. "Them and Akane."  
  
"What are we going to do with him?" asked Ryoko.  
  
"I'm not sure we can do anything," said Sasami calmly. "Our defenses are useless against him, he can just drain anything we throw at him."  
  
"I'm workin on that," he said defensively.  
  
Tsuki just looked confused. "So, what exactly is going on?"  
  
"We'll be on Jurai in about three hours," said Tenchi.  
  
"That might not be such a good idea," said Ranma nervously.  
  
"What?" said Ayeka dumbly.  
  
"Do you remember what happened when I got to close to Tsunami? The whole ship blacked out for a minute or two. Can you imagine what might happen if I landed on a planet full of space trees?"  
  
Everyone looked at one another for a moment. "Um. Right," said Tenchi dumbly. "Well..."  
  
"If you really want to take me there, I'm not gonna argue. To be honest though, I'd rather not." Ranma smiled at them.  
  
"This isn't good," said Ryoko.  
  
"She's right about that," agreed Ayeka.  
  
"Well, we can't just dump him off into space," said Sasami.  
  
Tenchi looked embarrassed, as if he'd actually been considering that option.  
  
Ranma blinked at this. "Oh come on. I've been pretty nice about this. You can't possibly think I'm that bad!"  
  
Everyone looked away from him.  
  
"Right. I'll just go sit in my cell for a while then," he grumbled as he walked back into it and closed the branches behind him.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Where the heck are we?" said Akane as she looked at her companion angrily. "I told you he was in a castle by the shore! I don't even see any water!"  
  
"Oh. Sorry about that," muttered the man nervously. "I suppose I forgot to mention it..."  
  
"Mention what?" she said as she grabbed him by his collar.  
  
"You see, I have this little problem...with directions..."  
  
"What kind of problem?" she said with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.  
  
"I um...get lost real easy...it sort of runs in my family..." he said sheepishly.  
  
"What do you mean?" she said as she picked him up off the ground.  
  
"I um...get lost on the way to the lavatory in my own house," he said quietly, turning beet red.  
  
Akane set him down calmly and turned away. "Oh. You should have said something then..."  
  
"Right. Sorry..." he mumbled.  
  
"About four hours ago!" she snapped as she whirled around and decked him. "You idiot! The fate of the world depends on us!"  
  
"Oh..." he muttered in embarrassment.   
  
"Well, at least we can find out where we are!" she snorted as she saw the familiar columns of smoke a short distance away. It was a sure sign of a human settlement.  
  
"Okay," grumbled Ryoga as he followed her.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"We're where?" said Akane dumbly.  
  
"Okinawa," said the villager.  
  
"We didn't cross any water," said Akane dumbly. She turned and looked at Ryoga in a sort of horrified awe.   
  
"There's water between Tokyo and Okinawa?"  
  
"You mean you didn't know?" gasped Akane as she grabbed him again. "You idiot!"  
  
"Well, at any rate," said the villager. "You want to go to Tokyo, you go that way." He pointed north.  
  
"Right," said Akane flatly.  
  
"Well, shall we be off then?" asked Ryoga cheerfully. He started walking to the south.  
  
"I hate you," said Akane as she pulled him in the right direction.  
  
"Oh. Very well then," he said dejectedly.  
  
A loud noise echoed through the valley, causing everyone to freeze for a moment.  
  
"What was that?" asked Akane nervously.  
  
"Huh? That's just the dragon. Nuthin to worry about. We keep em nice and fed, with those silly witches. He won't bother you none." The man almost seemed cheerful as he said this.  
  
"You feed it witches?" asked Ryoga in horror.  
  
"Yup. Right unnatural they are," said the man flatly.  
  
"Unnatural! Why you crusty old..." said Akane in shock. Ryoga held her back.  
  
"Maybe we should leave, we aren't likely to be very welcome here," said the boy nervously.  
  
"Hamazaki! Who these strangers is?" said a voice from down the road.  
  
"Just travelers, lookin for Tokyo they says," said the old man with a chuckle.  
  
"Stupid! Is wrong island!" said the woman who walked up to them. She was dressed in an elegant looking Chinese dress, and had her long violet hair pulled up into a bun on the back of her head. A fan covered her face, and she wore a good bit of expensive jewelry.  
  
"It's all his fault!" snapped Akane in embarrassment.  
  
"Of course, stupid mans not ask directions to where going," said the woman as she narrowed her eyes at the dumbfounded looking man in front of her.  
  
"Who are you Miss?" asked Ryoga with a polite bow.   
  
The woman closed her fan and smirked at him, not doubting that he was stunned by her beauty. "I is Shampoo!"  
  
"That sounds like an Amazon name," growled Akane with a flash of anger in her eyes.  
  
The woman narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Shampoo not have anything to do with traitorous evil tribe! Woman is right though, Shampoo amazon many years ago."  
  
Akane seemed to relax at this. "Well, we'll just be on our way then."  
  
"Shampoo no think so. Why you come here?"  
  
"We're just travelers," said Akane before Ryoga could speak.  
  
"Yes. Indeed we are!" agreed the man cheerfully.  
  
"Is unusual to find travelers here," said the Chinese woman flatly.  
  
Akane nodded. That wasn't surprising, Okinawa was small, and didn't have very many people on it from what she'd heard. There was no real reason to go there from the mainland anymore really. At least until about a week and a half ago. She paused suddenly and looked at the woman for a moment. "Have you heard the news?"  
  
"News? What news is talking?" asked the Chinese in confusion.  
  
"Ranma Saotome is dead," said Akane with a smirk on her face. "He was killed by a witch, with the help of the Sailor Senshi. Along with all of his soldiers."  
  
Shampoo narrowed her eyes at this. "Is lie."  
  
"It's true," said Ryoga calmly. "I was nearby when it happened. They managed to steal back the Silver Imperium Crystal, and destroyed him."  
  
The woman's face scowled for a moment, but her eyes held a faint hope. "What you say is true?"  
  
The pair nodded.   
  
"Shampoo send someone to find out then," said the woman flatly.  
  
"You're in charge here?" asked Ryoga.  
  
"Is right. Shampoo is leader of all Okinawa."  
  
Akane and Ryoga looked at one another for a moment after that statement. "You're in charge?"  
  
"Yes. Shampoo is strongest fighter on island, so she in charge. Keep bad people in line," said the woman as she crossed her arms and smirked at them.  
  
"What's this about a dragon? Feeding it witches?" said Ryoga in confusion.  
  
"Dragon very bad. Eat villagers food, very few cows left, now even fewer," she said with her head hung low. "Shampoo cannot stop big stupid lizard. She not know what to do."  
  
"And the witches?" asked Akane.  
  
"What is talking?" said Shampoo.  
  
The old man was now nervously edging away.  
  
Ryoga grabbed him and turned him to face the angry looking Shampoo. "Tell her what you told us."  
  
The man swallowed and smiled at her nervously. "We've been feeding the dragon, to keep it away from us."  
  
"Is smart idea," said Shampoo. "Wish Shampoo thought of."  
  
"What have you fed it so far?" asked Akane as she cracked her knuckles.  
  
"Amonkeyahorsetwoyounggirlsaboyandsixchickens," said the old man very quickly.  
  
"Sound's okay to Shampoo," said the Amazon in confusion. It was obvious she hadn't understood a word of it.  
  
"What's that about two young girls and a boy?" snapped Akane as she shook him.  
  
"It wasn't my fault! Some of the counsel of elders decided that they didn't like some of the younger people getting those new powers! No one knows how or why they started! It hasn't been done in a few days, once we started seeing some more animals around! But the dragon just got bigger, and now we don't have enough to feed it. We had no choice!"  
  
"Powers?" muttered Shampoo dumbly.  
  
"Magic," said Akane with a snort. "They're killing anyone who starts to learn magic."  
  
Shampoo frowned at this. "Bad!"  
  
The man whimpered and cowered before her. "I'm just an old man! I didn't have anything to do with it! I'd only heard!"  
  
"And decided to keep quiet, since it was keeping that thing away from your food," said Ryoga with a scowl on his face.  
  
"Right! You understand! It wasn't any of my business!"  
  
Akane tossed him aside roughly. "Well. Are you going to do anything about this?" she asked Shampoo.  
  
"Shampoo, will do something about this right now," said the Chinese woman hotly. "Where is village elder's home?"  
  
"The largest hut in the town just ahead!" cried the old man from where he was lying on the ground.  
  
"Great," said Akane as she started walking away.  
  
"We aren't going to help?" said Ryoga in confusion.  
  
"We've got our own problems. You can go off with her if you want," snorted Akane.  
  
"I suppose you're right," said the lost boy with his head hung low. "Still, they may be able to help us find this place!"   
  
"How? We're on the wrong island. What would they know?" she snorted in reply.  
  
They both paused when they saw a young boy rushing towards them along the road.  
  
"No!!" he whimpered as the sound of the dragon's roar came to them from the distance once again. He stumbled on the ground and fell face first in the dust. "Hitomi!"  
  
Akane and Ryoga blinked and looked at one another. "Hitomi?"  
  
He got up immediately, rushing into them in his rush.  
  
"Hey! Watch where you're going kid!" snapped Akane.  
  
"Oh dear. Why are you in such a rush young man?" asked Ryoga as he halted him. He looked to be about fifteen years old, with short sandy blonde hair and blue eyes.  
  
The boy looked up at them in surprise. As if unsure why he hadn't been able to move them. He quickly shook it off and started to rush away. "I can't talk right now! I have to save Hitomi!"  
  
Akane stopped him dead in his tracks by simply reaching out and grabbing his arm. "Who's Hitomi?"  
  
"Hitomi is...she's my..." stammered the boy lamely. "You've got to let go! They're gonna feed her to the dragon!" he cried in terror.  
  
"Dragon?" said Akane nervously. "Oh no..." The impersonality of the situation had suddenly vanished. "Damn."  
  
"Please! I've got to save her!" cried the boy as he pulled on the woman's arm desperately. He was unable to dislodge her grip though and Akane halted him.   
  
"What can you do against a dragon anyway?" she snapped at him.  
  
He looked away in shame. "I've got to try! I can't just..."  
  
"Look kid. Maybe we can help?" said Akane cheerfully. "Where is this place? You seem to know where you're going."  
  
The boy paused and looked at her. "I don't need your help lady!"  
  
"Well you've got it, now shut up and tell me what you can," she said as she smacked him upside his head.  
  
The boy was thrown across the dust by the force of the strike.  
  
"I think you over did it," commented Ryoga.   
  
"Ya think?" said Akane sheepishly.  
  
"Come my boy, tell us who you are? What is this about feeding a maiden to the dragon?"  
  
The kid frowned at them. "I don't have time for this! They're gonna sacrifice her tonight!"  
  
"When?" asked Akane.  
  
"Only four hours from now!" he cried.  
  
Akane frowned at this. "That does sound like trouble. Shampoo went to stop them though."  
  
"She'll never make it in time!" cried the boy. "The dragon lives by the shore! The villagers taking her there would have already left. I've got to hurry so I can catch them before they get there!"   
  
Akane scowled at this. "Right. We'll get you there with plenty of time! What's your name kid?"  
  
The boy paused and looked at them. "My name is Kasumi. Do you have a horse or something? I'd be so grateful!"  
  
"I've got something better than that!" said Akane cheerfully.  
  
"You do?" asked Ryoga dumbly. He looked around. "I say, Lady Akane, I don't see anything of the sort!"  
  
"Shut up. It's a new spell, I just thought up!" she said cheerfully as she flexed her arm.  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
Akane waved her arm and grinned. "Ray Wing!"  
  
The group was lifted into the air by an unseen force, Ryoga and Kasumi clutching the girl's leg as she flew off. "Which way is this dragon of yours?" asked Akane calmly.  
  
"Towards that mountain! It'll be by the ocean!" said the boy as he pointed at where she needed to move. "They'll be on the road that leads to it. We need to stop them before they get there!"  
  
"That would seem wise," agreed Ryoga.  
  
"Right! Don't worry about a thing! I've got it covered!" said Akane.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Shampoo strolled into the middle of the town hall. The elders were sitting around in a meeting.   
  
"So, on to the next order of business..." said the old man who stood at the head. "Ah! Your highness!"  
  
The woman narrowed her eyes at them all. "Shampoo hear that you is feeding big lizard."  
  
"Yes. That is correct, we are sacrificing a few animals and things to keep it satisfied, and out of our hair," said the man proudly. "It is working out quite well.  
  
"What is feeding?" she asked calmly as she sat down in one of the chairs at the end of the long table where everyone was sitting.  
  
"Ahem. Mostly animals, It's getting easier, with the increased amount of wildlife we've been finding..." The old man smiled at her nervously.  
  
"No young boys? No young girls?" she said with a frown on her face.  
  
"Oh. That," said the man with a grin forming on his face. "You should be quite pleased! We're controlling those freaks that keep showing up. It's rather convenient, a nice way to get rid of them you see."  
  
Shampoo cleared her throat. "Freaks?"  
  
"Yes. Some of the younger children are developing strange and unnatural powers. It's only been a few isolated incidents, and we've managed to keep it contained so far. Relatively easy really. You'd be quite proud."  
  
The rest of the council nodded in agreement. Muttering to each other proudly.  
  
"Shampoo realize you is very stupid, and not council anymore," said the girl flatly.  
  
"Pardon?" said the old man as his face fell.  
  
"Power should be good thing, make children stronger, people stronger. You is stupid old man, Shampoo not stand for it," said the girl with a cold smile forming on her face. "In fact, Shampoo fire you now."  
  
"You can't do that! We were voted into our positions by the majority..."  
  
"Vote or not, Shampoo queen here. She rule all island, and say you fired. If Shampoo say is fired, is fired."  
  
The man stammered. "I will not allow these freaks to taint our bloodline with their filth!"   
  
"Shampoo say watch mouth, is very bad talk about people who is stronger that way."  
  
"Stronger?" snorted the man in disgust. "If they're so much stronger, why aren't we the ones on the way to see that dragon right now?"  
  
Shampoo snarled at him. "Can be arranged." She raised her hand and a white ball of power formed there. "Stupid people, don't even know magic when see it. Sorcerers very valuable, make village stronger. Now, you weak and pathetic. Shampoo...destroy you now old man!"  
  
The man staggered back as his fellow counsel members gasped in shock.   
  
"Flare Arrow!" said Shampoo as she grabbed the ball of light, changing it into an orange arrow shaped light. She tossed it into the old man, and he burst into flames. "Stupid. Shampoo pick new counsel, smarter counsel. All stupid peoples is fired now. Go home."  
  
"Um...but I voted against feeding them to it," said one of the men in the back.  
  
"Oh. Can keep job then, everyone else is fired now," said Shampoo as she walked out of the room.  
  
The man simply sat back down and smiled to himself cheerfully. "See. I told you it was a bad idea."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"No! I thought I had more time!" cried Kasumi as he noticed a small cart below them in the road. It was moving in the other direction, towards the distant town.  
  
"This isn't good," muttered Akane.  
  
"Hitomi!" cried Kasumi in anguish.  
  
"Very dramatic," said Ryoga.  
  
"Will you shut up?" snapped Akane as she shook her leg a little.  
  
They landed where the road ended, and became a small rocky path.  
  
"There!" cried the young boy as he rushed forward. "Hitomi! I'll save you!"  
  
A young girl of about sixteen was chained to a rock about two hundred yards away. She was sitting quietly, as if waiting for something. "Oh. Hi Kasumi!"  
  
"Hi!? You're about to die, and all you can say is hi!?" he cried in shock.  
  
"Naw. I new you'd come to save me!" said the girl cheerfully. She was a little younger than Kasumi, and had her green hair tied back in a ponytail. "Who's this?"  
  
Akane blinked as the girl jerked her thumb back at her.   
  
"Oh...she's um..."  
  
"You pervert! I knew it! You've been sleeping around on me!"  
  
"What?!" screamed Akane. "I'm old enough to be his mother!"  
  
The girl blinked and looked at her again. "Oh. You're right. I guess I should have noticed that. It's so obvious now that I think about it. I'm sorry Kasumi, I know you've got higher standards than this."  
  
The boy sweat nervously, wisely not saying anything.  
  
"What? You little brat! I ought to let that dragon eat you!" snapped Akane.  
  
"It's not my fault you're so old!" said Hitomi in retort.  
  
"I oughta..." growled Akane as she started to roll up her sleeves.   
  
"Akane! She's just a young girl, please!" cried Ryoga.  
  
"That's right! We're both girls, so I can kick her scrawny little ass!" snapped the woman hatefully.  
  
"I suppose mine would be scrawny compared to yours," said Hitomi lazily.  
  
"Hitomi. They came to help me save you, please don't be so mean!" whined Kasumi.  
  
"For you my love!" she said with her eyes growing really big and watery all of a sudden.  
  
"Oh Hitomi!"  
  
"Kasumi!"  
  
"I think I'm gonna be sick," grumbled Akane.  
  
"Akane? Is that you? Imagine meeting you here!" said another familiar voice.  
  
Akane shrieked and turned around, only to find Xellos sitting in a lounge chair with a drink in his hands. He was wearing a pair of shades and relaxing by the ocean.  
  
"What the hell are you doing here?" she cried.  
  
"Me? Oh I thought I'd take a vacation," he said cheerfully.  
  
"Next to a dragon's cave?" asked Ryoga dumbly.  
  
"It adds to the atmosphere," replied the priest calmly as he removed his shades.  
  
"Oh," said the man flatly.   
  
"Well, this is certainly a nice surprise," commented Xellos.  
  
"Right. Surprise my ass! You've been following me!" snapped Akane.  
  
"Now why would I do that?" asked Xellos with his eyebrow arched a little.  
  
"So you can get your hands on that crystal!" said the girl as she pointed at him.  
  
"Well, I'd never thought about that. I guess if I wanted it, finding it would be easiest by following you though," reasoned Xellos out loud. He sipped at his drink and relaxed a bit more.  
  
"Don't worry Hitomi! I'll set you free," said the love struck boy as he put his hands over the chains. They glowed red for a moment, and then snapped away.  
  
"You did it Kasumi!" cried the girl as she threw her arms around the boy.  
  
"Now. I'll just wait for the dragon, and hit it with a fireball!" said the boy proudly.  
  
"Yes! That'll destroy it for sure!" said Hitomi as she hugged him.  
  
"You can cast a fireball?" muttered Akane dumbly.  
  
The boy blinked and looked at her. "Um...yeah..."  
  
"What about you. If they stuck you out here, you must be able to cast something."  
  
"I can, but it doesn't do much besides make a little bit of light," said the girl with a blush on her face.  
  
"Oh," said Akane as she stood up and scratched her head. "Well. I think it would be better if we left the dragon alone."  
  
"What?" said the two teens as they looked at her in shock.  
  
"But, the hero always vanquishes the evil," said the boy.   
  
"Yeah! And then he marries the princess!" said the girl dreamily. "Of course, someone as old as you would never understand that..."  
  
Akane growled reached for her.  
  
"Miss Akane! Really!" exclaimed Ryoga as he stopped her. "You two lovely young people could always skip the vanquishing part."  
  
"I doubt if the dragon will let you," said Xellos calmly as he removed his shades and looked up at the now nonexistent sun. "Do you mind? You're in my light."  
  
A claw crashed down and he jumped away as his lawn chair was smashed.  
  
"Uh-oh," said Akane nervously.  
  
"Freeze Arrow!" cried Ryoga as he shot a blast of ice at the thing. It did little more than make a patch of ice along it's huge neck. It towered overhead for hundreds of feet. At the top was nothing but seven feet of jaws and teeth. It roared angrily and looked down at them.  
  
"How old is this thing?" stammered Akane in shock.  
  
"About two weeks," said Xellos calmly. "He seems quite angry at you for rescuing his dinner."  
  
"It was all her fault!" cried Kasumi as he pointed at Akane.  
  
"Traitor!" snapped the woman as she backed away.  
  
"Fireball!" cried the boy as he blasted at the thing. It exploded on its neck and the thing ignored the flames as it bent down to look at them.  
  
"What are we gonna do?" muttered Ryoga.  
  
"Fly us away!" cried Kasumi as he looked at Akane.  
  
"Actually, that would put us at a rather convenient biting level," pointed out Xellos. He was completely calm, and actually looked like he was enjoying himself.  
  
"So...now what?" muttered Akane.  
  
"I dunno," said Ryoga. "Perhaps fleeing would be our best option?"  
  
"Right," agreed Hitomi as she pulled her boyfriend's arm and hauled him off.  
  
Ryoga ran straight for the dragon for a moment, until Akane snagged him by his ear and cast her flight spell. "This way lost boy!"  
  
  
She stayed low to the ground and sailed through the tree trunks at an amazing rate of speed. Xellos followed right behind her as the thing lumbered towards them, smashing anything in it's way. It cleared out a thirty-yard section of forest in its wake, and beat its wings in frustration as it gave chase.   
  
"What am I gonna do?" muttered Akane as she passed by the two young children and realized that the dragon was going to overtake them soon.  
  
"Well, there is one option you haven't tried yet," commented Xellos.  
  
"What?" gasped Akane.  
  
"They do call it the 'Dragon Slayer' for a reason you know," commented the priest casually.  
  
Akane stopped and looked at him in mid air. The thing was lumbering forward towards them in the background.  
  
Ryoga looked up at her and sighed as he let go of her leg and plummeted to the ground. "I'll take care of these two. You go ahead and do it!"  
  
"Hmmm. How noble of him," said Xellos. "Well. I'm going to run away now, before I get blasted."  
  
"At least he's honest," commented Akane as she watched him fly away.  
  
Ryoga grabbed both of the children as the caught up with him on the road. "We've got to get out of the way!"  
  
"What? Why?" asked Hitomi as she gasped for breath.  
  
Kasumi was panting rather pathetically.  
  
"You'll see," said Ryoga.  
  
"What's that?" said the young boy as he cocked his head. "Chanting?"  
  
"A spell!" cried Hitomi as she realized what she was hearing. She looked overhead and saw Akane floating in mid air. "Wow! She can fly?! That must have taken her years to learn! I'll bet she had plenty of time though..."  
  
Ryoga hung his head and jumped behind a particularly large rock. A half-second later, both teens were peering over the top of it with him.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Akane was just finishing her spell at this point.  
  
"May the fools who stand before me be destroyed, by the power that you and I possess! DRAGON SLAYER!"  
  
The beam of red energy shot from her hands, it blasted across the sky and tore up the ground below as it slammed into the beast's chest and exploded.   
  
On the ground, the children watched, their hair being blown back by the force of the wind created in the spell.   
  
"Whoa!" they cried in unison.  
  
Ryoga merely nodded as the light died down, revealing only a crater.   
  
"Lady Akane!" the pair cried as she landed on the ground. The prostrated themselves before her and groveled pathetically.  
  
"What the?" said Akane as she looked down at them.  
  
"Please! You must teach us!" the both cried at the same time.  
  
"What? You? No way!" snapped Hitomi.  
  
"You've been insulting her since you met her! Why would she teach you?" cried Kasumi.  
  
"Because I'm cuter!" snapped the girl.  
  
"I'll give you my body! Anything! Just teach me!" cried Kasumi.  
  
"You...you...PERVERT!" snapped Hitomi.  
  
Akane smacked her head and stared at them. "What the hell?"  
  
"I'll give you my body!" said the girl as she grabbed her leg. "Anything is worth that spell!"  
  
"Now who's the pervert you traitor!"  
  
"You said it first!"  
  
"Enough!" screamed Akane.  
  
Both of them looked up at her and she pointed down at them. "I'm not teaching anybody anything!"  
  
They both stared at her with their jaws hanging open.  
  
"What kind of pervert do you think I am anyway?! I'm old enough to be your mother!" she continued to berate them and they slink back a little.  
  
"We're sorry, but...you must be a great sorceress!" said Kasumi as he fell to his knees in front of her.  
  
"Not really," she replied calmly. "Look. Just go home. The dragon is dead, I'm sure you'll be fine."  
  
"Won't you come with us?" gasped Hitomi.   
  
"No. Ryoga and I have something to do," said the girl as she frowned at them. "Right?"  
  
The man put his umbrella on his shoulder and smiled. "Right luv."  
  
Akane kicked him. "Quit calling me that."  
  
"Right-o" he replied from under her foot.  
  
The two children looked at her for a moment. "I'll go with you!" they cried together.  
  
Both of them paused and then glared at one another. "No! You're staying here!"  
  
"You're both staying here," said Akane with a small sigh. "I don't have time to baby-sit some kids."  
  
"I'm not a kid," said Kasumi angrily.  
  
"Yeah, you are," replied Akane as she pat him on the head and started walking.   
  
"You can't stop us from following you!" cried Hitomi.  
  
"Ryoga, you lead the way," said Akane.  
  
"Huh? Are you sure?" he asked dumbly.  
  
"Yeah. It'll be a good way to lose them, and we're bound to end up on the mainland sooner or later," she said with a sigh.  
  
"Okay," said the man with a small smirk on his face. "This way!"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Well, they is killing dragon then?" asked Shampoo as she looked at the man who stood next to her.  
  
"Indeed," said Xellos calmly. "I thank you for your assistance."  
  
"Is not problem," said the woman cheerfully. "Shampoo not know you though. It better if you leave."  
  
"I agree actually. I have much else to do," said the priest calmly.  
  
"Why man do this though?"  
  
"It's a secret. I did get rid of the dragon as promised, didn't I?" he asked calmly.  
  
"Yes, help Shampoo uncover stupid counsel too," she agreed with a nod.  
  
"Well, then you needn't worry about why," said the man as he turned away. "I'll send them back to the mainland the same way I brought them here. They won't bother your little kingdom, so don't worry."  
  
Shampoo nodded and sighed. Everything had worked out in the end, and the people were still as dumb as ever. She'd have some trouble whipping them into a new Amazon tribe, but they'd come around sooner or later.  
  
Xellos smirked at her one last time before he left. She didn't realize that he brought the dragon here personally. He'd gotten it from Phibrizzo on Mars. The planet was pumping out monsters at a steady rate, but they couldn't over do it either. He sighed and shook his head. Things had to maintain a balance, it was just the nature of things. Sooner or later, he'd be able to play a little chaos, but for right now, things had to be stabilized first.  
  
"I hope those idiots know what they're doing. The master too for that matter," he said to himself as he vanished into the shadows.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma frowned as he found himself sitting in a courtroom on a satellite that orbited Jurai.  
  
"So, the charges against you have been cleared?" said the judge calmly as he went over the report.  
  
"Cleared? They weren't my charges to begin with," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"You have proof of this?" asked the man.  
  
"Tsunami's word isn't enough?" asked the pigtailed boy flatly.  
  
"Well, the counsel..." started the judge.  
  
"Let me get this straight. The counsel doesn't take the word of it's own Goddess?"  
  
The judge cleared his throat and looked away. "Well, yes but..."  
  
"Then what is the problem?" asked Ranma as he arched his eyebrow at the man. "I'd like to get back to my home system you know. Usagi has a new government to set up. I'd hate to leave her alone to do that. Who knows what that ditzy chick might do."  
  
"Hey!" snapped Tsuki as she jumped up from her seat nearby.  
  
"Sit down!" snapped the judge. "I won't have such outbursts in my court."  
  
"He's getting away with this?" growled Ryoko softly as she clutched Tenchi's arm.  
  
The prince looked at her and smiled sadly. "Ryoko. If Tsunami says he's not him, then he isn't him."  
  
"You trust her that much?" asked Ryoko as she looked at him oddly.  
  
"I wouldn't even be here if not for her," he replied calmly.   
  
The former space pirate nodded at this. "Even if he is the same man, he's obviously changed. You weren't so different from him at one time."  
  
Ryoko gasped and looked hurt. "What? I was...under Kagato's control!"  
  
"It doesn't change the fact that people can change. No matter how bad they become," said Tenchi. "I trust Tsunami's judgement."  
  
"Sometimes more than I do," said Sasami quietly. Ayeka had been sitting silently between her and Tenchi, and gave the girl an odd look.  
  
"At any rate, the Prince seems to support your claim. I shall dismiss the charges," said the Judge as he stood up and sighed.   
  
Ranma nodded and smirked at the gathered people. "Well. I guess I should go home now. Are you coming Tsuki? I'm sure Usagi would be happy to see you again."  
  
"What about the others?" said the woman as she gave him an odd look.  
  
"Survived in their daughters. I'm sure they'd love to hear about their parents," said the boy with a shrug.   
  
Tsuki got a horrified look on her face.  
  
"Oh...oh damn," said Ranma as he watched her turn away. "Damn it."  
  
"How could you do such a thing?" gasped Ayeka.  
  
"I'm just so used to being back. I'd forgotten what it was like at first," he said as he hung his head. He turned towards the women. "She's never liked me much. Would you mind...?"  
  
"Come on Sasami," said Ayeka sharply as she took her younger sister out of the room.  
  
Tenchi merely nodded at him. "I suppose you're expecting us to give you a ride home?"  
  
"You did drag me all the way here. I wasn't planning on going any farther than Pluto on my own," replied the pigtailed boy with a shrug. "Besides. I'm sure you'd like to see your home planet again, up close and personal again."  
  
The prince turned away from him and sighed. "Grandpa would like that as well."  
  
"Well, he's invited too I suppose. It will never fall into Juraian hands again I'm afraid. There's a lot that has changed. Crystal Tokyo is rising, and there's a lot of work to be done yet."  
  
"You are so odd," said Tenchi as he narrowed his eyes at the boy.  
  
"I've been through more horrible things than you could possibly imagine," he replied with a shrug.  
  
"I can imagine quite a bit," said Tenchi calmly.  
  
"Tenchi. I've been to hell and back, you can't imagine what that is like," said the pigtailed boy calmly. "I've changed, some for the better, some not so much. However bad that is, I'm just glad I was able to get rid of that bastard finally."  
  
"Fine. I'll take you back, just leave the ships power supply alone this time," said Tenchi as he looked at the boy for a moment. "Come on."  
  
"Right," said Ranma cheerfully as he followed.  
  
Out in the hallway, Tsuki had calmed down a bit. He gave her an apologetic smile and walked after the prince.  
  
Ayeka rubbed her shoulder and Sasami stepped away from her to watch Ranma. Her gaze gave away no emotion, and it was impossible to say what she was thinking at that moment.  
  
Ryoko scowled from the shadows, not wanting to be bothered for the moment. She watched the two men round the corner, and phased out of the room, and into Ryo-Ohki.   
  
After a moment onboard, Ayeka's face appeared on the screen. "What are you doing Ryoko?"  
  
"I'll follow behind you in Ryo-Ohki. I've got a lot to think about."  
  
"Very well," said Ayeka as she bowed her head slightly in understanding.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: The Return!  
  



	54. Insertion Part 54

Insertion   
  
Part 54  
  
Return to Earth  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Akane sighed as she looked back at the pair of kids who walked behind her. A large sign by the remains of a highway told them where they were, only about five miles outside of Tokyo. "Go home!"  
  
"Never!" said Hikari with a determined grin on her face.  
  
"Right!" agreed Kasumi.  
  
"Fine," muttered Akane dejectedly. "You can just get yourselves killed when we fight that evil sorcerer then."  
  
The pair looked at one another for a moment. "Um...did you just say evil sorcerer?" asked Kasumi.  
  
"That's right," said Ryoga as he walked up from the rear. "We're on our way to fight an evil sorcerer in a castle by the ocean."  
  
"There aren't any castles!" said Hitomi with a snort.  
  
"Apparently he built one," grumbled Akane irritably.  
  
"Yes, he's quite powerful," said Xellos as he walked up beside Ryoga.  
  
"GAH!" cried the two kids as they clutched each other in surprise.   
  
"Don't do that!" snapped Kasumi.  
  
"She's so...old!" said Hitomi as she pointed a shaky finger at Akane.  
  
The woman promptly smacked her upside her head and turned towards Xellos. "What brings you here?"  
  
"Nothing much really. I just thought I'd let you know that I've found that castle," he said casually as he leaned against his staff.  
  
Akane arched her eyebrow at him. "Where is it?"  
  
"It's about twenty miles northeast of here," he said with a small shrug. "I'm sure you can find it from there."  
  
"Why are you helping us?" asked Ryoga as he looked the man up and down for a moment.  
  
Xellos smirked at him. "Now that...is a secret!"  
  
"He's creepy," muttered Kasumi.  
  
"Yeah, but he's been helpful so far," replied Akane with a small shrug. "Come on. I guess we're going northeast."  
  
"Right," grumbled Ryoga.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma watched the stars pass by from the outside of the Tsunami. There was a window inside the room they had given him. He smirked and looked back at the doorway for a moment before walking out into the hall. They were about a week away from Earth at the speed they were going now. "I think I've had enough fun here."  
  
Strolling onto the bridge he looked around and grinned at everyone standing around.   
  
"I'm leaving," he said to Tenchi as the man stood up and blinked.  
  
"Huh?" said the prince in confusion.  
  
"I said I'm leaving. I appreciate the ride and all, but there's something I need to take care of before we arrive on the Earth."  
  
"What are you talking about?" asked Tenchi in confusion.  
  
"I'd tell you, but you wouldn't believe me if I did," said Ranma with a shrug. "Bring Tsuki home for me, I'm sure you'll find it interesting if nothing else."  
  
"What do you mean?" said Tenchi as he started to approach the boy.  
  
Ranma winked at him, and vanished in a flash of light.  
  
Tenchi looked on in shock, unsure of what to say or do. "What the?"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma appeared in space, looking around at the asteroid field around him with a smile on his face. "Well, it's time."  
  
Dan interrupted them. "What the hell is going on? Why did we leave?"  
  
"I've figured out a way we can make everything right again," said Carrot calmly.  
  
Xianfu snorted in disgust. "Killing ourselves is the only thing we need to do to make things right."  
  
"You're wrong about that. Killing ourselves won't fix anything," said Carrot calmly. "We need more power to do it though."  
  
"What the hell are you on about?" snapped Dan irritably.  
  
"Well..." started Ranma. "We can absorb magic power right?"  
  
"Yeah?" asked Dan, not quite catching on.  
  
"We're gonna absorb the time gates," said Carrot.  
  
"This couldn't wait until we finished riding back with Tenchi?" asked Xianfu in confusion.  
  
"I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with this," muttered Pissant.  
  
"I don't want anyone around when we do this," said Carrot as he spread his arms and concentrated.  
  
"But why are we doing this?" asked Xianfu. "Absorbing the energy from Pluto's remains won't give us control over time."  
  
"You're right," agreed Carrot. "It's going to take more than that, but it's a start."  
  
"I don't see a point to any of this," snorted Dan.  
  
"What's that field I feel?" asked Xianfu in confusion.  
  
"We're in the middle of one," said Carrot.  
  
"No, there's another one," said the woman as she turned them towards the sun. "That way?"  
  
"I'm not sure," said Dan. "I don't feel anything."  
  
"You never trained," said Carrot in disgust. "It's probably the link we left to us on Earth. Remember? So Akane could keep using magic?"  
  
Xianfu nodded at this. "I think you're right."  
  
"Well, what do we do now?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Well, there's a huge field of energy here. It should give us quite a boost. After that, we can work on another source of power."  
  
"Why do I get the idea that you've got something in mind already?" asked Dan.  
  
"Heh. You'll see," said Carrot.  
  
"You know something, don't you Ranma?" asked Xianfu.  
  
"Huh?" said the original resident in confusion.  
  
"Never mind," grumbled the woman in disgust. "I don't see why we're doing this, we should be concentrating on destroying ourselves."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, later," grumbled Dan irritably.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Akane sighed as she relaxed in a pool of heated water. They had been walking all day, and stumbled across a nice hot spring in the middle of nowhere. It was late evening, and they would probably arrive at their destination early the next day.  
  
Hitomi sat across from Akane with a small blush on her face as she relaxed as well. Kasumi and Ryoga were setting up the camp a good distance away.  
  
Hitomi was simply looking at the woman quietly.  
  
"What is it?" asked Akane as she noticed the girl's gaze.  
  
"You're...pretty...for someone so old," said the girl quietly.   
  
Akane smirked at her. "Thanks, I think."  
  
"How do you keep a figure like that?" asked Hitomi as she looked the woman up and down. She wore clothes that hid her body from view for the most part. Offering her looser clothes and more freedom of movement.   
  
"I've been a martial artist my whole life," said the woman as she looked the girl over. She was pretty as well. She was a little skinny though, and underdeveloped. That was to be expected in someone as young as her.  
  
"They're bigger than I'd thought they'd be," said Hitomi dumbly. "Why do you hide your body? If I looked like that..."  
  
"I'm too old to be running around that way," replied Akane with a shrug.   
  
"It's not fair! How can someone as old as you look so much better than I do?!" cried Hitomi as she sank into the water up to her nose.  
  
"Right," muttered Akane as she narrowed her eyes at the girl. "I hope you end up fat."  
  
"That was mean!" cried Hitomi.  
  
Akane snorted and turned away, only to see Kasumi standing over her with a cheerful smile on his face.   
  
"Kasumi! Darling!" cried Hitomi as she jumped out of the water and spread her arms wide. "Come on! I want to make out!"  
  
He smiled at her and nodded. "Jeez, just a minute. I've got to get out of these clothes."  
  
Akane was still staring as he finally seemed to notice her. They looked at each other for a moment, both staring in silence.  
  
"Hello Miss Akane!" said the boy cheerfully as he started to remove his shirt.  
  
"AAAAAAUUUUGGGHHHH! Pervert! What the hell do you think you're doing here? You little..." her voice died off, and her eyes went wide as the spell she was preparing died in her hands.  
  
Kasumi was unwrapping the tight bindings that held her breast in place, and kicking off her pants. "What the hell?" said the sorceress as she stared dumbly as the shorthaired blonde girl stepped into the water.  
  
Hitomi jumped into her arms and kissed her full on the lips. Kasumi returned the affection and they both relaxed into each other's arms in the water.  
  
Akane smiled to herself as she watched the display.  
  
"What is it Miss Akane?" asked Kasumi in confusion. "Oh! This isn't bothering you is it?"  
  
"I should have known," said the dark haired woman as she relaxed into the water. "How could I have been so blind?"  
  
"Are you all right Miss Akane?" asked Kasumi in confusion.  
  
"Quit staring at her breasts!" snapped Hitomi.  
  
"You're the one staring!" retorted the blonde. "She's looking at us weird though."  
  
"Do what you want. I'm used to it, although, I'll admit I've not seen it for some time." Akane put a towel over her head and relaxed.  
  
The pair looked at each other and shrugged.  
  
"Just stay on your own side of the pool, and keep you hands to yourselves you little perverts," added Akane without looking up at them.  
  
Both of the girls backed away from her, with disappointed frowns on their faces.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga was poking at the fire, looking off into the distance when they returned. "Back again are you?" he said to all of them.  
  
"That was nice," said Hitomi.  
  
"Very relaxing," agreed Kasumi.  
  
Ryoga noticed that both of their cheeks looked swollen and red, and Akane was angry. She was muttering something about "Repressed desires my ass!" and "Grabby little perverts!" as she passed by him.  
  
"Well, we enjoyed it anyway," said Hitomi cheerfully.  
  
Ryoga blinked and looked up at Akane. "Is something wrong."  
  
"They're as bad as they ever were," snorted Akane in disgust as she sat down and glared at the two teens from the other side of the fire.  
  
Ryoga looked confused. "I beg your pardon?"  
  
"These two idiot girls are senshi," said Akane as she glared at them.  
  
Both of the teens blinked in surprise.  
  
"I'm surprised it took me this long to notice it," said the woman as she frowned at them. "They look just like they did before."  
  
"Senshi?" muttered Ryoga dumbly.  
  
"Neptune and Uranus," said Akane with a short nod. "Cross dresser here caught me by surprise I suppose."  
  
"Hey!" snapped Kasumi.  
  
"Well, it is true," reasoned Hitomi as she looked at her. "We're not senshi though."  
  
Akane chuckled at this. "Yes, you are. You just don't know it yet. I knew your predecessors. Only for a few years, but we were good friends until the very end. Unfortunately, they were also perverts like you, and they tried to seduce me more than once the same way. You're lucky I took it easy on you for old times sake."  
  
The youthful pair swallowed a little at this. After a moment, they looked at one another nervously.  
  
"In any case, we've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow. I'll take you too Usagi after I get the crystal back, and she can deal with you."  
  
"But...we want to learn from you!" said Kasumi with a pleading in her eyes.  
  
"She can teach you to be just as strong," said Akane as she looked at them both.  
  
"Hmmm. Most interesting," commented Xellos as he looked down on the scene from a nearby tree branch. "This could prove quite entertaining." He looked up at the sky and smirked. "Well, it seems he's arrived. Everything should be ready now anyway. Time to sit back, and enjoy."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome stood in the middle of a small village and frowned. "Well, we're here!"  
  
It was late, and relatively quiet as he stood there taking in his surroundings for a moment. "Where is everyone?" he muttered as he glanced around.  
  
"This should be where Usagi and her friends settled," he said to no one in particular.  
  
After a moment, a familiar presence appeared behind him, and he turned to smile at Usagi. "You're getting quite good at hiding your presence and the presence of others."  
  
"It is useful, not so much any longer, but still," said the woman as she looked him up and down. "You have returned?"  
  
"Yes. In about a week, we'll be getting some very important visitors. It would help if you received them when they arrived. They are very powerful allies, and quite friendly."  
  
Usagi nodded her head a little at this. "Who?"  
  
"Jurai. The man coming here is a prince," he said with a smirk.   
  
The other senshi seemed to melt from the shadows. Coming from alleyways and small indentions within the walls.   
  
"I'm sorry to say that he already has two wives," said Ranma cheerfully.   
  
There were several momentary flashes of disappointment on the girl's faces.  
  
"He's bringing a surprise with him as well, an old friend of yours," said the boy as he looked at Usagi for a moment and smiled.  
  
"Who?" she asked in confusion.  
  
"That's a secret! Not much of a surprise if I tell you is it?"  
  
"I suppose not," said the woman as she smiled at him for a moment.  
  
"Pluto is gone," he said with his face falling a bit.  
  
Usagi nodded. "We assumed it."  
  
Ranma arched his eyebrow as Mamoru walked out of one of the homes and frowned at him. Hotaru was beside him, with a scowl on her face.  
  
"So? What's new?" he asked as he looked around.  
  
Hotaru rushed over to him from Mamoru's side, and promptly decked him.  
  
"Ouch! What the hell?" he muttered as he staggered back and clutched his jaw in confusion.  
  
"You bastard! How dare you leave me behind!" she snapped hatefully.  
  
"Wha?" he said as he looked at her with his eyes suddenly growing wide. "Howzat?"  
  
She kicked him in his gut and snorted, turning her back on him and crossing her arms.  
  
"Leave you behind? I was only going to Pluto," he muttered as he staggered to his feet. "It was a boring trip. Besides, I figured you'd rather stay with your friends..."  
  
"Only a man could be so blind," said Usagi with a small sigh.  
  
"Huh?" asked Ranma as he looked at her for a moment. He paused long enough to scratch his head in confusion and then turned to see Hotaru looking at him with tears in her eyes. "Oh man. Now what did I do?"  
  
She grabbed him and buried her head into his chest. "Don't leave me behind again!"  
  
Ranma pat her on the head softly and sighed. "Oh...Um...Oh! OH!" He suddenly seemed to figure out what was going on and looked at Usagi.  
  
The blonde woman was smiling at him gently, a soft blush on her face as she leaned into her husband.  
  
The pigtailed boy put his arm around Hotaru, not sure what to say or do. "Um. I...um...err...This is certainly unexpected..."  
  
A female voice was laughing at them inside their head. "Didn't plan for this did you! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!"  
  
"Yeah. But you aren't gay right? Where does that leave you if we decide to..." said Carrot.  
  
The female voice suddenly stopped laughing.  
  
Ranma got a satisfied looking smirk on his face as he squeezed Hotaru's shoulder a little. Giving her a reassuring wink as he walked over to Usagi. "So. As I was saying. What did I miss?"  
  
"Someone stole the Silver Imperium Crystal," said Usagi.  
  
Ranma turned his gaze around the village, and realized that all of the senshi were standing around him. "Why aren't you looking for it?"  
  
"We are, but wandering off alone against someone with the Silver Imperium Crystal would only get us killed," said Mercury calmly. "That isn't something I want to feel again." She shuddered, and the other senshi looked uncomfortable. Mars was the only one who had no real idea what they had gone through.  
  
"So. You don't know where it is?" he asked them as he narrowed his eyes.  
  
"No, we don't. Without it, we have no hope against Metallia once her seal breaks," said Usagi with a frown on her face. "We believe it is still on the island, but..."  
  
"But you don't know," said Ranma as he frowned at her for a moment.  
  
"Sometimes, I really miss having Rei around," said Usagi wistfully.  
  
Ranma nodded at this and sighed. "Have you tried tracking it? With an energy signature or something?"  
  
"It only emits enough energy to track when it's being used. There's too much other energy floating around right now for us to track it. Unless he uses it, it's invisible to us," said Mercury calmly.  
  
"Hmmm. Well, that would make finding it more difficult wouldn't it?" said Ranma carefully. "What about Akane?"  
  
"She left right after you did," said Usagi calmly.  
  
"Did she?" he muttered with a thoughtful frown. "I'll find her tomorrow. She may know something."  
  
"Right," agreed Usagi.  
  
"Don't worry, I always win in the end," said Ranma as he smirked at her.  
  
"Yes. That is exactly what worries me," said Usagi as she turned away from him and went back into one of the huts.  
  
Ranma blinked at this and looked around, discovering that everyone else had left as well.  
  
Hotaru smiled at him, still hanging from his arm.   
  
"Um...Hi," he said lamely.  
  
She pulled him into one of the nearby buildings, and closed the door behind him.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
The next Morning a little before noon, Akane Tendo stood looking at the castle. It was a Japanese style building that was resting on the side of a cliff face on a large mountain. It towered over them, looking dark and foreboding.  
  
"Wow!" said Kasumi as he stared up at it. "We have to go in there?"  
  
Akane nodded and looked around for a moment. "I don't want to just fly up and say hello. We need to think of a plan."  
  
Xellos stood beside Ryoga a short distance away, a small frown on his face as he stared up at the building. "So...this is Gaav's keep is it?"  
  
"Pardon?" said Ryoga dumbly as he turned to look at the man.  
  
Xellos looked at the group and smirked. "Oops."  
  
"You do know something!" snapped Akane as she grabbed him by his collar.   
  
"I didn't think you'd really find it!" said the priest calmly. "There wasn't any reason to tell you about it."  
  
"Tell us about what?" said Akane as she shook him roughly.  
  
"Gaav is more than a sorceress, Miss Akane," said the priest as he looked at her with complete seriousness. "He's a Mazoku."  
  
"A what?" said the children as they looked at one another.  
  
"So...he's some sort of monster?" asked Akane with a sudden calm overtaking her.  
  
"Indeed," said Xellos as he nodded at her. "I'm afraid that it won't be an easy battle if you want to fight him."  
  
"I don't want too. I have too," she said firmly as she looked up at the castle.  
  
"You can take him, Miss Akane!" said Kasumi while puffing her chest out a bit.  
  
"Yeah," said the woman as she narrowed her eyes and looked up at the building.  
  
"Don't think that you're stronger than him," warned Xellos. "He's dangerous, and very powerful."  
  
"What has this got to do with you?" asked Akane in confusion. "Who are you? How do you know about this?"  
  
Xellos smirked at her and hopped out of her reach. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that. My mission here doesn't involve him, or that Crystal. I can't help you if you decide to face him."  
  
"Right," grumbled Akane irritably. She seemed to accept that though.  
  
Ryoga frowned and narrowed his eyes at the priest. "You're like him aren't you? One of those Mazoku chaps."  
  
Xellos looked at him for a moment and frowned.   
  
"That would explain a lot," said Akane as she frowned at him. "But not everything. Like why you're helping me."  
  
"I didn't expect you to figure that out so soon," said the priest calmly. "Yes, it's true. I am indeed a Mazoku, and it's true that I have my own reasons for helping you. Gaav isn't working on the same mission as myself though. I can't really interfere with him either."  
  
"You're not human?" muttered Hitomi in shock.  
  
"You've got some weird friends," said Kasumi as she looked at the woman for a moment and shrugged.  
  
"I wouldn't call him a friend," said Akane as she narrowed her eyes at the Mazoku for a moment.  
  
"You wound me," said Xellos playfully. "In any case, I imagine you'll find this to be quite exciting, that is...if you manage to survive. I wouldn't count on it though. Gaav is very powerful, and he controls many of the monsters in this area."  
  
"So I was right," said Akane as she looked up at the castle again.  
  
"Not entirely," said Xellos calmly. "The Silver Imperium Crystal doesn't have anything to do with these monsters. It was just the easiest way to make sure we weren't discovered too soon. Releasing all that magic, and creating the monsters that is."  
  
"It was a sort of cover?" asked Akane. "I thought my power came from Ranma!"  
  
"Ranma?" said Xellos with a chuckle. "Do you really think he's strong enough for that?"  
  
"I guess not," muttered Akane.  
  
"Not on his own at any rate. Things are about to become dangerous here. The monsters helped keep beings as powerful as ourselves hidden from prying eyes, such as those meddlesome senshi powers."  
  
"Just stay out of my way," said Akane as she started walking. Ryoga and the others nodded and started walking towards the palace.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome lay between the sheets inside the darkened room and stared at the ceiling. It was early morning, and she was pressed up against his skin with a light smile on her face.  
  
He still looked completely surprised.  
  
"Well, that was unexpected," commented Carrot.  
  
"..." said Xianfu.  
  
"You guys...I didn't really mind it this time," said Ranma softly. He reached down and stroked the woman's hair for a moment. She shifted in her sleep, murmuring pleasantly.  
  
"..." said Xianfu.  
  
"Well, we could have done much worse," agreed Dan.  
  
"..." said Xianfu.  
  
Pissant was silent, but that wasn't much of a surprise. He thought it best not to comment on the events of the previous night. He did add a bit to their somewhat stupefied looking grin though.  
  
"..." said Xianfu.  
  
"We need to leave," said Carrot suddenly.  
  
"Huh?" said everyone but Ranma.  
  
"Something is wrong. We have to go now," insisted Carrot.   
  
"What?" snorted Dan.  
  
"No time to explain. Come on!" said Ranma impatiently.  
  
"What's going on?" asked Pissant lazily.  
  
"We'll come back in a few hours. I promise, this is important," said Carrot firmly.  
  
"Right," agreed Dan reluctantly.  
  
The others followed his example, and they vanished from the sheets in a flash.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Gaav sat in his throne, merely waiting in silence. He arched his eyebrow as the doors to his chamber opened, revealing four weary looking travelers. The room was empty, and a rainstorm had started outside. Occasionally, a bolt of lightning would strike outside. The room was dark, lit only by two torches on either side of his throne.  
  
"What were you expecting? Hordes of monsters and traps? Perhaps a clever maze or two?" he said with a chuckle.  
  
"Kinda, yeah," said Akane as she looked at him coolly.  
  
"I've only had a two weeks to build this place," he said with a small shrug. "Not much time to add personal touches like that. Besides, it wasn't meant to keep you out." He stood up and strolled down to them calmly.   
  
Akane and her friends parted, moving around them. With a wave of his palm, a mirror appeared in front of him.   
  
"What is this?" asked Ryoga.  
  
"I have something to show you," said the red haired Mazoku as he calmly stood in front of the mirror and frowned.  
  
"What is this?" asked Akane in confusion as an image formed in the mirror.  
  
"Crystal Tokyo, had I not interfered," said the Mazoku calmly. "As you can see, it is a paradise. No crime, nothing. Evil is almost nonexistent."  
  
"How is this a bad thing?" asked Akane with her arms crossed over her chest.  
  
"Seems okay to me," agreed Kasumi.  
  
"Child. When you learn to grasp your power more, you come to an understanding. A balance must be maintained. Evil and good must co-exist. It is the way of the Universe. To disrupt that, would only bring calamity. This paradise may exist for thousands of years before it falls, but eventually, it will fall. What will follow could mean the end of this planet. Or merely become its darkest hour. The pendulum must swing both ways. It is far better for all involved if it only swings a short distance."  
  
Akane scowled at him as he said this. "So, as wonderful as this place would be, in the long run, it would be a bad thing?"  
  
"That is correct, but you are missing another point. Look at the faces of those people very closely, and tell me what it is that you see?"  
  
Akane cautiously moved up to the mirror and frowned as she looked at them. "Happy people."  
  
"Closer! Do you see anything at all unusual?" he insisted. "How many happy faces do you see? Nothing but a pure euphoric society?"  
  
Akane gasped and stepped back. "You're right! Not one of them looks like he had a bad day! They don't look worried or...anything."  
  
"You begin to understand. Crystal Tokyo is the result of a foolish wish for a perfect world in the eyes of a heart who wishes for only good."  
  
"The road to hell, is paved with good intentions," said Ryoga quietly.  
  
The two children looked up at him as he said this in confusion.  
  
"How can this be bad?" asked Hitomi as she boldly walked up to him.  
  
"These people, have no free will," said Gaav calmly. "They literally cannot perform an evil act. However, there are those who are immune to this effect."  
  
Akane looked at him again. "Sorcerers."  
  
"Yes. You are perceptive," agreed Gaav. "Those like you and your friends are considered a danger to the tranquility of this perfect world. You are banished, to Nemesis. The tenth and most hostile planet in the galaxy."  
  
"This can't be true. Usagi would never!" snarled Akane.  
  
"Yes. She would never put the needs of her people ahead of her personal feelings towards you," said the thing coldly.  
  
Akane gasped and covered her mouth, realizing he was right.   
  
"In order to prevent this from happening, I stole the Silver Imperium Crystal from her; and with it, the power to do this away from her."  
  
Ryoga snorted in disgust. "So. What are you going to do with it now?"  
  
"I'm going to raise Metallia of course," said Gaav calmly.   
  
"Well, you had me until you said that," growled Akane as she stepped back.  
  
"You wouldn't understand. It is to bring balance," said Gaav coldly.  
  
"Fireball!" screamed Akane as she attacked him.  
  
He chuckled as he swatted the spell aside. "Pathetic."  
  
Hitomi growled and stepped forward. "You leave Lady Akane alone!"  
  
"Or you'll what?" snapped the Mazoku as he hefted the broadsword that was resting on his hip over his shoulder and unsheathed it.  
  
The girl backed away in horror.   
  
"No! Kasumi! Flare Arrow!" cried Kasumi as she rushed in front of her lover and fired the spell.  
  
Gaav grunted as the power exploded in his chest, sending him back a little.  
  
"Little brat!" he snarled as he swat him aside with the flat of his blade. "I should destroy you for that!"  
  
"He was hurt!" gasped Akane. "Flare...!"  
  
"Arrow!" replied Gaav as he responded with the same spell before she could finish and forced her to abandon it and jump away.   
  
  
"You hurt Kasumi!" screamed Hitomi in rage. "You monster! How dare you hurt my Kasumi!"  
  
Gaav frowned and turned to see the girl raising her hands over her head. "Oh shit."  
  
"Ra-tilt!" screamed the girl as a pillar of light erupted from under the Mazoku's feet.   
  
Gaav screamed in pain, and fell to his knees. The light cleared, revealing him clutching his face and breathing heavily in anger. "You little twerp! I'll destroy you!"  
  
Akane grunted as she rolled by them, pulling them down with her as the man jumped into the air and threw a ball of flames at them.   
  
Ryoga jumped up behind him and put his palm up against his back. "Got ya! Freeze Arrow!"  
  
Gaav was thrown to the ground with a sheet of ice covering his back. He snarled and raised his palm, blasting Ryoga through the wall. "Damn you! Annoying gnats!"  
  
Akane stood up from where she had fallen with the two girls and scowled as she watched him jump out into the rain. A lightning bolt struck one of the trees in the forest that surrounded the palace, and it burst into flames. She gasped and her eyes went wide with horror. "That vision! No!"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Gaav held the crystal over his head, his broadsword in his grasp as he stood over the fallen Ryoga. "Are you ready now human? I'll release Metallia onto this world!" The light within the shard began to glow stronger and he laughed as the sky overhead became darker. The rain stopped suddenly, and the fire spread across the forest at an alarming rate.   
  
"No!" cried Ryoga as he rolled onto his back and realized what was happening. He struggled to rise, but Gaav shoved him back down with his boot.  
  
Akane appeared in front of them, with the two children at her side. She looked up at the sky, and the face that had began to form within the clouds overhead. "No!"  
  
"Master! Come now! It is time!" cried Gaav in triumph.  
  
Akane gasped at what happened next.  
  
"You idiots!" snapped Ranma as he appeared next to them. "I told you to be careful with them! What do you think you're doing too Ryoga?"  
  
Gaav blinked and looked down at the man for a moment before sheepishly apologizing. "Sorry. I guess I got carried away."  
  
"Is that her?" asked Ranma calmly.  
  
"Yes, Master," said Gaav.  
  
"Xellos, get out here!" cried Ranma as he glanced around.  
  
The priest appeared in front of him, and earned himself a smack on the back of his head. "What the hell is Akane doing here?"  
  
"What?" said the Mazoku dumbly.  
  
"I told you..."  
  
"To help her develop her powers, and I did," replied the Mazoku calmly.   
  
"I also told you to keep an eye on her," snorted Ranma.  
  
"You didn't tell me to stop her if she did do something stupid," he replied calmly. "I gave her tasks that helped her learn about her power more."  
  
"Ranma!?" cried Akane in shock.  
  
"Oh. Hi Akane," said the pigtailed boy calmly as he glanced back at her.   
  
"Hi Akane? HI AKANE?! What the hell are you doing?" she screamed.  
  
"Raising Metallia," he said with a shrug.  
  
"You got the Crystal?" he asked Gaav.  
  
"Yes, Master," said the Mazoku.  
  
"You guys can stop now. Change back," said Ranma irritably. "And quit calling me 'Master' you know it bugs me."  
  
Gaav smirked and nodded his head. "Yes, Master."  
  
"Right," said Xellos as his form changed into Jadeite.   
  
Nephrite snorted as the guise of Gaav melted away.  
  
"You two?" screamed Akane as she almost passed out.  
  
"What the hell is going on?" muttered Ryoga.  
  
"I dunno, but everyone knows each other," said Hitomi.  
  
Kasumi nodded at this and sighed. "I'm just gonna sit down and wait for this to end."  
  
"What the hell are Haruka and Michiri doing here?" said Ranma as he looked at Jadeite.   
  
"You said to get them back to the Senshi," replied Jadeite calmly. "I was gonna have her do it, but she stumbled across this place before I could trick her into going back."  
  
"Where are Kunzite and Zocite?" asked the pigtailed boy.  
  
"Well, Zocite is on Mars, making monsters..." said Jadeite with a shrug.  
  
"Kunzite is on the moon," said Nephrite.  
  
"Doing what?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Mostly whining about being away from his boyfriend," snorted Jadeite. "Oh, and he's helping transport those transformed Amazons here."  
  
"Right," muttered Ranma with a small sigh.  
  
"Um. I hate to break this up, but you just woke up a giant monster, with the power to destroy all life in the galaxy..." said Ryoga as he raised his finger and interrupted.   
  
"Huh? Oh, that..." said Ranma as he waved the comment off.   
  
"Do something!" screamed Akane as she shoved Ryoga aside and grabbed him by his collar.  
  
"Oh all right," said Ranma as he floated into the sky.  
  
Akane turned towards Jadeite and blinked. She then looked at Nephrite as well. "You...is it you? Really you?" she muttered in confusion.  
  
"Neat huh?" said Jadeite cheerfully.  
  
She rushed into his arms, grabbing Nephrite as well. "You're alive! I thought he'd killed you!"  
  
"He did," said Jadeite with a smirk on his face. "Our old friend, brought us back."  
  
"When?" gasped Akane.   
  
"About two weeks ago, right before he left the planet," said Jadeite calmly.   
  
"Why wasn't I told?" asked the girl as she shoved them back angrily.  
  
"Plausible deniability," said Jadeite with a small shrug. "Plus, it was too dangerous. You didn't trust him anymore, where as we knew it wasn't really him after he resurrected us."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma was trying his best to ignore the screaming of his companions with Carrot. "Man, they sure are noisy," commented Carrot.  
  
"Tell me about it," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"So, now what?" asked Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"You idiots! What the hell is going on?" cried Xianfu.  
  
"Why don't we know about any of this?" growled Dan. "What the hell are you planning?"  
  
"You woke up Metallia? Are you that stupid?" cried Pissant.  
  
"We didn't tell you, because we knew you wouldn't think it would work," said Carrot calmly as they moved towards the growing darkness in the sky.  
  
"When did you do this? How did you do this?" cried Dan in shock.  
  
"Easy, remember how much me and Ranma have been sleeping over the past week or so?" asked Carrot calmly.  
  
"Wait a minute! You mean..."  
  
"We weren't sleeping, we were doing this," said Ranma with a short nod of agreement.  
  
"You mean you've been planning this the whole time?" gasped Xianfu.  
  
"Not until we were on our way back from Pluto, we didn't decide on doing it for sure until that incident on Tsunami. Well, at least not the part about raising Metallia anyway," said Carrot. "Ranma and I discovered that we can sort of detach ourselves from you in a way. We aren't separated completely, but we can talk to each other and do things without you idiots bothering us."  
  
"That's..." Xianfu blinked. "It means we can be separated! We have to die now!"  
  
"After we save the world, maybe," grumbled Carrot.  
  
"Really!?" said Xianfu happily.  
  
"No. He was just saying that to shut you up," said Ranma.  
  
"Assholes!" snarled the woman hatefully.  
  
"What are we going to do about this?" asked Dan.   
  
"You'll see," said Carrot with a smirk on his face.  
  
"When did you resurrect the Generals?" said Dan in irritation. "How did you do it?"  
  
"Easy, we didn't resurrect them so much as we remade them," replied Carrot.  
  
"Huh?" said Xianfu in confusion.  
  
"We used their souls, and created them as a sort of...amplifier for our power. They could keep things running here, while we went off to look for more energy," said Carrot. He stopped talking suddenly and smirked. "We're here. Get ready!"  
  
"Wait! You mean, all that power we've been using lately...was you!" gasped Xianfu in shock.  
  
"She does catch on quick doesn't she Ranma?" asked Carrot.  
  
"No time for this right now!" snarled Dan. "We're going to talk about this later Carrot!"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
A booming voice surrounded them. "Who are you, pathetic being?"  
  
"Ranma Saotome, I've come to beat you up," said the boy as he stared at the darkness. A face formed in the clouds, grinning at him evilly.  
  
"Really? How do you plan on doing this?" said the creature coldly. "You are a pathetic worm, not even worthy of my time! I am pure energy! You cannot defeat me! Feel how powerless you truly are!"  
  
The pigtailed boy nodded his head coldly and stared her dead in the eyes. "Roger that." He blasted into the darkness headlong.  
  
"What?!" cried Metallia in shock. She hadn't been expecting that. "Fool! I'll destroy you and your entire...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Below them, Akane looked on in horror as the face in the sky distorted and vanished, the horrible screaming continued though. She gasped and looked away.  
  
The two teens watched in a sort of horrified awe as the scene played out in front of them. The horrible screams went on for almost ten minutes, steadily growing weaker and weaker.   
  
"What's happening?" asked Ryoga in horror as he watched.  
  
"Ranma...he's...eating her?" said Jadeite in shocked disgust.  
  
Nephrite simply shook his head and could not take his eyes off of the sky.   
  
Finally, it ended. There was only silence.  
  
"What just happened?" asked Akane as she looked at the two men for a moment.  
  
"I'm not sure," muttered Jadeite dumbly.  
  
Kasumi screamed in terror and shoved Akane and Hikari back behind her. She was pointing at something just below them on the mountain.  
  
A dark figure, clad in nothing but shadows was lumbering forward. Reaching for them. The eyes glowed as it staggered forward and groaned painfully. "The crystal! Nephrite, quickly! I can't hold her for long!" it said in a hissing tone.  
  
"Ranma?!" said the man in horror as he looked at the crystal in his palm and dropped it to the ground.  
  
The thing dove for it, taking it into its grasp.  
  
Akane screamed, and tried for the crystal as well, but she was shoved aside easily.   
  
A white light enveloped the thing, seeming to flow across it's body and rather than push the shadows away, it combined with them. It chuckled and stood upright. "It's over." It tossed the crystal to Akane and stared at her for a moment.  
  
"What are you?" asked the girl in horror.  
  
"You don't recognize your old friend Akane?" said the thing as the light and darkness melted away. "You don't recognize me?" Ranma smiled at her gently as the last of the power faded from around his body.  
  
Jadeite staggered back, a look of shock on his face. "What? What just happened?"  
  
"I just got what I needed," said Ranma calmly.   
  
"You killed her?" asked Akane as she looked at him in awe.  
  
"Basically," he replied with a small shrug. "I had to find a source of power to counterbalance the negative energy I knew I'd absorb by doing that. So I had Nephrite steal the Crystal from Usagi."  
  
"I suppose you'll give it back now?" asked Akane as she looked at it and turned it over in her hand a few times.  
  
"Do what you want with it, it's not much more than a paperweight now," he replied as he shrugged at her.  
  
"What?" gasped Akane.  
  
"I drained it dry, nothing but a pretty rock now," said the boy calmly.  
  
Akane looked slightly uncomfortable with this.   
  
"I'd never allow Crystal Tokyo to come to be as it was in Pluto's vision. Nothing Nephrite told you in there was a lie," said Ranma calmly. "She's trying to do good, but she's just doesn't have what it takes to understand what doing too much good can do."  
  
Akane nodded at this.  
  
"That's why I want you to go back with her," continued the boy calmly as he smirked at them all.  
  
"Wait. What's going on?" asked Hitomi as she walked up to the stranger. "Who are you? How do you know Miss Akane?"  
  
"Well Hitomi, to put it simply, I'm god," he said gently.   
  
"That's pushing it," said Akane.  
  
"Is it? I wonder..." asked Ranma as he smirked at her for a moment.  
  
"Man, what an ego," snorted Kasumi.  
  
"Well, what has this to do with Crystal Tokyo?" asked Ryoga as he frowned at Ranma for a moment.  
  
"Simple really. I resurrected my old friends here to help me, but it wasn't exactly a resurrection. I didn't know how to just bring them back to life, so I had to recreate them from a little piece of myself."  
  
"What?" said Akane dumbly.  
  
"Think of it this way. I gave birth to them, by giving their souls magic bodies. They aren't flesh and blood like before."  
  
Akane shoved her hand into Jadeite's chest. It was solid.  
  
"I'm afraid we're quite real Akane," said the Mazoku calmly. "We just aren't human anymore."  
  
"Oh," said the girl as she looked at him for a moment uncomfortably. "So...now what?"  
  
"Now, we go home, and enjoy a well deserved rest. I've got to get back soon anyway. Hotaru is going to kill me for leaving her behind again."  
  
"You should have brought her," said Nephrite with a slight smirk on his face.  
  
"Too dangerous," replied Ranma with a scowl on his face.  
  
"So, you're like...these guys dad?" asked Kasumi as she moved up beside the pigtailed boy.  
  
"Actually, it'd be closer to say I'm their mother," he replied calmly.  
  
"But you're a guy," said the girl in disgust.  
  
"I'm whatever I want to be," replied Ranma as he shifted into his familiar female form.  
  
Hitomi gasped and almost passed out. Kasumi merely grinned. "Hey! That's cool!"  
  
"Yeah. Isn't it?" asked the redhead cheerfully.  
  
"Can we just go?" grumbled Akane irritably.  
  
"You're right, it's time for the old people to take a nap, they're getting cranky," said Hitomi as she seemed to recover a bit.  
  
"I'm putting you in place as Usagi's advisor," said Ranma as he stepped up beside Akane.  
  
"Me?" she asked him dumbly. "I don't know if you have any say in that..."  
  
Ranma snorted at this. "She's the one who doesn't have any say in this. I'm in charge now."  
  
"What?" said the woman as she looked at him in a sort of horrified shock.  
  
"You don't seem to realize just what I am Akane," he said as he smirked at her. "I'm a god, and a demon, and Usagi doesn't have the crystal any longer. The senshi's powers were derived from that crystal, using the planets as a sort of focal point. Without it, there is no Sailor Moon, or Mars, or Mercury...that is, unless I say there is." His grin widened and he pat her on the shoulder. "I am saying there is too, but I'm also making sure that she doesn't mess with my world."  
  
Akane shifted away from him a bit and looked down at the ground. "I guess we should go back."  
  
He frowned, and nodded. "I guess so."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"How the hell did you manage this without us knowing about it?" asked Xianfu inside Ranma's head.  
  
"You did know about it, but you ignored it," replied Carrot. "We were feeling weaker than we should have. Ranma and I were gone all the time, you even felt the energy field these four give off while we were on Pluto."  
  
"Carrot. This is beyond weird," said Dan. "I'm not even sure I want to know how you learned to do this."  
  
"It's instinct for Gods and Demons to create minions," replied Carrot. "Gods have angels, demons have lesser demons. I just applied that to four souls that we already knew."  
  
"Well, this is nice and all, but we're back now," said Xianfu.  
  
"Where the hell have you been?" snapped Hotaru.  
  
"Um...I went to get Akane," said the pigtailed boy as he jerked his thumb back at the dumbfounded woman.  
  
"Is something going on here?" asked Akane as she looked at him for a moment.  
  
"Yeah. Kinda..." said Ranma sheepishly.  
  
"Wow," said Kasumi as she stared at him for a moment. The man who had just eaten the source of all evil Youma, was acting nervous with this woman.  
  
"I'm sure you'll tell me about it later," said Akane with a smirk on her face as she watched Ranma being dragged away by his ear.  
  
"How dare you just leave me that way! I was worried sick!" said Hotaru with a slightly hurt look on her face.   
  
"I'm sorry! It was important! I came right back!" he whined.  
  
"Man, he's whipped worse than this guy!" exclaimed Hitomi as she pointed at Ryoga.  
  
"I beg your pardon?" exclaimed the man with a blush forming on his face.  
  
Akane sighed and smacked her in the back of her head. "Come on. We've got to go meet with Usagi."  
  
Both teens allowed themselves to be dragged away.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Wrap up! A whole new world begins!  



	55. Insertion Part 55

Insertion  
  
Part 55  
  
Ranma, Lord of Chaos  
  
++++++++++  
  
It was the beginning of Crystal Tokyo, Ranma Saotome stood looking at the small village that would one day become the greatest society in history. "Well, I guess so anyway," he muttered with a small frown on his face as he walked among the people with Hotaru at his side.  
  
"What are you going to do now?" asked Hotaru as she hooked her arm into his and smiled at him.  
  
"I dunno. I've still got some things to do," he replied with a shrug.   
  
"Didn't you..." said the woman as she looked at him.  
  
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave for a little while again. A few days at most, and I'm afraid I can't take you with me where I'm going," he said as he smiled at her gently.  
  
"What?" she gasped.  
  
"I've got some loose ends to tie up," he replied calmly. "It's nothing you can help me with really. I've got to go talk with a few people I know, and take care of a few things. I think I'll put it off for now, at least until Tenchi arrives."  
  
She scowled at him for a moment. "Why can't I come?"  
  
"Because, I'm going to visit some people in places where you can't go," he replied.  
  
"Where can't I go?" she snapped as she started to squeeze his arm a little.  
  
"Well, Hell for starters. I've got some things to work out there, then I've got to drop by heaven..."  
  
"You've got to be kidding me!" she cried as she relaxed a bit.  
  
"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I promise I'll come back. I've just got to work this out is all. It's not that big a deal..."  
  
Hotaru nodded her head slowly and sighed. "I suppose I can accept that...on one condition."  
  
This caused the pigtailed boy to blink. "Huh?"  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Usagi blinked as she looked at the stern look Hotaru was giving her. Akane and the two girls she had brought with her were standing right behind the woman and the frightened looking boy on her arm. "What?"  
  
"You heard me," said Hotaru calmly.  
  
"Right now?" said Usagi dumbly.  
  
Hotaru nodded and pulled Ranma back to her side. He had been trying to sneak away.  
  
"I suppose I could...but..." stammered the woman as she looked at him for a moment. "Are you sure?"  
  
Hotaru nodded again.  
  
"Okay," said the Queen with a shrug of her shoulders.  
  
"Oh man," grumbled Ranma fearfully.  
  
"Shut up, and do it," snapped Hotaru.  
  
"Yes dear," he muttered.  
  
Usagi sighed. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to witness the union of Ranma Saotome and..."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Akane sighed as Ranma and Hotaru finished saying their vows.  
  
Kasumi and Hitomi sighed wistfully and clung to one another. "That was so beautiful!" cried Hitomi.  
  
"Poor guy," said Kasumi as she looked at Ranma.  
  
"Akane, you wished to speak with me?" asked the flustered looking Usagi as she turned towards the woman.  
  
"Yes...it's about these two..." said the woman as she waved her hand at the two girls standing behind her. "Um..."  
  
"They don't want to get married do they?" said the Queen as she looked at them for a moment. "I mean..."  
  
"No. Well, probably, but..." Akane shook her head. "Never mind. I think you need to know about this."  
  
"Huh?" said the Queen as she stared at the girls for a moment. "Why Akane! These two...they look just like..."  
  
"Haruka and Michiri," confirmed the woman with a smirk on her face.  
  
"Who are these two people you keep talking about?" asked Kasumi with a confused frown.  
  
Hitomi blinked and looked at the blonde woman in confusion as well. "I don't understand."  
  
Usagi gasped as she fell to her knees in front of them. "It's uncanny!"  
  
"It's no coincidence," said Ranma as he stepped up to them with his new wife on his arm. "Usagi, I'd like you to meet Kasumi and Hitomi; or should I say, Uranus and Neptune?"  
  
The woman looked up at him in confusion. "What?"  
  
"They were reborn shortly after your friends died," supplied the boy calmly. Hotaru was smiling cheerfully as she clung to his arm.   
  
"Could you let go please? I've got to at least pretend to be serious for a minute," he said as he looked at her for a moment.   
  
She snorted, but complied, moving off to the side for a moment.  
  
"And Akane is your new advisor," he said as he pointed at the woman.  
  
"What?!" cried Usagi in shock. "I have no problem with Akane becoming my advisor, but who are you to tell me..."  
  
"Transform please," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"Pardon?" she said as she looked at him dumbly.  
  
"Transform into Sailor Moon," he said as he crossed his arms and smirked at her.  
  
She stepped back with a confused look on her face. "Why?"  
  
"Just do it, and you'll understand," he replied.  
  
Akane growled at him and turned her head away.  
  
"Moon Prism Power Makeup!" cried the Queen as she held her Transformation Pen over her head.   
  
Nothing happened.  
  
"What?" she gasped in shock.  
  
Ranma looked at her with a knowing grin on his face. "Now try again."  
  
"What happened?" she muttered as she looked at it.   
  
"Try again, and I'll explain everything," he supplied calmly.  
  
She nodded slowly and held the pen over her head. "Moon Prism Power Makeup!" she cried. The transformation flowed over her body as it always had before. She gasped as she looked down and saw that it had worked. "What?"  
  
"Here," said Ranma as he put something into her palm.  
  
"What is...this is the Silver Imperium Crystal!"  
  
"Correction. It was the Silver Imperium Crystal," he supplied calmly.  
  
Usagi looked at him and narrowed her eyes.  
  
"It's just a rock now," he told her.  
  
"What do you mean?" she snapped.  
  
"I mean, I took the power away from it," he said calmly as he looked at his fingernails. "To put it bluntly, it's impossible for you to become Sailor Moon, unless I allow it."  
  
There was a collective gasp from all that had gathered around.   
  
"Crystal Tokyo will exist, but not because you wish for a perfect world," he said calmly. "You'll have to build it on your own, and Akane is going to keep you from making too many mistakes."  
  
"Mistakes?" gasped Usagi.  
  
"That's right, mistakes like banishing the sorcerers to Nemesis, creating one of the most dangerous enemies of Crystal Tokyo. Mistakes like brainwashing the world, so that it conforms to your vision, no matter how unwittingly you'd do it."  
  
"How dare you!?" cried Usagi in shock.  
  
"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" he asked her calmly.  
  
She backed away from him slowly.   
  
"Usagi! Is something wrong?" cried Mamoru as he rushed over to the commotion.  
  
"Ranma?" muttered Akane as she looked at him.  
  
"I am the Golden Sea of Chaos, I am L-sama. Lord of the Mazoku, and one of the most powerful Gods in the Universe. If not the most powerful."  
  
"What?" stammered Mamoru dumbly as he looked at him. "God?"  
  
"That's right," confirmed the boy calmly as he looked at him and smirked. "I'm not here to conquer your planet, or make slaves out of you. I'm here to put things back on track, and make sure you don't screw up. After the Jurians leave, I'll probably pretty much leave you alone, unless you start screwing things up too badly. After all, I'd like to live peacefully with my wife."  
  
Akane frowned at this. "Those kids are right, you are an egotistical bastard."  
  
"Maybe I am," he replied with a small shrug. "However, your magical powers come from me. The senshi's powers come from me. Without me, you're just normal people."  
  
Usagi nodded at this and turned away from him. "So. What do we do then?"  
  
"That's up to you. I'm not going to lead you by the hand," he said calmly. "Build your new world, conquer it if you want, or nourish it."  
  
"That's enough! You're being an asshole!" snapped Hotaru as she pulled on his ear and dragged him away.  
  
"Ouch! Stop that!" he cried as she led him away.  
  
Usagi blinked and then sighed. "Oh dear." She turned towards Hitomi and Kasumi. "Well. How would you like to meet your fellow senshi?"  
  
The two girls looked at one another and blinked.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Six days later...  
  
"Well, okay," said Ranma as he hung his head. Hotaru was tapping her foot behind him impatiently. "I suppose I could help them out just this once."  
  
"Right, master," said Jadeite cheerfully from where he was standing nearby.  
  
The other three Mazoku were standing among the young senshi, with Kasumi and Hitomi standing with them as well. Both girls were now wearing the same uniforms as the rest of them.  
  
"I'll bring down the Palace, and clean it up," he said as he looked up at the moon. "Where do you want it?"  
  
Hotaru smiled at him gently. "How about over there?" she said as she pointed at a nearby hill. It was just outside the village, and seemed to be large enough to accommodate the huge building.  
  
Ranma sighed and raised his hands. The palace slowly materialized, at first looking worn and mostly destroyed, little more than rubble. After a moment or two, it faded back out, and then reappeared completely whole. "There? Happy now?" he asked as he looked up at his wife and snorted.   
  
"Yes! Thank you!" she said as she grabbed him around his neck.  
  
"You really didn't have too," said Usagi as she walked up to him with a thankful smile on her face.  
  
"Yeah. I did," he said as he jerked his thumb at his wife.  
  
"I hadn't dared to ask..." said the woman as she looked up at the towering walls and spires. "I was just talking about my old memories about it with her, I'm sorry if she imposed on you..."  
  
Everyone else was in too much shock to speak. They were all simply staring at the building dumbly.  
  
"How the hell did he do that!?" cried Mamoru.  
  
"I suppose you'd need a place to meet Prince Tenchi at anyway. This should do..." grumbled Ranma as he hung his head and gave a heavy sigh.  
  
"It's the least my husband could do, especially after all the trouble he's caused over the past few days," said Hotaru cheerfully.  
  
Sailor Mercury was still staring at him a little angrily, her skin was a sort of light blue tint now.   
  
"I didn't mean to use that much Blueberry pie..." he said to her while scratching the back of his head.  
  
"All my clothes are stained...and my house is blue now!" she snapped.  
  
"Well, at least you match it..." he said apologetically.  
  
She growled and turned away from him in disgust.  
  
"You're supposed to be apologizing!" snapped Hotaru.  
  
Ranma turned and saw equally angry looks on the other senshi's faces. "I'm sorry about the marshmallows, and the tampons, and the sharp cheddar. I just got a little bored...I didn't mean too..."  
  
"To turn my house into a jello mold?" snorted Venus.  
  
"Or to fill all my shoes with cheese spread?" snapped Mars.  
  
"I could have told people I was really a girl without the use of those ten-thousand tampons delivered to me in the middle of the village meeting!" snapped Uranus.  
  
"Well, you'll never have to buy anymore..." he said sheepishly.  
  
"I'm still pulling white stuff out of my hair from when you replaced my mattress with a giant marshmallow!" cried Jupiter.  
  
He winced visibly and sighed. "Well, at least no one complained when I used the water supply to make that huge batch of spaghetti," he thought to himself.  
  
"We're sick of eating spaghetti! We've been eating it for five days now!" added Neptune.  
  
Everyone walked away from him and he frowned at them all. "Oh well. Can't please everyone..."  
  
Mercury turned around and sighed, forcing her fellow senshi to as well. "Despite all that, this does make up for it, and we forgive you...this time."  
  
"Um...thanks..." he said with an uncertain grin forming on his face.  
  
"Right," snorted Neptune with a heavy sigh.  
  
"Shouldn't you girls be doing something right now?" asked Nephrite as he walked up to Ranma and pat him on the shoulder.  
  
They all looked at one another.  
  
"What time is it?" asked Uranus.  
  
"Oh my god! Akane is gonna kill us! We're late for class!" cried Mercury as she turned and started running. The others quickly followed.  
  
"Well, that certainly was nice of you," said Nephrite calmly. "Come on, the others are waiting for you."  
  
"Good, I need a drink," he grumbled as he glanced at Hotaru. She was talking with Usagi and nodded at him as he waved at her.  
  
"Going to give her a tour?" asked Nephrite.  
  
"Why? It's the same as it was on the moon. Both of them remember enough to get around in there," he said with a shrug.  
  
"Right," said Nephrite cheerfully. "You were right though, Mercury's face was priceless when she finally managed to climb out of that giant pie."  
  
"Come on. I'll buy us a round," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"All right," said Nephrite.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
They walked into the bar and paused when they saw the other three former generals sitting along the bar. "Ranma!" cried one of them, and everyone in the bar repeated it.  
  
"Hiya," said the pigtailed boy calmly. "Well, here's to another day in paradise."  
  
"You got that right," said Jadeite as he held up a mug of beer.  
  
"I miss light beer," said Zocite as he looked at his own half-empty mug.  
  
"Well, you got two choices, beer, and sake," said the bartender with a shrug.  
  
Ranma smiled at this and relaxed a bit as he sat down. "One for all five of us, Jiro."  
  
"Right," said the man as he set the drinks down in front of them.  
  
Ranma placed a few of the coins Usagi had decreed as money within the town down on the counter. They were using the old Japanese system of Yen again.   
  
"How did you guys get here so fast?" asked Ranma.  
  
"We had to leave when you started to apologize. We were all laughing too hard," said Jadeite cheerfully.  
  
"Yeah. A real riot," snorted Ranma.  
  
"The strongest man in the universe, laid low by a mere woman," said Zocite calmly.  
  
"That's why I never cared for them," said Kunzite as he grinned at his lover.  
  
"Yeah. Gross," said Ranma as he frowned at them.  
  
"Don't knock it until you try it," replied Kunzite as he took another drink.  
  
"Nah. Hotaru would kill me," said the boy with a shrug.  
  
"She could have a secret fantasy you know..." said Jadeite as he elbowed Ranma in the ribs.  
  
"Cut that out. Don't go putting weird ideas in her head," said the boy as he glared at him.  
  
"Fine," said Jadeite innocently.   
  
"At any rate, we should be seeing Tenchi sometime tomorrow," said Ranma as he leaned onto the counter and smirked.  
  
"Time sure has flown by," commented Nephrite.  
  
"Tell me about it," agreed Zocite.  
  
"We've only been around a couple of weeks," snorted Kunzite lazily.  
  
"Well, at any rate, the palace is here now, Usagi is fitting into the roll of queen better than I'd hoped, and now..." Ranma trailed off, unsure of what else to say.  
  
"Now what?" asked Nephrite.  
  
"Hell if I know," said Ranma with a shrug.  
  
"How about going back where you belong?" asked a familiar female voice from beside them.  
  
All five men turned on their stools in unison. They were looking at the end of the bar, where Urd was sitting calmly with a small cup of sake in her hand.  
  
"Who's this?" asked Nephrite as he jerked his thumb at her.  
  
"Goddess of the Future, Norn, Urd, big trouble, pain in the ass," said Ranma between gulps of his beer. He finished it and put the glass on the counter as he stood up again.  
  
"Sounds fun," said Jadeite with a small frown on his face.  
  
"Loads," replied the pigtailed boy cheerfully as he walked over to her and leaned against the bar next to her, facing away from her. "So. Did you want something, or are you just here to bother me a little?"  
  
"Arrogant little..." snarled the goddess hatefully.  
  
"I'm not going to kill myself, in fact, I'm not even sure if I can die anymore," he said as he smirked at her for a moment.  
  
"We could find out pretty easily," snorted the Goddess as she turned away from him.  
  
"Not as easy as you might think," replied Ranma as he put a worn looking crystal on the table.  
  
Urd gasped. "That's the..."  
  
"It's a paperweight. Usagi didn't want it back, so I kept it. Sort of a souvenir."  
  
Urd stared at him with her jaw hanging down. "What do you mean paperweight?"  
  
"I drained it," he said casually.  
  
"That's not possible!" cried Urd as she jumped out of her chair and staggered back away from him.  
  
"Didn't take very long," he replied with a small shrug. "What? You look pale..." Ranma was starting to wonder about the look she had on her face.  
  
"You would have been destroyed by absorbing that much energy!" cried the woman as she pointed an accusing finger at him.  
  
"It wasn't all that much," said Ranma as he looked down at the crystal for a moment. "What's the big deal?"  
  
Urd almost fell over. "You...you don't know?" she muttered dumbly.  
  
The pigtailed boy got a slightly worried looking frown on his face and looked back at his generals for a moment. They all shrugged and focused on Urd, waiting for an explanation.  
  
"That's a backup drive for the Yggdrasil system," said Urd quietly. "If you drained it completely as you claim, then you just downloaded the entire system into yourself."  
  
Ranma looked confused for a moment. "Huh?"  
  
"A human couldn't use it to directly access the system, it's nothing but raw information really, with no ports to access it. Think of that crystal as an encoded disk. Mortals would find it mostly useful for healing things. In fact, it's useless without a divine body like Kami-sama using it."  
  
"So...I'm a backup Yggdrasil system?" muttered Ranma as he looked down at himself. "Whoa. Cool."  
  
Urd suddenly went white as a sheet. "That would mean, you've got the creation protocol! Ragnarock! Armageddon, and re..."   
  
"So?" he said to her with a frown on his face.  
  
"Only father is strong enough to handle the weight of those programs!" gasped the woman in shock. "There's no way! It takes almost all of his power to do it!"  
  
"Really, I thought he just made this program cause he was lazy," said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"What?" gasped Urd.  
  
"I figure he got sick of doing everything himself, so he made the Yggdrasil system," replied the boy with a shrug.  
  
"That's part of it," admitted Urd. "But the Universe became more than he could handle, on more than one level."  
  
"Okay...so?" he replied with a small shrug.  
  
"What's going on?" asked Jadeite in confusion.  
  
"It's kind of technical," replied Ranma as he looked back at him for a moment.  
  
"Oh," said the man with a shrug. He went back to his drink and ignored the rest of the conversation. The other generals seemed to agree with that assessment and did the same.  
  
Urd was frowning at Ranma, and watching him carefully.  
  
"Oh for god's sake, come on," he said as he threw his hands into the air. Both of them vanished in a flash of light.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
They found themselves standing at the gates of heaven. Ranma smirked at Urd and walked up to the old man standing in front of the huge pearly gates.  
  
"Hello! Name please?" said the old man cheerfully. He had a large book in front of him and was blocking his path.  
  
"Move. Now," said Ranma as he looked down at him.  
  
"I'm afraid I can't do that sir," said the old man in irritation.  
  
Ranma snorted and raised his hand slightly. The gates gave a heavy groan and opened in front of him, almost tearing themselves off at the hinges with the force he had to use to open them. "Get out of my way, or I'll move you."  
  
The old man wisely did as he was told, clutching his book fearfully.  
  
Urd gasped in shock and rushed up behind him. "What do you think you're doing?!"   
  
"Going to see your dad," he replied calmly. "I was going to put it off until tomorrow, but since you showed up..."  
  
++++++++++  
  
"I'm sorry sir! He just burst in!" said the flustered looking secretary as she rushed into the office behind Ranma.  
  
He grinned at the unseen figure sitting behind a desk and waved cheerfully. "Sorry about the mess."  
  
Outside, a trail of angels could be seen lying along his path, occasionally a god or a goddess who had been knocked out could be seen as well.  
  
Kami-sama shuffled a few pages on his desk and ignored him. "It's all right. I've been expecting him."  
  
Ranma watched her wiggle away girlishly. She was an amazingly cute secretary. "Maybe I should get one of those..." he said out loud. An image of Hotaru standing over them angrily popped into his head and he shuddered. "Maybe not..."  
  
"Welcome," said Kami-sama as he looked the boy up and down for a moment. There wasn't anything particularly unusual about him. He stepped out of the light that hid his face, revealing a handsome middle aged man, with a clean- face.   
  
"Wow. Major let down," said Ranma as he blinked.  
  
"Well, I suppose I'm not as impressive to you as I am to a mere god or goddess, never mind a soul," replied the creator of all things with a small shrug.  
  
"Why?" asked Ranma as he smirked at him.  
  
"You already know," said Kami-sama casually.  
  
"Right, boredom, loneliness, want of some time off, lack of a decent poker player in heaven..."  
  
The god sighed. "You got that right. No one is willing to beat me, never mind someone who'd be willing to cheat a little."  
  
Ranma shrugged at him and smiled again. "Well. I guess this is just a formality more than anything else. Two supreme beings meeting together and all that."  
  
"Well, there is more to it than this you realize," said Kami-sama with a light smile on his face.  
  
"Yup," said Ranma with another shrug. "Still, you've got a lot on me. Creator of all things, ever existing, where as I actually have a birthday."  
  
"Well, so do I technically," said Kami-sama.  
  
"Yeah, but it's weird stealing your son's birthday that way," said the pigtailed boy calmly.  
  
"I suppose, but that all depends on what religion you are," replied the god.  
  
"Yeah. I guess so," Ranma scratched the back of his head.   
  
"Not going to ask which one is right?" asked Kami-sama with an amused chuckle.  
  
"Don't really care, doesn't apply to me anymore," replied the boy with a dumb looking grin forming on his face.  
  
"Well, you're a very busy man, I won't keep you any longer," said Kami as he extended his hand.  
  
"Right. Hotaru's gonna kill me," said Ranma with a small sigh. "I hope I haven't been too long."  
  
"As of right now...time is of no consequence to you," said Kami as he grasped the boy's hand with both of his own and held tight.  
  
"What the?" said Ranma in shock as he felt the familiar tingle run through his body again. "No! What are you doing?"  
  
Kami gave him a gentle smile. "I have been alone since the beginning of time. It is my greatest pain, and one that you can never experience."  
  
Ranma tried to pull his hand away and finally managed it. The almighty was on his knees in front of him, gasping painfully as he clutched at his chest.   
  
"What did you do to me?" muttered Ranma as he backed into a wall and looked at his hand in horror.  
  
The man sighed and sat up with a wistful smile on his face. "I'm not alone anymore."  
  
Ranma narrowed his eyes and looked down at the man. He had three markings on his forehead that weren't there before. "You...gave me almost all of..."  
  
"Yes," said the god as he smiled up at the pigtailed boy.  
  
"All of your damn responsibility!?" snapped Ranma angrily.  
  
"Well, yes...that too..." replied Kami sheepishly.   
  
"Damn it! This sucks!" cried Ranma hotly as he stomped his foot in irritation. "How could you do this to me?"  
  
"I got lonely," replied Kami with a shrug.  
  
"How long have you been planing this you little shit!?" snapped Ranma as he picked the god up by his collar.  
  
"Since you merged with my creation at Jusenkyo," said Kami nervously. "You were the first of your kind. The first multiple personality human who really did have multiple personalities! I knew that would eliminate the biggest fault I had with my job."  
  
"Being lonely," said Ranma as he seemed to understand.  
  
"Right!" agreed Kami. "I tested you...you didn't do so well at first, but you got smarter, and kept learning. Eventually, you became what you are now, and I decided you were ready."  
  
Ranma sighed and hung his head. "So what the heck does that make you?"  
  
"Kami, God of Creation, First Class Unlimited," replied the deity cheerfully. "I've got peers! For the first time in my existence, there are others who are my equals! Even my superiors!" The man looked absolutely giddy with excitement.  
  
Ranma released him and let him fall to the ground. "Great. Just fuckin great."  
  
"You really shouldn't talk that way," said Kami cheerfully.  
  
"Who are you to tell me how to talk?" snorted Ranma as he looked down at the man. "You can keep your office if you want. I'm going home now."  
  
"Right," said Kami cheerfully as he waved. The God Ranma Saotome had become was truly his best work. Light and Darkness, plus the entire Yggdrasil system all rolled into one. He was practically his own Universe.  
  
Ranma sighed and walked out into the hallway, where confusion reigned. Mutters of anger and shock filled the hallways as he strolled past gods and angels that had never expected to see him again after he entered Kami-sama's office. There was even a little fear.  
  
Urd walked up to him, finally catching up from when he'd left her alone at the gates. "You! What do you think you're doing?"  
  
"Did you really think he wasn't expecting me?" snorted the boy calmly as he glanced at her.  
  
She paused at this and looked around for a moment. "Where are you going?"  
  
"Home," he replied calmly.  
  
"What? Didn't he tell you to destroy yourself?" she asked him.  
  
"If he did, what makes you think that I would?" said the pigtailed boy as he smirked at her.   
  
Urd gasped in anger and narrowed her eyes at him. "You..."  
  
"You'd better watch your mouth Urd. I'm your new boss," said Ranma calmly as he looked down at the planet for a moment.   
  
"What?" she muttered dumbly.  
  
"I'm going back to Earth now, don't bother me unless it's important," said the pigtailed boy calmly.   
  
"You arrogant son of a..." started Urd. She then seemed to realize that she was standing in heaven and about to utter a rather unpleasant phrase.   
  
"See you around," said Ranma as he vanished.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Oh. You're back!" said Hotaru sweetly as she looked at her husband for a moment and smiled. She was sitting inside of their room in the palace.  
  
"Hiya," said Ranma as he slumped down into a chair and relaxed.   
  
All of the senshi had been given a room in the palace, Ranma had been allowed to move in with his wife of course. Not that they could have stopped him if he had wanted them too.  
  
"Did you enjoy your night out with the boys?" she asked him.  
  
"It was fine at first, but then I had to go to heaven and become the Almighty. That kind of sucked." He rubbed at his temples and turned to smile at her again. "Tenchi should be arriving tomorrow."   
  
"How nice," she said as she slipped into his lap and grabbed him around his neck.   
  
"You know. This isn't very funny Hild," said Ranma casually as he shoved her off. "You know my wife is going to be pissed if she comes in and sees you here."  
  
The woman's skin suddenly became pitch black, and all the light in the room faded away. Ranma frowned, and the light came back, but dim enough for it to be comfortable for the queen of demons.  
  
"So. It is true!" hissed the thing as it snarled at him.  
  
"Yeah. Now go away, before you get me into trouble," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"I think not! You're going to give me the Yggdrasil system you have hidden inside you. Kami was smart to hide himself away in heaven, and you were a fool to come down here!" She reached for him and he smirked at her, completely calm.  
  
"Right. Look, go home before I get angry," said the boy as he scowled at her and waited.  
  
Her hands pulled back, and she growled as if considering something for a moment. Then, she simply dove for him, screaming loudly.  
  
Ranma simply reached out and put a hand on her chest. "Goodnight."  
  
Hild's eyes went wide as she felt something being drawn from her body. She started to scream in alarm and flail about painfully, unable to touch him for some unknown reason.  
  
Ranma released her to the ground and smirked. "Well, that wasn't as difficult as I thought it'd be."  
  
Hild was lying on the floor, mostly unable to move. "What have you done to me?" she gasped.  
  
"Hild, Demon First Class. I'm afraid that you're no longer the most powerful demon in hell." His eyes seemed to be swallowed by darkness as he looked down at her and flexed his hand for a moment. "Useful tool this is."  
  
"What? How can you? That's impossible!" she snarled hatefully.  
  
"I am L-sama, Lord of Chaos. Both the light and the darkness," said Ranma as a black and gold aura started to form around him. "To put it quite simply. I am everything now."  
  
Hild hissed angrily as she backed away from him, she put her arms up over her face and melted into the shadows.   
  
"Well, now that's over with," he said with a calm shrug. "Where is Hotaru anyway?" He walked out the door and looked up and down the hall.  
  
Hotaru was walking towards him with Usagi at her side. They were both dressed in dogi, and had towels draped over their shoulders.   
  
"Hi!" said Ranma cheerfully as he walked up to them.   
  
Both of them blinked, and had the strangest urge to prostrate themselves in front of him.  
  
Ranma frowned and mentally switched that urge off. "Sorry about that."  
  
"You're back early," said Hotaru.  
  
"Yeah. I got kind of sidetracked, and finished with some business. I decided to just come back rather than hang around the bar some more."  
  
"Oh. That's nice!" said Hotaru with a smile on her face.   
  
"You just finish with Akane?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Yeah. We decided to join in the martial arts class she's been giving the younger senshi," said Hotaru as she grabbed his arm.  
  
"Eww. You're all sweaty," said Ranma as he smirked at her.  
  
"Well you can help me take a bath then," she replied calmly.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," he said while pretending to be upset about it.  
  
"You should be glad someone as young and beautiful as me is showing interest you old hag!" cried a familiar voice down the hall.  
  
Ranma pulled Hotaru aside in time for Akane to chase Kasumi and Hitomi by them with a shinhai held over her head. The three of them were clad only in towels.  
  
"Um..."  
  
"Just let it be," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Tenchi Masaki walked off of the platform that had lowered him from the Tsunami.  
  
Tsuki glanced around from beside him, with Ayeka and Sasami just behind them.  
  
"It's been so long..." muttered Tenchi as he took a deep breath.  
  
"It doesn't seem that long to me, but...everything is so different," said Tsuki with a short nod of understanding.  
  
"It has been many years," said Ayeka.  
  
"Wow! Neat!" cried Sasami. She was pointing at the nearby palace. "It looks just like the one in the history books! The one the Moon Kingdom used!"  
  
"It is the one the Moon Kingdom used," said a familiar voice from nearby.  
  
The group turned to see Ranma smirking at them while leaning against a tree trunk. "I brought it down from the moon and restored it."  
  
Tenchi nodded at this and looked up at the building. It was very impressive.  
  
"So. What you say is true," he said to the boy.  
  
"Ranma is dead? And the Moon Kingdom is rising again?" said Ranma playfully. "Yes."  
  
Usagi cleared her throat and stepped up with her senshi standing around her. "You must be Prince Ten..." she trailed off and gasped in shock.   
  
"Usagi?" muttered Tsuki in confusion as she stepped forward. "Is that you?"  
  
"Tsuki?" muttered the Queen quietly.  
  
"Told you it'd be a surprise," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"You're alive!" gasped Usagi as she rushed forward and grabbed the girl in a rough hug. "Oh! Thank you! I've felt so alone!"  
  
Tsuki blushed and returned the hug lightly. "It's good to see you too Usagi."  
"What happened to you? Where have you been?" cried Usagi as she shook the woman by her shoulders.  
  
"I...well...I was trapped in space, sort of in a coma," said the Senshi of Pluto nervously. "I'm sorry Usagi. I wish I could have been here to help you."  
  
"No. You'd have been killed too, if you'd remained," said the blonde as she shook her head. "He had a reason for not killing me, otherwise it would have ended for me long ago."  
  
Tsuki nodded in understanding. "So. This really isn't him?"   
  
Ranma blinked. "You have to ask?" he said with his eyebrow arched in frustration.  
  
"No. He isn't," said Usagi gently. "I'm so glad you've returned."  
  
"We're the only ones left, aren't we?" asked Tsuki gently.  
  
"Of our old friends, yes," said Usagi. "Hotaru is with us as well, but she was never really in our group."  
  
"There are new senshi I understand?" said the violent haired woman as she smiled at her old friend.  
  
"Husband, should we..." started Ayeka.  
  
"No. Let them be," said the Prince quietly.   
  
"Come on then," said Ranma as he walked up to them.  
  
They all turned to see Ryo-Ohki descending from above. It landed in a clearing nearby, and within two minutes, Ryoko was standing with them with Ryo-Ohki on her shoulder.  
  
"I'm glad to see you're well," said Ranma as he nodded at her.  
  
She merely nodded at him. Tenchi moved up with Usagi as they walked towards the palace. Ayeka and Sasami walked with Tsuki beside them, while Ranma hung back with his daughter.  
  
"Don't start getting silent with me Ryoko," he said with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Who are you?" she asked him suddenly.  
  
"I am your father," he said as he held his hand up to his mouth and making breathing noises.  
  
"How can that be? He was my father! Washuu told me it was really him! She..."  
  
"He came from me," replied Ranma with a frown on his face. "It's hard to explain, but he was my dark side. Sort of an evil version of me. We were separated, and he managed to kill me while I was still in shock about him coming out of my body."  
  
Ryoko looked at him dumbly.  
  
"Think along the lines of a cell dividing, and you'll understand what happened to us," he said with a shrug. "So, he was just an exact copy of your father. However, I am the man you once knew."  
  
Ryoko nodded, seeming to accept this.  
  
"Your mother...what happened to her?"  
  
"She was...killed..." replied Ryoko as she looked at him. "He killed her. I don't know how...but he did. I felt her connection to me die suddenly. I never realized that I was never really alone until that moment, when I felt her die."  
  
"I see," said Ranma with his head hung low. He had an angry scowl on his face as he continued to walk in silence.  
  
"You're really him aren't you?" she asked him suddenly. She seemed to peer at him for a moment curiously.  
  
He smiled at her and nodded. "That I am."  
  
Ryoko nodded at this and held out a small cube. "Here."  
  
"What is this?" he said as he took it.  
  
"I was only alone for a short time after she died," said Ryoko as she turned her head away.  
  
Ranma blinked. It looked almost like a cube of glass, but with a switch he could feel on the side of it. He pressed it, and an image of a small child, with bright red hair appeared in his palm. "This is..."  
  
"My daughter. The Princess Ryomi."  
  
"Ryomi?" said the boy as he looked at her.  
  
"She's just like her grandmother," said Ryoko wistfully. "It's a real pain. She's smarter than me, and only ten years old."  
  
"Probably a handful," said Ranma with a knowing smirk on his face.  
  
"Well, I'll be seeing you," she said to him as she moved up and jogged to her husband's side.  
  
Ranma shook his head and sighed. "Well, here's to the future."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Of course, our tale could end right here. But why?" said Ranma as he looked down at the body lying on a table in front of him.   
  
"Right. Where's the fun in that?" asked Carrot.   
  
"Why are we doing this?" snorted Xianfu. She had calmed considerably over the past few days.  
  
Dan sighed and poked the body in its cheek. "Well, we don't have much to do ourselves here. I mean, we can't build this planet for them, and we certainly can't just start playing evil demon now. It's too soon."  
  
"Think of it as something to pass the time," said Carrot.  
  
"How are we going to do this?" asked Xianfu.  
  
"The same way you grow a new plant from a clipping, cut off at the right point, plant it, and the branch will continue to grow," said Carrot. "Thus, we still go on as before."  
  
"And him?" asked Pissant as he peered down at the sleeping Ranma Saotome clone.  
  
"Well, we sort of give him a little of ourselves, and put him in the right place. Think of it this way, he won't be as strong as us, maybe a little more than when he left really. He's more like a puppet than anything else. Sort of a puppet we can wear," Carrot smiled at his analogy.   
  
"It's more like that Jesus thing Kami did a while back," said Dan.  
  
"We never did ask him if that was true or not," said Carrot.  
  
"Does it matter?" replied Xianfu.  
  
"I suppose not," agreed Carrot.  
  
"So. We're creating another universe?" said Dan in confusion.  
  
"Yeah. Kinda," said Carrot. "It's a bit more complicated than that plant analogy thing, but you get the idea."  
  
"Right," agreed everyone.  
  
"So. Shall we?" asked Dan.  
  
"Yes. Let's," agreed Carrot.  
  
"Oops," said Ranma.   
  
"Oops?" repeated everyone else.  
  
"Sorry. I put him in the wrong place," said Ranma.  
  
Carrot chuckled as he looked down. "Let it be. At least for now anyway."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome sat up from where he had landed and blinked. "Okay. Where the heck am I?" he stood up and looked around. "Everyone all right?"  
  
"Yeah," said Carrot.  
  
"Roger," agreed Dan.   
  
"What the hell is this?" snorted Xianfu.  
  
"I think we're in...yeah! Nerima! It worked!" said Pissant cheerfully.  
  
"Great," said Carrot happily as they started walking. "So. Where should we go?"  
  
"We've got to find that evil us!" said Ranma.  
  
"Sounds good to me," said Carrot. "First we need to figure out when and where we are."  
  
"The dojo sounds like a good place to stop," said Dan.  
  
Xianfu sighed. "I suppose so."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma looked up at the sign on the wall and smiled. "Well. Here we are."  
  
"What the heck is this place?" said Xianfu.  
  
"Where we used to live," said Dan.  
  
"Okay. Let's go say hi," commented Carrot as he opened the door.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Ranma! Prepare to die!"  
  
"Back for more! I'll teach you Saotome!"  
  
"Ranma! Stop picking fights and try this soup I made!"  
  
"That's right boy! Take it like a man!"  
  
"Saotome! Release the pigtailed girl to me at once!"  
  
Ranma Saotome turned and ran right into Ranma Saotome, both of them blocking the other's route of escape. The collided and fell back onto the ground.  
  
Everyone chasing the pigtailed boy rounded the corner just in time to see the two of them sitting up and rubbing their heads in frustration.   
  
A moment later, Ukyo and Shampoo jumped over the wall, each bearing food. They paused and looked down at the two boys for a moment.  
  
"Aiya!"  
  
"What the hell?"   
  
"Um. Hi. Sorry about this," said one of the Ranmas nervously.  
  
"Oh man. Now what?" cried the other fearfully.  
  
"Is two Ranmas!" cried Shampoo.  
  
"Um...not exactly..." said the Ranma closest to the gate as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, yes. But I'm not the same guy as him."  
  
Akane almost passed out.  
  
"Two of you or not! This is all your fault Saotome!" cried Ryoga as he charged forward.  
  
The first Ranma simply stepped forward and punched him in the face, causing him to stagger back and clutch his nose. "Wrt duh?"  
  
"Still the same dishonorable bastard as always I can see," said the Ranma that had hit him with a smile on his face. "Still blaming your own problems on other people. Eh, P-chan?"  
  
"How dare you!" snapped Akane.  
  
Everyone froze and gasped when the new Ranma grabbed her around her neck and lifted her off of the ground before she could strike him.  
  
"If you attack me, I will hurt you," he said calmly. He then put her on the ground and eyed her coldly.  
  
"I'll show you!" snapped Akane.  
  
The new Ranma punched her in the face, sending her to the ground next to Ryoga.  
  
"Akane! You monster!" roared Ryoga.  
  
"Akane!" cried the other Ranma as he charged forward as well.  
  
The new Ranma sighed and stepped aside, causing the pair to collide in mid air. "Are you finished yet?"  
  
Akane was sitting on the ground, with a look of shock on her face.  
  
"Never! Not until you pay for what you've done to Akane!" snapped Ryoga.  
  
"Bastard!" snarled Ranma as they both attacked again.  
  
"What place do you have defending her?" asked the new Ranma as he poked Ryoga in the chest and sent him back to the ground again.  
  
He stepped back and blocked a punch by the first Ranma and casually shifted his foot and tripped the boy.   
  
"If you'll just calm down, I'll explain everything."  
  
"Airen?" muttered Shampoo as she walked up and peered at him.  
  
"I'm not your husband," he said to her calmly. "At any rate, I've got some things to figure out. If you don't mind."  
  
Akane slowly stood up and hung her head down low. She walked up to him and looked up with tears in her eyes. "How could you?" She tried to slap him.  
  
He caught her hand and smiled at her coldly. "How many times have you done that to him? You'd better ask yourself that question before you ask me."  
  
The first Ranma looked at him and scowled. "Who are you?"  
  
"I'm you, but about twenty years older," he said calmly.  
  
"So, the knave has returned to the past, in order to try and defeat that which he could not defeat in the future! Surely my might was too much for him, so the dark sorcerer has returned to vanquish me now!"  
  
"I killed you once Kuno, don't make me do it again," said the New Ranma calmly.   
  
Everyone gasped and looked at the newcomer in shock. "Killed?"  
  
"If you'll allow me to explain," he said as he looked around. "I'm sure we can come to an understanding fairly easily."  
  
"Lies! You could never..." Kuno was cut off as Ranma raised his hand and shoved him into a wall headfirst. "Moron. Now, if no one else wants to interrupt. I'll explain everything."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Well. I had to do something to water down Ranma's powers. Not much fun if he's just god. Well, at least not if he's god all the time. I'd put him at a little over what he was when he left now.  
  
  



	56. Insertion Part 56

Insertion   
  
Part 56  
  
The Mistake.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome looked at the boy who had come into his home and claimed to be him. "Who the heck are you?" he snapped angrily.   
  
"You can call me...Carrot to avoid confusion," said the boy calmly. "Even though my name is really Ranma Saotome as well."  
  
"Boy! You'd better have an explanation for this!" said Genma as he looked at them.  
  
"Right son!" agreed Soun. "What is the meaning of this?"  
  
Carrot looked at them and frowned for a moment. "Well, for starters, when the hell am I?"  
  
Everyone who had gathered around blinked and looked at him for a moment. Shampoo and Mousse were sitting next to Ranma, while Akane and her sisters were opposite them. Ryoga had gotten lost on the way to the living room, and Soun and Genma had their places around the shogi board a short distance away. Tatewaki Kuno still had his head stuck in the wall, and was therefore unaware of what was going on. Ukyo just looked confused as she sat between the two Ranmas.  
  
"So, you're like...from the future?" asked Nabiki as she looked him up and down. "You don't look that old."  
  
"I don't age much anymore," he replied with a shrug. "And I am from the future, but I don't think I'm from your future."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Akane as she glared at him hatefully.  
  
"Well. Where I come from, we were never really engaged," said Carrot with a shrug. "It seems that you are engaged to him here."  
  
"Oh," said the girl in confusion. "Not engaged?"  
  
"Yes. We agreed that neither one of us was to be engaged to the other after our father's tried to shove it on us. Instead, we just became good friends. I stayed with your family for a while, and eventually went on my way." He got uncomfortable as he said that last part for a moment.  
  
"What!? You didn't marry my Akane? Ranma!!!" Soun created his giant demon head and loomed over the two pigtailed martial artist.  
  
"I'm not from your future," replied Carrot as he poked the demon head with a needle and deflated it. "What I did, doesn't apply to him."  
  
"Oh," said Soun dumbly.  
  
"My son! How could you! My own son! Why didn't you marry Akane like you were supposed to!? Your mother will be so disappointed boy!"  
  
"Actually, mother approved," replied Carrot calmly as he looked at the fat panda man for a moment. "Oh, and I should also mention that you're not my father. My father died about fifteen years ago."  
  
"What?! Boy! You'd better show proper respect!" snapped Genma.  
  
"I'm thirty six years old," snorted Carrot. "I'll speak to you however I want."  
  
"Thirty-six?!" said everyone who was sitting around him in shock.  
  
"That's right," said Carrot calmly.  
  
"Well, technically. I died once, and was reborn...so I'm not sure if I have to start counting again or not."  
  
"How old would you be if you did?" asked Nabiki.  
  
"About two months?" he said with an uncertain look on his face.  
  
"This is crazy!" cried Ranma.  
  
"Yeah. About as crazy as a martial artist who turns into a girl, who's arch rivals are a pig and a duck, and has an amazing phobia with cats."  
  
Ranma sat down and looked at his doppelganger. "Oh. Right."  
  
Akane humphed and crossed her arms. "I don't believe it!"  
  
"So?" asked Carrot. "That doesn't make it not true."  
  
She glared at him for a moment.  
  
"Don't look at me that way. You attacked me. I'm not engaged to you, and have no obligation to protect, or otherwise take such abuse from you." He narrowed his eyes at her as she got a shocked look on your face.  
  
"You deserved it!" she snapped.  
  
"Who are you to tell me what I deserve?" he said calmly. "Little girl, I could have seriously hurt you. I am not the nice boy you see sitting next to you who care too much about you to hurt you. I can, and will, hurt you if you attack me again."  
  
Ranma stared at him in shock. "What kind of guy are you?"  
  
"A guy who cares enough about himself not to take abuse from anyone. Akane is a martial artist, chances are I'm not going to break her if I have to defend myself. Frankly, it disgusts me to see you letting anyone treat you that way. I've only been here a few minutes, and you've allowed her to hit you at least six times."  
  
"Allowed!?" cried Akane in disbelief as she stood up and stared at the newcomer.  
  
"You've seen him fight. You tell me. You don't really think you're that good do you?" Carrot chuckled to himself as he looked up at her calmly and smirked.  
  
"I'm the best martial artist in..."  
  
"You're the best martial artist in your own mind," said Carrot as he cut in and waved her off. "Any one of these girls can beat you. You're just to stubborn and proud to see it."  
  
Akane slammed her fist on the table. "I'll show you!"  
  
"Go ahead. Beat them up. I'll enjoy watching them thrash you. The only reason they haven't, is because they're either afraid of what he might think, or what he might do if they hurt you." Carrot pointed at Ranma as he said this and smiled.  
  
"Now see here!" snapped Soun as he stood up with a flustered look on his face.  
  
"You know I haven't lied Tendo," replied Carrot calmly.  
  
"That isn't very nice," muttered Kasumi.  
  
"Insulting my daughter that way is..." started Soun.  
  
"Show some respect boy!" snapped Genma.  
  
"Insulting? I haven't said anything that isn't true to her! You old farts are just upset because I've made the little brat angry! Now she'll throw a temper tantrum and try to hit me again!" Carrot turned his head to see Akane starting to glow.  
  
Ranma blinked as she turned to look at him. "How could you?"  
  
Carrot's jaw dropped as she raised her fist. "This won't do at all."  
  
Akane's strike was blocked and she found herself shoved headfirst into the table as Carrot vanished from his seat and pinned her down by locking her arm behind her back.  
  
"Don't you dare start blaming him for me you little brat!" snapped Carrot angrily.  
  
"What the!?" gasped Ranma in shock as he staggered back away from them. His face became angry suddenly. "What the heck are you doing?"  
  
"I don't care if you can take it Ranma. I won't accept someone else being blamed for my actions," said Carrot as he smirked at him.  
  
The boy frowned at this, but actually nodded his head. "Let her go. Right now."  
  
Carrot snorted. "Only after she calms down a bit. I'm not hurting her."  
  
Ranma's frown deepened and he looked down to see Akane still struggling against the boy's iron grip.  
  
"Treating your own fiancee so! Saotome! I won't forgive you!" cried Mousse as he stood up and pointed at him.  
  
"Amazon or not, it's none of your business," said Carrot.  
  
"Ranchan...he's right," said Ukyo as she looked down at Akane for a moment.  
  
"Spatula girl right," agreed Shampoo. "Violent girl too too violent. Need calm down first."   
  
"What? Traitors!" gasped Akane.  
  
"Let her go," insisted Ranma.  
  
"You know what I'll do if she attacks me," said Carrot as he narrowed his eyes at the boy.  
  
Ranma merely nodded. "You'll try, but I'll stop you."  
  
Carrot chuckled and released the girl's arm. She immediately whirled around to deck him, but her arm met another immovable force. This time, it was Ranma who caught her fist in front of Carrot's face.   
  
Akane looked at her fiancee in shock. He simply shook his head at her silently.  
  
Carrot was simply standing calmly with a smile on his face, as if nothing was happening.  
  
"What do you want here?" asked Ranma as he looked at the boy.  
  
"Not much. I'm here by accident actually. Someone should be coming to pick me up, but that could take weeks, or even months." He smiled cheerfully and looked towards Soun. "Has he learned the Mokou Takabishia?"  
  
The man nodded at him slowly.  
  
"Herb?"  
  
"I have some spices in the kitchen," said Kasumi in confusion.  
  
Carrot looked around and smiled as he realized everyone was a little confused. "No. Never mind."  
  
"I guess I should prepare another futon," said Kasumi with a small sigh.  
  
Carrot smirked and looked at Soun. He walked over to him and reached into his pocket. "Here. This should cover any expenses I'll be putting you out on." He handed the man a large wad of yen bills. In fact, it was a very large wad, of high mark bills.  
  
"Err...thank you son..." muttered Soun in shock.  
  
"Boy! Where did you get all that money!?" cried Genma as he grabbed his son by the collar.  
  
"How would he know?" asked Carrot as he turned towards them.  
  
"I ain't got no money!" snapped Ranma.  
  
Carrot noticed that Nabiki had suddenly become very still, and was eyeing the cash in her father's hands almost lustfully.   
  
The two amazons, and Ukyo had been amazingly silent during this whole meeting. They actually seemed pretty satisfied with themselves, especially considering that someone had finally told that Tendo girl off. Even Mousse had sat quietly while the new Ranma, who called himself 'Carrot', berated her rather harshly.  
  
Mousse stood up and growled at Carrot. "Saotome."  
  
"What's your problem? I'm not engaged to Shampoo," said Carrot as he narrowed his eyes at the boy.  
  
"What?" muttered Mousse.  
  
"I said I'm not engaged to Shampoo," repeated Carrot calmly.  
  
"So! You're rejecting my Shampoo?!" cried the boy angrily.  
  
"No. Listen. I am not, engaged to Shampoo. The law don't come into it, since I never defeated her. Get it?"   
  
The boy blinked at this. "You never defeated my Shampoo?"  
  
"No. He did, I didn't," said Carrot calmly. "Get it?"  
  
"I...I think so..." said Mousse with a confused frown.  
  
"Look. It's not that hard. Ranma beat Shampoo, and is her Airen. Carrot, who is me, didn't defeat her, and is not Shampoo's Airen. Get it?"  
  
"He isn't Shampoo's Airen! Mousse is Shampoo's Airen!" snapped the boy.  
  
"Whatever. My point is, that I don't enter into it," said Carrot as he poked the boy in his chest and put his arm across his shoulders. "Get it?"  
  
"So...you're renouncing your claim on Shampoo?" said Mousse in confusion.  
  
Carrot sighed, Shampoo hit the boy over his head with a bonbori, and Ranma kicked him in his face. "Stupid Mousse!"   
  
"What? You can't expect me to stand here while this louse dumps you!" cried the Chinese boy angrily.  
  
"I can't dump her, because I've never gone out with her," said Carrot in frustration. "Get it? I am not Ranma Saotome! I never defeated her! I am not engaged to her by your stupid laws!"  
  
"Laws not stupid!" cried Shampoo.  
  
"Yes they are!" snapped Carrot.  
  
"How dare you!?" snapped Mousse.  
  
Carrot promptly decked him, which knocked him out cold. "Idiot!"  
  
"Not even Shampoo knock out Mousse so fast!" gasped the Amazon girl as she looked down at him. "Other Ranma strong!"  
  
"Don't even think it!" snapped Carrot as he pointed at her in warning.  
  
"What is talking?" said the girl innocently.  
  
"Don't get no funny ideas about replacing your Airen!" snapped Carrot.   
  
"Hey!" cried Ranma.  
  
"It's okay Ranchan! If she starts chasing him, you and I can finally be together!" said Ukyo.  
  
"You stay out of this!" snapped Carrot as he shifted his attention to her. "I am not going to go through this whole fiancee mess again! I solved it once, and I'm not doing it again!"  
  
Ranma's eyes went wide as he looked at the newcomer. "You...solved it?"  
  
Carrot looked at him for a moment and shrugged. "I think the whole Armageddon thing had a lot to do with it."  
  
"Armageddon?" cried Soun in shock.  
  
"What? Did you think anything less would solve this?" said Carrot as he turned towards the man. "You've got a real mess here Mr. Tendo."  
  
"Ranma Saotome! How dare you ram the Mighty Blue Thunder of Furinkan High's head through a wall that way!?"  
  
Carrot looked at the boy and blinked. "Oh. Hi."  
  
"Have you nothing to say?" snapped Kuno.  
  
"Um, Akane Tendo is upstairs getting dressed as we speak. No doubt she wants her true love to praise her naked form, thus eliminating her shy demure feelings of shame. That would no doubt allow her to finally come into her true love's embrace!"  
  
Nabiki spit her drink out across the table and looked up at the boy standing over her in shock.   
  
"Ah! I shall vanquish you at a later date then! For your words, though laced with evil intent, ring true!" Kuno dashed off.  
  
"What did you just do?" muttered Ranma.  
  
"Sent Kuno to peep on Akane," said Carrot with a shrug. "She'll beat him up, and then she'll feel better."  
  
"What!? I've got to stop him!" cried Ranma.  
  
"Why? We all know Akane can take Kuno," said Carrot with a small snort.  
  
"Boy! Go defend your fiancee's honor!" said Genma as he tried to shove Carrot out the door.  
  
"I'm not your son!" snapped Carrot as he hefted the man into the air and threw him into the koi pond. The panda sat up and glared at him for a moment.  
  
"Ingrate!" said the animal's sign.  
  
"Yeah? Well you don't deserve a good son you fat slob!" snapped Carrot.  
  
"Boy! Show some respect to your father!" signed Genma as he jumped at him in a flying kick.  
  
Carrot snorted and dodged easily. "Oh! Want to play do you?"  
  
"I'll teach you to respect your elders boy!" said the panda's sign.  
  
"Fat chance loser! You're not that much older than I am!" replied Carrot as he leapt up to meet the animal in the air.  
  
The exchange was fast, Carrot pushed through the animal's defenses easily. Genma was thrown onto the ground rather roughly by a kick.   
  
Hopping up to his feet, he stared at the descending form of his son and scowled. "When did the boy get so good?"  
  
"You ready Pop?" said Carrot with a wicked gleam in his eyes. He knew Genma couldn't counter this, and no one knew that he didn't know though.  
  
"Any time boy!" replied the animal with a sign.  
  
"Kamehameha!" cried Ranma as he sent a beam of power at his father.  
  
Everyone watching the battle suddenly froze in place. Their jaws hanging down as they watched the pigtailed boy blast his father through the outside wall and into the street.  
  
Carrot frowned as he held his hand over his face and watched the panda sail away. "Man. He's worse than I thought."  
  
"How?" said Ranma in awe.   
  
Carrot turned and smiled at him for a moment. "Well, that was easier than I remember it being. Too bad I'd forgot he can't do that."  
  
"Boy! That was...amazing!" muttered Soun.  
  
"Not so impressive," replied Carrot with a small shrug.  
  
Ranma grabbed him by his shoulders. "You've got to show me how to do that!"  
  
Carrot sighed and shoved his arms away. "No."  
  
"What?" said the pigtailed boy in shock.  
  
"You'll learn it when you're supposed to learn it," replied Carrot. "I didn't come here to teach you anything, or help you in any way. You're going to do this stuff on your own."  
  
Ranma worked his mouth like a fish. "But..."  
  
"But nothing! Learn it yourself if you want it so bad," snapped Carrot as he turned away from the boy.  
  
"Ranchan. You can do it!" said Ukyo as she pat him on the shoulder.  
  
"I will learn it!" said Ranma as a determined burning started in his eyes.  
  
"PERVERT!" screamed a familiar voice above them.   
  
Tatewaki Kuno sailed through the air overhead, a look of complete euphoric joy on his face. "Akane! How your body tells me that your true love is indeed myself!" he called as he faded away into the sky.  
  
"Told you," said Carrot as he turned towards Ranma again.  
  
Nabiki narrowed her eyes at the new boy and frowned. She said nothing though, and began to plot.  
  
++++++++  
  
"What did you say child?" asked Cologne as she hopped over to her great granddaughter. They were all standing in the middle of the Cat Cafe, and Mousse was scrubbing tabletops.  
  
"Shampoo say is another Ranma," replied the girl calmly. "He say, from future, but different future than this one."  
  
"Most unusual," said the old woman as she peered at her. "Do you believe him to be honest?"  
  
"Shampoo not see lie," replied the girl with a shrug.   
  
Cologne nodded at that. It wasn't saying much, but she didn't expect Shampoo to have the experience to know any better. "I'll have to go see this boy for myself."  
  
"Shampoo think that good idea," squealed the girl happily as she bounced off to take care of a customer who had just walked in. "Aiya! Is Airen!"  
  
++++++++++  
  
Carrot sighed as they walked through the streets of Nerima. "So. Those idiots stuck us in the wrong universe."  
  
"What?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"We're in the wrong place?" asked Xianfu.  
  
"Yup," commented Dan. "Seems we're in that comic we told you about Ranma. Everything is going the way that story goes here."  
  
"Could be amusing," said Carrot.  
  
"You mean..." said Ranma.  
  
"If we hadn't shown up, this would have been your life," said Carrot with a cheerful nod.  
  
"What are you idiots talking about?" asked Xianfu.  
  
"Well, where we come from, Ranma's life is a comic book," said Carrot cheerfully. "Me and Dan have both read it."  
  
"What about whiny boy?" she asked irritably.  
  
"I came along later," said Pissant with a slightly annoyed tone.  
  
"So what do we do?" asked Ranma in confusion.  
  
"Sit back and enjoy the show, while causing as little disturbance as possible," replied Carrot cheerfully. "Sooner or later they'll correct the mistake. After all, we all want to fix the past, but there's no hurry. It's not like the past is going anywhere."  
  
"I think after a week Ranma'll appreciate us a little more," commented Dan.  
  
"Yeah. Especially after he sees how much his life would have sucked without us," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"You mean...my life sucks more without you?!" cried Ranma in horror.  
  
Carrot paused. "Well, yeah. I'll bet even being sent to hell is better than being engaged to this Akane."  
  
"Wouldn't have been upset if it was our old friend, but this chick is a brat," said Dan in agreement.  
  
"Spoiled rotten little ingrate she is," agreed Carrot.  
  
"Right," snorted Xianfu.  
  
There was a sound from their belly, and all the men spoke at once. "I'm hungry."  
  
"Cat Cafe," said Xianfu as she looked up at a sign they were near.  
  
"Hey! That's the Amazon place! They make a great bowl of ramen!" said Dan.  
  
"Yeah. Ucchan's is nearby, but I feel like Chinese," said Carrot as they shifted into their female form and he rubbed his hands along his body.  
  
"Oh, you're a real riot," snapped Xianfu as she changed them back into a man again.  
  
"We can still do that?" muttered Ranma as he looked down at their body.   
  
"Apparently," said Carrot with a shrug.   
  
They walked into the restaurant and were greeted by Shampoo.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"So. Shampoo tells me you're from the future?" asked Cologne.  
  
"Um. A future, not the future," said Carrot calmly as he looked back at her.   
  
"A future?" asked Cologne.  
  
"I'm from an alternate universe. The past here is different from the past there," he said cheerfully.   
  
"Oh? To think that such things actually exist!" said the old woman cheerfully.  
  
"Yeah. Neat ain't it?" said Carrot. He frowned a little as the voices in his head argued about what to order.  
  
"I suppose it is," agreed Cologne. "What brings you here? Are you going to date my Shampoo?"  
  
"Huh? No. I was hungry, and this place was close," he replied with a small shrug.  
  
"Well, perhaps I can let you eat for free, if you were to take my Shampoo on a date."  
  
Carrot blinked and looked up to see her smiling at him. "Um. I'm not engaged to Shampoo. I never defeated her. You've got the wrong Ranma."  
  
"It doesn't matter to me. All that she is required to do, is bring home Ranma Saotome. Either one of you is fine."   
  
Carrot smirked at this. "I'm afraid I wouldn't adjust to amazon life well."  
  
"Oh?" said Cologne.  
  
"I don't take well to other people giving me orders. Woman or otherwise," he said with a shrug. "I'd probably kill anyone who tried to make a slave out of me. Come to think of it, Ranma probably isn't suited very well for the tribe either, but I'm sure you already realized that." he smiled at her cheerfully.  
  
Cologne blinked and hopped back from him. "My, but you are perceptive."  
  
"Thought so. You're hanging around for the entertainment value too aren't you?" he said with a smirk on his face. "You'd never really let Shampoo take him back to China."  
  
Cologne sat down across from him and her eyes twinkled with a sort of glee. "Why is that?"  
  
"Even if he fell in love with her, the other women would have trouble controlling him. They wouldn't take his nature very well, and he'd either kill, or be killed. Probably the former, although I'm betting you're thinking it'll be the latter."  
  
Cologne arched her eyebrow at this. "Interesting."  
  
"What do you think old woman?" said Carrot calmly.  
  
"I want to know why you think he'd kill rather than die. I've been watching him for some time now. He seems unable to do anything to harm the girls, no matter how much they abuse him."  
  
"Because I know exactly what it takes to get Ranma Saotome to kill," said Carrot cheerfully as he smirked at her. His eyes spoke of something else. A darkness that Cologne knew was truth.  
  
"I see," she said with a small frown on her face. Her actions suddenly became much more cautious.  
  
"He's actually enjoying himself for the most part. The adventures, the excitement, the attention of all those girls. Having been with his father so long alone, and suddenly becoming the center of the world around him? He's having a ball."  
  
"Of course, that would all change in Joketzuko," said Cologne with a small sigh.  
  
"Right. I can see you've thought this through," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"May I ask?" said Cologne.  
  
"First time? I suppose the first person I ever managed to kill would have been that fire elemental named Takibi. Although, I understand I almost killed Setsuna."  
  
"These names aren't familiar," said Cologne carefully.  
  
"I don't think they exist here," replied the boy with a shrug.  
  
"I see," said Cologne.  
  
"Well, he looked human at first anyway," said Carrot with a thoughtful frown. "I don't know if I'd call him a man really."  
  
Cologne seemed to relax a bit.  
  
The first human I killed would have been...um...Tatewaki Kuno I believe. Well, there was that planet I blew up, but that was a little impersonal. I actually tortured and killed Kuno, with a little help from Akane of course.  
  
Cologne gasped as she looked at the boy for a moment. "Tatewaki Kuno? You say you killed him?"  
  
"Well, it was after he'd raped my friend Akane. I got him started, and then let her finish him off. I think it was very therapeutic," he grinned at her cheerfully.  
  
"I had no idea that boy had such a horrible thing in him," said Cologne as she turned away from Carrot.  
  
"I don't know that this one does. My Kuno got his hands on a mystical mask. It sort of warped his mind a bit more than normal."  
  
Cologne relaxed a great deal as she heard this. "That is a relief."  
  
"Yeah. I guess so," said Carrot with a small shrug. "How's the pork Ramen?"  
  
Cologne blinked at this and looked at him. "It's one of the top sellers."  
  
"Great! I'll take one of those then," said the boy as he smirked at her.  
  
Cologne hopped away from the disturbing conversation rather quickly. "I would be wise to keep an eye on this one." Anyone who could talk about death the way he was speaking of it, and so casually... They were someone to be watched closely. The thing that bothered her the most though, was the fact that she could see no lies in his eyes, only complete honesty. The deep blackness of a killer's soul was all she could make out in his eyes.  
  
Carrot cheerfully ate his Ramen, paid, and then left the store.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Well, now what?" the pigtailed boy asked himself.  
  
"Woo hoo! What a haul!" cried a familiar voice from down the street.  
  
"Hey. It's that old guy!" gasped Ranma.  
  
"That's right, Akane didn't kill him in this world," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
Happosai bounced towards them, an angry mob of women just behind him.   
  
Carrot smiled and began to bounce along the ground beside the man, keeping up with him easily. "Hiya old man! How ya doin?"  
  
"Ranma my boy! What timing! Here, help me carry these back to the house!" He tried to shove the bag into the pigtailed boy's hands, in order to slow him down and force him into the crowd of women.  
  
"No thanks." Carrot dodged easily, jumping over to the old man's opposite side. "If you want to steal them, I'm afraid you'll have to do it yourself."  
  
Happosai scowled at him for a moment and dashed across a field that had appeared off to their right. The sprinkler systems cut on and he dodged and weaved through the spray, landing on the other side bone dry. He turned to see Ranma doing exactly the same thing. Dodging the water with ease. The women stopped though, not willing to pursue him through the gauntlet of water.  
  
"Well, seems you've escaped them old man," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"Yes...yes...so it...seems..." said Happosai in confusion. "Since when is this whelp that good?" his mind screamed.  
  
"Well, are you on your way back to the dojo? Or are you just going to steal some more panties?"  
  
Happosai scooped up a glass of water, from a cup he'd pulled out of nowhere. He splashed the boy in front of him with it. "Why did you do that?" asked Carrot.  
  
"Why don't you carry me back to the dojo like this Ranma-chan?" said the old man as he nuzzled his...chest?  
  
"Well, okay...but..." Ranma was smiling at him.  
  
Happosai blinked and looked up to see the male Ranma smiling at him. "Wha? What have you done to my beautiful Ranma-chan?!"  
  
"She's probably at the dojo, with her fiancee Akane," said Carrot with a shrug.  
  
Happosai blinked. "Ranma-chan and Akane?"  
  
Carrot shrugged his shoulders. "Go figure."  
  
"I knew it!" cried Happosai with a look of complete joy on his face.  
  
Carrot smiled at him as he dashed away. He started walking back towards the dojo. A large group of women met him in the street. "There he is! That's the guy who was helping the little pervert!"  
  
"Helping him?" said Carrot in irritation. "I most certainly was not!"  
  
"Oh yeah! What where you doing then?" screamed one of the women in the front.  
  
"I didn't try to stop him either," said Carrot with a shrug. "What that old man does is none of my business. It's between you and him. Leave me the hell out of it."  
  
"Pig!" snapped one of the women as she started to move forward.  
  
The boy glared at her coldly and his aura flared to life around him. "Apparently you've mistaken me for that soft hearted Ranma Saotome. I don't take well to mobs of angry people attacking me."  
  
The women backed away slowly, but still looked slightly offensive.  
  
"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear ladies," said Ranma as he formed a ball of power in his hands and blasted a hole in the street. "Back off. I'm too much for you to handle."  
  
The women promptly dispersed, quickly moving in the opposite direction. Carrot smirked to himself and started back towards the dojo.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Pervert! Dry up and die!" screamed Akane as Happosai sailed through the air over the dojo.  
  
Carrot smiled at her as she stomped by him. Ranma was looking beaten as well, and was in her female form on the ground. "Uncute tomboy!" she muttered.   
  
"What happened to you?" asked Carrot with a scowl forming on her face.  
  
"That old freak got some weird idea that I was some kinda thespian. Then Akane got all angry and hit me and the old freak."  
  
Carrot growled under his breath and stood the girl up again, dusting her off. "You know. She only does this because you let her get away with it."  
  
"What can I do?" muttered Ranma as she looked away from him.  
  
"Defend yourself," said Carrot calmly. "One of these days, she's going to hurt somebody Ranma. How are you going to protect her from that?"  
  
"Akane wouldn't..." muttered the redhead defensively.  
  
"She already has," said Carrot with a smirk forming on his face.   
  
Ranma looked down at herself. "This ain't nuthin."  
  
"To you maybe, but what if the next time...it isn't you?"   
  
Ranma turned away. "Look. I know Akane wouldn't..."  
  
"Well. Let me ask you this then. What kind of man, allows his fiancee, or any girl for that matter, to beat him on a regular basis?"  
  
"You sayin I ain't manly?"  
  
"I asked a question, and you just answered it," said Carrot calmly.  
  
Ranma's jaw hung down as he looked at the boy in front of him. "I...that's not fair!"  
  
"Life seldom is," replied Carrot cheerfully as he turned away and walked down the stairs.   
  
Nabiki's face darkened considerably as she watched the boy sit down at the table from where she was watching TV. He was getting dangerous. Putting strange ideas inside Ranma's head, he could very well be dangerous to them. Or worse yet, he could actually help them get together. She didn't want that, at least not yet anyway.  
  
He glanced over to her and smiled. "Don't think I don't see you over there plotting against me Nabiki. Whatever you're planning, it won't work."  
  
She narrowed her eyes at this and scowled deeper. "Damn. Well, we'll see about that!"  
  
Carrot paused suddenly as he felt something unusual. "Wow. That's a big power! Still pretty far away though. I wonder who it is?" He looked out towards the East and narrowed his eyes. "Hmmm."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"School my ass! I'm almost as old as you are!" snapped Carrot as he tossed the book bag to the ground and crossed his arms.  
  
Soun blinked. "Well, Nabiki seems to think that..."  
  
"Nabiki can kiss my rosy red..."  
  
"Ahem," said the girl in question as she stood at the bottom of the stairs and glared at him.  
  
"Thought you could get me to go to school with you? So you could get me in your little playing field and plot your revenge did you?" said Carrot as he smiled at her. "Fine. I'll see you there!"  
  
Nabiki scowled at him and turned towards the door.  
  
"So, you're going to school?" asked Genma.  
  
Carrot smirked and snapped his fingers. "I've got just the thing!" A laptop computer appeared from his shirt and he opened it while cracking his knuckles. "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!"  
  
Genma frowned at the boy. "Where did you get that? I won't stand for my son being a computer geek! Boy! I'll...!" He stupidly attempted to smash the offending object, and was promptly blasted away by a white ball of chi energy that landed him in the koi pond again.   
  
"Leeme alone! I'm plotting against her!" said Carrot as he looked up at Genma with a frown on his face.   
  
"So. You're doing what exactly?" said Soun.  
  
"Creating a new identity to go to school with," said Carrot cheerfully. "Shouldn't take more than a minute or two. Especially with the Mercury computer here."  
  
"Oh. Right," mumbled Soun.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma cackled evilly to himself as he typed.   
  
"What should we do?" asked Dan.  
  
"I dunno. It kinda seems like a good idea," said Xianfu.  
  
"You don't know Nabiki like we do," grumbled Dan.  
  
"Heck no!" cried Ranma as he read what was being typed up.  
  
"Shut up! You'll understand soon enough! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAA!" responded Carrot. He quickly went back to work.  
  
"Will you quit telling people how old we really are!" snapped Xianfu as she forced him to lower the age a bit.  
  
"No!" snapped Carrot as he brought it back up. "Trust me!"  
  
"Fine," snorted the woman in disgust.  
  
Carrot laughed in triumph as he sent the information. "Well, that's that! We now have an identity! Soon, soon we'll have our revenge!"  
  
"Revenge for what?" asked Ranma.  
  
"No one has done anything to us yet, Carrot," said Dan.  
  
"Damn it! You ruined my dramatic moment!" snapped the voice in retort.  
  
"Yeah. Whatever. Can we just go now?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Just a minute. I've got to print this stuff out for our records," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
They all sat and looked down at the Mercury printer as it slowly spat out the paper.   
  
"Damn! Unlimited technology in the universe, and they still can't make a printer that's worth a damn!" cursed Carrot.  
  
"How long we got anyway?" asked Ranma.  
  
"An hour," replied Carrot. "Plenty of time."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
TBC...  



	57. Insertion Part 57

Insertion  
  
Part 57  
  
The Plan  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki Tendo frowned. Ranma hadn't shown up yet. "What's keeping him?" she wondered out loud.  
  
"Pardon?" asked her flunky as she turned towards her.  
  
"Nothing...it's nothing," said the girl with her scowl growing more pronounced.   
  
The bell rang and they moved towards the building with the other students.   
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Aloha!" said Principal Kuno as he waved to the students inside one of the classrooms.   
  
Akane blinked and looked up to see him grinning at them all. Their teacher nowhere to be seen.  
  
"Your teachah is havin de bad karma, so he go on a little vacation to relax," said the man as he frowned a little. "Dis bein very sad day."  
  
Akane gasped with the rest of the class and held her breath. "No! Please no!"  
  
"We got another teacher right?" asked Ranma nervously. As with everyone else, he prayed that the man wouldn't take it upon himself to teach their English class.  
  
"Don't you be frettin none now. Da Big Kahuna got it all taken care of!" said the man cheerfully. "Dis new teachah bein very good."  
  
There was a collective sigh of relief.  
  
"Here she is, da new techah! Miss Yohiko Hibiki."  
  
Ranma and Akane blinked and looked at one another as the name rung a familiar bell.  
  
"Where have I heard that name before?" asked Akane.  
  
"Hibiki?" asked Ranma dumbly as he tried to think of who he knew with that name. After a moment, it came to him. "Like, Ryoga?"  
  
"Dolt," growled Akane.  
  
A woman walked into the room and all the male students gave a collective gasp. She had a long red pigtail that went to the small of her back, and a pair of thin glasses rested on her nose. Her dress was sharp, almost business like, but did little to hide her figure.   
  
"Hello class. I'm Miss Hibiki," she said as she smiled at them and gave a small bow.  
  
"Thank you god!" whispered some of the boys.  
  
There were a few angry groans from some of the female students, but most of them were unruffled by the beautiful new woman. She looked to be about twenty-five years old.  
  
"Any questions before we begin?" asked the woman as she sat down behind the desk. Principal Kuno wandered out of the room quietly for once and left her alone.  
  
"Are you available?" said one of the boys before he even knew what he was saying.  
  
"Yes I am, although not to you. I'm old enough to be your mother," said the teacher as she smirked at him.  
  
His head hit his desk with a thump and he groaned painfully. "Man."  
  
"Excuse me. Are you related to Ryoga Hibiki?" asked Akane as she stood up.  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"He's a friend of mine, and I noticed you had the same last name," said Akane.  
  
"I don't believe so," said the woman cheerfully.   
  
Akane nodded her head and smiled. "Oh. I guess it's just a coincidence."  
  
"Very likely," said the woman as she nodded her head.   
  
"What are your measurements?" called one of the boys in the back of the room. He was holding out a pad and pen. "It's for the school paper!"  
  
"What are you a tailor? You never ask a lady her age, her measurements, or how much she weighs," replied the woman calmly. She seemed to be taking it in stride rather than becoming upset.   
  
"Dang," grumbled the boy as he hung his head.  
  
"Now...we'll begin. Please open your English books..."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Nabiki Tendo was still scowling. Ranma hadn't shown up yet. He'd taken her attempt to get him onto a more controllable field rather like a challenge. She knew he wouldn't back down. "What's he up to?"  
  
The bell rang, signaling the change of classes. She sighed and looked up at the clock as her teacher gathered his things and shuffled out the door on his way to his next room. Soon, her next teacher would come in.  
  
It happened rather quietly, a woman with long red hair and an amazing body walked into the room and sat down behind the desk. "I'm Miss Hibiki. Your teacher has taken a little vacation to calm his nerves. I will be his replacement until he returns."  
  
"What is this?" asked Kuno quietly as he looked up from his book with a sort of shocked awe on his face. Most of the boy's mirrored this expression, but without the over dramatic tone that only Kuno could produce.  
  
"A light from the heavens! A goddess! A..."  
  
"Mr. Kuno, please take your seat. We do not have all day for you to lament over my beauty," said the woman with an amused looking smirk on her face as she turned towards the chalkboard.  
  
Nabiki smiled at this as the flustered looking Kuno sat down and continued to mutter to himself.  
  
"A tigress, such beauty! To think that Tatewaki Kuno could be smitten by yet another goddess! Surely, the heavens are truly blessing these women with their chance encounters with their one true love."  
  
"This could be interesting," thought Nabiki to herself as she glanced at him again.  
  
"Miss Tendo. If you could please keep your loving gazes towards Mr. Kuno to yourself for a moment..."   
  
Nabiki's head jerked forward and froze in horror. "What?"  
  
"I do believe you should be paying attention," said Miss Hibiki with an amused chuckle.   
  
Nabiki frowned; the entire class was staring at her now. This new teacher was going to get it.  
  
"Oh, and Miss Tendo?"  
  
"Yes Ma'am?" said the girl with a forced smile on her face.  
  
"I told you I'd come today," said the woman as she turned back towards the board and started to write the day's lesson down.  
  
Nabiki's jaw dropped like a rock. There was no way, just no way. "Can it be? Is it him?" she thought as she watched the woman for a moment intently.   
  
The hair, the blue eyes, even the bust size was right. It was nearly impossible, but standing in front of her was Mrs. Saotome, only about ten years younger. She looked down at her book, trying desperately to find an answer to so many questions. "Why does she look so much older now? How did she pull this off? Who is she really? What am I going to do now? All the plans I made to get back at him were him as a student! There's no way!"  
  
Suddenly, she calmed down. She'd just have to expose him for what he really was. "That shouldn't be to hard."  
  
+++++++++  
  
"She's smiling at us now," said Carrot as he looked at the girl who was plotting against her.  
  
Ranma sighed. "Man. She was never this bad."  
  
Xianfu was really enjoying this ruse. "You guys aren't all that bad."  
  
"Well, Kuno's decided he's in love with us. No surprise there," snorted Dan.  
  
Pissant was actually enjoying himself as well. "Wow. We get to teach all these young people! A chance to broaden their minds and souls!"  
  
"I'll bet she'll try to expose us," snorted Carrot in amusement. "She may try to use hot water later. Then move on to our records."  
  
"Well, the age thing isn't that hard to do," said Dan with a shrug. "Our curse doesn't work, and our history is concrete thanks to the Mercury computer."  
  
"It is a rather neat trick," agreed Carrot. "What should we do to her?"  
  
Xianfu snorted. "Nothing today. Just being here is enough to irritate her."  
  
"She's feeling smug right now. I say we let it build up and then crush it," said Carrot.  
  
"Sounds good," agreed Ranma. "Um. How?"  
  
"Well, she'll probably try to dump hot water on us at lunch," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"When it doesn't work, she'll get nervous and start questioning if we are who we say we are," agreed Dan.  
  
"That's evil!" said Pissant. "You shouldn't play with people's heads that way!"  
  
"Why not?" asked Xianfu calmly.   
  
"Glad to see you're getting into this," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"Killing ourselves now wouldn't do anything but send us back to L-sama," replied the woman. "I'm stuck with you idiots, and at least I get to be a woman again."  
  
"What the hell are you complaining about? I had to spend almost twenty years as a girl because of you," said Dan.  
  
"You didn't complain then."  
  
"I'm not complaining now either," he said with a small shrug.  
  
"Watch the body movements guys," warned Carrot as he noticed the intense gazes of some of the male students.  
  
"Right. Sorry," said the woman apologetically.  
  
"In any case, we should enjoy ourselves," said Carrot finally. He sighed as the bell rang, ending the class. "Time to go to work again."  
  
++++++++++  
  
Hibiki sat with the rest of the staff at lunch. They were at a table in the back of the lounge.  
  
"So. You went to school in America?" asked an older balding man who sat next to her.  
  
"That's right," said the woman cheerfully. "University of Florida actually."  
  
"Yes," said the man with a smile on his face. "I understand that is a fine school."  
  
An older woman frowned at her. "So. You're taking Jiro's place until he gets back from his nervous breakdown?"  
  
"That's right. I'm well aware of this school's reputation," said the woman calmly.   
  
"All of it is true. I hope you can handle it," said the old woman crossly.  
  
"I think I can handle myself a little better than most," replied Yohiko cheerfully.  
  
"You do martial arts?" asked one of the middle-aged men.   
  
Yohiko paused and realized that men surrounded her. The two female faculty members were sitting opposite her. "That's right. I'd put Ranma Saotome to shame. I've seen him fight, he's not bad...for his age."  
  
This got the attention of all of the faculty members.   
  
"I understand the Principal is a handful as well," said the redhead as she looked around the room.  
  
"That he is, he's a horrible man," said one of the older men in disgust. "Not one of us can stand up to him. He controls everything."  
  
Yohiko smirked. "Well, we'll see about that soon enough."  
  
"Oh lord," said one of the old women as she shook her head.  
  
"Excuse me, I'm going to take a walk," said Yohiko as she stood up and left the room.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Ha! I knew it!" said Nabiki as she watched the new teacher walk out of the building. She was standing near to the door with a thermos in her hands.   
  
Yohiko walked down the stairs and smiled as she saw a few students turn towards her. Nabiki was standing nearby; with a smug looking grin on her face.   
  
"Ha!" cried the teen as she tossed the hot water onto the woman. Her triumphant grin faded away very quickly as the schoolyard became dead silent.  
  
"May I ask why you did that Miss Tendo?"   
  
Nabiki's jaw dropped like a rock. "No way! You're not him?"  
  
"Tendo, Principals Office, now," said the woman firmly as she pointed towards the door.  
  
Nabiki worked her mouth for a moment and slowly walked to her doom.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"I thought she was Ranma!" said Nabiki as she looked up at Principal Kuno. She was on her knees in front of the man in the sand. He was sitting in a lawn chair with a tropical drink in his hand.  
  
The redheaded teacher was standing next to her with a small frown on her face.  
  
"Well, I can't understand dat," said the man as he peered down at her. "I guess you bein punished den." He pulled a pair of barber's sheers from out of nowhere.  
  
The woman stepped in front of the horrified Nabiki and scowled at the man. "I think an apology will do this time."  
  
The man seemed to consider it. "Nah. She be needin de bowl cut anyway."  
  
"That wasn't an request," said the woman firmly as she narrowed her eyes at the man.  
  
"Why you raisin de voice at the Big Kahuna?" said the man as he backed away from her, pretending to be afraid.  
  
"Can it you lunatic. I'm not buying any. You keep your perverted hair fetish to yourself," snarled Yohiko angrily.  
  
"Fetish?" muttered Nabiki dumbly. She'd never even thought about that angle before.   
  
"I think you be needin de discipline too!" said the man as he stood up.  
  
"Lay a hand on me and you'll have a lawsuit on your ass faster than the time it takes me to rip that palm tree off your head and shove it up your..." she paused and looked down at Nabiki for a moment. "Throat."  
  
The man frowned at this, and backed off. "Dat not playin fair."  
  
"Fair? Since when do you care about that?" she replied coolly.  
  
Nabiki looked up at her in awe. "I love this woman!" she thought to herself. "How could I have ever thought that she was him!?"  
  
"You apologize," said the teacher as she glanced back at Nabiki.  
  
"I'm sorry!" said the girl. She found herself surprised that it was actually genuine.  
  
"Fine. We have a little time before class starts again, go enjoy the rest of your lunch," said Yohiko as she winked at her and started towards the exit.  
  
Nabiki quickly followed behind her. Only halfway out of fear of being left alone with Principal Kuno.  
  
The man stood up and watched them leave. His head cocked to the side as he thought about what had just happened. Slowly, a grin formed on his lips. "What a woman! Ohta! She bein mine soon enough!"  
  
++++++++++++  
When lunch ended, Yohiko found herself corralling students into the building. She started to sing cheerfully as she moved the crowd towards the doors. "Rollin, rollin, rollin. Rollin, rollin, rollin. Rollin, rollin, rollin, Rawhide! Keep Rollin, rollin, rollin, though the streams are swollen! Keep the doggies rollin Rawhide! Through rain and wind and weather! Hell bent for leather! Wishin my guy was by my side! All the things I'm missin, good vittles love and kissin, are waitin at the end of my ride! Move em out! Head em up! Head em up! Move em up! Head em up Rawhide! Cut em out! Ride em in! Ride em in! Cut em out! Cut em out! Ride em in Rawhide!"  
  
The students seemed a little disturbed by this, but continued to move towards the doors.  
  
"Ha! Ha! Movin, movin, movin, thought they're disapprovin! Keep them doggies movin Rawhide! Don't try to understand em, just rope and throw and brand em! Soon we'll be livin high and wide! My hearts calculatin, my true love will be waitin! Waiting at the end of my ride! Move em out! Head em up! Head em up! Move em up! Head em up Rawhide! Cut em out! Ride em in! Ride em in! Cut em out! Cut em out! Ride em in Rawhide!"  
  
The song ended and the doors to the building closed behind her. She smirked and strolled into the halls.   
  
"Miss Hibiki, I would have words with you!" cried Tatewaki Kuno as he halted the teacher in the hallway just before classes started again.  
  
"Yes?" asked the woman as she looked at him for a moment and frowned.  
  
"I feel that your love is unrequited, and I must intervene. Weep for joy, for I shall date with you at last!"   
  
"What the hell are you babbling about?" said the woman as a frown formed on her face.  
  
"I have decided in my wisdom, to allow you to accompany myself on a date this very evening!"  
  
"You're asking me out?" said the woman with a rough sounding snort.  
  
"That I am!" cried Kuno as he lunged forward.  
  
Only to have a very sensitive area of his body meet with the woman's knee. "Keep your hands to yourself you little pervert!"  
  
Kuno doubled over and clutched himself in pain.   
  
"I would never date a student! For god's sake, I'm old enough to be your mother!"  
  
"Age matters not where true love is..." gasped Kuno painfully, his voice at a much higher pitch.  
  
"I don't love you! If you ever try to grab me again, I'll have you expelled!"  
  
"Such a fire, surely she wishes to show..."  
  
Yohiko grabbed him and picked him up off the ground by his collar. "Look you little pervert. I don't like you, you've basically ruined any chance you ever had of me ever liking you. If you continue this blatant stupidity, I'm going to hurt you in ways you won't forget."  
  
"I accept these taps of lo..."  
  
The woman clamped her hand over his mouth and frowned at him. "Just stop talking."  
  
"But I must confess my undying..." he muttered under her hand.   
  
"Stop now," she said.  
  
"I..."  
  
"Don't make me angry Kuno," she said calmly. "Go to class. Now."  
  
He nodded and shuffled off a little bowlegged to his next class.  
  
Both Akane and Nabiki were looking at the woman from their lockers nearby. They had tears of joy in their eyes.  
  
"She's the greatest teacher ever!" gasped Akane.  
  
"Akane. I never thought I'd say that about anyone, but..." agreed Nabiki.  
  
"Man. That was harsh," muttered Ranma dumbly as he walked up to them. "Oh well, it's only Kuno."  
  
"Ranchan!" said Ukyo as she walked over to him. "Are you going to come by the restaurant after school today?"  
  
"Huh? Sure!" said the boy happily.  
  
"Great! I'll fix you a special Okonomiyaki!" said the chef cheerfully.  
  
"Ranma!!" snarled Akane. "Making a date right in front of me?! How dare you!" She raised her fist, but found it halted quite suddenly.  
  
"Miss Tendo. I hope you weren't thinking of hitting another student in the hallway."  
  
The noise in the hall ground to a complete halt as everyone turned to look at the woman holding back Akane's swing. "But...I...He's my..."  
  
"I don't care if he's just murdered your entire family. You do not hit other students in my hall," said the woman firmly. "If you have a problem, I suggest you work it out off campus."  
  
Not a single student spoke. They all just looked on in a sort of shocked awe.  
  
"But..." stammered the girl in shock.  
  
"There is not 'but' Miss Tendo," said the woman calmly as she released the girl's arm. "I will not stand for any such displays on my campus. Understood?"  
  
"Yes Ma'am," said the girl quietly.  
  
Yohiko walked away with a cheerful smirk forming on her face. "This is going to be too much fun."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Carrot walked into the Tendo home and sighed. Under his arm were a few books and a briefcase hung from his hand. He strolled inside and walked up the stairs to the room before dropping his things on the ground. "Man, what a day." He looked at Genma and smiled for a moment.  
  
The panda rolled over and looked up at him from his futon. Apparently he'd decided to take a nap. The animal held up a sign at the boy and scratched its behind as it yawned. "Where have you been boy?"  
  
"Work. I got a job," said Carrot as he looked at him for a moment with a small frown.   
  
"Oh. That's nice," said Genma's next sign as he rolled back into a more comfortable position and went back to sleep.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Oh my. You're home late Carrot," said Kasumi as he walked down the stairs and waved to the girl. Akane and Nabiki were sitting around the table looking over at him.  
  
"Yes. How was school son?" asked Soun.  
  
"What do you mean? He wasn't there," said Nabiki in confusion.  
  
"I was there all day," said Ranma as he narrowed his eyes at her for a moment.  
  
"You were not!" snapped the girl irritably.  
  
"Whatever," grumbled the pigtailed boy as he rolled his eyes at her.  
  
The phone rang and Nabiki stood up and rushed over to it. "Hello? You've got it? Excellent work!"  
  
Ranma arched his eyebrow at this, but said nothing. "What's she on about?"  
  
"You weren't at school today!" snapped Akane.  
  
"You sure?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Yes!" snapped the girl.  
  
"Akane, I'm thirty six. I wouldn't be there as a student," said Ranma.  
  
"You got a job at the school?" asked Akane.  
  
"Well I did say I was there didn't I?" he asked her calmly.  
  
"How nice," said Soun.  
  
Nabiki was writing furiously on a notepad with a grin on her face. "Thanks! I'll see you tomorrow!" She walked over to them and smiled as she sat down.  
  
Ranma looked at her and grinned. "What was that all about?"  
  
"I'll tell you for ten-thousand yen," said the girl as she smirked at him.  
  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders and handed her the money.  
  
"Ahem. Yohiko Hibiki. Age: 36 Height: 5'4", Weight: Threatened physician when asked, Measurements: 36-23-29. Attended University of Florida in America. Lives in a small apartment on Nerima's East Side."  
  
"Most impressive," said Ranma as he nodded at her. "Managed to get your hands on that new teachers records did you?" He stood up and started walking towards his room again.  
  
"How do you know about her?" asked Nabiki.  
  
"He says he got a job at school today," said Akane. "He's too old to be a student."  
  
Nabiki frowned at this. "What are you? A janitor?"  
  
"Huh? No way! Excuse me, I've got to go grade those English quizzes I gave you today. I don't see how Kuno can have four pages of answers. The test was only one page long, and it was multiple choice." He sighed and started walking up the stairs.  
  
"Did he just say something about quizzes he gave us?" asked Akane in confusion.   
  
"No way!" gasped Nabiki. She stood up and rushed after him, throwing open the door to his room.  
  
"What is it?" he muttered as he frowned at her. He was sitting with the briefcase in his lap. It had a large stack of papers on top of it and he had a pen in his hand.  
  
"No way!" she cried as she rushed over to him and grabbed the papers. She flipped through them excitedly, finally landing on her own assignment. "It can't be true! I splashed her and..."  
  
"Nothing happened? Really Nabiki, you don't think I'm still cursed after twenty years do you?"  
  
She turned to look at the woman who had said that and her jaw dropped like a rock. Miss Hibiki was sitting where Ranma had been with a smirk on her face. "How?"  
  
"I can control the change now," she replied with a shrug. "No more hot and cold water."  
  
"That's..." Nabiki paused and realized that Ranma's clothes had changed as well. He was now wearing a feminine looking pair of pajamas.  
  
"Really Nabiki," said the redhead as she closed the front of her top a little more and frowned in disapproval at where she was staring.  
  
"Huh? What? This is some kind of trick! He wasn't wearing that!" she snapped.  
  
"Oh, you mean the clothes? Holdover from my days as a Hellspawn." She stood up and her clothing seemed to change into a liquid, shifting color and shape. She was once again dressed in the familiar Chinese apparel that Ranma liked so much. The only difference was that hers actually fit. "Neat huh?"  
  
"What's a Hellspawn?" asked Nabiki dumbly. She couldn't think of anything else to say.   
  
"Long story, one you don't want to hear," replied Carrot with a shrug. He shifted back into a young boy again and sat back down. "If you'll excuse me, I've got work to do now." He took the papers from her hand and walked her out the door.  
  
Nabiki stood there in confusion for a moment, not quite sure what to say or do. Finally, she turned red and growled. "Damn it! I'll get him for this!" She stomped to her room and jumped onto her bed. She rolled onto her back and thought about it. "This is obviously a fake identity. That's easy enough to disprove." She smiled and relaxed a bit more. "I'll be able to crush that bastard like a bug after that."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome looked at Akane as she sat lazily in front of the television. It was quiet and calm, Carrot was up in the room doing who knows what, and he'd just finished a workout in the dojo. "Hey. What's up?" he asked her as he sat down.  
  
Akane snorted at him and turned her head away.  
  
"What'd I do?" he asked in confusion.  
  
"You jerk!" snapped Akane.  
  
"Man. I hate when you do this!" he grumbled under his breath while trying to figure out what he'd done wrong.  
  
"She's still angry about you going to the Ucchan's. Petty little thing isn't she?" said Carrot as he walked down the stairs.  
  
"You been gone a while," said Ranma as he looked up at the boy.  
  
"Yeah. I had to grade some papers," he said with a shrug.  
  
"Huh? What for?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Well, so I can hand them back out tomorrow," said Carrot as he looked at them for a moment and smiled.  
  
"Oh," replied the boy with a shrug.   
  
"Wait a minute! What do you mean petty!?" snapped Akane.  
  
"You're asking?" snorted Carrot. "You get upset when Ranma goes to see his friends. That's downright pathetic."  
  
"That..."  
  
"That what? Bimbo? Hussy? They don't get mad at him for seeing you, and you live with him," said Carrot calmly. "You're just jealous that he might want to spend his time with someone else. After a certain point jealousy stops being cute."  
  
"I am not jealous!" snapped Akane.  
  
"Are too, you can't hide it very well either. It's kinda pathetic."  
  
Ranma was wisely keeping his mouth shut.  
  
"How dare you!?" cried Akane as she stood up and glared at him.  
  
"Yeah. How dare I tell the truth! I must be a complete bastard for talking about stuff that embarrasses you!" The pigtailed boy seemed to be enjoying this.  
  
"You jerk!" cried Akane as she tried to punch him.  
  
He caught her fist and frowned at her. "Can't win with your mouth, so you'll just use your fists is that it?"  
  
Akane stared at him in shock. "Wha?"  
  
"That is truly pathetic," he snorted as he shoved her hand aside casually. "It's also a sign of low intelligence."  
  
The girl stood up and backed away from him. Tears forming in her eyes. "You...you..."  
  
"If you can't think of something nice to say, don't say anything at all," replied Carrot as he ignored her emotional display.  
  
"Akane!" said Ranma as he stood up.   
  
"You can't protect her from herself boy," said Carrot calmly.  
  
"He didn't mean it!" said Ranma as he grabbed her shoulders.  
  
"Yes I did, and she needs to hear it, even if it makes her cry," said Carrot. "Stop trying to make her feel better. She'll just go back to the way she was before if you do."  
  
Ranma growled at the boy and turned towards his fiancee again. "Akane..."  
  
"Just leave me alone!" she cried.  
  
Ranma just stood there as she shoved him back and ran up the stairs.  
  
"Still blaming him for the actions of others I see," said Carrot out loud.  
  
She stopped just in front of her door and turned too look at him. It was obvious that she had caught what he'd said.  
  
"Ya didn't have ta..." said Ranma.  
  
"Yes, I did," replied his double calmly. He lifted up the newspaper Soun had abandoned and started reading.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga Hibiki stood with a confused frown on his face. "Where the hell am I now?"  
  
"Hey. Hibiki," said Carrot as he strolled by with a plastic bag in his hand.   
  
"Ranma! Prepare to die!" screamed Ryoga as he charged.  
  
"Oh, now what?" grumbled Carrot as he turned and decked the boy. "What the hell is wrong with you? I'm not Ranma."  
  
"Huh?" said Ryoga. "You can't fool me Saotome! You're not even wearing a disguise!"  
  
"I'm that other Ranma! The one you met yesterday," said Carrot as he looked down at the boy and extended his arm to help him up.  
  
Ryoga swat it aside angrily. "How dare you!"  
  
"Look you jerk. I've never done anything to you. We only just met yesterday, and you've been attacking me ever since," said Carrot irritably.  
  
"I won't forgive you for treating Akane that way!" cried Ryoga as he stood in a fighting stance.  
  
"Oh? What business of yours is that?" snorted Carrot as he stood up and frowned at the lost boy.  
  
"What?! How dare you!" snarled Ryoga as he started to move towards him.  
  
"How dare I what? I just asked a question. Where do you get off defending Akane Tendo's honor. She can take care of that herself," snorted Carrot lazily.  
  
Ryoga paused and looked at him for a moment. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean she doesn't want you to protect her," said Carrot. "I can hear it now. 'I'm a martial artist too! I can take care of myself! Don't worry!' Of course, this would be right before she gets herself beaten up, but that's beside the point."  
  
Ryoga snorted in disgust. "I won't allow you to talk about her that way!" He jumped forward, only to get decked again.  
  
Ranma looked down at him and smirked. "It's really none of your business if I do talk about her that way. You're not her boyfriend, in fact, she's engaged to someone else."  
  
"That two timing bastard doesn't deserve her!" snarled Ryoga.  
  
"That's for Akane to decide, not you," replied the pigtailed boy calmly.  
  
"What? Akane doesn't love him! She hates him! I'm going to save her from..."  
  
"Are you really that stupid?" asked Carrot calmly.  
  
"What?" said Ryoga in horror.   
  
"Akane does like him, otherwise she wouldn't get so jealous of him."  
  
"That's a lie!"  
  
"Denial really is pathetic Hibiki. Even if she doesn't love him, they are at the very least friends."  
  
"That's a lie!" cried Ryoga angrily. He lunged forward with another punch and landed on his back again as Carrot countered.  
  
"Well, it doesn't really matter. You've got no place defending her. It's none of your business."  
  
"What? How can you say that! I care more about Akane than that louse ever will!"  
  
"Really? I suppose he just saves her for no reason then. I mean, he could have just gotten rid of her easily by now. He could have let Cologne beat him, or let Taro have her, or that French guy. I mean, think about all the times he had the chance to get rid of her and didn't. I guess he just likes tormenting himself for no reason. There's no way he really likes her..."  
  
"That's right!" cried Ryoga.  
  
"Well, I can see you're as thick as you are strong. I could beat you over the head with a picture of them having sex and you still wouldn't believe me," said Carrot with a small sigh. "Course then you'd start going on about how he took her purity or something."  
  
"Ranma took Akane's purity! That monster! I'll..."  
  
"It was just an example you moron!" snapped Carrot as he decked him again.  
  
"Oh," said Ryoga. "Well he'd better not!"  
  
"They are going to get married. It's actually better if he does do it, and that sounds funny coming from a guy who sleeps in bed with another man's fiancee."  
  
Ryoga looked at him. "That's different! I..."  
  
"Settle right in between her breasts and grope as much as you can. Do you really think I'm stupid enough to not know what you do?"  
  
"I do not! I just...Ranma...I have to protect her..." Carrot smirked as the boy was suddenly at a loss for words.  
  
"You do too, and it's pathetic. If she ever finds out, you're dead meat."  
  
"What? You wouldn't dare!" cried Ryoga.  
  
"Why not? I never promised not to tell. After all, you weren't cursed where I come from," said Carrot with a small shrug. "I can tell whoever I want too."  
  
Ryoga backed away from him. "Dishonorable bastard! I'll shut you up!"  
  
"Who are you to talk about being dishonorable Hibiki?" retorted Carrot as he jumped on the boy's head. "I'd love to stay and argue with you about it all day, but I've got to get this too Kasumi. She's making Stewed Daikon tonight."  
  
As Carrot hopped away over the rooftops, he smiled to himself cheerfully. "Man. This is fun!"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
The next Morning.  
  
"Akane Tendo, Ranma Saotome, you have come at last," said Tatewaki Kuno as he stood with his bokken held in front of him.  
  
"What the heck? Again? Don't you ever have enough?" snorted Ranma as he jumped at the boy.  
  
"I shall defeat you this day and free Akane Tendo and The Pigtailed Girl!"  
  
"Fat chance!" retorted the boy as he jumped at Kuno's head.  
  
Only to stop about two inches in front of him as someone grabbed his leg and slammed him into the ground.  
  
"What the?" muttered Ranma dumbly as he sat up and saw a familiar figure holding onto his leg.  
  
Kuno was also dumbfounded as Miss Hibiki held onto his blade, stopping it cold.   
  
She turned and glared at them both. "What the hell is going on here?"  
  
"Ah. My dearest educator. I seek to vanquish this foul sorcerer once and for all with my mighty blade, but he is too stubborn to see that he is already defeated by..." He was stopped cold as a hand slapped him across his face.  
  
"No fighting on school grounds!" snapped Hibiki angrily.  
  
Kuno blinked. "But... I must..."  
  
"Do you want me to drag you to the principal's office?" she snapped.  
  
"Hey! He attacked me! The crazy jerk does this every morning!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Well he's going to stop it right now. If I catch anyone fighting again, I'll personally drag him into Principal Kuno's office and hold him down for a haircut!"  
  
Ranma and Kuno both went white as a sheet.  
  
"No way," they said in unison.  
  
"It seems that we must have a forced truce Saotome. Though it pains my heart that I am unable to free my loves from your grasp, I must accept these terms." Kuno strolled back into the building.  
  
"I don't need no help! I can take him!" said Ranma as he looked at the woman angrily.   
  
"I don't care if you can fight off the JSDF on your own. Fighting is disruptive, and I won't have it on my campus!" snapped the woman angrily. "Get to class Saotome!"  
  
The boy jumped to his feet and rushed into the building.  
  
"All of you. Didn't you hear the bell?" cried the woman as she looked around at the crowd that had gathered around her.  
  
Nabiki was the only one left after a moment or two. "Well Tendo?"  
  
The girl was staring forward with a horrified look on her face. "No! You can't!"  
  
"Can't what?" asked Yohiko with a smirk on her face. "Stop your little gambling ring by stopping the fights on campus?"  
  
Nabiki backed away. "What?"  
  
"You know, what you're doing is illegal. If I find a witness, or catch you in the act...you're in serious trouble young lady." The woman had a predatory gaze on her face as she looked down at her. "All the extortion, loan sharking, blackmail, book keeping... I know about it all Tendo, and I'm going to catch you sooner or later."  
  
Nabiki swallowed and stepped back. "Wha? What do you mean? I never..."  
  
"I actually went to school with you twenty years ago Tendo. I know all your tricks," said the girl as she narrowed her eyes at the girl. "You'd better watch yourself. Now get to class, before we're both late."  
  
Nabiki nodded numbly and rushed away. "I'm in serious trouble!" she thought to herself. "That bastard! He won't get away with this!"  
  
Yohiko Hibiki smiled as she strolled back towards the building. Thunder rumbled in the distance behind her and she cackled with an almost evil tone in her voice. "I'll get you; and your little flunky too! Bwahahahahahahahahaa!"  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ryoga Hibiki walked through the wilderness and frowned. His target had escaped him again. "Damn. Just you wait Ranma! When I find you, I'll..."  
  
"You'll what? What are you doing here?" said a feminine voice from right next to him.  
  
"Huh? Where am I?" asked Ryoga as he turned to find himself standing in the middle of a baseball field. The girls' P.E. class stood around him staring dumbly.  
  
A redheaded woman stepped forward with a ball cap on her head and scowled at him. "What are you doing here? This is the girls practice!"  
  
"Auntie Yohiko?" said Ryoga as he blinked and looked at her for a moment in confusion.  
  
"Did you just say Auntie?" asked the woman as she looked down at him.  
  
"It is you!" cried Ryoga as he rushed forward and grabbed her around her waist.  
  
"Huh?" stammered Yohiko in confusion. "What the?"  
  
"It's me! Little Ryo-chan! Remember? Your nephew!"  
  
"Oh. I guess so..." said the woman as her mind tried desperately to figure out what had just happened. "I um..."  
  
"Wait. You mean you are related to Ryoga?" said Akane as she jogged up to the woman.  
  
"You know him?" she said as she pointed down at the boy.  
  
"You don't remember me? Well, I suppose it has been a few years. Sometimes I forget what my dad looks like when he comes back, and I end up beating him up. It sure is embarrassing!" said the boy as he scratched the back of his head.  
  
Yohiko blinked and looked down at Ryoga again. "This isn't possible. I can't have any real relatives...Nabiki must have put him up to this!" She thought frowned at Ryoga and stepped aside with him. "Just a moment ladies."  
She pulled Ryoga up by his collar and frowned. "What did Nabiki tell you?"  
  
"Huh? Nabiki? You know her too? Why are you here Auntie? I thought you didn't get lost like the rest of us! It didn't spread did it? Damn it! Must we all be cursed!?"  
  
The woman frowned, Ryoga wasn't smart enough to think up a lie like that on his own. "No you idiot. I work here. I'm a teacher."  
  
"Oh. Right. Mom told me you had gone to college." Ryoga looked thoughtful and then grinned again. "I come to Nerima a lot these days. There's this girl..."  
  
"That's nice Ryoga. Look, why are you here?"  
  
"I'm looking for Ranma Saotome! That bastard! I've got to make him pay for what he did to Akane!" snarled the boy hatefully.  
  
"Not in my school you're not!" snapped the woman as she belted him across his head.   
  
"What? This is a battle of honor..."  
  
"That can easily be held somewhere else! This isn't a dojo, it's a school. If I catch you fighting on campus, I'll take you to Principal Kuno for a buzz-cut like I would anyone else! Understand me?" she snapped. "You leave Ranma Saotome alone at school! I won't have you disrupting the day just because you don't like him!"  
  
Ryoga blinked and hung his head. "But I..."  
  
"Promise me Ryoga!" said the woman as she grabbed his shoulders firmly and looked him in the eyes.   
  
"I..." He sighed and hung his head. "I promise."  
  
"Good boy," said the woman as she smiled at him. "I've got a class to teach now. I'll see you later."  
  
"Yes Ma'am," said the boy dejectedly as he staggered off.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Carrot frowned as he looked at the building in front of him. "My god, it does exist! I made that address up!"  
  
"What does this mean?" asked Dan.  
  
"Our friend made our identity real," said Carrot.  
  
"So, we have an apartment and everything?" asked Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Seems like it," said Xianfu as she walked them up to their room and opened the door. It was furnished, and there was even mail addressed to them spread out across a tabletop. Some of it was even opened.  
  
The apartment was very nice, three rooms. A bedroom, a kitchen, and the room they were in now. The only drawback being the communal bathroom. There was also a bathhouse across the street from them.  
  
Carrot shuddered and looked down at the laptop he had just pulled out of his shirt. "Um guys. If all this is real then...we have a serious problem."  
  
"What's that?" asked Dan.  
  
"Well, I sort of put it in as a private joke, but..." Carrot sighed and hung his head.  
  
"Where the hell have you been Mom? It's been two days! I was getting worried!" snapped a voice as someone stepped out of the adjacent bedroom in the home.   
  
A fourteen year old girl with pink hair done up in a pair of odango and pigtails walked into the room and scowled at her angrily. She was wearing a long T-shirt and looked like she'd been sleeping.  
  
"I need a drink," said her mother as she hung her shoulders. She moved towards the cabinets and opened them in search of a bottle of something, anything.  
  
"You've had enough! I'll bet that's what kept you out all night!" snapped the girl irritably.  
  
"No. God no!" said Carrot as he continued to shuffle about through the cabinets.  
  
"Look, I managed to talk the landlord into letting us have another week with the rent but... Why are you dressed like that?" said the girl as she blinked at her mother and frowned.  
  
"I got a job," said Yohiko as she scowled at the girl for a moment.  
  
"Really? Really and truly?" squealed the child in excitement.   
  
"This isn't happening to me..." said the redhead as she looked at the teen in a sort of horrified wonder. "No..."  
  
Yohiko Hibiki's daughter rushed up and grabbed her mother around her waist in a rough hug.  
  
"What's her name?" asked Ranma inside their head.  
  
"Usagi Hibiki. I figured it would be kind of funny to pretend we had a kid here. So I just used..."  
  
"Chibi-Usa," said Dan irritably.  
  
"Yeah..." said Carrot sheepishly. "I didn't think this would happen. There's no way that computer is this powerful."  
  
"Well, we always did have a weird sense of humor," pointed out Pissant.  
  
"Those bastards!" snapped Dan.  
  
"Where do you work?" asked the teenager as she broke her mother's chain of thought.  
  
"Furinkan high," said the woman in reply.  
  
"You're teaching?" said the girl with a sort of shocked awe on her face.  
  
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I?" snorted the woman.  
  
"You said you'd never do it again after dad died..." muttered the girl with a sort of relieved smile on her face.  
  
"Dad?" muttered her mother in horror. "Oh god no..."  
  
"What?" said Usagi in confusion.  
  
"Nothing dear," said her mother as her expression changed. She smiled and hugged her. "I was wrong. I just got over it eventually."  
  
"That's great mom!" said the girl as she let her go. "I'm gonna go to the store now. I'll make dinner when I get back."  
  
Yohiko watched her rush out the door and smiled wistfully. "I've always wanted a daughter...but I died so young..." said Xianfu.  
  
"Well, congratulations," said Carrot with a sort of disgusted snort. "I can't believe we'd do this to ourselves!"  
  
"We should tell the Tendos we're moving out," said Dan with a snort.  
  
"That would seem to be wise," agreed Pissant. "We owe them a lot, if only for keeping us up for the past two days."  
  
"We'd better go over that history we made again too," said Dan with a small sigh. "It'll be more useful than we thought it would be now."  
  
"No shit," grumbled Carrot.  
  
"Well, we've apparently been out of it for a while. A grieving wife I suppose," said Xianfu.  
  
"I hope that chick can cook," commented Carrot. "The last thing we need is an Akane cook-alike."  
  
"I think she's been taking care of whoever it is we've just become," said Dan irritably. "She's probably pretty good."  
  
"Great," grumbled Carrot in irritation. "Well, I guess we'd better get used to being Yohiko Hibiki now."  
  
"Think she knows about the other us?" asked Dan.  
  
"I dunno, we'll have to weasel the information out of her over time. I should be able to talk our way through it without looking too much like we're asking about our own life. It'll take time though, otherwise the kid might get suspicious."  
  
"Maybe we should just tell her?" asked Xianfu.  
  
"Right. 'Hi! I'm your mom and all, but I don't remember you or anything about myself! Could you tell me all about it? Don't worry, I don't need to go to the hospital. I remember being someone completely different, and I turn into a boy! Isn't that neat?"  
  
"Point taken," muttered the woman irritably.  
  
"We could fake amnesia," said Pissant.  
  
"We'd lose credibility because of the job," said Carrot. "We remember how to speak and write English well enough to teach it, but everything else is gone? Not likely."  
  
"So, we're gonna have to be sneaky then?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Yup, and that's my department," said Carrot.  
  
"We should be testing out our powers too. We don't know how much has changed, or even how strong we really are now," said Dan.  
  
"You're right," said Carrot. "The kid should make a good sparring partner. That is, if this person we became really knew martial arts."  
  
"Maybe," said Xianfu uncomfortably. "She doesn't move like a martial artist though."  
  
"That isn't good," said Carrot calmly. "It means we never taught her."  
  
"Well, we've got a lot to do, so let's get to it," said Dan with a heavy sigh.  
  
Carrot nodded, and he went over to the phone in order to call the Tendo home.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
  
  



	58. Insertion Part 58

Insertion  
  
Part 58  
  
Remembering the life I never had.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Yohiko Hibiki looked around her room as if she'd never seen it before, mostly because she hadn't.  
  
"Whoa. Weird," said Carrot as they stood in the doorway and surveyed the immediate area. There was a well-made bed, a dresser, a closet, and a desk with a vanity mirror on it. Various makeup and pictures cluttered the desk, and there wasn't much personality to the place. "It's a chicks room."  
  
"What did you expect?" snorted Xianfu.  
  
"I'm not sure what the hell I was expecting," replied Carrot calmly.  
  
"Well, let's see what we can find," said Dan as they began to move about.   
  
"Pictures first," said Carrot as he walked over to the desk and sat down. They lifted the photos they had set up around the desk.  
  
Most of them were of herself and Usagi. There was a man with them in some of the more recent ones. He was mostly in the background though. "Wonder who that is?" asked Ranma.  
  
"A boyfriend maybe?" said Xianfu curiously as she looked at him.  
  
"Us, I hope not," said Carrot.  
  
"Did you just say what I think you said?" asked Dan.  
  
"Never mind that," said Carrot. "Oh great. I think this loser was our husband."  
  
"Hey. I know him!" said Ranma.  
  
"Morisato," said Carrot grimly. "We were married to Keiichi."  
  
"Gross!" exclaimed Dan.  
  
"What happened to him though? Are the Goddesses around?" asked Dan.  
  
"I don't think so," said Carrot. "In fact, I'm not sure why, but I'm pretty sure."  
  
"Well, we do work in mysterious ways," said Pissant cheerfully.  
  
"Yeah. Mysterious ways to piss us off," commented Dan bitterly.  
  
"We can't really blame us, we'd do the same thing in our position," said Carrot.  
  
"Ahem, anyway..." grumbled Xianfu. "We should find out about this young man."  
  
"He doesn't look that old to me," said Carrot. "Maybe mid-twenties."  
  
"Well, we do look good enough to net ourselves a younger man," said Xianfu.  
  
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," said Carrot.  
  
"Hey. Is that a diary?" asked Ranma as he pointed at a locked book on the corner of the desk.  
  
"Very useful," said Carrot as he picked it up and ripped the lock away calmly. The cover tore, but he doubted if they were going to be using it again.  
  
"Let's see..." said Xianfu as she flipped through the pages. "Here it is. 'I lost him, my god I lost him. Keiichi died today, a silly accident took the love of my life away. Usagi is devastated, I can't bring myself to tell her that her daddy isn't coming home. I can't even tell myself it seems. I told him, but he didn't listen. Don't moon the cheetahs honey, they look fast..."  
  
"What's the date?" asked Carrot.  
  
"Seven years ago," said Xianfu.  
  
"What a sap we were. There's some really bad poetry in here about lost love and all that," said Dan irritably.  
  
"Well, we were an English teacher..." pointed out Pissant.   
  
Carrot flipped through the book and read a few lines here and there. "Seems we never did recover. Most of this is whining about how much our life is empty and sucks. Contemplation of suicide, Usagi being around put a stop to that pretty quick...umm...guilt for having her be our mother, and not the other way around..."  
  
"Oh, that's nice," snorted Xianfu. "What kind of loser were we?"  
  
"The kind of loser who has an excuse for not doing much over the past few years," said Carrot calmly. "It's actually the perfect disguise for us."  
  
"I see," said Dan with a small frown on his face. They were still flipping through the book. "Seems that guy in the picture is our neighbor. He's been around a lot over the past two years, since we moved here. His name is...oh Us no!"  
  
"Ha! You're doing it too!" said Carrot. He then realized what the man was looking at. "Damn Us! Yusaku Godai!? We've got a really sick sense of humor!"  
  
"Makes you wonder who else might be lurking in these halls," said Dan. "It wouldn't surprise me if the whole lot of them is around."  
  
"We aren't the apartment manager are we?" said Carrot hopefully.  
  
"I don't think so. Why?" asked Xianfu.  
  
"Good. It's hard to explain. The easiest explanation is that it's another of those comics we read before we joined with Ranma."  
  
"Oh," said Ranma, Pissant, and Xianfu in unison.  
  
"Where to next?" asked Pissant.  
  
"The closet," said Carrot. "That would be the next place I'd keep important records myself."  
  
Dan stood them up and walked over to the door. They opened it and stared at a pile of photo albums that went up to their waist. There was a wall of videotapes with various dates on them as well. "Well, we're definitely Japanese," commented Carrot.  
  
"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" snapped Ranma.  
  
"I can't think of any other culture that takes this many pictures. Fortunately, that works to our advantage," said Dan as he picked up a few of the books.  
  
"Did we record that kids whole life?" asked Carrot as he peered at the videos.  
  
"Probably," said Xianfu as she lifted one of them up and flipped it over. "We should watch these. The photo albums should help us fill things in."  
  
"Some of these are dated more than fourteen years ago. They go back as much as twenty years," said Carrot.  
  
"Great," said Dan. "The more we know, the better."  
  
"Is this bothering anyone else?" asked Pissant nervously.  
  
"Yeah. I know what you mean. I halfway expect us to come in and ask what we're doing in our room," agreed Carrot.  
  
"It's like we're snooping around through someone else's stuff," said Xianfu uncomfortably.  
  
"Well it isn't someone else's stuff," snorted Dan. "It's our stuff."  
  
"This is really strange. I know she never existed before we came along, but I feel like we're stealing someone's life. I'm actually feeling guilty," said Xianfu as she clutched herself for a moment and shuddered.  
  
"Strange isn't it?" asked Carrot in amusement.   
  
"You actually seem to be enjoying this," said Pissant.  
  
"Well, I suppose I am," replied Carrot. "Hey. What's this blank one on the bottom?" He took it out of the stack carefully and flipped it over a few times.  
  
"I dunno," said Dan. "All the other ones are labeled."  
  
"Is Usagi back yet?" asked Pissant.  
  
"No. Let's check it out," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
They sat down in front of the TV and put the tape into the VCR. After starting it, they sat back and relaxed a bit.  
  
After a minute they all paused and sucked in a quick breath.  
  
"Is this what I think it is?" asked Ranma a little sickly.  
  
"Oh Us NO!" said Dan in horror.  
  
"Wow," said Xianfu in a sort of awe. "We can put all that in our..."  
  
"I'm gonna be sick..." whined Pissant.  
  
"We were married you know," said Xianfu irritably. "Don't be such babies."  
  
"Turn it off!" cried Carrot as he took the video out and tossed it away as if it was on fire. "Note. Never ever watch that again!"  
  
"Agreed!" said all the other males.  
  
"Hey! Wait a minute! I'm not gay, where the hell does that leave me?" cried Xianfu.  
  
"Outvoted," said Carrot flatly.  
  
+++++++++  
  
Usagi opened the door to the apartment and smiled as she set the bag of groceries on the counter. Her smile faded when she saw the wine bottle sitting on the counter. "Oh man. Not again."  
  
Sure enough, her mother was sitting in the living room with stacks of old home movies again, a wine glass in her hand, and a smile on her face. The girl paused suddenly and actually did a double take. "A smile?"  
  
"Do you remember this?" she said as she turned and pointed at the screen. It was a video of her family when her father was still alive at a small amusement park.  
  
"Yes..." she said in confusion. "Mom...are you all right?"  
  
"I'm fine dear," said the woman almost cheerfully as she watched the screen.  
  
"Are you sure?" Usagi sighed, it was an old conversation. She knew her mother's reply by heart.  
  
"I think, things are going to change around here, Usa-chan."  
  
It was yet another surprise. "Wha?"  
  
"Come sit with me," said the woman as she held her arm out to her daughter. "Tell me what you remember."  
  
"Mom. I'm not sure if I should..." said the girl uncomfortably.  
  
"Don't worry," said the woman with her cheerful smile widening suddenly.  
  
Usagi was almost in tears. She'd not seen her mother smile that way since her father was still around. She rushed over and grabbed the woman around the neck.  
  
"Oof! You're stronger than I thought you'd be," said the woman cheerfully. "That's good."  
  
Usagi blinked in confusion. "Are you sure you're all right."  
  
"I don't think I've felt this good in a long time. The fun is just starting."  
  
Usagi was confused, but seemed to accept this as she lay her head against her mother's chest. "I remember that." It was the part when they were in a petting zoo within the park. A young Usagi was feeding the goats, and they had surrounded her. She was squealing with glee and running away from them. They chased her down and continued to attack the food she had gripped in her hands.  
  
Usagi looked up at her mother's face and blinked. She was sipping at the glass of wine in her hand lazily and seemed to be enjoying the show. The only thing was, her mother didn't even sip soda, much less something with alcohol in it. Something was definitely wrong here. Her mother was usually in tears by this point in the movie; sobbing pathetically until she passed out in a drunken state.  
  
"Are you sure you're all right Mom? You're acting weird," said the girl as she looked even more confused.  
  
"They're about to get a whole lot weirder, Usa-chan," said the woman cheerfully. "You don't think that's a bad thing do you?"  
  
"No," she replied honestly.  
  
"Well, let's get something to eat. I've got a lot to watch tonight," said the woman as she stood up with a cheerful bounce that she'd never once seen in the woman.  
  
"I'll cook Mom..." said Usagi as she tried to head her off at the kitchen.  
  
"What? You think that I can't?" said the woman as she narrowed her eyes at her daughter.  
  
"No. I know you can't cook," replied the girl flatly.  
  
"Shows how much you know!" snapped the woman in retort. "I was single and in college once! I can cook things you've probably never even heard of!"  
  
Usagi frowned at this. "Right. You can't even make Instant Ramen mom!"  
  
"I am so going to kill us," thought Yohiko to herself. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but I do know how to cook dear. I just...didn't have it in me anymore," she said to her daughter.  
  
The girl blinked. "Well I suppose. I have to watch you though."  
  
"We'll talk while I work then," said the woman with a small shrug.  
  
"Um...right..." said Usagi nervously.  
  
"What do you remember about your father?" asked Yohiko cheerfully as she began to put vegetables into the sink.  
  
"Not much," admitted the girl honestly. "His voice, his face, a few moments, nothing else."  
  
"Well. I suppose it has been a long time hasn't it?" asked Yohiko as she twirled a kitchen knife around her finger. "Heh. I've still got it."  
  
Usagi's jaw dropped like a rock. The woman who had proven time and time again that she couldn't even make toast without burning it, was now slicing vegetables at an insane rate of speed, and doing it in perfectly even slices. "Watch your..."  
  
Yohiko stopped just in front of her finger and left the knife stuck in the cutting board. She then turned to the stove and started the burners while filling a pot with water. "Let's see now..."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"This isn't possible..." muttered Usagi as she looked at the table setting in front of her in awe. Her mother had just made a traditional Japanese meal, and was now sitting cheerfully across from her. She was also eating at an insane rate of speed. "Whrt? Yur nt hngry?" said the woman through a full mouth of food.  
  
Usagi blinked and started eating. "What's wrong with her?" she thought.  
  
"You should be wondering what's right with me now," said Yohiko as she smirked at her daughter and took a drink from her glass.  
  
"Huh?" said the girl in confusion.  
  
"I know that look you're giving me. You're wondering what's wrong with me. Let's just say I was...reborn so to speak."  
  
The girl merely nodded, not sure how to reply to that.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Boring, boring, boring, what the hell was I thinking, boring, boring...I don't have any good clothes? Man this sucks!" said Yohiko as she tossed things across the room from her closet.  
  
"What are you looking for?" asked Usagi in confusion.  
  
"Something to wear that doesn't make me look forty," said the woman as she glared at her closet in frustration. "Man. I was really this far gone?" She turned back and looked down at the clothes that were strewn about the room for a moment. "I guess I'll work around it for now."  
  
"Um. Right," said Usagi in confusion as she left the woman alone.  
  
"I don't even have red lipstick. What's with all this neutral crap?" snapped her mother as she closed the door behind her.  
  
"What the hell happened to her?" muttered Usagi as she scurried away.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"No! Something's wrong with Miss Yohiko?" said Yusaku Godai as he gripped the young girl sitting across from him by her shoulders and shook her.  
  
"Cut that out!" she snapped.  
  
"I'm sorry! But..."  
  
"I didn't say there was anything wrong, but she's acting really weird," said the girl with a frown on her face.  
  
"Weird how?" said the brunette who was sitting with them in a skimpy negligee.   
  
"Most unusual," agreed the snake-like man who was halfway hidden by a hole in the wall that led to his own apartment.  
  
"She's... well... happy," said the young teen in frustration. "I don't know what to do! She's gone off the wall completely."  
  
"She never seemed unhappy to me. A little quiet and reserved, maybe even shy," said the brunette. "Pretty much a stick in the mud."  
  
"I don't know how to describe it, but she's so...active...tonight!" said the girl as she frowned at the trio for a moment.  
  
"Those tennis classes of hers aren't active?" asked the woman as she took a swig of beer from the can resting between her legs.  
  
"I suppose," said the girl.  
  
"She's not...going too..." said Yusaku with a fearful looking frown on his face. "I mean...cancel our..."  
  
"I said I'd help you didn't I?" snapped Usagi. "Don't worry, she'll go out with you like we planned."  
  
"A most unusual choice, the poor teacher as opposed to the rich tennis coach," said the man who was halfway through the wall.  
  
"Can it Yotsuya!" snapped the girl irritably. "He's got more in common with her. I can tell she likes them both, but..."  
  
"I'll do what I can to help!" said Yusaku firmly.  
  
"Yeah. Help get yourself into our neighbors pants," snorted the woman.  
  
"All I want is for someone to help her get over my Dad," said the girl as she frowned at the woman. "It's been seven years."  
  
"Well, I'm your man!" said Yusaku boldly.  
  
"You do realize, that if she shows so much as a hint more interest in our hunky tennis coach, you're out the door," said the woman as she took another swig of her beer.  
  
"Don't be so mean, Akemi!" cried the man fearfully.  
  
"Well, she's right, but you're the best bet right now. I said I wasn't playing sides in this. Either one of you is fine," said Usagi firmly.  
  
"Right!" said Yusaku as he stood up and tried to look determined.  
  
"I'm going back now," said Usagi flatly.  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow then," said Yusaku. "Don't worry! I won't let you down!"  
  
"Better not, or you're meat!" said the girl as she closed his door.  
  
Yusaku hung his head and sighed.  
  
"Feeling the pressure now eh?" said Akemi as she winked at him.  
  
"Just shut up would you?" he grumbled irritably.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"What are you doing now?" asked Usagi as she found her mother hunched over the stacks of photo albums in the closet.   
  
"Acclimating," said the woman as she looked up at her daughter cheerfully. "Our life was pretty boring."  
  
"Hey!" said the girl defensively.  
  
"I mean...my life was much more interesting before him," said Yohiko cheerfully. "Martial arts, adventure, um...I dressed better too."  
  
"Martial arts?" asked Usagi dumbly.  
  
"I was the best in the world, before he came along," said Yohiko as she frowned for a moment.   
  
"What?" said Usagi in confusion. "You never said anything about this to me before."  
  
"I'm thinking of picking it up again," said the woman cheerfully.   
  
"Oh," said the girl as she looked uncomfortable with this. "Are you sure you're all right?"  
  
"I'm fine dear. Never better!" said the woman cheerfully.  
  
"Well, I guess I'll go to bed then," said Usagi as she moved towards her room.  
  
"All right. Goodnight Usa-chan!" said the woman as she smiled at her.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"Either you're way over doing it, or you're really enjoying this," said Carrot.  
  
"I've got a daughter!" cried Xianfu euphorically.  
  
"I guess she's really enjoying this then," commented Dan.  
  
"Maybe we should slow down a bit," grumbled Pissant. "If we go to fast, she'll get suspicious."  
  
"Screw that! This chick is pathetic!" cried Ranma.  
  
"So much for that idea," said Carrot cheerfully. "So. Now what?"  
  
"Back to the videos," said Dan.  
  
"Right!" agreed Carrot.  
  
"Man, this is boring," said Ranma irritably.  
  
"You should want to know about our daughter's life!" snapped Xianfu.  
  
"She was cute when she was little, what else do we need to know?" asked Ranma irritably.  
  
"A lot. Especially if we're going to pull this off," said Carrot as he picked up the remote and their glass of wine again.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Usagi sighed as she opened the door from their room. Her mother hadn't been there when she woke up. "Maybe Yusaku came over and she got laid?" she muttered hopefully. Finding her mother sprawled out across the floor in the living room wasn't unusual, but seeing her spread out across the ground roughly while snoring was. The woman reached up and scratched her chest before rubbing her nose and flinging her arm back onto the ground again.  
  
The girl sighed and stepped over her, moving towards the kitchen.  
  
Usagi blinked as a knock came at the door. She looked up at the clock and frowned. Her mother was sleeping in, most unusual.  
  
When she opened the door, a short fat woman grinned up at her with a tennis racket held over her shoulder. "Hiya! Where's your mother?"  
  
"Um. Hi Mrs. Ichinose," said the girl as she stepped aside and waved her arm, revealing her mother in all her lazy glory.  
  
"She's sleeping in? That's odd," said the woman as she looked down at her with her hands on her hips.  
  
"Very," agreed Usagi with a small sigh.  
  
Ichinose poked her in the nose, and she blinked. Yohiko yawned lazily and looked at the woman's face. "I seen worse. You got nothin on that old ghoul."  
  
This caused them both to blink as she rolled over and clutched her pillow, going back to sleep.  
  
"Hey! Wake up, we'll be late for class!" said the fat woman as she shook her again.  
  
"Class!? Oh no! I'll be late for work!" cried the woman as she jumped up suddenly. "Hey. It's...Saturday." She relaxed and looked at the woman who was kneeling next to her. "What is it?"  
  
"We've got class today. Remember?" said the woman as she pointed at her racket.  
  
Yohiko yawned and frowned at this. "Tennis? How boring."  
  
"Well, I'll admit the game is pretty boring," said Ichinose. "But the scenery sure is nice! That hunky tennis coach Mitaka, remember?"  
  
"Boring," said the younger woman as she stood up and stretched. "I'm not going anymore. I decided to pick up a new sport."  
  
Ichinose looked at her with a frown on her face. "What would that be?"  
  
"Why, the Hibiki Family School of Anything Goes Martial Arts!" said the woman cheerfully as she smiled at the woman.  
  
Ichinose calmly lit a cigarette and looked up at her for a moment. "Yer kiddin right?"  
  
Yohiko shook her head from side to side cheerfully. "No. I'm quite serious. I learned it when I was younger, before I met my husband. I was one of the very best martial artists in the world. In fact, I probably still am."  
  
"Right. I'll just tell the coach you aren't feeling well then," said Ichinose as she turned away.  
  
"I wonder how long it will take him to get over here after she tells him I'm sick?" asked Yohiko with a snort.  
  
"I thought you were just friends," commented Usagi.  
  
"You kiddin? That love sick moron? It's downright pathetic a guy like that acts that way because of me," replied her mother.  
  
Usagi sprayed the drink she had been consuming across the room.  
  
"What is it?" asked the woman as she looked down at her for a moment and smirked.  
  
"Oh! Heh heh! Nothing...it's just...you're..."  
  
"Not as stupid as you thought I was? Really dear," said the woman cheerfully. "Well, I'm going out to do some shopping. Later."  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
"Yohiko!" cried a voice from behind her as she walked out of the store with an armload of bags in her hands.  
  
"Huh?" she muttered as she turned to see a rather handsome looking man jogging up to her dressed in a tennis uniform. "Oh. Hi."  
  
"I heard you were sick?" he said as he stopped running and looked at her in confusion. She was wearing an unusual looking Chinese outfit. "What's this?"  
  
"New look. Got tired of the boring housewife thing," said the woman with a shrug. "Anyway. I'm fine. Ichinose just assumed."  
  
"Oh. That's a relief," said the man as he smiled at her.  
  
"No it isn't, you'd rather have taken care of me. Trying to impress me and all that," she replied calmly.  
  
"Um...that isn't true," said the man lamely.  
  
"Anyway, I'm sorry to say that I won't be taking tennis lessons any longer," she said as she smiled at him.  
  
"WHAT?!" he cried in a panic.   
  
"I'm getting back into martial arts again. I've been neglecting my duty to my family," she said with a small sigh. "It's all his fault too."  
  
"His fault?" muttered Mitaka uncertainly.   
  
"My husband, I don't know what the hell happened to me. It's as if I just realized that being married wussed me out or something. It kind of sucks."  
  
The man walked up beside her and tried his best to smile. "So...you were a martial artist?"  
  
"I am a martial artist. I'm still more than enough to take you down fitness boy," she said as he smirked at him.  
  
"I'll bet you are," he said with a nervous looking grin appearing on his face.  
  
"At any rate, I'm not going to be taking lessons anymore. I just won't have time, what with my new job and all."  
  
"New job?" replied the man as he looked at her for a moment.  
  
"I'm the new English teacher at Furinkan High," she said calmly.  
  
"I didn't know you taught," said the man with a frown on his face.  
  
"I did before I was married," she said cheerfully.  
  
Mitaka frowned and looked her over for a moment. "Just how old is she? She went to college before she got married? I always assumed that all this happened when he was still around," he thought to himself.  
  
"Well, that's wonderful!" said the man cheerfully. "I've just accepted a job there myself!"  
  
Yohiko stopped in her tracks and stared at him. "You're going to be working at Furinkan? Doing what?"  
  
"Teaching Tennis," he said as he held up his racket. "I was offered the job a few months ago, but I wasn't interested; I think I'll take it now."  
  
"Oh. That's nice," she replied with a shrug. "You'd better be ready for Furinkan though, I hope you don't get hurt too badly."  
  
He looked at her in confusion for a moment. "Pardon?"  
  
She gave him a knowing grin and walked ahead of him. "You'll see."  
  
"Right. I'll see you later then," he replied with a small frown on his face. "I wonder what she meant by that?"  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Sweat seemed to sparkle in the sunlight as Yohiko shoved out a solid punch in the air. She rocked back on her heels for a moment as her hair whipped around behind her from the force of her movement. She quickly turned into a set of spinning kicks that turned into sweeps so fluidly that it was difficult to see when one started at the other began. Spinning up to her feet again, she started a complicated mix of punches and blocks that ended in a front kick. "Hiyah!"  
  
On the porch of the apartment, the residents sat staring. Some harder than others.   
  
"Stop that! It's creepy!" snapped Usagi as she smacked Yusaku in the back of his head. He looked like his eyes were about to pop out of his head.  
  
"Very impressive," said Akemi as she took a drag off of her cigarette.   
  
"Wow. Never knew she had it in her," agreed Ichinose.  
  
"Most impressive. This comes as a surprise to even me," commented Yotsuya.  
  
"Wow! Miss Hibiki sure is good!" said Ichinose's son Kintaro. He was a little younger than Usagi, in his early teens.  
  
"Usagi! What the hell are you doing sitting there? Get your lazy butt out here!" said Yohiko firmly.  
  
"What? Me!?" cried the girl dumbly. "I don't want to learn martial arts!"  
  
"You'll come out here this instant and learn your family heritage like a good Hibiki!" snapped her mother.  
  
Usagi blinked and looked at the others.  
  
"Don't look at me," said Yusaku flatly. "I'll agree with anything she says, remember?"  
  
"Great," she mumbled as she walked out into the yard and looked at her mother. "So?"  
  
"We'll get you a proper dogi or something tomorrow," said the woman as she snorted at the girl. "I've already shamed the family by neglecting this for as long as I have. You'll learn fast, don't worry."  
  
The girl swallowed and found the gaze her mother was giving her was very uncomfortable. "Umm...okay."  
  
"We'll start out light, since it's your first day," said the woman as she looked up at the crowd on the porch. "This isn't a free show you know. If you want to learn come out here, otherwise beat it!"  
  
Yusaku found himself sitting alone on the porch. "Huh?" He glanced around and swallowed. "I guess...for you Miss Yohiko..." he mumbled as he stood up.  
  
"You realize that once you commit, there's no backing down boy," said the woman as she smirked at him.  
  
He blinked. He was in reasonable shape, after all the jobs he'd taken in college doing physical work, and of course the odd job he'd gotten during the off months at the school as well. "Anything to spend more time with you Miss Yohiko!"  
  
The woman gave him a grin he didn't like. He swallowed again and backed away. "I promise you'll regret saying that in a weeks time. Your ass is mine now, Godai."  
  
"Mom. You're scaring me," said Usagi nervously.  
  
"I'm not afraid!" said Godai pathetically.  
  
"Oooh! You will be, you will be," said Yohiko as she peered at him for a moment.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Usagi groaned painfully as she lay across a futon in Yusaku's room. "What the hell happened to her?"  
  
"Horrible! Horrible!" muttered Yusaku fearfully as he clutched a pillow and curled into a ball nearby.  
  
"I thought this was what you always wanted?" said Akemi with a small snort.  
  
"I didn't think it would hurt this much. I wanted a normal mother, not...this!" snapped the girl. "Still, it is a lot better. To think, my mother would be saved by a mid-life crisis."  
  
"She's a little young to be having one of those yet," said Akemi.  
  
Usagi went silent and looked at her. "..."  
  
"She is isn't she?" asked the woman as she suddenly paused and looked at the girl.  
  
"Yes," said the girl in a sort of uncertain monotone. Of course, she'd never pointed out that by their reasoning, she would have had her when she was eleven, rather than twenty-two. It had always seemed wise not to point this out to them though, especially after the torturous training her mother had just submitted her too. It had only lasted an hour, but it felt like four.  
  
"So. What time should I come by tonight?" asked Yusaku as he crawled over to the conversation.  
  
"You can still move?" said the girl as she stared at him.  
  
"Barely, and after that I'd say I earned this date!" he replied weakly.  
  
"Around eight I guess, I should get home too. Somebody pick me up and stand me on my feet," said Usagi as she stared up at everyone.  
  
Yusaku was the only one who bothered. It was a rather pathetic display really, he was tugging on her chest while squatting down, and doing little more than forcing her arms up and dragging her a few inches.  
  
"Hey! Watch the hands buddy!" cried the girl irritably.  
  
"Oh, sorry," he muttered as he shifted his grip.  
  
"Stop it! I'll do it myself!" she cried as she rolled out of his grip. He was flat on his back the instant she was off of him. It took a minute, but she struggled to her feet and staggered out the door.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Don't worry dear, it only hurts at first," said Yohiko as she smiled at her daughter. "You'll be glad I did this soon."  
  
"Right," grumbled the girl lamely. "You did remember what you promised right?"  
  
This caught the woman by surprise. "Promised?"  
  
"Mo-ther!" said the girl as she put her hands on her hips and glared at her.  
  
"Humor me dear. I've been busy lately," said her mother cheerfully.  
  
"You promised to let Yusaku take you out tonight, remember?" said the girl flatly.  
  
"Oh. I did? I'm gonna kill us," said the woman with her face frozen in a smile.  
  
"What did you just say?" said Usagi in a sort of shocked horror.  
  
"Oh. I didn't mean you dear," said the woman as she waved the comment off. "I had completely forgotten about that."  
  
"Well, you did promise," said the girl as she crossed her arms. "He's really excited."  
  
"Oh. Like that's hard to do," said Yohiko with a small chuckle.  
  
"Mother really!" gasped Usagi with a blush on her face.  
  
"I suppose I'll let him, if he can still move to do it," said the woman with a small sigh. "After all, I did promise." Her face lit up suddenly. "Maybe we'll run into some ruffians! Or get mugged! That would be so great, I haven't had a good fight in so long! I just want to smash something!"   
  
Usagi blinked as her mother flexed her arm with a sort of pleased smile on her face. "Um...right."  
  
"Anyway, I'll be ready," said the woman as she nodded at her daughter.  
  
"Great! He'll be here at eight!"  
  
"Right. I guess I should go get started then," said the woman as she looked up at the clock. "Half an hour should be plenty."  
  
Usagi blinked at this. Her mother couldn't get ready to go to the store in half an hour, much less a date.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!" Usagi was passed out cold on the floor as Yohiko stepped out of her room a half-hour later.   
  
"I wonder what's wrong with her?" she said as she looked down at her daughter.  
  
The girl woke up and gasped. "What the hell are you wearing!?"  
  
"This? I thought I should at least look nice, even if it is just for some stupid promise," said the woman cheerfully. She was wearing a skintight one-piece dress and a black leather jacket. The skirt on the dress went all the way down to her knees and the neckline went all the way up to her neck in a turtleneck. She had on no makeup besides a little lipstick and hadn't changed her hair at all. The only other glaring change were the black earrings that now hung from her ears. They were little more than pieces of black diamond shaped plastic hanging from small hoops.   
  
There was a knock at the door and she opened it.  
  
Yusaku was standing with flowers in his hands. His jaw dropped and the flowers fell to the ground.  
  
"What?" she asked him. "I know I look good, but this is ridiculous."  
  
Akemi stepped out into the hall and blinked as she looked the woman up and down. She strolled up to her and blinked several times. "Can I borrow that some time?"  
  
"I don't see why not," replied Yohiko cheerfully.  
  
"Great. So, you're taking him out?" said the brunette as she jerked her thumb at the frozen Yusaku.  
  
"Yes. I promised," said Yohiko cheerfully. "I suppose he'll wake up soon. I hope we don't end up standing here all night."  
  
"Well, tell me if he's any good," said Akemi as she looked the woman up and down and smiled at him.  
  
"Don't be silly. I'm just teasing him to be cruel," said Yohiko as she smiled back.  
  
"Ha!" said Akemi as she walked back into her room and closed the door behind her.  
  
"Well, wake up stupid, I'd like to get this over with," she said as she grabbed her date by his arm.   
  
That seemed to snap him out of it and he staggered along beside her. "I um...got us some reservations..."  
  
"Yes. I assumed," said Yohiko as she looked him up and down. He was wearing a suit. It wasn't a tuxedo, just some black slacks with a gray jacket; he was also wearing a tie.  
  
"Great!" said the man as he started to pull her along.  
  
"I'm surprised you can still move," said the woman as she looked at him.  
  
"I've been hurt worse than that! I had all sorts of difficult jobs in college."  
  
"Oh. That's nice. You do realize that no matter how much you impress me tonight, you're not getting laid, right?"  
  
He looked at her dumbly and blinked twice. "What?"  
  
"Nothing. Come on," she replied with a sigh.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Outside they strolled down the stairs and bumped into a familiar figure.  
  
Mitaka was standing on the steps and looking at them in surprise. "Going somewhere?"  
  
"Yusaku is taking me out to dinner," said Yohiko as she looked at him. "Why are you here?"  
  
"Well, I was hoping to see you. I wanted to talk about this new school a little. We are going to be working together."  
  
"No! Mitaka will ruin everything!" thought Yusaku desperately. "Wait a minute! Working together?" he said out loud as he suddenly realized what had been said.  
  
"Mitaka is going to be working at the school I'm teaching at as a tennis coach," said Yohiko as she smirked at him.  
  
"You're teaching again?" asked Yusaku in confusion.   
  
"Yes. She told me this morning," said Mitaka smugly.   
  
"That's great!" said Yusaku as he ignored him. "What class?"  
  
"English," replied the woman cheerfully.   
  
"If you're going out to eat, I know a nice place nearby," said Mitaka as he grinned at Yusaku.  
  
"I'm sorry Mitaka, but I promised Usagi I'd let him have one date," said the woman as she looked down at the man.   
  
"Well, that's hardly fair. I should get a date too," said the man.  
  
"All is fair in love and war," said Yohiko coolly as she grinned at him. "Like you trying to cut off his chance just now."  
  
Mitaka blushed. "I..."  
  
"I find it kind of amusing the way you two fight all the time, you think I don't notice do you?" said the woman as she looked between them.  
  
They both turned away.  
  
"At any rate, I'm taking him out tonight, so if you'll excuse me," she said as she walked by the man.  
  
"But...where does that leave me!?" cried Mitaka in horror.  
  
"No better or worse than you were before," she said to him. "I'm keeping a promise right now. That's all. I won't get roped into another one just because you're a little jealous."  
  
Mitaka smiled at her. "I see."  
  
Yusaku wasn't sure if he should be upset, insulted, or happy. He shrugged and decided with the latter. After all, he was the one taking Miss Yohiko out on a date.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
The dinner went well, Yusaku had actually managed to make it though without embarrassing himself. He'd actually been wise enough to not tell anyone where he'd made reservations. Yohiko had managed to lose their tail as well, it wasn't that hard considering they had to move through a rather busy crowd of people on the way to the restaurant.   
  
Ducking out of the restaurant she smiled at him as he took her arm. "Miss Yohiko...about tonight. I mean."  
  
"Yusaku, I don't want to hurt you, you seem like a nice guy. To put it bluntly, I'm not really interested in any man right now."  
  
"Well, I'll wait as long as it takes," he said firmly.  
  
"Yes. Mitaka said something similar, I'm afraid I may have to beat that out of the both of you," said the woman as she smirked to herself.  
  
"Huh?" said the man as he glanced at her fearfully.  
  
"Don't worry about it," she said cheerfully.   
  
She looked around at where they were now walking and grinned. It was a bad neighborhood. "All right!" she said as she cracked her knuckles.  
  
"Huh?" said Yusaku. "Hey! When did we get here? I don't remember this place..."  
  
They were quickly surrounded by a large group of young punks.   
  
The lead punk strolled up to them and smirked. "Well what have we here?" He strolled up to them and looked Yohiko up and down. "Nice. How 'bout the purse lady? Maybe then I'll let you go!"  
  
"Get behind me Miss Yohiko!" said Yusaku as he moved in front of her.  
  
"Out of the way weenie boy!" snorted the woman as she shoved him aside and walked up to the punk boldly. "So. You gonna show me your knife or what?"  
  
"Huh?" said just about everyone.  
  
Yahiko rolled her eyes. "Not that one! The one you're supposed to threaten me with now. Come on, think you can get my purse away? If you can get it, you deserve it."  
  
"Right," said the punk as he backed away and pulled out a switchblade.   
  
"How cliché, and it's so small too," said the woman calmly. "The knife too."  
  
"What? Lady, you're starting to piss me off!" said the punk angrily.  
  
"Good, that's my plan," she replied. "Come on. Show me what you've got!"  
  
The boy rushed forward swinging the knife down. "Lady! I'm gonna enjoy this! Don't worry I won't hurt ya too bad. Cause we're gonna have a little fun after."  
  
"Yohiko!" cried Yusaku as he struggled with the garbage bags he'd landed in.  
  
The woman merely smiled as she spun into a kick that took the boy across his jaw. She turned quickly, and managed to tag him a few times in his body, keeping him from falling. Finally, she finished with a jumping uppercut that sent him flying across the street.  
  
The other punks looked at him and then back at the woman who was standing in the middle of their circle in a combat stance.  
  
"Come get some," she said coolly.  
  
"Fuck that! I seen too many movies for this shit!" cried one of the boys as he dropped the lead pipe he'd been carrying and ran away. The rest of the group followed, dropping chains, bats, and assorted other weapons as they fled.  
  
"Come back here and fight like the idiots you are!" screamed the woman irritably as she tapped her heel on the pavement.  
  
"Miss Yohiko?" asked the dumbfounded Yusaku as he finally managed to stagger out of the garbage bags.  
  
She grabbed him by his collar and pulled him up to her face. "Don't ever jump in front of me that way again. Do you have any idea how bad Usagi would have felt if you'd been hurt?"  
  
"Um? Usagi?" he said.  
  
"She'd feel terrible for having sent you out with me," said the woman as she shook him. "Besides, if you do it again, I'll beat the crap out of you. No one butts in on my fights buddy!"  
  
"Right!" he said as he nodded vigorously.  
  
"Well, let's get back. I've got to work tomorrow," said Yohiko calmly as she strolled away.  
  
Yusaku stumbled along behind her and tried to keep up.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"How was the date?" asked Usagi as she looked up at her mother as she walked into the home.  
  
"Why aren't you in bed yet? You've got school tomorrow," said the woman as she narrowed her eyes at the girl.  
  
Usagi blinked, got a joyous look on her face, and rushed up to grab her mother in a rough hug. "Thank you!"  
  
"For what?" said the woman dumbly as she looked down at her.  
  
"You've never scolded me for not being asleep that way before!" said the girl with tears in her eyes.  
  
"It'll get old fast dear. Now go to bed," said the woman as she pat her daughter on the head.  
  
"Right!" Usagi jumped up and kissed her mother on the cheek before rushing away.  
  
The woman got a wistful smile on her face and watched her vanish into her room.   
  
"Well. I've had enough of being this chick for a while," said Carrot. "We should go to sleep too. We've got to go to school in the morning too."  
  
"Right," agreed everyone else.  
  
"I hate us," grumbled Dan.  
  
"No shit," said Carrot. "You've been saying that all day."  
  
"Well, tomorrow should be interesting if nothing else," said Xianfu.  
  
"That's an understatement," commented Carrot lazily.  
  
"Off to bed then," said Pissant.  
  
"It's still out there you know," said Ranma.  
  
"What?" asked Carrot.  
  
"That power we felt, it's close now," said Ranma softly.  
  
"Yeah. It'll probably be here tomorrow," agreed Carrot. "Nothing we can't handle if we need to, and I doubt if we will."  
  
"Right," said Dan. "Can we just get some sleep now. I'm tired."  
  
"Aww, Is oo cranky?" said Carrot.  
  
Dan promptly decked himself.  
  
"Ouch. Don't be so sensitive," grumbled Carrot.  
  
They stumbled away and went to bed.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Err, someone's coming. Heh.  



	59. Insertion Part 59

Insertion  
  
Part 59  
  
Beware the evil of, FURINKAN  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Usagi blinked as she looked up at the figure standing over her and frowned. "Mom? What time is it?"  
  
"Time for lazy martial artists to get up," said a firm voice in reply.  
  
The girl sat up, squinting her eyes as she tried to get her bearings. Her sheets fell away, revealing a flannel nightgown. "Huh? What time is it?"  
  
"Three-thirty," replied the woman calmly as she jerked the girl's sheets away and smirked at her. "Come on, you've got training to do!"  
  
"Okay. Wake me up when the training is over," said the girl as she fell back into her mattress.   
  
"Heh," said Yohiko as she flipped on the light switch. "I'm afraid this is one class you can't sleep through Usa-chan."  
  
The girl sat up rigidly this time in response to the light. "Wha?"  
  
Yohiko grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the warm safety of her bed forcefully. "Up! Now!"  
  
"WAAAAAHHHHH!" cried the girl as she was tossed out into the hall and had a pair of sweat clothes thrown onto her head.   
  
"Get dressed young lady. You've got five minutes, those will have to do until we can pick you up a dogi!"  
  
Usagi stumbled away, cursing under her breath. It was obvious that she wasn't quite awake yet.  
  
"Well, that'll change soon," said Yohiko to herself with a slightly evil chuckle.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Yusaku Godai sat up with his eyes wide with shock as his door was thrown open forcefully. "What the?" he muttered as he blinked at the silhouette of a stunning woman in his doorway. "Hey. Another one of these dreams?" he muttered to himself lazily. He suddenly had a goofy looking grin on his face.  
  
"That's really gross Godai," said a familiar voice as the woman strolled forward and grabbed him by his collar.  
  
"What the? Miss Yohiko? What time is it?" he muttered in confusion as she dragged him out of bed.   
  
"Get dressed lazy boy, we're gonna have some laughs," said the woman as she grinned to herself and tossed him against the wall. "You've got two minutes, or else I come in and help you get dressed."  
  
The man blinked again and noticed that she'd tossed some of the clothes strewn about on his floor into his arms. His head cocked as he thought about her threat.  
  
"If you're thinking you might enjoy me doing that, I suggest you derail that train of thought. You won't like it at all. I promise it'll hurt quite a bit."  
  
That shook him at least partially awake. He jumped up and looked around for a moment. "Okay...but why?"  
  
"You're the one who volunteered to be my student Godai. I suggest you get used to it," she replied as she walked out the door.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Yusaku and Usagi stood out in the front lawn with sleepy expressions on their faces. Yohiko paced back and fourth in front of them for a moment, looking them both over. Neither one had the sense to even dress themselves properly at the moment. They were clothed, but disheveled and rough looking.   
  
"Why are we here Mom?" asked Usagi.  
  
"You will address me as sensei," snapped the woman sharply. "As of this moment, when we're in training, I am not Mom, or Yohiko, or Miss Hibiki. I am Sensei, and Sensei only! Understand?"  
  
Both of them jumped a little at this proclamation.  
  
"Whatever personal relationship we might have, imagined or not, is gone while in training," she said as she stopped pacing and stood in front of them. "Training can take place at any time, and any place. Whenever I happen to feel like it."  
  
The pair nodded numbly, not fully comprehending her words.  
  
"You will respond to me with words," she said firmly. "Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes Sensei," the pair muttered quietly.  
  
"I CAN"T HEAR YOU!" cried Yohiko loudly.  
  
"Yes Sensei," said the pair a little louder, but still quietly.  
  
Yohiko growled, this was going nowhere. She needed to wake them up a little. She calmly walked over to the side of the building and turned on the sprinklers.  
  
Both of her students jolted awake quite rudely.  
  
"Now that I have your attention, we'll begin," said Yohiko as she turned off the water and looked at her two dumbfounded and soaked students.  
  
"Oh my," said Usagi nervously.  
  
"What have I done?" muttered Yusaku as he looked at the woman and her malevolent smirk.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Usagi and Yusaku grunted as they jogged along the road. Each of them carried an armload of baseball sized stones against their chest.  
  
Yusaku stumbled and one of the stones fell out of his grip.   
  
Yohiko responded by replacing the rock with two more of the same size. "Yusaku dropped one. Another quarter mile before we finish our warm-up!" she told them.  
  
The pair looked at her in shock, but continued to jog.  
  
"I can't take this!" cried Usagi pathetically.  
  
"Then you'd best not drop another stone," replied her mother calmly.  
  
"Waaaahhh! I miss my old mommy!" cried Usagi.  
  
Yohiko snorted and jogged beside her casually. "Stop."  
  
They all stopped and the pair gasped rather raggedly as they struggled to keep hold of their armloads.   
  
The woman took off the backpack she had put on before they started jogging and tossed it to the ground at their feet.   
  
"Open the bag," said the woman as she smirked at them.  
  
Usagi put down her stones and did so. She gasped as she saw that it was full of the same kind of stones they were carrying. "Wha?"  
  
"I've been running circles around you two fools. Now, you're going to do as I say. I was doing this exercise when I was half your age Usagi. You're going to quit whining right now, and learn your family heritage!"  
  
"It's not my family heritage," grumbled Yusaku.  
  
"You volunteered to be here, I suggest you keep your mouth shut. I'm not going to make you do anything you can't. Although it isn't going to be pleasant either." She grinned at them again and snorted as she put her pack back on. "Pick up your stones! Move!"  
  
They both did so, even if it was a little reluctantly.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Now what?" asked Yusaku as he stared down at the swimming pool in front of them.  
  
"You're going to swim a few laps," replied Yohiko as she looked at them calmly. "Twenty should be enough. It's a good sized pool."  
  
Usagi and Yusaku blinked. "We aren't wearing bathing suits," replied her daughter.  
  
"So?" asked Yohiko with her eyebrow arched. "Get in, or I'll throw you in."  
  
Usagi and Yusaku both moved to put their rocks down by the side of the pool.  
  
"Who said you could put those down?" asked Yohiko as she stepped up behind them and put her hands on their shoulders. "If you drop one, it's an extra five laps."  
  
"What?" cried Yusaku.  
  
Before Usagi could voice her protest, they were both shoved into the water.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Keep going! Don't drop those rocks!" said Yohiko as she watched the soaked pair make their way across the playground she had stumbled across. They were currently on the balance beam, and soon they would make it to the climbing bars.  
  
Both of them were moving at a snails pace, and she could see the pain they were feeling etched into their features. "Move! Faster! Harder!" cried the woman as she walked up behind them and pushed them along.  
  
For every stone they lost, she'd replace it with two more. They soon got the idea after only three fallen stones, and seemed to be concentrating more on the stones than what they were doing.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Newspaper delivery?" muttered Yusaku as he looked at the woman who was standing behind them. "How can we do that without our hands?"  
  
"I guess you'll just have to improvise then," replied the woman with a small shrug.   
  
"Mother! How can we?" said Usagi in shock.   
  
"Figure it out," replied the woman calmly.   
  
"Can we put the rocks into the delivery bag?" asked Yusaku hopefully.  
  
Yohiko arched her eyebrow at this and smirked. "No."  
  
Soon, the pair was running down the street with bags of papers on top of their piles of stones; gripping them with their teeth and tossing them into the yards.  
  
"Heh. Not yet," said Yohiko as she jogged behind them.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"How are we supposed to weed these gardens?" cried Usagi as she glared at her mother.  
  
"You tell me," said the woman as she smirked at her daughter.  
  
"We don't get tools, and we have to keep carrying these rocks, right?" said Yusaku flatly.  
  
"That's right," said Yohiko as she grinned at them cheerfully.  
  
"Usagi, take off your shoes," said Yusaku as he turned towards his fellow trainee.  
  
"Huh?" said the girl as she looked at him with a confused frown.  
  
Yohiko grinned at him, she was starting to get impressed.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Ouch! Stupid rose bushes!" cried Usagi as she limped into the yard of the apartment complex with Yusaku. Her legs were covered in scratches, and her arms felt like jello. Yusaku was in much the same condition of course, but he was bearing his grief in silence.   
  
"Well. You two aren't as bad as I thought," said Yohiko as she jogged up behind them.  
  
Yusaku landed face first in the grass after dropping his stones. "I can't move," he muttered to himself.  
  
"Well, you're not going anywhere for a few hours yet. You should rest some before you go to work," said Yohiko cheerfully as she knelt down beside him and smiled.  
  
"Oh man. I've got school!" cried Usagi fearfully. "I don't think I can make it! I'm gonna be sore for days!"  
  
"Well, a few weeks at least. It will pass though," said Yohiko cheerfully.  
  
"What was the point of the rocks?" asked Yusaku as he managed to roll over onto his back and glare at her. He ignored the uncomfortable position of lying on top of the stones he'd been carrying.  
  
"That? This whole morning was just a test," said Yohiko as she smirked at him.  
  
"A test?" said Usagi as she frowned at her mother.  
  
"I wanted to see how far I could push you before you gave up," said the woman as she smiled at them both. "You both did better than I expected. Much better in fact. Going to complete muscle failure wasn't something I'd planned on."  
  
The pair groaned. "You mean, if we'd just given up, you'd have stopped all this crap?" cried Usagi.  
  
"Probably, but now I know that I can push you both as hard as I want, and you won't give up. That's a good thing to know, you'll both be good students I think," said the woman as she stood up and turned away from them.  
  
"The next lesson is tomorrow morning at four. Don't be late, you won't like it if I have to wake you up again," she said as she walked up the steps into the apartment's front door.   
  
"Tomorrow?" said Usagi fearfully.  
  
"Yes. We do all this again tomorrow," said the woman calmly. "I don't think our regimen will change much for a few weeks at least. After that, we'll see."  
  
The pair groaned painfully before sitting up.  
  
"Anything to keep her from going back to the way she was! I'll endure any humiliation, any pain if she's happy finally!" thought Usagi as the fire of determination burned in her eyes.  
  
"Anything to be near Miss Yohiko!" thought Yusaku as he did much the same.   
  
Unfortunately, neither one of them could stand, and they merely laid in the lawn pathetically for a while.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Yohiko Hibiki stood in the gates of Furinkan and looked around. "Ah, Another fine day!"  
  
"Good morning Miss Hibiki!" said a group of students that passed by her.   
  
She smiled at them and nodded. "Good morning."  
  
A familiar voice called to her from a short distance away on the campus. "Yohiko!"  
  
"Ah. Mitaka, it seems you're here after all," said the woman as she turned to greet the man cheerfully.  
  
"Yes. Good morning," said the man as he gave her a small bow.  
  
She returned the courtesy and smiled at him warmly. "So. When is your first class?"  
  
"It's a second period class, I'll only be teaching three groups a day," said the man as he smiled at her. "I'd be glad to meet you after the day is through if you'd like."  
  
"If you want too," said the woman with a small shrug.   
  
"Great," he said with a smirk on his face. "I'll see you during lunch then."  
  
"Yes," said the woman as she nodded her head a little.   
  
"Knave! Who are you to speak to Miss Hibiki in such a manner?" said a bold sounding boy from behind them.  
  
"Oh. Good morning Kuno," said the woman as she turned towards the boy.   
  
"It is a fine day indeed. Surely the heavens have blessed us with this meeting!" announced the boy. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must deal with this blaggard!" He pointed his bokken at Mitaka and frowned. "Tell me knave. Who might you be, to darken the halls with your presence?"  
  
"Pardon? Look kid..."  
  
Kuno narrowed his eyes. "I demand that you tell me at once! For look upon me and tremble, I am the Mighty Blue Thunder of Furinkan High! Tatewaki Kuno!"  
  
"What?" said the man dumbly. "Who is this guy Yohiko?"  
  
"Knave! Did I give you permission to speak to the goddess of the halls in such a manner?" roared Kuno.  
  
"Kuno, calm down," said the woman as she shoved his wooden sword aside casually. "Mitaka here is the new tennis coach for our athletic department. He'll be running the tennis club with Miss Hito."  
  
Kuno narrowed his eyes at the man and scowled. "I see. What is your relationship with Miss Yohiko?"  
  
"I'm her boyfriend," said the man as he grinned at the boy and narrowed his eyes. His teeth sparkled, and female students suddenly took notice of him. They swooned where they stood around him.  
  
"Oh my god!"   
  
"He's a babe!"  
  
"He's Miss Yohiko's boyfriend?"  
  
"Well, I'm not surprised at that. Wow, I hope I can have a boyfriend as cute as that one day!"  
  
"She's so lucky!"   
  
"Wai! A babe!"  
  
Yohiko glanced around at the students and scowled. "Why did you tell them that?" she said to Mitaka.  
  
"Are you saying it isn't true?" asked the man as he arched his eyebrow at her.  
  
"Yes. Of course it isn't," said the man.  
  
"Trying to force yourself on Miss Yohiko! I shall not allow it!" roared Kuno.  
  
"What did I tell you about fighting on campus!?" snapped Yohiko as she glared at him.  
  
The boy froze in his tracks and faltered. He turned and gave Mitaka a rather ugly glare before snorting and moving away from the pair silently.  
  
"Who was that? What do you mean fighting?" asked Mitaka as he looked at the woman for a moment in confusion.  
  
"Kuno is one of our more...colorful students here at Furinkan, and he's not even close to the most unusual thing you'll see here." The woman gave him a grin that he didn't like much. "We'll see how long you last Mitaka. Good luck."  
  
The man swallowed and looked at her in a sort of confused fear. "Why do I get the feeling you aren't telling me everything I should know?"  
  
She simply chuckled and walked towards the building.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Oh now what?" asked Ranma as he walked into the gates of Furinkan and noticed that no one was waiting on him.  
  
Akane frowned at him and looked around. "What is it?"  
  
"Kuno ain't here," said the boy as he glanced around. "I know somethin is up."  
  
"Dolt. Maybe he has better things to do than bother you?" said Akane as she started walking again.  
  
"Kuno? Yer kiddin right?" said the boy as he jogged after her.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"So. You bein da new tennis coach?" said Principal Kuno as he looked at the man sitting in front of him for a moment.  
  
"Um. Yeah," said Mitaka as he shifted uncomfortably. He was wearing a straw hat and a Hawaiian shirt. In his hands was a tropical drink of some kind. The pair was sitting on a pseudo beach in lawn chairs.   
  
"Dat's nice," said the large man with a shrug. "Okay. You can be goin to da class now. I got da paperwork already."  
  
"Um. Okay," said the man with a shrug. He stood up and left the office rather quickly.  
  
"Now. I go to see dat woman. Otah!" said Kuno as he jumped out of his chair as well.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Yohiko smirked and looked down from the board at the students as she taught her lesson. Ranma was snoozing lazily on his desk while Akane glared at him.  
  
She spun around, throwing several sharp knives at the boy. He jumped awake in an instant as the throwing knives stuck into his seat and jumped around excitedly. "Mousse! You dirty..."  
  
The students were looking at him and the teacher in a sort of fascinated horror.  
  
"Mr. Saotome. If you would be so kind as to do the problem on the board? I'm sure your eyes were merely closed in concentration after all."  
  
The boy blinked and looked up at the woman. "Huh?"  
  
Akane was stifling a fit of giggles and suddenly became straight faced as Ranma turned to glare at her.  
  
"Up. Come on now," said the teacher cheerfully.  
  
The boy hung his head and walked up to the board in defeat. "I guess."  
  
Yohiko smiled as he stood staring at the problem for a moment angrily.   
  
"Stupid teacher..."  
  
"I can hear you," she said as she tapped the blackboard. "We also don't have all day for you to complain. Just do the problem, and you'll be finished."  
  
He sighed and slowly began to work it out.  
  
It took him about a minute to work it out. Writing the correct terms that were missing from the sentence, and adding a little sentence structure.   
  
"Very good. You may sit down now. If you fall asleep again, I won't aim to miss. I'm sure that if the lesson is boring, I am least, am not."  
  
The male students all nodded in agreement at this.  
  
Ranma grumbled and sank into his chair. Akane simply glared at him angrily.  
  
"Miss Tend. Did I say something to offend you? I'm afraid you look upset with Mr. Saotome."  
  
"That perverted jerk is staring at you!" she snapped.  
  
"Hey I..." started Ranma.  
  
"And here I thought he was just asleep. You must have been imagining things," said the woman as she turned back towards the board.  
  
Akane looked at her for a moment and frowned. "No way! He was looking!" she growled.  
  
Ranma was already nodding off again next to her. She turned her gaze towards him and her scowl lost some of its heat. "Okay, so maybe he wasn't...but still! He should stay awake like the rest of us!"  
  
"Well since you're so interested in Mr. Saotome's scholastics, which is my concern by the way, I don't think you should have any trouble with this problem then." Yohiko stepped away from the board again and held out her chalk to Akane.  
  
The girl blinked and looked at the sentence. It was twice the size of the one Ranma had done. "I..." She hung her head and stood up to accept the chalk.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"No. This isn't a 'Martial Arts Tennis' course," said Mitaka in irritation as he looked at the students around him. His first group was boys, and they were beginning to grate on his nerves.  
  
"We hear you're going out with Miss Yohiko," said one of the boys near the back of the group.  
  
"That's none of your business," said the man flatly. "I'm here to teach a class. Now..."  
  
"Have you...done it yet?" asked one of the boys.  
  
"What?" said Mitaka dumbly as he began to notice that they were starting to move in around him.  
  
"What's she like?"  
  
"Have you seen her naked?"  
  
"Are those...you know...really hers?"  
  
"I'll bet they're fake!"  
  
"So what?"  
  
"Come on! Tell us what she's like! Is she any good?"  
  
"You little perverts!" snapped Mitaka angrily. "That is none of your business!"  
  
"Perverts? We're just wondering. You know, just between us guys!" said one of the boys in the back of the crowd.  
  
"A real man doesn't worry about someone else's girlfriend!" snapped Mitaka. "Worry about yourselves! You're too young for things like that! Now, grab your tennis rackets, we're going to get started now!" called the man firmly.  
  
"Not till you tell us about Miss Yohiko!" cried one of the angry looking mob.  
  
"Do you have any pictures? Share the wealth man!"  
  
Mitaka was now starting to get very nervous.   
  
"Hey. If we get rid of him, does that mean Miss Yohiko will be available again?" said one of the boys out loud.  
  
"Oh shit," muttered Mitaka as he started to back away nervously.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Miss Hibiki? Are you all right?" asked one of the students as she walked up to the woman.   
  
"Huh? I'm fine dear," said the woman as she smiled at the girl. She was currently looking out into the schoolyard from the window, where a rather odd scene had just taken place.   
  
The boy's athletics class had just run by brandishing tennis rackets in the air.  
  
"Now. Where were we?" she said to the class as she turned to face them. "Oh yes. I remember now..."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Enjoying your first day?" asked Yohiko as she smirked at Mitaka in the teacher's lounge.  
  
"Yes. It's been...interesting..." he replied with a fake looking grin on his face. "I'm sure I'll adjust soon enough."  
  
"Adjust he says," snorted one of the older woman who was sitting near to them. She chuckled and shook her head for a moment.  
  
"It takes a special breed of man to work at a school like this," said one of the middle-aged men who stood near the coffee.   
  
Yohiko had been given a rather large area of clearance by the men since her dealings with Ranma and Kuno. Mitaka was the one sitting closest to her.  
  
"Aloha!" cried a familiar voice that sent all the experienced teachers scrambling for cover in an instant.  
  
"Principal. What brings you into our little world?" asked Yohiko flatly.  
  
"I come to see how tings be workin out wit da keiiki," said the man as he waltzed into the room. "And to bring you dese flowas."  
  
Yohiko frowned as she looked down at the bouquet of flowers in her arms. It was several leis made up to look like a bouquet. "No thanks."   
  
"Well, I tink we should be gettin togetha to talk about tings," said the man as he smirked at her with an evil gleam in his eyes.  
  
"Hey!" said Mitaka as he looked up at the man in frustrated confusion.  
  
"Well I don't think that would be a good idea. I can't date you, you're my boss," said the woman calmly as she sipped on the tea she had sitting in front of her. "Besides. I hate Hawaii, the whole place is too hot, and they've got all those weird bugs."  
  
The principal blinked. "You not likin de islands?"  
  
"Not really. I'm not much for exotic things really," she replied with a small shrug.  
  
Mitaka had calmed quite a bit at her refusal and was now ignoring the scene.  
  
"Well den, you be fired! Now we can be goin on de date!"  
  
"I certainly wouldn't date a man who fired me from my job," said the woman calmly. "I could never forgive a man for doing that to me. Besides, you have to explain why you fired me to the school board."  
  
Kuno's face fell a little. "You're right. I gotta be thinkin on dis a bit more."  
  
"Don't think too hard," she replied without paying much attention to the man.  
  
"I know we is destined lovers! It written in de stars!" said the man dramatically.  
  
"Well, I suppose Tatewaki had to get it from somewhere," grumbled Yohiko flatly. "Look. I don't like you. You're an idiot, and obviously a bigger pervert than your son. Honestly, trying to get all these young girls to submit to your own sexual desire that way. Bowl cuts? What kind of sick freak has a bowl cut fetish?"  
  
"I know you not be meanin dat," said the man with tears in his eyes.  
  
"Cry all you want. I'm not going to go out with you, and you can't make me," said the woman flatly.  
  
"Den I be makin da new school rule! English teachahs must be goin out wit da Big Kahuna!" said Kuno proudly.  
  
"Really? Well I'm sure Mrs. Tanaka will enjoy that, but I'm not sure if her husband will like it," Yohiko pointed to the old woman sitting across from her and smiled at him.  
  
"Well, den de single English techahs!" said Kuno as he glared at her for a moment.  
  
"I'm faculty, you can't administrate me that way. It's also against the law to make a rule like that," said the woman as calmly as ever.  
  
"Against de law?" said the man with a frown on his face. "I'll change de law then!"  
  
"You can't, you're just a school principal. You don't have the authority to do that." Yohiko was starting to look irritated.  
  
"No? How about dis! Two new school rules! One, dat law don't apply to dis school, and two, dat you must date wit da Big Kahuna!"  
  
Yohiko sighed and grabbed the man by his shirt, pulling him down hard so that his face hit the table. "Look you half wit. You can't make rules that over ride the law. That's illegal too. You can't make me go out with you, no matter how you rewrite the school rules. Go away, before I hurt you very badly."  
  
The man stood up with more tears in his eyes. "I find de way to prove my love!"  
  
"Prove it all you want. That doesn't change the fact that I don't love you," she said as she kicked his knees out from under him and hit his chin against the table. "Now go away."  
  
The man crawled out of the room pathetically.  
  
"That was harsh," said Mitaka.  
  
"Really? I suppose so. Just remember that the next time you feel like telling people I'm your girlfriend."  
  
The coach swallowed and nodded. "I will..."  
  
"Good," said the woman as she smiled at him and drank her tea.  
  
Yohiko paused and looked around her. The teachers were on their knees in awe. "Someone who can stand up to that madman!" cried one of the older men. "At last!"  
  
"Right," grumbled Yohiko with a small sigh.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"All right class," said Mitaka as he looked at the group of girls in front of him. The boy's class was rough, but this class seemed like it might go his way.  
  
"Are you really going out with Miss Yohiko?" asked one of the girls that stood around him. All of them were giving him puppy dog eyes. Well, all but one of them.   
  
Akane sighed in disgust as she looked at her two friends, Yuka and Sayuri. They were acting like all the other girls were. "You guys..."  
  
"Oh hush Akane!" said Yuka playfully.  
  
"Yeah! You've already got Ranma! Let us have some fun!" agreed Sayuri.  
  
"You can have him," snorted the girl.  
  
"Miss Yohiko's relationship with me is private," said the man. He didn't really want to admit to himself that they weren't dating.  
  
"So. In other words, you're still available?" squealed one of the girls in the back of the crowd.  
  
"Um. No. Not really, no," said the man as he noticed that this group was also moving closer to him.  
  
The girls moved in a little more. "Teach us!" said one girl.  
  
"Yeah. Teach us about boys!"  
  
"To heck with that! Tell us about men!"  
  
"What? What the hell are you talking about?" asked Mitaka in confusion. He was starting to get scared again.  
  
"No way! Show us!" said another one of the girls.  
  
Finally, someone came to his rescue.  
  
Akane Tend stood up in front of them with a scowl on her face. "Have you no shame!? You're as bad as the boys are! Look at yourselves!"  
  
The girls all looked uncomfortable.  
  
"Thank you," said Mitaka as he smiled at her.  
  
"Even if he is cute!" said Akane as she wavered under the sparkle of his smile.  
  
"Huh?" said the man as he blushed suddenly.  
  
"That's no excuse!" snapped Akane as she turned to face the crowd.  
  
"Hey! Watch it!" cried Mitaka as he felt someone's hand on his rear.  
  
Akane was back in the crowd of girls again and he frowned. "All right. If there's nothing else, we can begin our class."  
  
Akane wasn't really paying attention. She was looking at her hand in a sort of confused disgust. "Why did I do that? I guess he kind of reminds me of Dr. Tofu a little..."  
  
Mitaka was too busy to notice. "No! For the last time, this isn't 'Combat Tennis'!"  
  
++++++++++  
  
Yohiko smiled as she walked out of the building and found Nabiki Tend waiting for her.   
  
"Who are you?" snarled the girl as she folded her arms in front of her.  
  
"Yohiko Hibiki," said the woman as she smiled at the girl and started walking towards the gates. Most of the students had long since left.  
  
"Why did you say you were Ranma then?" she asked her angrily.  
  
"I never said I wasn't Ranma Saotome at one time. I've been around a while, and things change."  
  
Nabiki frowned at her. "So, you're saying that story about you being from another world is true?"  
  
"Yes. At one time, I was Ranma Saotome. I know you already, quite well actually." She smirked at the girl's expression.  
  
"Why then? How did you do this?" asked Nabiki as she shoved a folder in her chest.  
  
"These are my personal records," said Yohiko with a smirk on her face. "I could have you arrested for stealing them."  
  
"Stow it. If what you say is true, I know you won't," said Nabiki.  
  
"Don't count on that Nabiki. I may have been Ranma at one time, but I'm not anymore. You'll find I'm quite a bit more vicious in dealing with my enemies, and much more dangerous." She frowned at the girl and stopped walking suddenly.  
  
"I couldn't find any discrepancies," growled Nabiki. "Not one!"  
  
"Good. I did a good job then," she replied calmly.  
  
"Even your daughter has records! This is insane! You don't have a daughter!"  
  
"Don't I?" asked the woman coolly. "I don't want to introduce you to Usagi. She's a very sweet girl, and I'm afraid I wouldn't want her hanging around a girl like you."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Nabiki sharply.  
  
"Miss Tend, let's stop playing dumb for a moment shall we?" said Yohiko as she smirked at her. "I'm not the Ranma you know. You're not the Nabiki I know, although you're close enough to be her twin, in more than just your looks. I'd say I know everyone her better than you can possibly imagine, but none of you know me. Don't assume that you do, or that you can outsmart me. I've been around, and we've played this game of wits before. You didn't win." She silently added that she'd never gotten around to finishing it either to herself.  
  
Nabiki growled at her softly and turned away. "I don't lose."  
  
"You can't lose, if you don't play. I'm telling you now that it's the only way you can really win," said Yohiko smugly. "Keep pushing it, and I'll bring you down hard, Tend."  
  
Nabiki turned to frown at her and nodded. The look in her eyes told the woman that this was far from over.  
  
"Interesting," commented Yohiko as she smiled to herself. "I could get to enjoy this one."  
  
Mitaka walked up to her, passing by Nabiki as he went. "What was that about?"  
  
"Just a battle of wills," said the woman as she smirked at him.  
  
"Can I give you a ride home?" he said as he hung his keys from his finger in front of her.  
  
"No thank you. I'd rather walk. I don't have much need of a car."  
  
"Oh?" he asked her with a small frown on his face.  
  
"Walking back is good exercise. I could use it," she said calmly. "Using a car for a mile and a half just seems lazy to me," she shrugged her shoulders and walked by him.  
  
"Okay. I'll walk with you then," he said as he moved up beside her.  
  
"If you'd like," she said as she turned her head towards the east suddenly. "On second thought, today might not be good for that. I'll let you walk me home tomorrow."  
  
The man looked at her. "Pardon? Is something wrong?"  
  
"I'm gonna have to make a stop on the way home today I'm afraid. It's nothing really, but it could take a little time," she smiled at him. "I'll see you later."  
  
"What? No kiss?" he asked her.  
  
"Don't push it Mitaka. I've been nice enough to let you live so far," she said as she started to move away.  
  
As soon as she had rounded the corner, Mitaka fell flat on his face. "I hate this place! Who could have known teaching these brats would be so hard?" He slowly staggered to his feet and stumbled to his car. "Little perverts..."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Yohiko frowned as she stood on the street corner alone. It was a quiet residential area. "All right! Come on out! I know you're here!"  
  
"Well, It's nice to see you too," said a familiar voice from the shadows.  
  
"What do you want Jadeite? Why are you here?" said the woman as she shifted back into Ranma Saotome again. He crossed his arms and smirked at the man playfully.  
  
"I prefer Xellos these days," said the mage as he gave the boy a dark smile.   
  
"Why are you here? Come to pick us up?" asked Ranma calmly.  
"No. I'm afraid I have some rather bad news for you," said the man calmly.  
  
"Bad?" asked Ranma with a frown forming on his lips.  
  
"Yes. There will be no pickup," said Xellos. "You're staying here."  
  
"I see," said Ranma with a nod. "I suspected as much."  
  
"Good. Then this won't come to much of a surprise then," said the priest as he leaned on his staff. "You are to remain here as Yohiko Hibiki indefinitely. Well, until you die anyway. We aren't sure how long that will take."  
  
"Who cares," snorted Ranma. "You didn't come all the way here just to tell me that did you?"  
  
"No," admitted Xellos calmly. "I came to tell you a few things about what's going on."  
  
"Don't bother," said Ranma with a shrug. "I know where I am. The only thing that bugs me is this new life."  
  
"That shouldn't be a problem. We used the information in the computer that you typed up and made it a little more concrete is all."  
  
Ranma snorted at this. "A little?"  
  
"Well, you get the idea anyway," said Xellos cheerfully.  
  
"I suppose I do," said Ranma calmly. "So, that won't work again will it?"  
  
"No. We aren't going to give you something that can change reality. That would take all the fun out of this. Besides, this is a baseline universe. You're pretty powerful by their standards. Don't let it go to your head though, you can lose."  
  
"I figured as much," snorted Ranma casually.  
  
"Don't forget, here, you're only human," said Xellos calmly.  
  
"What took you?" asked the pigtailed boy irritably.  
  
"I decided to go to America and relax. They gave me a week off," said the Mazoku with a shrug.   
  
"How are things?"  
  
"Well enough. Pretty boring really, you're living with Hotaru, Usagi is building her empire, and we just sit around doing nothing for the most part. Not much of interest, but we are enjoying the time off."  
  
"And you wanted a vacation?" snorted Ranma.  
  
"Usagi has us doing diplomatic things," snorted Xellos. "It's a lot like the good old days."  
  
"Good to hear. This place is interesting enough I suppose," said the pigtailed boy as he glanced around. "I imagine Herb should be here soon."  
  
"He's on his way now," said Xellos with a small nod. "Predictability goes down the more you change things though, remember that," warned the Mazoku.  
  
"I know," said the boy as he turned away from him. "How long are you here for?"  
  
"I'm leaving right after this conversation," said Xellos flatly. "They don't want me around, messing things up too much. I'm far to strong for this universe."  
  
Ranma nodded and sighed. "So a Super Saiyan would be too I suppose?"  
  
"Yes. Your power level has been shortened quite a bit. There isn't anything you can't handle here with your skills though. It just might be a bit harder than you think."  
  
"I'll remember that," said Ranma flatly.   
  
"Yes, and one more thing," said Xellos calmly.  
  
"What?"   
  
"I wasn't what you felt approaching from the west," said the priest cheerfully.  
  
The pigtailed boy frowned at him as he faded from view. "What then?"  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Usagi looked at the news and gasped in horror at what she saw. "Oh no!"  
  
"Hi! I'm home!" said her mother as she opened the door. She paused when her daughter took no notice of this and appeared glued to the television.  
  
"What? Mom! Look at this!" cried the girl as she finally noticed.  
  
"What is it?" asked the woman as she sat down and paused. "What the hell is that thing?"  
  
On the screen was a large round object with an American flag on the side of it. It was floating above Tokyo and simply sitting there.  
  
"The Americans are attacking!" cried Usagi.  
  
"That doesn't make any sense though," said Yohiko irritably. "Could this be that power?"  
  
"Huh?" asked Usagi in confusion.  
  
"It's nothing dear. What is this?"   
  
"No one knows, it just appeared over Tokyo today. It's not doing anything but sitting there."  
  
Another blurry image appeared on the screen. This time on the ground.   
  
"Oh this is just ridiculous!" said Yohiko as she narrowed her eyes.  
  
"It's Gojira!" cried Usagi fearfully.  
  
"Big deal," said Yohiko as she walked out into the kitchen.  
  
"The American thing is shooting at him," said Usagi fearfully.  
  
"So. It shouldn't last long," snorted the woman as she pulled out a bottle of sake and poured herself a glass.  
  
The ship promptly exploded.  
  
The anchor then announced that the destroyed flying saucer was a joint venture by the Americans and Japanese to destroy the giant monster. Up until that point it was top secret.  
  
"Is there anything else on?" asked Yohiko as she sat down.  
  
"No. This is on every channel," said her daughter.  
  
"Stupid thing. Well, there go our taxes again. I really wish we'd stop wasting money this way," said Yohiko as she relaxed in her chair. "Insurance in Tokyo must be insane! I can't imagine trying to rent an apartment in downtown Tokyo after this."  
  
"Um. It doesn't bother you that a giant lizard is destroying downtown Tokyo Mom?" said the girl nervously.  
  
"I guess, but there isn't much I can do about it," said the woman with a shrug. "He'll leave when he's finished, and everything will be back to normal in a week or two."  
  
"I guess so," said the girl with an uncertain frown on her face.  
  
"If we'd stop building things to destroy him, we probably wouldn't catch his attention near as often," said Yohiko flatly.  
  
"I guess so," grumbled Usagi.  
  
"Miss Yohiko! Did you see the news?" asked Yusaku as he knocked on the door.   
  
"Go away," snorted the woman as she looked at the door in frustration.  
  
"Mom," said Usagi as she frowned at her.  
  
"Fine, let him in. If he starts whining, I'll kick him out," said the woman as she let out a small sigh and sat back.  
  
"Miss Yohiko. Are you two gonna be all right?"  
  
"He's in Shinjuku, and heading back out to the water," sorted the woman as she frowned at him. "We'll be fine."  
  
"Oh," said the man with a small sigh of relief. "I hate that thing!"  
  
"Well, he has his uses," replied Yohiko with a small shrug.  
  
"I guess so," said Yusaku as he sat down. "What are you two doing tonight."  
  
"I'll leave you two alone," said Usagi cheerfully as she stood up to leave the room.  
  
"Don't bother, he's not getting lucky anyway," snorted Yohiko as she took another gulp from her glass.  
  
"Mo-ther!" gasped the girl.  
  
"Well, it's true," snorted the redhead as she looked at the girl with a small smirk on her face.   
  
"I umm..."  
  
"It's better if you don't say anything," said Yohiko cheerfully.  
  
"Oh," said the man in confusion. "Well. I guess since you're all right...I'll turn in now."  
  
"Yes. You're both getting up early tomorrow. Best get some sleep while you can!" said Yohiko as she narrowed her eyes at the both of them.  
  
They seemed to vanish in a cloud of dust.  
  
"Heh. Well, here's to us, and being stuck here for the rest of our lives!" said Yohiko as she raised her glass and finished it off.  
  
She frowned as she put it onto the table in the middle of the room and sighed. She knew that they weren't going to give up on fixing the past, but apparently they'd decided to keep this Universe around. Not that they minded that, but it was a little disappointing. Still, they could whip this place into shape soon enough. "Heh. Well, now we should start making long range plans I suppose."  
  
She turned off the television, and went to bed.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Spice of Life!   
  
  
  
  



	60. Insertion Part 60

Insertion  
  
Part 60  
  
Spice of life!  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Yohiko Hibiki frowned as she lay in bed with her eyes wide open. It was ten o'clock at night and most of the group was sleeping soundly. All except two of them.  
  
Dan and Carrot were still awake.   
  
"Man. This sucks. I can't sleep," grumbled Carrot.  
  
"It was probably that nap we took while the others were teaching," said Dan with a small snort.  
  
"So...now what?" asked Carrot as he tossed the covers away from them and stood up. They walked around for a moment with frowns on their face.  
  
"We should do something, just hanging around here is boring," said Dan irritably.  
  
Carrot sighed. "I guess we could go out for a drink or something." Their clothes shifted to a pair of slacks and a white shirt as they changed into their male form once again.  
  
"Sounds good," agreed Dan with a small shrug.  
  
++++++++++  
  
They walked along down the street, hands in their pockets and whistling a tune to themselves as they strolled lazily. There was a bar nearby, and they had shifted their age up a little. Ranma's face now sported a bit of stubble and his sleeves were rolled up.  
  
However, their plans were quickly spoiled as a woman rushed by them, screaming. She almost bumped into them, but shrieked and turned away, moving into an alleyway.  
  
Ranma blinked in confusion and raised his hand. "Hey...um...dang..." The woman was already out of earshot.  
  
A group of men rushed by, they were in their early twenties and rushed around them in pursuit of the woman. It was easy to see that the whole lot of them were punks, sporting an interesting assortment of blunt instruments as they gave chase, obviously fearless of any patrolling officer who might be in the area.  
  
"What should we do?" asked Dan calmly.  
  
"Damsel in distress? Group of thugs? Hmm...what indeed?" said Carrot playfully as he smirked at the direction they had run.  
  
"Well, come on then. Let's go beat the crap out of them," said Dan with a smirk of his own.  
  
"Hold on, I've got a better idea," said Carrot as he looked up at the rooftop. "These clothes of ours are neat, I wanna play."  
  
"I'm game," said Dan with a shrug.  
  
++++++++++  
  
She was cornered, nothing but walls surrounded her. Her only escape blocked by the slowly approaching group of men. She fell to her knees in tears, desperately hoping that it would all just go away.  
  
She was a pretty woman in her late twenties, with long dark blue hair that flowed down her back and a nice figure that seemed well suited to the now dirty and mussed looking business suit. On her face a pair of glasses slightly magnified her terror filled green eyes.  
  
The lead man stepped forward, he was wearing a red leather jacket with the collar pulled up. He and all his friends sported spiky hairdos with his being the shortest cut. The man also had a bandage on his right cheek. He casually wiped his chin and spit on the ground. "All right bitch, you're gonna pay for what you did to me." The red mark on his face was obvious, several nail marks raked down the left side of his face from her first attempt to escape him and his goons.  
  
"No! Please!" said the woman as she sobbed. As he neared her, her pleas became screams of terror.  
  
"Yer gonna regret that, you little whore," snarled the man angrily.  
  
The men around him chuckled, each holding his weapon menacingly.  
  
"First, we're gonna have a little fun, right boys?" the man looked over his shoulder at his companions.  
  
"Right, all of us," said one of the group with an evil smile forming on his face.  
  
"Oh god no," pleaded the woman as her screams faltered. She backed further into the wall, pushing herself up against it as far as she could.  
  
The group started laughing again as they moved in, and she screamed in terror. She curled up into a ball waiting for the first of them to grab her. After a moment, nothing happened, but they were still laughing. She dared to look up as she realized that they weren't laughing at all.  
  
The men were looking around excitedly as a deep booming laughter filled the alleyway.   
  
"What the fuck?" cried the leader as he glanced around in the shadows. Confusion and anger were the only emotions on the gang's faces.  
  
"Who's there? Where are you? You'd better come out asshole! Disappear before we hurt you!" snarled one of the group in the back as he swung his bat around at the darkness that seemed to cover every corner of the alley.  
  
"You? Hurt me?" said the voice in a sort of disgusted amusement.  
  
"Where are you?" snarled the leader as he pulled a switchblade out of his jacket.  
  
"I'm all around you, in the darkness, around every corner, watching you," said the voice ominously.  
  
"This isn't fuckin funny man!" screamed the lead punk as he and his companions jerked around excitedly.  
  
The woman was absolutely frozen in terror.  
  
"Who knows the evil that lurks in the hearts of men?" asked the voice from the darkness.  
  
The head punk turned as one of his friends ran away screaming.   
  
"What?" he muttered in confusion.  
  
The coward turned the corner, and suddenly there was silence. It didn't last more than a second, as a terrified scream echoed through the alley followed by the sound of a beating.  
  
"What the fuck? He's there!" cried the lead punk as he pointed with his knife at where their friend had run.  
  
"Are you sure? I could be, behind you!" said the voice as a pair of hands reached out from the shadows and grabbed one of the men from the edge of the group. He was pulled into the shadows and a short scuffle started that ended before anyone could reach him.   
  
By the time his friends arrived to help, he was slumped over a garbage bag out cold.  
  
"Oh shit," muttered the lead punk as he and his three remaining friends backed into one another.  
  
"We gotta get outa here!" cried one of them.  
  
"Shit man! What the fuck!" screamed another one.  
  
The woman was watching, still unable to move from her fear. She had stopped crying and was simply staring at them with wide eyes.  
  
The punks started to move back towards the exit to the alley. However, one of them ran right into a broad chest that had melted out of nothing. He looked up slowly at the intimidating figure that stood over him and started to cry.  
  
Looking down at him was a man with a wide brimmed hat and a scarf covering the lower part of his face. His eyes were a silver color, and all of his clothes were black. A gloved hand reached up and grabbed him, holding him up in the air before throwing him against the wall. He was knocked out from the impact.  
  
The two remaining grunts charged, only to be swatted aside by a few casual backhands that put them down for the count.  
  
"You're going to turn yourself into the police," said the intimidating figure as it strolled towards the young punk who had lead the charge. "You and all your friends."  
  
"What? I can't do that man...I..." stammered the man fearfully as he found himself staggering back.  
  
"You will, because if you don't, I'll be there. I'll always be watching you, waiting for you to screw up. In every corner, in your house, at your hangouts. I'll be hidden away, waiting for you."  
  
The man began to blubber pathetically.   
  
"If you try and get brave after I'm gone, thinking I won't know where you're at, I want you to remember something."  
  
"Wh...what's that?" sputtered the man through his tears.  
  
"The Shadow knows," said the dark monster. He reared his head back and laughed again, it echoed through the walls. The punk fell on his rear and continued to cry. "The Shadow always knows." said the thing malevolently.  
  
He screamed and rushed away, tearing around the corner as if his hair was on fire.  
  
The shadowy figure turned towards the woman and noticed her sitting there staring at him in awe. She had somehow managed to keep her purse and fumbled through it desperately.   
  
"Probably looking for mace or something," said Carrot as he watched her.  
  
Dan was really enjoying this. "You know, sometimes you're not bad."  
  
"I didn't know you could do that with our voice," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"Well, I didn't know you could sing," retorted Dan.  
  
"I had to take voice lessons as a trade off for the martial arts training when I was little," said Carrot sheepishly. "The fact that we sound like Megumi Hashibara doesn't hurt either."  
  
Their conversation ended abruptly as the woman finally found what she was looking for. She stood up and pointed a camera at them.  
  
"Shit!" cried Carrot as he dove for the nearest shadow. They caught a flash of light from the corner of their eyes.  
  
The woman gasped in shock as she backed herself against the wall again. What she had just witnessed him do just then wasn't some trick of Ninjitsu that she had thought he'd been using. The shadows actually reached out to him and swallowed him up. He had vanished completely. "Oh god! What was that thing?" she muttered in horror. She almost dropped her camera as she put it into her bag. She rushed away as well, moving quickly while glancing over her shoulder.  
  
"Kinda makes you wonder who that lady is, doesn't it?" said Carrot as he watched her leave.  
  
Dan nodded in agreement. "We should follow her then."  
  
"Right," agreed Carrot with a dark look in his eyes. "Wouldn't do if that punk got all brave again, would it?"  
  
"Not at all," agreed Carrot.   
  
They reappeared out of the shadows, the camouflage their clothing had been giving them disappeared in an instant.  
  
"This invisibility thing is neat," said Carrot.   
  
"Could be useful," agreed Dan.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
The punk stood up from where he was sitting on a park bench and frowned as a familiar woman rushed by him. She didn't notice him and he looked over his shoulder for a moment. With a scowl on his face, he started to follow her. "Bitch. Lucky bitch, she won't be so lucky this time."   
  
She turned again, moving into a crowd that was much too large for him to try anything just yet.  
  
The Shadow was standing on a nearby rooftop, watching them both casually. In his lap, was a small computer. He was typing merrily and humming to himself.  
  
"Let's see. His name is...Jiro Yamada! How nice, quite the police record too..." His eyes watched the tracking monitor that was keeping tabs on where they were. "Useful thing this Mercury Computer. I bet we loaded it with all sorts of great information for us to play with while we're down here too."  
  
Dan snorted. "So it seems. Carrot, that woman is a reporter," said Dan with a frustrated sigh.  
  
"Well shit," was the grumbled reply.  
  
"So now what?" asked Dan.  
  
"Looks like we found ourselves a hobby," said Carrot with a shrug.   
  
"Great," snorted Dan. "Look, I don't feel like..."  
  
"You know, the Shadow uses guns," said Carrot almost as an afterthought. "I suppose we'll have to get ourselves a nice set."  
  
"New hobby it is!" said Dan as he nodded in agreement.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Jiro smiled as the woman walked across a deserted park towards the center of town. She hadn't been able to hail a taxi and seemed to decide to take the subway.   
  
"Dumb bitch," he said to himself as he pulled out his switchblade and walked up behind her.  
  
They both froze as the dark figure appeared in front of them again. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest and stood on top of a park bench glaring down at them both. "Jiro Yamada, I told you to do something, and you ignored me."  
  
The woman whirled around to see the punk standing behind her with his jaw hanging down.  
  
"Are you more afraid of Mr. Kojiro than you are me?" said the man as he chuckled at the terrified pair. "You shouldn't be, he doesn't know you like I do. He doesn't know where you like to hide, he doesn't know that your family doesn't know what you do for him, and he doesn't know..."  
  
The man fell back on his rear again putting his arms up over his face.  
  
"Yes, he doesn't know that you stole twenty-thousand yen from him last week. At least, not yet. What do you think he'll do when he finds out?"  
  
The man finally snapped and wet himself in terror. "No! Please! I'll do anything! Anything!"  
  
"Go to the police, confess to your crimes, rat out your friends. Maybe then, I won't haunt your dreams for the rest of your life, Jiro," said the thing as it glared down at the man more intensely.  
  
Jiro stood up and ran away screaming again, desperately searching for a police officer this time.  
  
"He works for Kojiro?" said the woman quietly. "Damn. I should have known..."  
  
"Yes. That story you're about to take to your editor will damage his reputation quite a bit Miss Yin."  
  
The woman whirled around at him and gasped.   
  
"Oh. I know about you as well," said the dark figure with a small chuckle. "The Shadow knows...everything," said the thing coldly.  
  
"Jeez! You're worse than my mother!" snapped the woman a little less fearfully. "What do you want?"  
  
"I want you to remember what I did for you tonight," said the thing as he jumped down of the bench and started to fade into the darkness. "That's all. If I ever need you..."  
  
"Do you want my card?" asked the woman hopefully. This was a story she just couldn't pass up.  
  
"No Miss Yin, I already know how to contact you if I need you," said the thing as it finally vanished.  
  
She staggered back and gasped again as it disappeared.   
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Wow, that was cool," said Yohiko as she slumped down on the easy chair in her home a short time later.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Dan. "Hey. What gives?" He looked down at the screen and saw an error message.  
  
"Oh, that," grumbled Carrot.  
  
"You know what this is?"  
  
"I'm just guessing here, but this thing'll tell us what we need to know, when we need it," said Carrot calmly.  
  
"Oh...so we can't..."  
  
"Right, can't look into the future," confirmed Carrot. "Present and Past should be unrestricted to us though."  
  
"That's good," said Dan with a small shrug. "We can't even trust ourselves huh?"  
  
"I know I wouldn't," said Carrot as he closed the screen. "Come on, let's get some shut eye. We don't want to sleep all day tomorrow."   
  
"Yeah. I can do without that class again, Ranma's enjoying that too much," snorted Dan.  
  
"Man, you said it," agreed Carrot.  
  
They lumbered away into the bedroom and closed the door behind them.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
The next day...  
  
"Shampoo, why don't you go ask the Groom out or something today. I'm closing up shop," said Cologne as she looked at her great Granddaughter and smiled.  
  
"What for Great Grandmother?" asked the girl as she bounced up and down with joy at the thought of visiting her Airen.  
  
"We have some visitors coming today, it isn't a good place for young girls to be," said the old woman with a small frown on her face.   
  
++++++++++  
  
A figure wearing a cloak that hid all his features walked through the Streets of Nerima with two figures at his sides. One clothed in a wolf skin, and the other in a tiger skin.  
  
"Can we..." started the wolf skin boy.  
  
"No, this isn't a trip to pick up women. We have important business," said the cloaked figure angrily.  
  
"But, what if we happen to run into some women? Could we then?" asked the tiger skinned boy.  
  
The figure in the cloak sighed and turned to face them. "Very well, I'll allow you to look around a bit. Meet me at the restaurant in a little while."  
  
"Thank you Lord Herb!" cried the pair in unison.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Yohiko Hibiki walked calmly towards her home with Mitaka at her side. She paused by a newspaper dispenser and smiled at the photo on the front page.  
  
"Mysterious Crime-fighter in Tokyo! Who is 'The Shadow'?" read the headline.  
  
"Weird," said Mitaka as he looked at it for a moment.  
  
"I think it's kind of neat," said Yohiko cheerfully.  
  
"I suppose, but there sure are some crazy people out there. I mean, look at the way this guy dresses!" said the man as he pointed at the black and white photo of the figure. It was difficult to make anything out other than the hat and the dark cloak, a tiny bit of his face could be seen if you looked hard enough.  
  
Yohiko growled under her breath for a moment and smiled at him. "I'm sure it looks better in reality."  
  
"I suppose so," replied the man with a small shrug. "How far is your place from here?"  
  
"Not very. It's only about a mile and a half from the school," she said with a shrug.  
  
They had entered the business district and were now passing by the Ucchan. A short way down the street, the Cat Cafe could be seen.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"What do we know about this?" snapped Xianfu irritably. "This is just to weird to not have anything to do with us!"  
  
"I don't remember doin any of this stuff!" cried Ranma.  
  
"That really is a terrible picture," said Pissant.  
  
"It's not our fault you guys slept through all that," snorted Carrot. "You guys could sleep through anything."  
  
"Yeah! We were just going out for a drink, we ran into a little trouble, and one thing lead to another..." said Dan calmly.  
  
"You idiots did this?" cried Xianfu.  
  
"So? We've done worse," said Carrot. "It's just a little superhero deal."  
  
"Idiots!" cried the woman angrily.  
  
"Whatever. We aren't keeping you up or anything," snorted Carrot. "It isn't like you're losing any sleep over this."  
  
"That's not the point!" she snapped.  
  
"What is the point then?" asked Carrot.  
  
"Yeah?" agreed Ranma in confusion.  
  
"Can't we just have a normal life for once?" snapped Xianfu.   
  
"No. That would be really boring!" said Carrot.  
  
"I wouldn't mind," whimpered Pissant.  
  
"Since when have we cared about your opinion?" replied Dan.  
  
"That's mean!" said the voice in retort.  
  
"Hey. I don't want to sit around and be some chick's mom!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Yeah. I don't think I can take that all the time!" retorted Carrot. "Talk about stuff starting to suck after a while."  
  
"You guys are Assholes!" replied Xianfu hotly.  
  
"Well, you should be used to it by now," replied Carrot.  
  
"Hello, what have we here?" asked Dan as something caught his attention.  
  
A figure in a cloak and hood was walking up to them. He paused and stared for a moment, his jaw hanging slightly open as he glared at them all for a short time in silence.  
  
Carrot smirked, "This should be interesting."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Herb frowned. It was a woman, a real one.  
  
"What's the matter kid, you look like you've never seen a girl before," said the woman as she leaned over in front of him.  
  
"I...um...haven't," he said as he turned his head away from her.  
  
"Could have fooled me kid," replied Yohiko playfully.  
  
"Who's this?" asked Mitaka.  
  
"I'd say he smells like Musk to me," said Yohiko as she grinned at her companion.  
  
"That isn't a very nice thing to say," said the man with a small frown at her.  
  
"How did you know that?" said Herb as he suddenly became defensive and looked at the woman in shock.  
  
"My name is Yohiko, and I know a lot of things," said the woman as she winked at him. "You reek of Jusenkyo's magic for one."  
  
The boy's face turned into a heavy blush and he stepped back for a moment."You see much that is hidden, Miss Yohiko."  
  
She nodded at him. "Quite."  
  
"What the heck is going on here?" asked Mitaka as he looked at the pair for a moment.  
  
"It's nothing," said the woman. "I'm afraid I've got some business to tend to now. I'm sorry to do this too you twice in a row, but..."  
  
"It's got something to do with this kid?" asked Mitaka as he peered down at the figures concealing robes.  
  
"Yes, in fact it does," said Yohiko cheerfully.  
  
"What business do you have with me?" said Herb sharply. he glared up at her and frowned.  
  
"You're obviously going to Colognes place right? You wouldn't go see her for nothing."  
  
Herb nodded at this. "So, you are an Amazon?"  
  
"No, not exactly. I can't think of anywhere else a person of the Musk tribe would be going."  
  
Mitaka frowned at the boy. "I'll catch you tomorrow then?"  
  
"Yes. Sorry, but I don't think you'll find this very interesting. Just visiting an old friend from China is all," said Yohiko.  
  
"How do you know the Amazon Elder?" asked Herb.  
  
"Well, I'm afraid that's difficult to explain," said Yohiko with smirk on her face. "In any case, I imagine you're here to find something."  
  
"You know too much," said Herb sharply as he turned his eyes on her again.  
  
"That I do," replied the woman as she returned his gaze coolly. "I'm not going with you because I want to be friendly. I know how you Musk react to women. I'm going along to make sure you behave yourselves."  
  
"What?" said Herb dumbly.  
  
"I imagine you wouldn't be quite as bad as the other two I sense nearby, for obvious reasons," said Yohiko calmly.  
  
"And what would you do?" said Herb with a disgusted snort as he continued walking.  
  
"Don't underestimate me boy," said Yohiko as she grinned at him. "I'm stronger than you realize."  
  
"I have the blood of the dragons in me, how can you hope too..."  
  
"Someone had to beat that dragon to get it into the spring boy, you're not invincible by any stretch," replied the woman as she flicked her pigtail over her shoulder. "Your not familiar with a woman's body either, and you're power is weakened by that as well."  
  
Herb gasped and glared at her. "How dare you..."  
  
"Calm down," said Yohiko. "I'm here to protect my home, not argue with you about who's being insolent."  
  
"Is it really that obvious?" asked the dragon prince as he closed his cloak a little tighter.  
  
"No, but I'm more observant than most," replied the woman as she smirked at him again.  
  
"You're a common fool," said the irritated Herb as he glanced at the woman again.  
  
"I'm anything but common," she responded flatly.  
  
Herb let her move ahead a little and lowered her head. "I can see that," she muttered under her breath.  
  
"And I'm also too old for you, don't start getting any weird ideas," she said as if she'd heard him.  
  
Herb snorted in frustration and embarrassment. "Wench."  
  
"I hope your two friends are behaving themselves for their sake," said Yohiko as she waved her arm at the entrance to the Cat Cafe.  
  
"Those two idiots?" snorted Herb as she walked past the woman and into the restaurant. "Not likely."  
  
"Hmm. That's too bad," said Yohiko as she strolled after him.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Cologne looked up as the pair entered her restaurant and frowned. One she recognized, the other she did not.  
  
"Hello," she said calmly.  
  
Herb gave her a short nod and sat down at one of the tables. Cologne moved up next to him and frowned as the woman took a place beside the young prince.  
  
"This one I know, who are you young lady?" asked the old crone cautiously.  
  
"Young? How nice!" said Yohiko as she smiled at her warmly. "I am Yohiko Hibiki, and I am quite interested in anything that would attract the Musk to Japan. Their reputation precedes them. As does that of the Joketzuko. Most unusual to find the two of them together."  
  
Herb frowned at her. "You said you knew her."  
  
"I do know her, but she does not know me," replied the woman with a short nod.   
  
"What business do you have here?" asked the old woman sharply.  
  
"I'm looking out for the best interest of my country," replied the woman as she narrowed her eyes at the old crone.  
  
"Oh? What interest might that be?"  
  
"Still as curious as ever I see," said the woman as her form melted away into that of a familiar young boy.  
  
Cologne narrowed her eyes at the transformation. "Who might you be? This other Ranma my Great Granddaughter told me about?"  
  
"I am, I knew you, another you anyway. You appear to be all you were before," replied the Ranma clone with a smirk on his face.  
  
Herb merely stared at him for a moment.  
  
"I can assume that Herb is after the counter to his locked form, the...Open Water Kettle? I believe that is what it's called."  
  
Herb frowned at her a little more. "You're starting to wear my patience thin woman."  
  
"Well, I think you'll find you've bitten off more than you can chew if you cross me whelp," replied the boy coldly.  
  
"Of all the insolent..." growled Herb as she stood up.  
  
"I was strong enough to defeat Jusenkyo's magic, were you?" replied Ranma as he frowned at the cursed dragon-boy for a moment.  
  
Herb snorted at this. "Perhaps I can do something about that."  
  
"You'll regret it if you try to use that ladle on me, I promise you that," he said calmly as he narrowed his eyes at the boy.  
  
"Enough!" snapped Cologne. "You should leave now."  
  
"Not just yet, you see...I'm expecting someone any moment now," said Ranma calmly. "Ah, here they are now."  
  
"Lord Herb! We've returned! I actually got to talk to a girl!" said the wolf skin clad boy as he strolled in with Shampoo.  
  
The tiger skin clad boy walked in with Akane Tendo over his shoulder. "I'd like to try having tea with a girl now!"  
  
"Lime! Mint!" snapped Herb. "We don't have time for such foolishness!" He grabbed the struggling Akane from Lime and tossed her away. Throwing her out the door and into the street.  
  
Ranma Saotome walked in and frowned at her. "You shouldn't have done that."  
  
"Oh?" said Herb confidently as she turned and looked at the boy. She gasped and turned to look at the one she had come with. "Another one?"  
  
The first Ranma merely smiled and nodded. "Interesting ain't it?"  
  
Cologne was strangely silent, she merely sat back and watched.   
  
"Carrot?" said Ranma as he noticed his duplicate standing along side Cologne.  
  
The boy smiled at him, and kicked Herbs lackeys to the ground. He grabbed the ladle and bucket from Mint's robes and jumped back. "Well, how about a little test Saotome!?"  
  
"What are you doing?" snapped Herb in shock.  
  
Carrot grinned and splashed Ranma with the ladle, jumping over his head easily.  
  
The now female Ranma blinked in surprise and looked at his doppelganger for a moment dumbly. "What the?"  
  
Herb frowned and looked at the pigtailed girl for a moment. "Wha?"  
  
Carrot chuckled as Cologne gasped. "What have you done boy?"  
  
"I simply locked Ranma in his cursed form," replied the male Ranma. "To make things interesting, and to test him."  
  
"Locked?" muttered the pigtailed girl. "Why the heck did ya splash me ya jerk?"  
  
"I did more than splash you Ranma," said the male Ranma coldly.  
  
Herb and his lackeys stood beside Ranma and growled. "He's locked you in that form! You can't change back."   
  
"What? That's crazy!" cried the redhead in shock.  
  
"Indeed it is," agreed Carrot. He jumped out of the restaurant with the ladle in his hand. "Let's see if you're good enough to do anything about it!?"  
  
The group of angry Musk and Ranma charged outside.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
The fight started without words or formalities. Herb jumped into the air and flew towards Carrot.   
  
"You'll have to do better than that young lady!" snarled Carrot as he dodged and lashed out with a kick that knocked the dragon prince out of the air.  
  
"Lord Herb!" cried Lime and Mint in shock. They attacked in unison, forcing Carrot on the defensive as Ranma tried to find an opportunity to jump in.  
  
Shampoo and Cologne watched the battle from just outside the door. "What is going on?"  
  
"What do?" muttered Shampoo in confusion.  
  
"Something is going on here child, that thing has done something terrible to the Son-in-law! I do not think he realizes it!"  
  
Lime and Mint both fell back and crumpled to the ground as Carrot managed to get a few strikes in despite their combined attacks. He landed lightly, in the middle of the street and cracked his knuckles.  
  
"Care to try again Princess?"  
  
"Why are you doing this?" snarled Herb.  
  
"If you beat me, I'll tell you!" cried Carrot as he noticed the dragon-girl building power.  
  
"I'll destroy you!" cried Herb as she shot a blast of power at the annoying boy.  
  
Carrot snorted and backed away from it before it could strike him. Herb gasped at this. "Impossible! No one is that fast!"  
  
The pigtailed boy rushed up as the blast dissipated and punched Herb in his gut hard. The girl fell forward clutching her belly painfully.  
  
Ranma rushed in and Carrot smirked at her. "Come on!"   
  
"You bastard!" roared Ranma as she found herself on the defensive.  
  
Cologne narrowed her eyes at this. The pigtailed boy had been fairly defensive up until this point, using counters to fight. Now he was on the assault, and moving just slow enough that Ranma could dodge, but not attack? Something was up. "The groom should be cautious, this one is a cunning adversary."  
  
Shampoo nodded and continued to watch in fascination. Her beloved was already walking the spiral for his most devastating attack.  
  
"No!" cried Cologne as she realized what he was going to do.  
  
Carrot smirked as they reached the center of the spiral. "Hiryuu shouten ha! Reversal strike!"   
  
Ranma's eyes went wide as her opponent punched upwards with his fist and twisted the strike. "No!"  
  
The whirlwind consumed them both, but only the male Ranma remained on the ground.  
  
Carrot stood chuckling to himself as he crossed his arms over his chest and surveyed his fallen opponents. "Pathetic. You're all outclassed. Try harder."  
  
Ranma landed roughly on the ground and slowly staggered to her feet. "Damn you." She wavered and put up her fists.  
  
Carrot snorted and tossed the ladle to the ground at her feet. "For a fighting spirit."  
  
Ranma looked down at it and collapsed to her knees.  
  
"Don't think it's over just yet boy," said Carrot as he jumped up and away from the scene.   
  
Herb grit his teeth and glared at the boy as he jumped away across the rooftops. "Damn!"  
  
"What the heck is this thing anyway?" muttered Ranma as she picked up the ladle.  
  
Herb frowned at her and adjusted her cloak. It had remained on throughout the fight. "You're locked in your cursed form."  
  
"Huh? Whatcha mean locked?" said the redhead angrily.  
  
"Son-in-law. The Closed Water Ladle was created to seal Jusenkyo's magic. It freezes you in your current form. No amount of hot water will change you back now," explained Cologne.  
  
Ranma went white as a sheet. "What? Yer jokin right?"  
  
Herb sighed. "No. I'm afraid not."  
  
Akane stepped out of the restaurant. She was holding her head and looking at them in confusion. "What happened?"  
  
"You mean I'm stuck like this!?" cried Ranma in horror. "It ain't true! It can't be true!"  
  
"It is," said Herb as she opened her cloak and showed the redhead own her body. "I was once a man too." Lime and Mint were still out cold, and she frowned at them. "You will not speak of this to these two."  
  
Ranma slowly nodded at this.  
  
"There is a cure, another sacred treasure of the Musk people. I was on my way to retrieve it."  
  
"You mean, I don't have to stay like this?" asked Ranma with hope forming in her eyes.  
  
"Ranma is stuck as a girl?" gasped Akane in horror.  
  
"Since I am partially responsible for this, I will allow you to accompany me on my quest," said Herb with a large scowl on her face.   
  
Ranma's face suddenly became firm as well. "All right then."  
  
++++++++++  
  
Carrot chuckled as he watched the scene from a short distance away. "Everything is going according to plan."  
  
"What plan?" asked Dan.  
  
"Hell if I know," replied Xianfu.  
  
"Are you sure about this, Carrot?" asked Ranma. He was very uncomfortable with what they had just done.  
  
"No," replied Carrot with a small shrug.   
  
"No?" asked Pissant in horror.  
  
"Whadda ya mean 'no'?" said Ranma angrily.  
  
"That all depends on our friend Ranma over there," replied Carrot. "I don't see how this could get screwed up too badly."  
  
"Famous last words," grumbled Dan.  
  
"Yeah, well...I'm sure those two will have their hands full," said Carrot with a shrug.  
  
"Ouch! Don't do that!" snapped Dan.  
  
"That tiger guy sure does hit hard," said Ranma irritably as he tried to rotate their shoulder a little.  
  
"I think we burned our arm too," said Pissant.   
  
"Not to mention all those damn throwing knives," added Xianfu.  
  
"All right, all right! Maybe fighting all of them at once wasn't such a good idea!" snapped Carrot.  
  
"No shit," said Dan.  
  
"I coulda told ya that," said Ranma.  
  
"Idiot," snorted Xianfu.  
  
"I sure am glad Cologne didn't decide to beat us up too," muttered Pissant.  
  
"I get the damn point!" said Carrot.  
  
"Come on, we should get home. Usagi is probably worried about us," said Xianfu.  
  
"Yeah. We need to tell her we'll be gone tomorrow," agreed Carrot.  
  
"Gone?" muttered Xianfu in confusion.  
  
"Yup. We gotta go make sure they don't find that thing to easily," said Carrot. "This is an important battle for him, he's got to fight it."  
  
"You mean we gotta do this again?" grumbled Pissant.  
  
"Hopefully we'll be able to get those two lackeys of his out of the way first this time," said Carrot. "We need to find Ryoga and Mousse, and leak a little information to them."  
  
"Where the heck are they anyway?" asked Dan.  
  
Probably where they got left after they fought Lime and Mint still.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Damn it!" growled Ryoga as he pulled on another one of the knives that had Mousse stuck in the wall.  
  
"You should wash your hair more often Ryoga," said Mousse with a frown on his face.  
  
"It's concrete! Not dandruff for the last time!" snapped Ryoga. "How the heck can you see that anyway? You can't even tell me how many fingers I'm holding up right now!"  
  
"I can certainly tell which finger it is!" snarled Mousse angrily.  
  
"I'll just leave you here then," snorted Ryoga.  
  
"Just you wait until I get free Hibiki!"  
  
"Yeah, just hang there for a while then. I've got to go save Akane. I'm sure Ranma screwed it up! That irresponsible bastard!" cried Ryoga as he dashed off in the wrong direction.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: The Open Water Kettle!  
  
  



	61. Insertion Part 61

Insertion  
  
Part 61  
  
Die Hardest  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Yohiko smiled as Usagi did her homework at the table quietly and seemed quite content to sit in front of the television with nothing to do but relax with her cup of hot tea. She sat back and closed her eyes, or so it appeared.  
  
"So? Now what?" asked Ranma as the collective plotted their next move.  
  
"We'll track them down tomorrow," said Carrot cheerfully. "They won't find it before then. Herb has to rest and recover his power, plus, they'll both run across a hot spring on the way there. "We've got time. Besides, tomorrow is Friday, that'll give us the whole weekend to mess with them."  
  
"So? We just sit around and relax then?" said Dan with a rough sounding snort.  
  
"We're going to need the rest, that last fight really hurt," grumbled Xianfu.  
  
"Yes, it will be nice to just sit around the house tonight for once," agreed Pissant.  
  
+++++++++  
  
Usagi looked up from her books and frowned at them for a moment. "Shouldn't you be getting ready about now?"  
  
Her mother blinked and looked at her. "Getting ready for what?"  
  
"Your date with..." the girl stopped as her mother started to scowl at her.  
  
"What date? I already went out with Yusaku."  
  
"Now you've got a date with Mitaka. He's taking you to some formal dinner somewhere. He invited you a month ago, and managed to talk you into it. Really mother, you're so absent minded sometimes."  
  
The woman blinked and stood up. "Really?"  
  
Usagi nodded and smiled at her. "Uh-huh!"  
  
"I guess I should go get ready then," said the woman as she sulked towards her room with a frown on her face.  
  
"Oh, you're acting like I'm sending you off for a root canal!" said Usagi angrily.  
  
"I don't have any more dates set up after this do I. You'd better not be jerking my chain around daughter, cause if I find out..."  
  
Usagi smiled at her innocently. "No Mom. I wouldn't do that to you!"  
  
"Yes you would," replied the woman as she walked into her room and closed the door.  
  
Usagi dove for the phone and dialed a number quickly.  
  
"Hello? Mitaka? Great. Look, I had to tell my mother that you talked her into going a month ago..."  
  
She paused and listened for a moment.  
  
"Well, I had to trick her. It's like twisting her arm to get her to go out these days. You know how it is."  
  
Mitaka spoke again on the other side of the line.  
  
"Look. I'm doing you a favor, all you have to do is cover for me, all right?" said the girl quietly as she looked towards her mother's room nervously. "I know we set this up last night, but all you have to do is not bring up how long ago we planned this!"  
  
She sighed and put her hands on her hips while holding the phone in place against her shoulder. "Look. You don't have to lie, just don't say anything about short notice or anything! Got it? Good." She smirked to herself. "I'm counting on you now, don't let me down!"  
  
She hung up the phone and got a satisfied looking smile on her face as she went back to her schoolwork. "Got ya!" she said as she made a shooting motion with her hand at her mother's door.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"When did you get that?" asked Usagi as she looked at her mother's dress in confusion.   
  
Yohiko smiled at her, she was wearing a red floral print Chinese dress that was slit almost all the way up to her waist on both sides. "What? This old thing?" said the woman as she waved her hand at her daughter.   
  
"Old? I've never seen it," grumbled Usagi as she looked her up and down. She was dressed quite a bit nicer than her date with Yusaku. "Maybe she does like Mitaka more."  
  
"This is a formal thing right? I hate getting dressed up this much, but..." Her mother got a slightly worried frown on her face as she looked herself over. Her braid was done up in a bun on the top of her head, with several expensive looking ornaments pinning it in place. She also wore eye shadow with the bright red lipstick she had on now. Her daughter had no idea how much the male portion of her brain was complaining at the moment, but Xianfu was enjoying their torment quite a bit.  
  
Oddly enough, Carrot didn't mind as much as the others, and was currently plotting ways to torment their date sadistically.  
  
"He said it was formal," replied Usagi as she smiled at the woman.  
  
"Right," said Yohiko.  
  
There was a knock at the door and Usagi went to answer it. "Oh. Hiya Mitaka!"  
  
"Hello handsome," said Yohiko as she put her hand on her hip and grinned at him.   
  
The man smiled down at Usagi and turned to look up at the statement. All brain functions ceased at that moment and he merely froze in place. He dropped the carnation he had brought for her on the ground.  
  
Yohiko strolled up and pushed on his forehead, sending him to the ground. She grinned as he sputtered after hitting the floor and scrambled back to his feet again. "Miss Yohiko?"   
  
"Well, are we gonna get this over with, are have you creamed your shorts already?" said the woman confidently.  
  
Usagi turned completely red, as did Mitaka.   
  
"I uhhh..." stammered the man.  
  
"Mo-ther..." gasped the girl as she turned away from them.  
  
"Come on then, we should go," said Yohiko as she grabbed his arm and pulled him away.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Mitaka fumbled with his car keys as he stared at her in the passenger seat in shock.  
  
"What is it?" she asked him as she frowned suddenly.  
  
"What happened to you?" he managed.  
  
"Being an old maid is boring," she replied with a shrug. "So where is it we're going?"  
  
"It's a formal dinner party. My family is invited every year, and father though he should send me. It's at the Tanaka tower."  
  
"Oh, one of those fancy party things? With lots of rich people?" said the woman as she looked thoughtful.  
  
"Um, yeah," he answered nervously.  
  
"Oh well. Eyes on the road, not on my legs darlin," she said as she turned his head in the right direction.  
  
He swallowed and finally managed to start the car.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Boring," thought Yohiko as she wandered through he party with her arm around Mitaka's. She allowed herself to be led around by him.  
  
Occasionally, she'd move a little closer to him as a few of the younger girls gave her a nasty look. It got an uncomfortable shudder from him, and made the girls even angrier.  
  
There were a few other handsome young rich people around though, so it was usually short lived.  
  
After a long period of moving about through the crowd she smiled at him and let him go for a while. Wandering around a bit would do her some good. There was a table with food set out to sate the guests while the tables were being prepared. Roughly a hundred guests were present, all of them rich.   
  
She moved over by the punch bowl where a group of women were gossiping lazily.  
  
"I came with Mitori Tanaka, he's got several successful businesses in Kyoto and an office here in Tokyo," said one of the girls cheerfully.  
  
"Really? Well I'm here with Jiro Mitsuya, he's got a controlling stock in three major corporations here in the Tokyo area alone," said another of the girls as she added a bit more lipstick to her face.  
  
"Got that beat, Mitsuya Hirobi. CEO of Japan Corp software industries," said the woman next to her as she primped her hair. "He's the youngest CEO that the company's ever had at only Twenty-five years old."  
  
"How about you honey?" said the first girl that had bragged as she looked Yohiko up and down.  
  
"I'm here with Shun Mitaka," she replied calmly as she sipped at a small cup of punch.  
  
"Who?" said the second girl in confusion.  
  
"His family is rich, he's a tennis coach," she replied with a light smile.  
  
"Honey, you have to do better than that!" laughed the third woman.  
  
"Really? He's financially well off, he's athletic, really good in bed, and he's actually asked me to marry him instead of parading me around like a prize on his arm at a party, only to be used for sex, and then discarded at a later date when your men marry more cultured and bred women that their family approves of. I should also add, that he's in his early twenties, and I'm thirty-six years old." The women looked at her as she cocked her head and smiled at them cheerfully. "Isn't that nice? Tee-hee!"  
  
She turned away from the insanely jealous glares they were giving her and walked through the crowd again.  
  
Ranma Saotome, felt like he was about to have an aneurysm.   
  
Carrot and Dan were actually chuckling.  
  
"Um, Xianfu...we didn't sleep with Mitaka," pointed out Pissant.  
  
"Yes, but they don't know that," said the woman cheerfully.  
  
She started looking around for her date as the crowd ambled towards the dining hall. That is, until she noticed several men in black suits moving around the edge of the crowd.  
  
"Hey Dan. I got an alert for us," said Carrot as he saw them.  
  
"What's up?" asked Dan as he locked their gaze on one of the men that was closest to them.  
  
"They move like they were trained," pointed out Ranma. "Soldiers."  
  
"Something's up?" muttered Xianfu.  
  
"Oh no," whined Pissant.  
  
"Start backing off, head towards the restroom, quickly, but don't run," said Dan firmly as he started them off. "We don't want to catch their attention. Slow down, swing our hips a bit and relax the arms. We don't want to move like we know what we're doing right now."  
  
The others followed the example and they made it to the bathroom, closing the door behind them.  
  
"Okay, now what?" growled Ranma.  
  
"Now, we disappear until we know what's going on," said Dan flatly.  
  
Carrot grinned and their clothes shifted. Their older male body appeared, and their eyes changed to silver orbs as the coat, cape and large round hat appeared on their head. The scarf seemed to melt into place over their faces and they looked around.  
  
"There's an air vent," said Carrot as he pointed upwards.  
  
The cape moved up, unscrewing the grate from the ceiling and pulling them into the hole. It closed behind them and small tendrils of black cloth reached out and screwed the grate back in place.   
  
"Where does it go?" asked Xianfu.  
  
"Right to the main hall. We can keep an eye on things from here," said Carrot as they vanished into the shadows.  
  
"I told you we should have bought a gun today," grumbled Dan.  
  
"We play this right, and we probably won't have to buy one," said Carrot as they edged up to the grate and looked out at the party.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Mitaka frowned, he looked around for Yohiko among the crowd and sighed. "Where did she go off to?" He looked towards the bathroom and frowned. "Maybe she went in there?"  
  
His thoughts were abruptly cut off as the sound of machine gun fire filled the room.  
  
The crowd screamed, people dove to the ground all around him and he followed quickly. The attention of everyone in the room was now on the group of eight men standing around the edge of the room with automatic weapons in their hands. They were all European, and had briefcases in their grasps.   
  
"Hello. I'm sorry to inconvenience you all. I am Olif, and I will be your terrorist for this evening," said a tall blonde man with a thick European accent as he stepped forward and smiled at them. He had a machine gun in his hands as well and waved it over their heads without firing. "For the duration of the evening, I will be keeping you here. I'm sorry if this conflicts with any of your schedules." He chuckled to himself as he lit a cigarette. "Vahn, seal the doors."  
  
One of the men near him, a large man with long flowing blonde hair, walked over and punched in a number to one of the security panels on the wall next to them. The room went dark suddenly and was lit by large flashing yellow lights near the ceiling. Heavy metal shutters came down over all the windows and doors, closing off the building's bottom three floors.  
  
"Now, if you will all please stand up, and follow the gentlemen with the automatic weapons into the offices on the second floor, then we shall begin our work. Do not worry, after we are finished, you shall all be on your way. Please feel free to deposit your valuables and any weapons you might be carrying in the large bags carried by my assistants. Thank you!"  
  
"Sir," said one of the men as he walked up next to him and held out a small computer. It was a laptop and had a schematic of the building displayed on it. "Fifth floor."  
  
"Well, we're taking a little trip then. You two guard the hostages, you two stay down here and guard the perimeter. The rest of you know what your jobs are. The sooner we are finished, the better!" He turned away from them, walking towards the elevators. Three of the men following behind him.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Aren't we going to do something?" asked Ranma as he tried to force them into action.  
  
The others managed to hold him back.  
  
"They've got hostages," said Dan firmly. "Our first priority is to remove that threat."  
  
"Right," agreed Carrot. "How?"  
  
"They're taking the stairs, one guard in back, one in front," said Dan as they looked at the screen of the Mercury computer.   
  
"Next floor up, then what?" asked Xianfu.  
  
"When they get there, they'll put them all together, probably here." Dan pointed at a large open area in the middle of the building. "I'm betting that's full of cubicles though."  
  
"Right, lots of places to hide," agreed Carrot. "Good for us."  
  
"Bad for them," agreed Dan.  
  
"So then what?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Then we work on figuring out what they're doing here, and take them out," said Dan. "The others are moving up to the fifth floor. They're taking the elevator."  
  
"Should we stop the elevator now?" asked Xianfu.  
  
"No. They'll get out. We shouldn't mess with that group just yet. They've got radios. A simple call and they'll start killing hostages if we mess with them just yet."  
  
"The fifth floor," said Carrot as he keyed up a map of the place. "This looks like..."  
  
"It's a computer," agreed Dan. "The whole floor is one big computer."  
  
"So they're after something there," said Carrot with a small snort. "Are there any other points of interest in this place? A vault maybe?"  
  
"In the basement," said Dan with a nod.  
  
Carrot nodded. "I'll bet they'll hit that when they've finished with whatever it is they're doing here."  
  
"What about the police?" asked Xianfu.  
  
"That guy new the command code for those shutters. I'm willing to bet they can get past any alarm systems without much trouble. I'd wager that they can keep us from calling out of here too."  
  
"He's right, plus I'll wager robing those people had a dual purpose. Getting rid of any cell phones they might have been carrying, or other communication equipment."  
  
The room below went dark as the last of the hostages were pushed into the stairwell after receiving a pat down.   
  
"Who first?" asked Ranma as he grinned dangerously.   
  
"Night vision," said Dan as they looked out and saw the pair of guards wandering around below. "Not much good against us."  
  
"Right," agreed Carrot.  
  
Dan watched them for a moment, noting a small gesture they made each time they passed within each other's line of sight. "That's interesting."  
  
"They can't see very clearly with those on," agreed Carrot.  
  
"Can we go kick their asses now?" muttered Ranma.  
  
"Not yet, at least, not these two. Hostages first," said Dan.  
  
"What?" snorted Ranma in disgust.  
  
"We don't want them missing a call in before we save the guests Ranma," said Carrot.  
  
The boy grumbled at this, but complied.  
  
They moved away from the grate and backed into the ventilation system. After a moment, they were staring straight up a long dark shaft.  
  
"How do we get up there?" asked Ranma irritably.  
  
Carrot chuckled as their clothes seemed to come to life again, grabbing the walls and pulling them up the shaft.  
  
"Gah! Spider web!" cried Carrot in disgust after they went a few meters up. He reached up and brushed off their face. "Is it on us? Is it on us?" he muttered as he slapped around his head looking for the arachnid.  
  
"Stop that! Aren't you a man?" cried Xianfu.  
  
"This from the one who had us bragging about sleeping with a tennis coach a few minutes ago?" retorted Carrot.  
  
"Don't ever do that again!" agreed Ranma.  
  
"Sorry," she muttered under her breath.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Five minutes later...  
  
The two armed men stood around the large group of guests, each holding their machine guns lazily as they walked back and fourth in the room.   
  
The hostages were huddled together in the middle of the room, surrounded by cubicles. None of the phones were working in the room, and they ignored the group for the most part, merely keeping them corralled in the area they were in.   
  
One of the men stood up and walked up to one of the armed men. "If you let us go, I can make it worth your while."  
  
"Sit down and shut up," said the man as he pointed his weapon at the man.  
  
The man backed away and sat back down.   
  
The armed man chuckled and shook his head in disgust as he continued to pace.  
  
The lights in the room were off, leaving them in darkness, save for a few emergency lights that dotted the edges of the room.  
  
The men had all the guests stuffed into one of the halls between two rows of cubicles, ensuring that they stayed in place and didn't have much room to do anything.  
  
One of the men turned his back for a moment and lit a cigarette. He never saw his companion being pulled to the ground with a hand over his mouth.  
  
"Hey. Gunther," he said as he turned around with a smirk on his face. His smile fell as he turned and saw the opposite side of the room was empty.  
  
On the ground, one of the guests was looking directly at the black clad figure that was crouching over the fallen guard as he raised a finger to his scarf in a shushing motion and melted away into the shadows. The automatic weapon in his hand was pointed at her. Her eyes rolled up into her head and she passed out.  
  
"Gunther?" asked the first man as he stepped towards the crowd of hostages with an uncertain frown on his face.  
  
A rustling noise caught his attention and he turned to see a cloud of blackness descending on him from above.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"We're in place sir," said one of the men to Olif as he sat in one of the high backed chairs in the middle of the large mainframe that took up the entire floor of the office. He had a cigar in his hands and a laptop on resting on his legs as he idly tapped a few keys.  
  
"Begin then," he said with a smirk on his face. "Gentlemen, we are about to become very rich men."  
  
Those around him laughed and cheered as they started to run the program.  
  
"It'll take five minutes to compile and find the security codes. Then the transfer will take around ten minutes," said another one of the men.  
  
The man chuckled to himself and looked down at his screen. He paused and frowned suddenly. "What is this?"  
  
One of his men was standing next to a black clad figure with the muzzle of a gun pointed to his chin.  
  
"Good evening Mr. Olif. It's the Shadow, the local super hero. Sorry about the rhododendrons," said the figure cheerfully.  
  
Olif stood up and frowned. "What?"  
  
"Anyhoo. Gunther here needs you to give up!" continued the figure obliviously.  
  
"Hello boss," said the man nervously as he read a cue card that couldn't be seen. His companion was tied to a chair behind him.  
  
"If you don't, you'll get..."  
  
"Ta-da!" said the man as the man held up a sign with the words 'The Shadow' written on it. It was little more than a piece of cardboard with the words written in marker.  
  
"Tell em what you get!" said the Shadow cheerfully as he held up another sign.  
  
"You get, beaten up henchmen, nasty explosions, no hostages, and..."  
  
"Very good Gunther," said the Shadow. "And Mr. Oldleaf."  
  
"Uh, Olif actually," corrected the henchmen.  
  
"Whatever. If you act now, I'm sure you'll escape with your life!"  
  
"Perhaps that's why the Shadow is Japan's favorite super hero?" said Gunther nervously.  
  
"Hmm. Perhaps..." said the Shadow as he rubbed at the scarf on his face.  
  
The Shadow turned towards the tied up henchmen and pointed the gun at him. "You ready?"  
  
"Mmmmfff!" cried the man in terror.  
  
The screen went blank abruptly, leaving Olif and his men staring at it.   
  
The man stood up and screamed angrily. "Find this idiot! Kill him!"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Where are we going?" asked one of the nervous looking women as the Shadow led them to the stairs.   
  
"The top floor," he replied calmly as he moved them into the stairwell.  
  
The others filed by him and started moving upwards.   
  
"What if we run into one of them?" asked one of the men nervously.  
  
"Naw. He's sending his two lackeys up from downstairs," said the Shadow cheerfully. "Get moving, go all the way up, and lock the door behind you until the police arrive."  
  
"What about them?" asked the same man as he looked back at the two henchmen.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll take care of them," said the Shadow as he turned away and started walking towards them.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Now hold still, you should be all right if you don't play with that," said the Shadow as he stood up.  
  
Both men were now tied to chairs and leaning back against one another. Beneath the legs of both of the chairs were a pair of hand grenades being held in place by the legs.  
  
The hero walked away from them, vanishing into the shadows again.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Below the two men received a call on their radios. "Vahn. We have a rat on the second floor. Do something about it."  
  
"Right," said the man as he turned to his companion and nodded.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
In the stairwell the hostages were steadily moving towards the top floor. They moved quietly, the whimpering of a few frightened individuals could be heard in the crowd.  
  
"We're nearing the fifth floor," said one of the men in the front as he turned back to the rest of the crowd. "Quiet down."  
  
"There's no need for that," said a voice from above them.  
  
The man turned and saw a man grinning down at them with an automatic weapon in his hands. He trained it on them and smiled. "Goodbye."  
  
The group started to panic, but stopped when the man suddenly dropped his weapon and was lifted up into the air.  
  
The Shadow landed near to where he had been standing and was holding his hands as if he was grasping a rope. The man's feet kicked as he tried to grab for his weapon, only to find it wasn't there any longer. He choked and gasped as his struggles slowed, a red line of blood appearing along his neck as the thin wire that he was hanging from cut further and further into his neck.  
  
The dark figure turned towards the head of the crowd and motioned for him to keep moving.   
  
"How did you..." said the man as he looked back over his shoulder.  
  
"I took the elevator," replied the shadow calmly. "Get moving."  
  
The man nodded and continued his trek, giving the man a wide berth as he passed by him.  
  
After everyone had passed, he released the wire, which was in fact a part of his costume. It melted back into place, dropping the man down into the stairs below. He whirled around and opened one of the doors, vanishing into the building yet again.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Olif scowled as he looked down into the street below. Dozens of police vehicles had started to surround the building. "How much longer?" he asked angrily.  
  
"Still five minutes," replied the man working at the console.  
  
"Hurry it up, the faster we take care of this, the better." He nodded towards the other two men and they smirked at one another.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
On the second floor, Vahn slowly walked into the room with his companion at his side. The two men were still sitting in the middle of the room with the grenades holding the front end of their chairs up.  
  
The made muffled sounds as they pair approached.  
  
"You stupid bastards. I should leave you both here," snarled Vahn as he brushed his hair over his shoulder and frowned at them. "Get them out of there."  
  
The other man nodded and knelt down over the grenades. He looked up and shook his head. "It's booby-trapped."  
  
"They're just grenades," snorted Vahn as he pulled several grenade pins from his pocket. "Always carry a spare."  
  
The other man chuckled and shook his head as Vahn replaced the pins.   
He ripped the tape off of one of the men's mouths and jumped back as the man screamed at him.  
  
"No! Idiots!" cried the man just as Vahn removed one of the grenades from under the leg.  
  
"Shit!" cried the blonde man in shock as he looked down and saw that there was a hole actually dug into the floor underneath a thin cut in the carpet. Inside was another grenade, the spoon flew off of it and he backed away.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
The shadow turned at the sound of the explosion and chuckled to himself as he continued to walk through the rooms on the fourth floor of the building.  
  
The radio in his hand came to life suddenly. "Vahn? What happened? What was that?"  
  
"Vahn isn't answering," said the Shadow calmly. "I'm afraid he's quite busy now."  
  
"Ah, you must be our friend with the large hat. What do you think you are? Some kind of cowboy?"  
  
"Could be," replied Carrot as he smirked.  
  
"You speak English," said the voice cheerfully. "An American? Your accent would point to that."  
  
"Yippie Kai yay motherfucker," said Carrot as he shut the radio down.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Olif thrust his hand down in anger. "Is it finished yet?"  
  
"No sir," said the man working at the console. "Three minutes and..."   
  
The room went completely black, the connection severed as the mainframe's power went down. "Shit."  
  
"That son of a bitch!" cried the computer henchmen angrily. "He..."  
  
"He shut down the power, yes I know," said Olif in frustration. "We'll salvage what we can, and escape. There's nothing we can do."  
  
"Right," agreed one of the henchmen to his right.  
  
They opened the briefcases they had brought with them and began to build a small minigun out of the various pieces in the room. After a few seconds, they shattered out the window, and began to fire on the police cars below.  
  
The officers scattered as they were pelted with bullets, tearing through the cars and officers lethally.  
  
"That should get their attention, come," said Olif as he strolled towards the stairwell. "You two make sure our guest has a warm welcome."  
  
The pair nodded at him and moved off together.  
  
+++++++++  
  
"This is so cool," said Carrot as he moved through the shadows within the building. "Here we are."  
  
They looked up and smirked to themselves as their coat began to reach for the ceiling.  
  
"It's showtime."  
  
+++++++++  
  
The two men turned in shock as the floor under them exploded upwards, sending the minigun flying across the room. Pieces of debris moved in every direction, and a strange light seemed to be shining from the hole. Occasionally, a searchlight from the police outside would pass by, giving the room a strange eerie ambiance.   
  
They slowly stood to their feet, getting ready for a fight.  
  
"Attention K-mart shoppers!" said a booming voice as something began to rise from the floor.  
  
The two men looked on in shock as a giant thing emerged from the floor. Its arms were rolled up to its elbows in curls, and it had a sort of umbrella thing on its head. Its face was covered with a scarf still, and it was jet black.  
  
Two spotlights shined on them from somewhere in the back of the room, forcing them to shield their eyes. They held their guns ready and began to fire blindly into the lights, hitting nothing.  
  
The thing unrolled its arms and they reached all the way to just in front of the pair. Neither noticed the strange test of strength style boards rise up behind them. They were too busy staring at the thing's hands, as they inflated into giant mallets.  
  
"What the fuck?" said one of the men as he looked up at it dumbly.  
  
It raised the mallets into the air, and slammed them into the ground in front of them. The floor beneath their feet buckled, sending them flying into the air, headfirst into the ceiling.   
  
The Shadow morphed back into his original form, laughing as the two men's bodies hung from the ceiling, each up to his neck with blood running down from where their heads had struck the concrete beneath that was just above the ceiling panels.  
  
"I've always wanted to do that," said Carrot cheerfully as they turned to give chase.   
  
They were stopped though, when a third henchman appeared in the stairwell with a rocket launcher over his shoulder.  
  
"Take this you freak!" he cried as he fired the weapon.  
  
The shadow rolled away and dove for the window, breaking through it and sailing out over the police cars below. The explosion shattered the windows on the fifth floor and he fell a few dozen feet before his costume reached out to grab the outer surface of the building, stopping his decent rather roughly. They slammed into the side of the building, cracking another window. They simply hung there for a moment in pain.   
  
"Oh. I am so going to hurt that guy," growled Dan angrily.  
  
The costume started to move, climbing up the wall at an amazing rate. They paused when one of the searchlights focused on them and turned to look at the ground below.  
  
Hundreds of police officers were looking up at them and training their weapons.  
  
"Well shit," said Carrot as they increased their speed a little and managed to move out of the way of the searchlight. It caught up quickly enough and passed over nothing. He had vanished once again.  
  
The cops below looked on dumbly, searching for him sporadically.  
  
"They were going up, you know what that means?" asked Dan.  
  
"Yeah. It was really stupid of us to send those hostages upstairs," grumbled Carrot.  
  
"No shit! You morons!" snapped Xianfu.  
  
"Hey, you weren't complaining when we thought about it lady!" replied Ranma.  
  
"Thanks," said Carrot.  
  
"Don't mention it," said the boy in reply.  
  
Their camouflage faded and they made their way up the building, stopping long enough to hide themselves when the searchlight passed them.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"I got him sir," said the henchman as he strolled up to his boss. He tossed aside the rocket launcher and moved up beside his boss brandishing two handguns.  
  
"Excellent," said Olif as he turned away and started up the stairs again. They were on the eighth floor and steadily moving to the fifteenth, which would lead them to the roof.  
  
"Olif. Who knows the evil that lurks in the hearts of men?" asked a chilling voice from all around the pair.  
  
"No way!" cried the henchman as he turned and started firing down the stairwell. His shots bounced off the walls and stairs, doing little more than making noise.  
  
"Take care of him!" snarled Olif.  
  
"There's no way he could have survived that! He can't be human!" cried the henchman as he started down the stairs with an angry frown on his face.  
  
The shadows around him began to move as if they were alive. He turned and fired with each step, hoping to catch his hidden adversary.  
  
A booming laughter filled the hallway and he gasped in terror. Spinning around to fire again he found himself nose to nose with the intimidating figure. His arms were on either side of the thing pointing the weapons just behind it.  
  
The Shadow's hand reached up and grabbed his face, hitting his head against the wall and knocking him out cold. The two handguns fell from his hands and he tumbled down the stairs. The dark figure walked down and kicked him in his stomach lightly before snorting in disgust. It bent down and lifted him up by his neck for a moment before dropping him again.   
  
The Shadow seemed to envelop him, and then backed away, holding a pair of handguns in his grasp. "Well, no more weapons? Not much of a threat anymore are you my friend?" He turned away and started up after Olif.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Olif banged against the door on the top floor. His gun in his grasp as he sweat bullets and tried to shove the door down with a few thrusts of his shoulder. It was a heavy metal door though, and he did little but make noise. "Let me in! For the love of god!" he cried in terror.  
  
His radio came to life and he fumbled for it. "Did you get him?" he cried with hope filling his voice.  
  
"Olif. Do you like scary movies?" said a sadistic voice on the other end.  
  
"What?" he muttered.  
  
"I said, do you like scary movies?" said the voice.  
  
"No," whimpered the man pathetically.  
  
"Me neither," said the thing on the other side. "I prefer action movies. You know, the ones where the evil terrorist dies at the end?"  
  
"Please god no," muttered the man as he slumped down against the door.   
  
"Well, guess what Mr. Fancy Pants? I'm a hero, and you're...hmm...what are you?" said the Shadow.  
  
"I'm a..."  
  
"Oh yes. You're an evil terrorist," said the voice sadistically.  
  
"Olif, turn around and look at me when I'm talking to you," said the Shadow from the radio.  
  
The man screamed, jumping to his feet and whirling around with his gun in his hand.  
  
There was a shot fired, and blood splattered against the doorway behind him. He slowly turned his head and looked at the wet smear for a moment, working his jaw in horror.  
  
His arm was hanging limply at his side, and his gun was clattering down the stairs.   
  
"Nice shot," he muttered to himself as he slumped down again, this time sitting with his back against the door. He couldn't move his right arm, the shadow had actually sent a bullet into his hand, and it had come out his shoulder. The thing was standing there, looking at him with a smoking weapon in its grasp.  
  
"I'll see you in your dreams Olif. You be sure to get lots of rest in prison," it said as it faded into the darkness.  
  
Olif closed his eyes and began to cry.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"I'm sorry," said Mitaka as he stood next to Yohiko after the police had arrived. He hung his head in shame as she smiled at him.  
  
"It's all right. I wasn't hurt," she said with a shrug. "It certainly was interesting."  
  
He looked at her for a moment with his mouth hanging open. "I..."  
  
"Don't worry about it Mitaka. It wasn't your fault," she said to him.  
  
"I know...but..."  
  
"Come on, we were lucky," said the woman as she helped him through he police lines with the other guests.   
  
"Where were you?" he muttered as he looked at her.  
  
"I was in the bathroom," she said as she looked away from him. "I hid in there, and managed to crawl into an air shaft until it blew over," she said as she grinned at him sheepishly.  
  
"Oh. Good," he said with a short nod. He was obviously quite upset.  
  
"Well, not really," she said to him with a slight shake of her head.   
  
"Oh, sorry," he said to her with a pathetic frown. "I didn't mean..."  
  
"I know dear," she said as she walked by one of the ambulances.   
  
A large European man with no legs and an arm gone was screaming in pain as they shoved him inside. His long blonde hair half burnt away.  
  
"It was rather messy wasn't it?" she said with a sort of apologetic frown on her face.   
  
"Yeah. I'm sorry," he mumbled.  
  
"Come on, we should get back," said the woman as she ushered him away.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Mitaka, I'm sorry our little date got ruined," said Yohiko as she stepped out of the car.  
  
"Yeah. Maybe we can make it up?" he said weakly.  
  
"Um. No, I don't think so," she said as she backed away.  
  
His face fell and he sighed heavily.  
  
"Well, at least part of it was nice!" she said as she smiled at him. Of course, she wouldn't tell him which part she had enjoyed more, but he wouldn't know the difference.  
  
"Yeah," he said as he hung his head again.  
  
She leaned into the car and kissed him on the lips before backing out. "Bye!"  
  
His eyes glazed over as she closed the door and jogged away, heading towards her apartment.  
  
"I..." He smiled and drove off, not sure of what that meant.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Yohiko Hibiki stood up coughing from behind the bushes in front of her apartment building. She growled angrily and wiped the bile off of her chin.   
  
"Don't ever, ever, evereverevereverever! Do that, again," said Carrot.  
  
"I think I'm gonna be sick again!" cried Ranma as they lurched over the bushes again.  
  
"Oh, don't be such a baby! It was just one little kiss!" said Xianfu.  
  
"You kissed a man! A MAN!" cried Dan in disgust.  
  
"Well, he did look kinda sad," muttered Pissant.  
  
"Don't tell me you enjoyed that!?" cried Carrot in horror.  
  
"No! Of course not! But...I understand why she did..." said the voice sheepishly. "Please don't do that again Miss Xianfu."  
  
"You jerks!" snapped the woman irritably. "He just looked so pathetic, I couldn't help myself."  
  
"Well, I've managed to contain my urge for a piece of sweet ass since we got here!" snapped Carrot. "Now I'm gonna kick yers!"  
  
"Ouch! Quit it!" cried Xianfu as he punched them all in the face.  
  
She elbowed them in the gut and fell to the ground on their face, preventing him from hitting them anymore.  
  
"Witch! How dare you make me kiss a man!?" cried Dan as he pulled at their hair.  
  
"Ouch! I'm not sorry!" she cried painfully. She reached down and twisted their breast. "I'll do what I want! You assholes don't seem to have a problem with that!"  
  
Carrot clutched at their neck and tried to choke them. "Die!"  
  
"Ingrate!" cried Ranma.  
  
"Foul temptress!" said Dan.  
  
"A little too much Kuno there man," said Carrot as he paused the fight for a moment.  
  
"Oh, sorry," muttered Dan as he slugged them across their cheek.  
  
"Stop it!" cried Pissant. "Can we just forget about it this time?" he pleaded.  
  
"All right, I'll let it slide this one time," grumbled Carrot as he rubbed his jaw. "Don't let it happen again though."  
  
"Let it slide? You assholes!" cried Xianfu.  
  
"Let's just go inside, before I get sick again," muttered Ranma.  
  
"Right," agreed the others.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Oh! Hi Mom! How was your..." Usagi trailed off and looked at her mother. She was filthy, dirty, and had several red marks on her body. "Oh! Are you all right?" cried the girl. "That jerk! He didn't!" she cried in horror.  
  
Yohiko snorted. "Ha! Like that idiot could hurt me if I let him! Don't be stupid dear."  
  
Usagi sighed with relief and looked her mother up and down. "What happened then?" She suddenly went red as she realized that her mother must have gotten lucky. They probably rolled around on the ground in passion, that was the only explanation for what she looked like. "Really mother, you could have come up and used the bedroom. I wouldn't have complained..."  
  
"Huh? What the heck are you on about?" asked the woman as she looked at her daughter in confusion.  
  
"Well, it looks like the date went well!"  
  
Yohiko stood up and turned on the TV. "You tell me," she replied as a news report showing the tower was on.  
  
The girl gasped as she heard the reporter talking about what had happened.  
  
"Mom! Are you all right? I mean, they didn't hurt you did they?"  
  
"Huh?" said the woman as she walked out of the kitchen with a bottle of sake in her hand. "Heck no. I was in the bathroom and managed to crawl into an air vent when all this started." Once again, she omitted the rest of her tale.  
  
"That's good, but then why do you look like that?" asked the girl.  
  
"Oh, this? I kissed Mitaka and got sick in the bushes outside," she replied as she poured herself a drink, looked at it, and then started to drink from the bottle.  
  
"Oh," said her daughter dumbly. "Okay." She turned towards the report and watched it intently. "What's this about some sort of super hero?"  
  
"The Shadow," said the woman as she looked up at the screen. "Some guy came and beat up or killed all the terrorists."  
  
"Oh," said her daughter in confusion. "Well. I'm glad you're safe."  
  
"Yeah. Me too, had a close call there," said the woman cheerfully. "Anyway, it's time for little girls and their mothers to go to sleep. We've got school tomorrow." She stood up and turned off the TV before hugging the girl tightly.  
  
"Well, I suppose you're right," said the girl as she walked to her room. "Goodnight."  
  
Yohiko smiled at her warmly and went into her own room.   
  
She lie down on the bed and reached inside her clothes, pulling out several objects; a few hand grenades, a pair of handguns, and a radio. She tossed the radio aside and took out a few ammunition clips for the guns.   
  
Reaching under her bed, she took out a shoebox and placed the items inside before sliding it back under and rolling over onto the sheets. Her clothes shifted into her pajamas and she closed her eyes to sleep finally.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: The Race for the Open Water Kettle!  
  
For those of you who don't know, the spoon on a grenade is that thing you hold to keep it from exploding after you pull the pin.  
  



	62. Insertion Part 62

Insertion   
  
Part 62  
  
The Quest for the Open Water Kettle  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Yohiko looked down at the two figures panting pathetically on the lawn. She sighed and squat down beside Yusaku, he was face down in the grass. She lifted up his head by his hair and frowned at him. "Let me ask you something. Am I really worth all this?"   
  
He stared at her with half lidded eyes for a moment, seeming to consider the question. "Definitely."  
  
"Oh. Okay," she said as she dropped his head in the grass again. "Come on Usagi dear, it's time to get ready for school."  
  
The girl groaned and tried to push herself to her feet. It took a minute, but she managed finally. "I don't think you're worth this."  
  
"Well, you don't have a choice. You're going to do your family proud," said the woman as she snorted at that.   
  
++++++++++  
  
Yohiko Hibiki smiled as she stared down the young student in front of her. The girl was in a corner of the schoolyard, and was holding a large wad of money in her hands. "Well, what have we here?"  
  
"Miss Yohiko," said the girl. "I..."  
  
"Miss Yutori, I see you've been busy this morning," said the woman as she grabbed the girl by her arm. "Tell me, what is this money for?"  
  
"Um...I..." stammered the girl pathetically as she was dragged towards the doors of the school. She dropped a notebook on the ground as she staggered.  
  
Yohiko smiled and picked the book up. "Oh. What is this? An account book?"   
  
"Um, no..." said the girl nervously.  
  
"Really? That's what the first page says," said Yohiko as she showed the girl the page. "I see names at the top, and accounts for quite a few students here! You wouldn't be working as a bookie for someone would you?"  
  
"I uhh..." said the girl as her brain shut down. "I thought that she...had an agreement with the teachers..."  
  
"Agreement?" said Yohiko as she frowned at the girl. "Well, we'll just have to put a stop to that won't we?"  
  
"I..." muttered the girl as her face went completely red. "We aren't hurting anyone!"  
  
"Who is we?" asked Yohiko with a dark looking frown on her face as she looked the girl in her eyes.  
  
"Eeep!" said the girl as she saw Nabiki standing behind the teacher. She shut her mouth quite abruptly.  
  
"Why Miss Tendo! Imagine finding you here? Shouldn't you be in class?" said the woman as she turned to face the girl.  
  
The girl narrowed her eyes at the woman and turned away.  
  
"As for you, we're going to have a little talk," said Yohiko as she pulled the girl into the building.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"I did it!" cried the girl as she hung her head in shame. "Please don't be too harsh on me! My parents will kill me!"  
  
"Possibly," agreed Yohiko. "After you get out of jail that is."  
  
The girl went completely pale and stared at the woman for a moment. "I...WHAT?"  
  
"I'll be blunt, I don't care about you. I want the big fish," said the teacher as she leaned forward and smiled at the girl.  
  
"Big fish?" muttered the girl.   
  
"Yes. I know who it is, but I don't have proof yet. If you were to name her..."  
  
"She'd kill me!" cried the girl. She quickly realized what she'd done and clapped her hand over her mouth.  
  
"I could call the police, but I think a visit to the principal's office before that would be better," said the woman as she leaned back in her chair.  
  
"I don't know anything!" cried the girl.  
  
"Do you know what the principal does to students who get sent to his office?" said Yohiko as she leaned forward again and gently took a bit of the girl's ponytail into her hand. She rubbed it for a second and then let it fall back down. "It's a shame really."  
  
The girl was quivering in terror. "No. You can't!" She clutched her head protectively.  
  
"I can, and I will. Unless you give me what I want, and promise me that you won't work for her again. Ever." Yohiko chuckled and sat back once again. She lifted her hand up and inspected her nails for a moment.  
  
"I don't have a choice! You don't understand! She's got..." started the girl as she began to cry pathetically.  
  
"Oh? Blackmail as well?" said Yohiko as she leaned forward with her grin widening suddenly. "This gets better and better."  
  
The girl across from her went completely white. "But...I can't! If Jiro finds out that I..."  
  
"It'll be no different than if I have you sent to jail," said the woman gently as she nodded her head in false understanding. "My, you're certainly in a bind. Wouldn't it be nice, if you could put the girl responsible for this in a bind as well?"  
  
"But..." said the girl as she looked up at the teacher again, this time with tear filled eyes.  
  
"Listen dear, you're in a no win situation here. You can either stick it out from some misplaced sense of loyalty for someone who's used you for her own purposes, or you can take the path of least resistance and nail the person really responsible. You may lose your little boyfriend, but there are other boys."  
  
"I'll never get a date again!" cried the girl fearfully. "It's that bad!"  
  
"Please dear. You may be lonely through the rest of your high school career, but I doubt if it will travel with you outside of these walls," said the woman with a casual wave of her hand. "Honey. I hate to put it bluntly, but there are other boys besides this 'Jiro' kid. It's time to look out for number one."  
  
"But I love him!" cried the girl fearfully. "We..."  
  
"You're a teenager, in a year's time, you probably won't even remember his name," said the woman calmly. "Time to face the music child."  
  
The girl looked down at her hands, she was shaking. Finally, after sitting in silence, she looked up at the woman. "All right."  
  
Yohiko smiled to herself. "Good. I'm glad you're smart enough to realize the right choice here."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki Tendo looked on as Mitsuri Tanaka was escorted from the building by a police guard. She turned to look at the girl for a moment and scowled. She simply watched in silence, not saying a word. "She's gone."  
  
"Well Miss Tendo," said Yohiko as she stepped out of the building. "Saying goodbye to your old friend?"   
  
The girl turned to look at her with a shocked expression on her face. "I..."  
  
"You can relax now," said the woman as she put her hand on the girl's shoulder and winked at her.  
  
Nabiki nodded and turned to watch the girl being carted away.  
  
"We found her stash of records. I'm sure she has more at her home," said Yohiko as she squeezed the girl on her shoulder and smiled at her.  
  
"You know!?" gasped Nabiki in horror.  
  
Yohiko frowned at herself for a moment. This was a completely unexpected development. "Your secret is safe with me Tendo. I would never betray something like that."  
  
The girl looked up at the woman's serious frown and gasped. She rushed into her arms and sobbed pathetically.  
  
Yohiko growled in anger as she saw the girl being pushed into the back seat of the police car. She had broken into the girl's locker personally. It hadn't taken more than a moment to find the false panel in the back of the wall. "Such a horrible child," she said as she watched the car pull away.  
  
"But..." said Nabiki as she looked up at the woman. "I..."  
  
"I understand Tendo," said the woman as she smiled at her for a moment. "Don't worry, I think we'll find everything."  
  
"They'll find out!" cried Nabiki in shock. "When this goes to court! My family! They'll disown me!"   
  
"I can't speak for them Tendo," said the woman as she knelt down beside the girl. "I hope they'll surprise you. In the end, it will work out for the best. You won't spend your life worrying if they ever find out about it."  
  
Nabiki gasped at her. "I..."  
  
"I can't condone what you did, but I can't fault you for it," said the woman as she put her hand on top of her head.  
  
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" muttered the girl in horror.  
  
"Yes. Possibly ruined your life?" said the woman.   
  
Nabiki stepped back with a horrified look on her face. "What?"  
  
"And how many other lives would she have ruined if I hadn't done anything?" said the woman as she stood up and dusted off her coat.  
  
"I loved him. I knew Daddy wouldn't understand. After it happened..."  
  
"He left you alone," said the woman as she looked down at the girl. "Seems your father would have been right after all?"  
  
Nabiki looked up at her for a moment. "How dare you?!"  
  
"You were a fool in love Tendo. You never know what might happen, this may work out in the end, and your secret may be safe. You should just be happy that you had a doctor as understanding as Tofu."  
  
The girl hung her head. "How do you know it was him?"  
  
"Call it a hunch," said Yohiko. "I imagine he recommended someone to you. Possibly even set up the appointment himself."  
  
Nabiki frowned and turned towards the open gates of Furinkan. "I'm glad she's gone."  
  
"I am too, using you to hide herself from view was cowardly, but effective. Be glad I came along, you may not be now, but someday you will understand."  
  
Nabiki looked up at the woman and simply stared at her.   
  
"You should be in class," said the woman as she took out a pen and a notepad. "Here. I'll make you a pass." She tore the page out of her notepad and smiled at her as she handed it to her. "Just remember what happened here Tendo. I think I can trust you, but don't forget what happened to her."  
  
Nabiki looked up at her and nodded dumbly.  
  
Yohiko watched her walk back inside and frowned to herself. "We should remember this. It could be useful later on."  
  
With that, she walked back inside the building to her first class of the day.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome sat in a hot spring somewhere in the mountains of Japan. Herb was beside her, soaking with a towel on her head.  
  
"So, this thing. What do we have to do when we find it?" asked the pigtailed girl.  
  
Herb frowned at this and sighed. "We bathe in the water. It should remove the effect of the ladle."  
  
"Sound's easy enough," said the redhead.  
  
Herb nodded and tried to wrench her eyes away from the girl's body. She growled in anger and finally gave up, staring at the redhead.  
  
"What are you starin at?" snapped Ranma.  
  
Herb turned away from her. "That girl. I can't stand the sight of her."  
  
Ranma blinked and looked around. "Huh? What girl?"  
  
"You," said Herb flatly. "You look just like..."  
  
Ranma scratched his head in confusion, not sure of what to say. "I ain't no stupid girl!" he said finally.  
  
"Neither am I," retorted Herb hatefully.  
  
"Fine then," said Ranma as he turned away.  
  
"Good. I'm glad you understand," said Herb with a rough sounding snort.  
  
Ranma blinked suddenly and looked at Herb. "I guess you would understand all this crap wouldn't you?"  
  
"Pardon?" said the dragon girl as she turned to look at her companion again.  
  
"I mean. We're a lot alike," said Ranma as she pulled her arm out of the water and looked at it for a moment. "The curse and all."  
  
"We are not alike! I am descended from dragons! You're just a pathetic human!"  
  
"Hey! If there's one thing I ain't, it's pathetic!" said Ranma angrily.  
  
Herb frowned as the redhead stood up. Her breasts bounced right in front of her face and she blushed furiously.  
  
"Hey! Quit starin at those!" snapped Ranma as she sat back down again and covered herself up. "I ain't starin at yours!"  
  
Herb looked at her and got a sort of confused look on her face. "That's true. Why not?"  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Why haven't you been looking at my breasts? I mean, I understand that I am to be considered attractive. It seems odd that you wouldn't be looking at all."  
  
"Are you nuts? You're a guy! A guy!" cried Ranma as she raised her arms into the air. Once again, her breasts bounced excitedly and Herb's attention was caught once more.  
  
"Stop that!" cried Ranma as she moved away from the other girl.  
  
"Why do they move like that?" said Herb as she poked at her own breast in confusion. "How odd."  
  
"I dunno, it's annoying," said Ranma with a frown on her face as she did the same.  
  
"Quite uncomfortable," agreed Herb as she bounced a little to test it.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Ranma. "Look. I don't wanna look at you, cause I know you ain't really a girl. All right?"  
  
"But, I am really a girl," said Herb.  
  
"What?" said Ranma as his eyes went wide.  
  
"That is what the spring does. It changes you into a girl, therefore, I am a girl."  
  
Ranma shook the explanation off and frowned. "No. I don't mean like that. I mean, you were born a guy right?"  
  
Herb nodded.  
  
"Well, you still think the same right?" continued Ranma.  
  
"Yes. This spring does not affect the mind," said Herb calmly.  
  
"Well, then you ain't a real girl," said Ranma.  
  
"So, real girls think differently than men?" said Herb in confusion.  
  
"Boy do they ever," muttered Ranma with a downcast look on his face.  
  
"How odd," said Herb as he thought about this. "How do they think differently?"  
  
"I dunno," said Ranma. "I ain't a girl."  
  
"Explain this to me," said Herb as she leaned forward.  
  
Ranma blinked. "Well, they get really embarrassed about some stuff. It's weird. They do girly things, like shopping."  
  
"I like shopping," said Herb flatly.  
  
"It's different for girls. They can spend all day in a shoe store," explained Ranma. "I went one time with Kasumi, and Akane. I thought we'd never get out of there."  
  
Herb blinked at this. "All day?"  
  
"Yeah! Hours!" said Ranma.  
  
"That is unusual," agreed Herb.  
  
"They're always calling guys perverts," continued Ranma. "Even when they ain't. I mean, I know some perverted guys. Those two idiots with you are perverts for example. I know I ain't one though."  
  
"Perverts?" said Herb in confusion. "What does this word mean?"  
  
Ranma blinked and looked at the girl. "I uhh. Guys who like, think about doing it and stuff all the time. They like, touch girls and stuff."  
  
"Touching girls is bad? What is this 'it' you speak of?" prodded Herb as she leaned forward more. It was obvious that she was fascinated.  
  
"Well. Girls don't like it when you touch certain things. I dunno why, but they're just like that," said Ranma as he looked at Herb as if she'd grown a second head. "'It' is...well...sex."  
  
"I see. So thinking about sex is bad?" said Herb with a frown on her face. "I had heard it was pleasurable."  
  
"Yeah. That's what I heard. Girls get all upset about it though. I dunno why," said Ranma with a frustrated frown.  
  
"So, females are confusing?" ventured Herb.  
  
"Yeah. Really," agreed Ranma.  
  
"Lime and Mint are perverts?" asked Herb as she looked at Ranma.  
  
"Yeah. Really big ones," said the redhead flatly. "They keep askin if they can touch my breasts."  
  
"Can they?" asked Herb.  
  
"What? No! These are mine!" cried Ranma defensively.  
  
"Oh," said Herb with a small shrug. "Can I?"  
  
"No! Touch your own if you wanna know what it feels like!" snapped Ranma.  
  
Herb looked down at her chest and shrugged. "Okay. Maybe later I will."  
  
Ranma turned away. "Can we talk about something else?"  
  
"Like what?" said Herb in confusion.  
  
"I dunno, anything!" cried Ranma.  
  
"Where does our penis go? I've wondered about that for a while now," said Herb as she looked down into the water.  
  
Ranma sank into the water and started blowing bubbles in frustration. "Something besides that too."  
  
"Oh. Another topic?" Herb thought about it for a moment. "My rear. I've noticed that it became rounder..."  
  
"Arrrgghhh!" said Ranma as he hit his head against one of the nearby rocks.  
  
"What?" said Herb.  
  
"Something else!" cried Ranma.  
  
"Oh. Well, I'm not sure what else to talk about." Herb looked down at Ranma's body again. "How about this. You can touch my breast, if I can touch yours?"  
  
"What?" said Ranma as he looked at the girl dumbly. "No way!"  
  
"Why not? It's a trade right?" said Herb with a frustrated frown.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Why do we have to wait here?" grumbled Mint in irritation.  
  
"I dunno," said Lime as he frowned and turned towards the springs where his master and their new companion bathed. "I don't see why we can't take a bath with them too."  
  
"Yeah. Master Herb is so lucky! He gets to take a bath with a girl!" said Mint in frustration.  
  
"Yeah!" agreed Lime. "We used to take baths with Lord Herb all the time!"   
  
"Something seems different, ever since we started looking for the Open Water Kettle," grumbled Mint.  
  
"Yeah. I wonder what it is though?" said Lime.  
  
"Hello boys," said a voice as someone stepped out in front of them.  
  
Lime and Mint froze in place as someone stepped out in front of them. "T-titties!" muttered the pair.  
  
Yohiko Hibiki smirked at them both and put her hand on her hip. "How are you doing tonight?"  
  
Lime and Mint looked at one another for a moment and stood up in unison.  
  
"Would you like to have tea with us?" asked Mint as he hefted a mallet over his head.  
  
"Yeah. We'd like to talk with you a little," said Lime as he pulled out a net.  
  
Yohiko smirked at them and narrowed her eyes. "Well, aren't you two full of spirit?"  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma had her eyes closed and had her hand on Herb's breast. "Okay. Doesn't feel any different than mine. Ouch! Not so hard!"  
  
"Sorry." Herb frowned and let go. "I dunno, I'd always thought there'd be more to this."  
  
"Yeah, well sorry," said Ranma as she pulled her hand away. "Can we stop now?"  
  
"I guess so," said Herb as she looked at her hand and flexed her fingers. "Are we doing it right?"  
  
"How the heck should I know?" grumbled Ranma irritably. "Look, this was your idea. I just wanted you to shut up about it."  
  
"Oh," said Herb as she sighed and sat back in the water. "Maybe there's more to it?"  
  
"Probably," grumbled Ranma as she rubbed at her chest.   
  
Herb nodded and suddenly sat upright. "Do you feel that?"  
  
Ranma jumped away. "No! What the heck are you touching now!? Never mind! I don't want to know!"  
  
"Lime and Mint!" said Herb as she jumped out of the water and grabbed her cloak.  
  
"Huh?" muttered Ranma as she followed, pulling her own clothes on as she followed after her.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Herb growled as she walked onto the campsite and frowned. There were signs of a scuffle. Throwing knives littered the ground, and several other signs of battle could be seen. "There's been a fight here. I can feel ki in the air!"  
  
Ranma nodded and frowned as she knelt next to the fire. "Look!"   
  
Herb turned and saw the redhead with a letter in her hand. "It's a note!"  
  
"What does it say?" said Herb as she growled. The ladle was in her hand, still where it had been when the fight started.  
  
"You'll find them when you find the kettle," said Ranma with a frown on her face.   
  
"Someone is following us!" snapped Herb as she glanced around.  
  
"Right," agreed Ranma. "Who? Why?"  
  
"I don't know, but they aren't weak if they managed to defeat both of them."  
  
Ranma nodded at this and crumpled the letter in her hand. "This isn't good."  
  
"What should we do? I can't sense them," said Herb as she looked at the woods surrounding them.  
  
"I dunno, should we look?" asked Ranma.  
  
"No. If I can't sense them, it probably wouldn't do any good," said Herb as she growled in frustration. "We should find the Open Water Kettle. If the note says they'll be there, I'm sure we will."  
  
Ranma frowned at this, but nodded.  
  
Herb looked at her and sighed. "We should get some sleep."  
  
"What if whoever did this comes back?" asked Ranma.  
  
"I doubt if they'll come back. Whoever this was, could have surprised us in the springs," said Herb as she continued to watch the trees.  
  
Ranma frowned, but nodded in agreement. "I think you're right."  
  
"We should stay close though," said Herb as she looked at her companion. "You'll stay in the tent with me tonight."  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma dumbly. "What? No way!"  
  
Herb blinked in confusion. "I wasn't thinking about that. Now that you mention it though..."  
  
Ranma turned green and backed away. "I'll keep watch, you go to sleep."  
  
Herb shrugged and walked into her tent.  
  
Ranma sat down by the fire and wrapped a blanket around herself. Watching the tent in a sort of fear.   
  
After a moment Herb stuck her head out. "Are you sure? I mean, I went through all this to find out about that. It would be a shame to not find out."  
  
"Yes!" cried Ranma with a ferocious blush on her face.  
  
"Okay," said Herb as she went back into the tent.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Morning came, Ranma woke up in front of the burnt out fire and looked around in confusion. "Where am I?"  
  
Herb was sitting nearby, with the bucket and ladle in her hands. "It's time to get started."  
  
The pigtailed girl blinked and nodded. "Okay. Which way?"  
  
Herb put the ladle on top of the bucket. It spun around like a compass and eventually settled in a fixed direction. "That way," said Herb calmly as she pointed.  
  
"Right," said Ranma as she began to pack her things.  
  
"It shouldn't be too much farther. I'm getting a strong reaction," said Herb firmly.  
  
The pair finished packing up camp and started on their way.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Yohiko smirked, her two prisoners hefted over her shoulders. They were awake and struggling against their bonds. She grinned at them and started on her way. She moved a fair distance behind Ranma and Herb. It was easy enough to follow them, but hiding Lime and Mint's auras was a bit of work.  
  
"Quit struggling, you two won't break those chains," said the woman as she jolted them a bit. They were both bound with heavy chains and gagged.   
The pair calmed down and growled under their gags.  
  
"Don't worry, I'm not going to stop Herb from finding the Open Water Kettle. I just don't you two idiots getting in my way when I challenge them."  
  
The pair looked at one another in surprise.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
It took about half a day to get to the top of the mountain. Ranma and Herb looked at the giant kettle-shaped rock for a moment.   
  
"Is that it?" asked Ranma.  
  
"It should be inside," said Herb calmly.  
  
"So. We have to break that rock?" said the redhead.  
  
"Just the tip, that should start the water flow," said Herb.   
  
Ranma nodded and cracked his knuckles. "I kinda wish Ryoga was here. He could be useful for things like this."  
  
"A friend of yours?" asked Herb.  
  
"Something like that," said the redhead with a short nod. "Come on. Let's get..."  
  
"Hold it," said a familiar voice.  
  
"Damn!" cried Herb as he looked up and saw Yohiko standing on top of the rock. Lime and mint hung from the 'spout' on the stone by their chains.  
  
"Miss Yohiko?" said Ranma in a sort of shocked confusion.  
  
"Hello Saotome," said the woman as she smirked at her.  
  
"You know her?" asked Herb as she glared at her companion.  
  
"She's my English teacher," said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"You were expecting someone else?" asked the woman as she shrank into her male form in front of them.   
  
"No way!" cried Ranma in shock.  
  
"Heh. If you want to get the power of the Open Water Kettle, you have to defeat me. Otherwise, I'll never let you use it!" The male Ranma jumped down, switching back into his older form as he landed.  
  
"Why?" cried Ranma in shock.  
  
"As I said before, defeat me, and I'll tell you everything," said Yohiko coldly.  
  
"Ha! You don't stand a chance!" cried Herb as she charged forward, flying into the air.  
  
The woman laughed and kicked him in his gut, knocking him out of the attack again. "Pathetic!"  
  
"What? Twice she defeats my technique?" muttered Herb in shock. She crumpled to the ground. She stood up and blasted Yohiko with a burst of chi energy.  
  
The woman sidestepped and bat the projectile away with her palm. She growled at her and rushed forward, decking her across her jaw. "Not bad! Not good enough though!" She lashed out with her arms, wrapping the dragon girl up in a mass of chains.  
  
"That technique!" cried Ranma in shock.  
  
"Hardly hidden weapons," said Yohiko. Ranma gasped in shock when she saw that the chains weren't coming from inside her clothing, but rather out of them. Her dress shrank visibly as Herb found herself wrapped up tightly and flung to the ground.  
  
The woman was now barely covered by her skirt and top. She smiled at Ranma and put up her fists. "Are you good enough to get by me Saotome?"  
  
"Damn you!" screamed Herb as she struggled against her bonds. Her aura flared up, and the chains tightened quite suddenly, cutting off her hair supply and breaking her concentration.  
  
"I wouldn't try that again," said Yohiko as she turned her gaze down at the girl for a moment.  
  
Ranma charged forward, screaming angrily as she attacked the woman. "You bastard!"  
  
"Ha! You'll have to do better than that!" cried Yohiko as she blurred her arms, blocking the Amaguriken technique easily. She jumped up and slammed her knee into Ranma's face, knocking the girl over.  
  
"Damn!" grumbled Ranma as she stood up.  
  
"Get away! She's too strong!" cried Herb.  
  
"Ranma Saotome? Give up? As if I'd allow that!" said Yohiko as she turned towards the girl. "She wouldn't do such a thing."  
  
Ranma stood and frowned.  
  
"Come Saotome! Let's see if you're good enough!" cried the woman as she jumped back and raised her hands. A ball of Ki larger than the one Herb had used blasted from her palms, shooting towards Ranma.  
  
The pigtailed girl jumped out of the way, her eyes wide with shock.  
  
"Impossible!" cried Herb from where she lay. The chains tightened once again as her aura started up, forcing her to suppress it once again.  
  
"Come on!" snapped Yohiko as she attacked.  
  
Ranma backed away, dodging desperately. She kept turning her eyes towards the rock.   
  
"Keep your eyes on the fight Saotome, not the spoils," snorted Yohiko as she knocked the girl to the ground again with a kick across her jaw. She followed this up by jumping back and extending her palms. "Kamehameha!"  
  
Ranma cursed as she rolled away, the force of the blast lifted her into the air and threw her several yards in the dirt. She staggered to her feet again. "Damn!"  
  
"Can't you do better? I expected more from the great Ranma Saotome!" cried Yohiko as she jumped towards her again, a chi powered vault that sent her dozens of feet into the air.  
  
Ranma managed to escape the falling kick that followed. She cursed again, moving on the defensive. Finally, she smirked at her opponent.  
  
"Didn't you learn your lesson last time?" snapped Yohiko as she punched up into the air. "Hiryuu Shoten Ha Reversal!"  
  
Ranma smirked. "Yeah! I did! Moukou Takabishia!"  
  
Yohiko blinked in surprise as nothing happened after her reversal strike. Then it hit her, Ranma had somehow managed to keep her cold aura just warm enough to keep the technique from working and pulled into a trap. She cursed and took the attack in the chest, sending her flying into the side of the stone kettle. It cracked, but didn't break. "Very clever," she commented as she glared at him for a moment.  
  
Yohiko snarled angrily and pushed her aura to its maximum. She spread her arms and readied herself for the next attack. "Time to put this fight up a few notches."  
  
Ranma looked at her in horror. The ground was crumbling away around her.  
  
"She's going to shake this whole mountain apart!" gasped Herb from her place on the ground.  
  
"Damn!" said Ranma as she charged again.   
  
Yohiko met him halfway and backed away from his strikes, dodging as lazily as if she were fighting with Akane. "Can't you do better than this? Show me what you can really do!"  
  
Ranma was growing more and more frustrated. "Damn you!"  
  
"Falling for your own trap! How pathetic!" snapped Yohiko.  
  
"Huh?" said the pigtailed girl as she suddenly realized what had happened.  
  
"Hiryuu Shoten Ha!" cried the woman as she raised her arm into the air and created the tornado. "Weren't expecting me to use that a third time were you?"  
  
Ranma was tossed into the air, his strength waning away quickly. "Damn! She's so strong! Her ki is tearing this place apart!" He could see the mountain crumbling away around them. "There has to be a way to beat her! She knows everything I can use against her!"  
  
Her eyes focused on her as she reached the top of the tornado and began to fall towards the earth. "So I'll just have to try something new! All this ki! I can..."  
  
Yohiko smirked as she saw the girl falling towards her with a determined look he her eyes. "Here it comes."  
  
"Hiryuu Korin Dan!" screamed Ranma as he collected the force of the ki and redirected it towards his opponent.  
  
The ground where Yohiko had been standing was torn up from the force of the blast. It dug a deep gouge into the earth, leaving nothing behind but a cloud of dust. Ranma slammed into the ground and groaned painfully.  
  
She staggered to her feet and looked at the destruction. "Did I get her?"  
  
"Ranma! Look out!" cried Herb.  
  
The redhead turned around and saw Yohiko standing behind her. The woman seemed to melt out of the dust cloud as it settled. "No way!"  
  
"Relax Ranma," said the woman with a smirk on her face. "This fight is over."  
  
"Huh?" said the pigtailed girl dumbly.  
  
"You've won," said Yohiko as she let out a heavy sigh.   
  
"What? But you..."  
  
"I dodged," said the woman with a nod. "But only because I already knew what you would do."  
  
Ranma stared at her with her jaw hanging down. "What?"  
  
"You forget who I really am," said the woman as she melted back into her male form. "As promised, I'll explain why to you now."  
  
"What? That's it? You mean..." Ranma was in complete shock. "I'm gonna kill you!"  
  
"You're going to need the experience you'd have gotten from this fight. You should have been fighting Herb, not me. It would have ended the same way. Now, you have an ally, instead of an enemy." The woman smiled at him and looked over at Herb. "You would have fought with Herb, and defeated him. Ryoga and Mousse would have assisted a little, and you would have destroyed the Open Water Kettle in the process. You would have managed to cure yourself with it before that, both of you. In the end, you would have won."  
  
Herb was looking at her with her jaw open. "In fact, it would have been Herb's male form you defeated in the end. You would have done it in your weaker female form as well."  
  
Ranma was simply staring at her in shock. "I..."  
  
"Now, I'll let your friends go, if they promise to behave themselves. The kettle is yours to do with as you please Herb. Don't think for a moment that I can't beat you again."  
  
The chains wrapping around the three Musk warriors suddenly released them and slid across the ground, moving onto Yohiko's body and reforming as her dress again.  
  
She smiled at them all and turned away, walking calmly down the mountain.  
  
Ranma growled as he watched her go, but decided against attacking her again. "One day, I'll get strong enough to beat her."  
  
Herb looked at the boy for a moment in silence, he then turned towards the stone kettle and raised his palm, blasting away the tip of the spout.  
  
Hot water poured out of it and she walked into the shower, coming out the other side as a broad-chested male. He looked down the mountain and frowned for a moment.   
  
Ranma went in immediately after him, coming out as a man on the other side as well.  
  
"Who is she?" asked Herb.  
  
"She says she's me, but from another world, and in the future," said Ranma as he glared at the path she had vanished down angrily.  
  
"I see. You have an interesting life, Saotome," said the Musk Lord as he followed his gaze. "I should take my revenge, now that my strength is back. However, I shall leave her in your hands."  
  
Ranma nodded and smirked at him. "Leave it to me."  
  
"Take care of yourself, Saotome," said the man as he nodded towards his companions and started walking. "The next time you are in China, look me up."  
  
"Right," said Ranma with a confident smirk on his face.  
  
Herb turned and went on his way, Lime and Mint trailing behind him. Both of them had tears in their eyes.  
  
"What happened to the titties?" lamented Mint.  
  
Lime snorted. "I'll miss them both!"  
  
Herb promptly decked them both, growling in frustration. "Idiots."  
  
Ranma gave a small chuckle before turning back towards Nerima and starting on his way. "I guess that's it then."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"Did you enjoy your trip?" asked Usagi as her mother walked into the apartment.  
  
"Huh?" said the woman as she looked at her for a moment. "Yes. It was very interesting."  
  
"Oh," said the girl with a small shrug.  
  
"Well, I'm going to bed," said Yohiko lazily as she walked towards her room.  
  
"Well, you've got a date with..." started Usagi cheerfully.  
  
"Cancel it. I'm tired," said Yohiko as she stretched her arms and yawned.  
  
"But you promised!" cried Usagi.  
  
"When?" said the woman as she looked at the girl.  
  
"Last week," said Usagi sheepishly.  
  
"I most certainly did not," said Yohiko flatly. "You'd best stop setting these things up. I might get angry with you dear."  
  
The girl swallowed and nodded at the implied threat. "Yeah. Heh heh."  
  
"Cancel the date Usagi, and don't set up any more. I'm old enough to handle that on my own," said the woman as she walked into her room and closed the door behind her.  
  
"Drat!" exclaimed the girl as she walked over to the phone and started dialing. "This is gonna get harder now."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Dark Secrets!  



	63. Insertion Part 63

Insertion  
  
Part 63  
  
Dark Secrets  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome sat on the roof of the Tendo Dojo. He had just returned from his adventure with Herb and was looking at the sky contemplating his situation. It was starting to get dark, and he'd been home less than an hour. It probably would have surprised anyone in the home, but he was thinking.  
  
It wasn't about anything in particular really, just his life in general over the past few months. He sighed and stretched out.  
  
"This sucks." It was a revelation to him really. He watched a cloud pass over his head, not bothering to look at the sunset in the distance. "I mean, it was fun at first and all. This whole girls, fights, and rivalry thing is starting to get really old." His mind wandered a bit more, back to Herb and his two lackeys. He frowned and sat up. "Is there anything I can do about this?"   
  
Finally, he jumped up and down onto the ground. No one knew he had returned yet, he'd just come directly to where he was when he'd returned. He looked around and scowled. Finally, he jumped over the wall and into the street. "The road they took. I think they were going to Niigata..."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Nabiki Tendo was lying on her bed, tears barely being held back as she clutched her pillow. She had a deep sense of dread about her as she simply lay there, waiting.   
  
"Waiting for what?" she muttered to herself. She sighed and rolled over onto her back. "Some lawyer to show up with a summons, that's what," she grumbled. It was coming and she knew it. She stared at the ceiling for a long moment, simply looking up at it. "What can I do about it?"  
  
She thought about it for a long time, and then jumped out of her bed, moving over to her closet. "Maybe I can do something?" She opened the door and began to thumb through the clothes there for a moment. "Maybe. I'll go tomorrow..."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Several hours later, at a dock in Niigata.  
  
Herb stood with Lime and Mint, looking at the boat that would return them to China. It was his, a large sailboat; it looked like something out of a Viking movie almost. It had a dragon's head on an old wooden hull, with a large sail towering over the ship. He turned to look back at the country again, watching the people move about the dock as it started to close down for the night.  
  
"So, we're returning home?" asked Mint as he bowed before his master with Lime at his side.  
  
"Yes. There's no reason to stay," said Herb calmly.  
  
"I was hoping to have tea with a girl," grumbled Lime halfheartedly.  
  
"You'll get the chance someday," said Herb as he turned towards the boarding ramp.  
  
"Hey, you wanna get married?" said a familiar voice from off to the side.  
  
The group turned to see Ranma Saotome in his female form sitting on top of a few wooden boxes.  
  
Herb looked at her for a moment and blinked. "Huh?"  
  
"You heard me," she replied as she narrowed her eyes at him.  
  
Herb pulled the Closed Water Ladle out from his robes and flung a splash of water at the girl.  
  
She jumped away and kicked him in the face, landing in front of him and avoiding the water. "Hey! What are you doing? Ya jerk!"  
  
Herb looked at her for a moment. "But...you said..."  
  
"I didn't mean like that!" she screamed.  
  
The prince narrowed his eyes at her. "I am a man."  
  
"So am I," replied Ranma sourly.  
  
"What do you mean?" said Herb as he backed away from her.  
  
"Look, I ain't turnin into no girl for you got it?" snapped the redhead angrily. "Maybe we can work something else out."  
  
Herb arched his eyebrows and looked at Lime and Mint for a moment. He turned back towards her and smirked. "I'm listening."  
  
"Look. I know you don't want to marry some guy, but..."  
  
The prince frowned a little. "I see. A trade, like at the springs?"  
  
"Yeah. You touch mine, if I can touch yours," said the pigtailed girl as she smirked at him.  
  
"I will need an heir," said Herb flatly.  
  
"So will I," replied Ranma with her arms crossed over her chest.  
  
Herb stepped back again, glaring at the ground. "It has not been done in ages."  
  
Ranma blinked. "This sort of thing's been done before?"  
  
Herb nodded at her and smirked. "Never in the Royal house."  
  
"Weird," muttered Ranma under her breath.  
  
"Why do you ask this of me?" asked Herb as he turned away from her.  
  
"I dunno. I just got sick of it here. I mean, I get attacked and stuff all the time, I get hit by girls all the time. Shampoo throws herself at me, Ucchan just pushes me. I mean, you're the first person who tried anything and well...you were nice about it. You..." Ranma struggled for the words. "You wanted too, but when I said no, you just said 'Okay' and stuff."  
  
Herb blinked at this and looked at her. She was hanging her head and blushing deeply. "You realize that you will have to be my wife."  
  
"I ain't nobody's wife," snorted Ranma.  
  
"Well, I mean in the ceremony. I am a prince," said Herb calmly.  
  
"And I'm a manly martial artist type," retorted Ranma as she arched her eyebrow at the man.  
  
Herb turned away from her again and thought about it. "Very well. If you wish it."  
  
Ranma looked up, she actually had a surprised look on her face. "Oh. Okay. We're gonna have to talk about this though. I mean, I ain't bein no girl for nobody!"  
  
"We'll work something out, I have no desire to change my title to princess myself," he replied as he walked up the ramp without looking back at the girl. Lime and Mint followed, looking back nervously.  
  
"Right," said Ranma as she stood there.  
  
"Are you coming?" said Herb as he looked back at her.  
  
The pigtailed girl blinked and looked up, nodding quietly to herself as she followed.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Yohiko Hibiki sat upright as a bucket of water splashed her in the middle of the night. She gasped and stared at her sheets dumbly. "What the?"  
  
Standing in front of her was a familiar figure, holding a bucket calmly.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" screamed the woman angrily as she grabbed Xellos by his collar and shook him.  
  
"Waking you up," replied the Mazoku calmly.  
  
"I oughta..." growled the woman as she cocked her arm back.  
  
"You'll wake up your daughter," said Xellos flatly.  
  
That calmed the woman down, the four men were still quite upset. Xellos found himself beaten into the ground within a few seconds time.  
  
After the beating, Yohiko tied the belt on the robe she was wearing and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Why are you here?"  
  
"I came to tell you, you've just screwed up royally," replied the Mazoku calmly.  
  
"Screwed up?" said the woman flatly.  
  
"Yes. Ranma Saotome, just eloped with the Musk Prince," said Xellos as he sat up and smirked at her.  
  
Yohiko fell silent. "What?"  
  
"Ranma Saotome, just eloped with..."  
  
"I heard you!" snapped Yohiko dumbly. "You've got to be joking!"  
  
"I wouldn't have come all the way back here just to joke around with you," said Xellos flatly as he looked at her. The look on her face told him she didn't believe a word of it. He sighed and pulled out a crystal ball from his robes. After a moment, the scene from the docks played for them.  
  
"Oh boy," muttered Yohiko. "So, what now?"  
  
"Well, for starters, you can't do anything about it. L-sama is enjoying this little drama quite a bit," said the priest calmly.  
  
"Yeah. That sick bastard!" snapped the woman as she shook her fist at the ceiling.  
  
"Don't forget who you're talking about," said Xellos with an amused chuckle.  
  
"Right," muttered Yohiko as she hung her head. "I hate us more every day."  
  
"In any case, things will change drastically now. You could have just sat back and enjoyed the ride. Enjoying the chaos as little more than background, now however..."  
  
"Yeah. Now we have no idea," grumbled Yohiko as she hung her head.  
  
"You're going to have to take a more direct approach," said Xellos cheerfully.  
  
"The hell!" snapped Yohiko angrily.  
  
A voice broke their conversation as someone staggered into the hall. "Mom? Are you all right? You sound like you're having an argument..." Usagi's voice trailed off as she saw a man sitting with Yohiko in her room. She blushed and staggered out of the room. As she moved away, tears filled her eyes. "At last!"  
  
"Hey! You little pervert! Get back here!" snapped the woman as she jumped up and rushed out to pull her daughter back into the room.  
  
"Hello," said Xellos cheerfully.  
  
"Mooom! I'm going to bed now, you can get back to what you were doing!" said the girl with a huge blush on her face.  
  
"We weren't doing anything. This is..." Yohiko looked at the man for a moment.  
  
Xellos arched his eyebrow a little at her and frowned.  
  
"This is your uncle. His name is Xellos," said the woman cheerfully. "He's my long lost brother! Yeah!"  
  
Usagi blinked and flipped on the light, causing everyone to wince as the room was flooded with light. After they adjusted, she looked at him for a moment. "I guess I can see it, he looks just like you."  
  
Xellos blinked at this and frowned. "What do you mean?" He turned around and looked at himself in the mirror. He didn't look any different, and neither did Yohiko. "I don't see it."  
  
"Why is he in your room?" asked Usagi as she turned to look up at her mother.  
  
"Well...he is a Hibiki," said the woman as she smiled at the girl.  
  
"Oh," said the girl dumbly as she looked at her 'Uncle' and blinked. "He gets lost too?"  
  
"Well, no... He just doesn't like the rest of the family to feel bad," said the woman cheerfully.  
  
"Oh," said Usagi as she tried her best not to think about that."I'm goin to bed."  
  
"You do that dear," said Yohiko as she pat her daughter on the head and smiled at her.  
  
Xellos frowned at this and sat down on the dresser. "In any case, it's been decided that you aren't going to be able to just hang around anymore."  
  
"Great," muttered Yohiko flatly.   
  
"At least they decided to send me to tell you," he replied with a shrug.  
  
"Yeah. Thanks heaps," said the woman lamely.  
  
"At any rate, I'm leaving now," Xellos turned and walked over to the door, only to hit his head against it as he tired to walk through it. He fell flat on his back and lay there for a moment. "This is odd."  
  
He stood up and tried it again, with the same result.   
  
"What's wrong?" asked Yohiko as she peered down at him.  
  
"A flash of light appeared on the ground, and a language familiar to both of them was etched into the carpet.  
  
"Due to an amusing plot twist, Uncle Xellos will remain on the secondary world until further notice," said the message.  
  
"What?" cried the man as he stared at it. "Oh dear."  
  
Yohiko smacked her forehead and fell onto her mattress.  
  
+++++++++  
  
Usagi sat at the table eating her breakfast with a scowl on her face. She was dirty, tired, and in an all around bad mood. So, things were pretty normal. Well, save for the new face at the table.  
  
"So. Uncle Xellos was it?" said Usagi as she looked at him.  
  
The man was sipping on a cup of coffee with a few slices of toast in front of him. "Yes. That's right."  
  
"I've never heard of you," said the girl flatly.  
  
"I'm a bit of a black sheep in the family," he replied calmly.  
  
"Why don't you ever visit?" asked the girl as she narrowed her eyes at him.  
  
"Because," he replied as he sipped at his coffee again and picked up the newspaper that was sitting on the table.  
  
"You don't like us do you?" said the girl bitterly.  
  
"I wouldn't be here now if I didn't," he replied calmly.  
  
"Mom never talks about you," said the girl.  
  
"Yes. I know," he replied.  
  
"Does that mean she doesn't like you?"  
  
"I tend to get on her nerves a little, but that's what brothers do," he said with a small shrug.  
  
"Grandma and Grandpa never said anything about you," continued the girl.  
  
"They died some time ago," replied the man as he looked at her. "Is there a reason you're asking me all of this?"  
  
"She's hoping you're a new boyfriend," said Yohiko as she stepped out of the kitchen while wiping her hands off with a towel.  
  
"Oh I see. So, she doesn't know then," said the man as he sipped at his coffee.  
  
"Doesn't know what?" said the girl as she looked at her mother.  
  
"It's nothing dear," said the woman as she glared at him.  
  
He seemed quite pleased with himself and was enjoying the situation now.  
  
"Mother," said Usagi crossly.  
  
"How long has it been?" asked Yohiko.   
  
"About twelve years," replied the man casually.  
  
"So, my little brother comes to visit me. Staying a while?" she asked him.  
  
"At least a month or two, until I can get my own place. You did say that I could," he replied as he looked at her calmly.  
  
"So I did," she said as she smirked at him. "Where have you been all this time?"  
  
"Traveling. Europe mostly, I was in America recently though," he said as he shifted the paper in his grasp a bit and continued to read. It really wasn't a lie.  
  
Usagi frowned. She hadn't realized that the pair was getting their story straight. She cut off her mother. "Age?"  
  
"Twenty seven."  
  
"Job?"  
  
"None currently. I was into politics for a few years though."  
  
"Kids?"   
  
"No."  
  
"Wife?"  
  
"Nope. Not looking either," he said as he smirked at her.  
  
"Aren't you a little old to be single?"  
  
"Aren't you a little young to be asking me about my sex life?" he replied calmly.  
  
Usagi growled at this, but backed off.  
  
Xellos smiled at Yohiko and spoke up. "So, you've got that parent teacher thing after school today?"  
  
"Yes, that Saotome boy," said the woman as she nodded. "I'll be a little late."  
  
"Oh. That's nice," he said as he grinned at her.  
  
"It's almost time to go dear, go get dressed," said the woman as she smiled at her daughter.  
  
"All right," said the girl as she staggered towards her room.  
  
"Lovely child," said Xellos as he continued to drink his coffee.  
  
"Better than her last incarnation," said Yohiko with a small shrug.  
  
"Can't fault you there," he replied with a nod.  
  
"You going to hang around today?" she said as she looked at him.  
  
"Yes. Like you, I've got to go over my personal history. I think you'll find I'm in any old family pictures now," he said with a short nod.  
  
"Don't torture the tenants too much," she said as she stood up and shifted her clothing into her work clothes with a mere thought.  
  
"Mighty convenient," he replied as he looked her up and down.  
  
"Isn't it though?" she said cheerfully.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki Tendo walked out of a large office in downtown Tokyo. She'd spoken with the lawyers handling the case. As a result, she'd missed the entire school day. That didn't bother her much, but she now felt sure that she could keep a lid on her problem as far as her family was concerned.   
  
The prosecution had assured her that she would be contacted by her cell phone number. It also gave its word not to send any legal notices to her home. She would cooperate, in exchange for their silence. A good deal for her.  
  
"Hello, Miss Tendo," said someone behind her.  
  
"Who?" she muttered as she turned around.  
  
A strange man was looking at her with a smirk on his face. "I understand that you're testifying against my client."  
  
"I don't have a choice," she replied calmly as she looked at the smarmy man. He was in his forties, with slicked back hair and a thick pair of glasses.  
  
"Really. It'd be a shame if your family was told about your child."  
  
She turned to look at him, anger flashing on her face as she saw the vicious looking smirk on his face. She clenched her fists and stepped back. "So that's how it is?"  
  
He nodded, a frown on his face as he looked away. "You understand. I can't have my client's life ruined by some petty..."  
  
"Even if she ruined mine?" snapped the girl hatefully. "If they don't find out from you, they'll find out from the prosecutor's office. Go ahead and tell them. I'm stuck either way, and I'd rather see her rot in prison for what she did than let her get away with it. Either way, my life is over."  
  
"Taking her down with you?" said the man with his frown coming back.  
  
"Fuck you," she said as she turned away from him.  
  
The man frowned. He had hoped that he could get some of the girls to back off. It wasn't working, most of them were kept under control by petty blackmail, little more than cheating boyfriends. This girl was different though, she was the big fish, and her secret was the worst one. He sighed and turned away. She was the one he had to get rid of somehow. If he did, the other witnesses would either fall apart, or most of the big charges wouldn't stick. She'd end up with a small slap on the wrist, if not for Nabiki Tendo. That girl was the one who connected her operations to the Yakuza, she was the one who knew all about the major dealings.   
  
He snorted in disgust. The Yakuza would be of little use in this one. His client wasn't a member of any family, and her operations were small time enough that they'd ignore her problem. She was little more than a small inflow of cash for them, something that could be easily replaced.  
  
"I've got to do something about her," he said coldly to himself as he turned away.   
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Xellos blinked as he looked down at the figure standing in front of him. It was a small round woman in her forties. She took a drag off of her cigarette and looked him up and down for a moment. "Can I help you?"  
  
"Who're you?" she asked calmly.  
  
"Xellos," he said as he matched her appraising glare.  
  
"I ain't seen you around before," continued the woman.  
  
"Well, I've never been around here before," he replied.  
  
"How do you know Yohiko?" she prodded.  
  
"Why do you want to know?" he countered.  
  
"I'm her friend. I think I should know, she's never mentioned you before," said the woman as she blew out a puff of smoke.  
  
"She's obviously got her reasons then," he said calmly.  
  
"Yeah. I wonder what they are?" said the woman as she tried to think about it.  
  
"Hmmm...well it could be..." said Xellos as he looked thoughtful as well.  
  
Itchinose leaned forward with an interested look on her face. "Yeah? What?"  
  
"...a secret," said Xellos as he nodded to himself.   
  
"You're as bad as Youtsuya," said the woman as she frowned at him.  
  
"Thank you, I think," he replied cheerfully.  
  
"I heard my name," said a tall snaky looking man who walked up to them. He had a hat on, and a briefcase in his grasp. "Oh. Hello. Who might you be?"  
  
Xellos smirked at him. "I am Xellos."  
  
"I am Youtsuya," said the man as he gave a short bow.  
  
"Nice to meet you," said Xellos cheerfully.  
  
"Same to you good sir," agreed Yotsuya as he smiled at him.  
  
Yotsuya walked off, both men watched one another until they were out of each other's sight.  
  
"Boy. That was weird," said Itchinose as she took another drag from her cigarette.  
  
"Yes. Most interesting," agreed Xellos.  
  
"Well, I'm not going to find anything out here," said the woman as she started to walk away.  
  
"Good day then," said the man as he closed the door and went back to whatever it was he was doing.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Later that day...  
  
"What?" Yusaku Godai clutched Itchinose by her collar and shook her for a moment.  
  
"Some weird guy is at Yohiko's house," repeated the woman as she looked at him. "I think he's staying with her."  
  
"That's weird," said Akemi as she took a few gulps of beer.  
  
"Yeah. She's still not home either," said Itchinose with a thoughtful frown. "Usagi is back from school already too."  
  
"I wonder who he is? A relative maybe?" asked Yotsuya as he slid through the hole in Yusaku's wall.  
  
"Maybe a lover. That would explain why she's changed so much. Found herself a wild man," said Akemi as she pointed at Yusaku.  
  
"What?" cried the boy in panic.  
  
"Hmm, could be," said Itchinose.  
  
"Or...he could have killed her and hid the body," ventured Akemi. "I haven't seen Usagi since she came home either. Maybe he's a mass murderer?"  
  
Yusaku thought about that for a moment, the only image his mind came up with was Yohiko standing on top of a beaten man while flexing her arm in triumph. "Nah. She could take him."  
  
Everyone blinked at this and stared at him.  
  
"You haven't been taking those lessons every day like I have," he said with a shrug.   
  
"Well, come on then," said Akemi as she stood up and stretched her arms.  
  
"Where are we going?" asked Yusaku as she grabbed him and pulled him towards the door.  
  
"To check this guy out, he might be cute," said the girl as she grinned at him.  
  
"God I hope not," said the boy pathetically.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Usagi blinked as she opened the door and Akemi burst into the home pulling Yusaku behind her. "Hey. You're mom home?"  
  
"Um, no. She had a parent teacher thing..." started Usagi.  
  
"Where's this guy I've heard about?" said Akemi as she shoved Yusaku into a seat and looked around for a moment.   
  
"Hello," said Xellos as he looked her up and down as he walked out of the kitchen.  
  
"Not bad," said Akemi as she looked him up and down for a moment. "So, you're Yohiko's new boyfriend?"  
  
Usagi looked at her dumbly, but Xellos managed to catch her eye. She sat down next to Yusaku and kept silent.  
  
"Well, I never said that," he replied cheerfully.  
  
"Oh. Who are you then?" said the woman as she sat down and crossed her legs.   
  
Xellos merely shrugged and sat down across from her. Ignoring the revealing negligee she was wearing. "I am Xellos."  
  
"So it seems," replied the woman as she nodded at him. "How do you know Yohiko. I never heard her mention you before."  
  
"Really? How odd," said the man as he looked thoughtful.  
  
Yusaku was merely sulking and looking at him angrily.  
  
"I do remember having this conversation earlier today," said the man as he smiled at the woman again. "I didn't catch your name."  
  
"I'm Akemi, one of Yohiko's friends," said the woman as she smirked at him.  
  
"Ah, and this?"  
  
"This pathetic worm is Yusaku Godai," said the woman as she waved her arm at him.  
  
"Hey!" cried the boy.  
  
"Ah yes. You must be that other student she mentioned," said Xellos cheerfully.  
  
The boy blinked at him and nodded numbly.  
  
"So, do you practice those...um...martial arts?" said Akemi.  
  
"No. I prefer a more subtle approach," he said with a light shrug.   
  
"So, you visiting Yohiko or somethin? Where you from?"  
  
"I'm staying with her," he said cheerfully as he nodded.  
  
Akemi nodded at this. "You sure are good at avoiding questions you don't want to answer."  
  
"Well, I'd hate for dear Yohiko to become angry with me for saying something she doesn't want you to know about," said the man cheerfully.  
  
Yusaku twitched at the familiar address he used, but remained silent.  
  
"Well, I guess we'll be going now," said Akemi as she smiled at him and turned towards the door. She picked up Yusaku and pulled him along behind her.  
  
"It was nice meeting you," said the man as he waved at them.  
  
"That was weird," said Usagi as the door closed behind them.  
  
Xellos put his finger up to his lips and winked at her. He then looked up at the ceiling. "I hope dear Yohiko gets home soon. She must be so tired after a long day at work. I know she'd just love a cup of tea and to just relax together in front of the television!"  
  
There was a muffled sound from the other side of the door.   
  
"I don't know why she wouldn't. She'll probably leave her clothes on though, seeing as you're around," said Usagi as she seemed to catch on.  
  
"Why. I've seen her naked before," replied Xellos a little loudly.  
  
A pained cry sounded from the hallway. Usagi and Xellos sat around the table chuckling to themselves.  
  
"That was fun," said the girl as she looked at him with a grin on her face.  
  
"Wasn't it though? Let's see how long we can leave them hanging?" he said as he grinned at her.  
  
"Well, I've kinda been trying to set up that guy and my mom for a while now," said the girl as she looked uncertain.  
  
"Oh? Well don't worry about that. He'll just try harder if he isn't sure. That's the fun in this, they don't know who I am, or what I want." He winked at her and grinned again.  
  
"Oh. So this could work to my advantage?" she said as she smiled at him.  
  
"Yeah. I could help you out with this guy too," said Xellos as he grinned mischievously.  
  
"Really?" said the girl excitedly.  
  
"Who better to help, than her own brother?" said Xellos as he gave her another wink.  
  
"That's great! Thanks!" said the girl.  
  
Xellos sat back and put his arms behind his head. If he was lucky, Yohiko would be kept busy in Nerima for hours. Giving him lots of time to corrupt her daughter in all sorts of fun ways.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Yohiko sighed as she stood in front of the gates of the Tendo Dojo. She hung her head and walked in. "Best to get this over with." She shifted back into her male self and opened the front door.  
  
Kasumi stood with her hands over her mouth as she saw him. "Ranma! You're back!"  
  
The boy sighed and shook his head. "No. I'm not Ranma."  
  
The girl looked at him for a moment and realized who he was. "You're that other..."  
  
"Yes. I'm afraid I've come with news about Ranma," said the boy as he gave her a slightly sad smile.  
  
He strolled by her and looked around the room. Soun and Genma were both looking at him.   
  
"Where have you been boy!?" cried Genma.  
  
"You'd better have an explanation for this son!" agreed Soun.  
  
He sighed and hung his head, shaking it from side to side for a moment. "I'm not Ranma."  
  
The pair looked at one another and then back at him.   
  
"I'm the one from the future, remember?" he said as he smirked at them. "I've brought some news about your son."  
  
"RANMA!" cried a familiar voice from the top of the stairwell. Akane rushed down and stopped just in front of him. "You're all right? A man again?"  
  
"I'm not your fiancee Akane," said the boy as he shook his head.  
  
"You jerk!" she screamed as she attacked him.  
  
He responded by casually grabbing her wrist from the air and flipping her onto the ground while twisting her arm and holding her neck down with his foot. "Remember who I am how?" he said with an almost playful chuckle.  
  
"What?" she gasped in shock. "You're that other..."  
  
"That's right. I've come with news about your...friend...Ranma." The boy looked up at them chose his words carefully. "It's not good news. Well, not for you anyway."  
  
"He...didn't get it?" said Akane as she looked up at the boy in horror.  
  
"No. Ranma managed to cure himself, he's no longer stuck as a girl," said the boy cheerfully. After he let that sink in, he looked away from them and tried to stifle a chuckle. "He's also not coming back."  
  
"Huh?" said Genma. He was the first one to react.  
  
"He went off and married Herb," said the boy with a shrug.  
  
"Herb?" said Soun as tears started to fall down his face.  
  
"Yes, that Dragon-girl Akane met," said the pigtailed boy cheerfully. "He's halfway to China by now."  
  
Genma jumped towards the boy and grabbed him. "What?!!"  
  
"He's a prince...err...princess. Something like that. He's royalty now. I'm afraid you'll find he's quite out of your reach, Saotome."  
  
"Royalty?" muttered Genma.  
  
"Yeah. Well, considering her...er...his husband, or wife, is half dragon. I don't think it would be a good idea to bother him."  
  
"Dragon?" lamented Soun.  
  
"Yeah. You can't do anything. He said to hell with all of you, and went off to marry someone else," said the boy with another shrug.  
  
"He can't do that!" cried Genma. "Wait! Is he rich?"  
  
"I don't think so. The Musk are almost extinct, they may have a bit of money though. As it's a royal treasure, you won't be able to touch it, even though you're his father."  
  
"What?" said Genma dumbly.  
  
"You can't take his inheritance away, because it's his. There are no laws that are going to allow you to take it from him. He's a prince...err...princess and you're not even royalty."  
  
"No! That ungrateful boy!" cried Genma.  
  
"What about the schools!?" snapped Soun.  
  
"Nothing you can do about it, he's already married," replied the pigtailed boy with a shrug.   
  
"Saotome!"  
  
"Tendo!"  
  
"This can't be!" the two men cried as they hugged one another.  
  
"Sorry old guys, if you don't mind, I got a few more stops to make," said the boy as he turned away.  
  
"Wait! What about him!" cried Soun as he looked at the boy.  
  
"That's right! He's a Saotome too!" cried Genma. "He even looks like the boy! One is just as good as another!"  
  
Ranma looked at them for a moment and frowned. "What?"  
  
Akane was standing beside him, hanging her head. She was still in shock from the news, and had yet to move.  
  
"It's the perfect plan Tendo!" cried Genma.  
  
"Our schools are saved!" cried Soun.  
  
"The hell they are! I'm not your son!" said Ranma as he pointed at Genma and frowned. "I've got no obligation to this engagement, and I won't do it! You two are too weak to make me, so don't even think it!"  
  
The two men glared at him angrily. "Do your duty to your family boy!" cried Genma.  
  
"Quite so!" agreed Soun.  
  
"Hell no! I am not marrying Akane!" said Ranma as he snorted at them.  
  
"You'll do it and like it boy! Have you no sense of honor!" lamented Genma.  
  
"Not to your family!" snapped Ranma angrily.  
  
Akane twitched and looked up at her fiancee angrily. "So! I'm not good enough am I? Is that it?"  
  
"I've got a daughter who's almost your age Akane!" snapped the boy as he turned and stared at her. "I am not a replacement for Ranma Saotome!"  
  
That shut everyone in the room up at once.  
  
"How dare you cheat on your fiancee that way!" cried Genma.  
  
"I ain't engaged to her!" snarled Ranma.  
  
"You pervert!" screamed Akane.  
  
He slapped her and sent her to the floor. "I was married you ditz! I'm thirty-six!"  
  
Akane sat up and looked at him again. "Married?"  
  
The boy crossed his arms over his chest and looked around the room. "That's right."  
  
"Daughter?" muttered Genma.  
  
"Yup," said the boy as he looked at the man.  
  
"So...what does this mean?" muttered Soun.  
  
"It means I'm too old to play this stupid game of yours," said the boy as he snorted at them. "I'm not marrying Akane, I have no obligation to your family or your school, and I won't stand for being treated as a replacement for Ranma Saotome. Got it?"  
  
Everyone looked at him for a moment.   
  
"I should also add that Usagi is my daughter, she isn't related to any of you," he turned and smirked at them almost evilly. "And I'm not her father, I'm her mother."  
  
Akane passed out.  
  
"Oh my!" said Kasumi as she almost dropped the tea she had brought in for everyone.  
  
"Boy! What are you saying?!" cried Genma.  
  
"Leave me alone Genma, or I'll tell your wife that your son ran away to be with a man," said Ranma as he narrowed his eyes at the man. "Don't think for a minute that I don't know where she lives, or what she looks like. It won't take me more than an hour or so to find her. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got other places to go."  
  
"You wouldn't!" cried Genma in horror.  
  
"Why not?" asked Ranma as he changed into Yohiko again. "I'm not your son. It won't be me under that knife, and Ranma is free of that obligation. Meaning...it'll just be you." She smirked at him and turned away.  
  
"Oh my!" muttered Kasumi.  
  
"Oh, hello dear. It's nice to see you again!" said the woman as she bowed to her politely.  
  
Kasumi smiled and nodded her head. She would have bowed, but the tea wouldn't have allowed that. "Oh. It's nice to see you as well."  
  
With that, Yohiko Hibiki walked out of the home and into the street.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"What?!" cried Ukyo as she stared at the boy across from her in shock.   
  
"Ran off, Herb, married now, China," said the boy as he sipped at his tea.  
  
"Get out!" snarled Ukyo.  
  
"What are you mad at me for? I'm not Ranma Saotome," he replied calmly. "I never did any of this to you. Don't get mad at me just cause I happen to look like him."  
  
The girl turned away from him and shook with anger. "He...left me?"  
  
"Never had any intention of marrying you from what I gather. Same with Shampoo," said the boy calmly.  
  
Ukyo screamed in rage and stormed out of the room.  
  
Ranma blinked and looked at the customers in the room and sighed. He stood up and walked behind the counter. "Who had the special?"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
After a short time, Ukyo came back down the stairs slowly. Her head hanging as she moved sluggishly down the stairs.  
  
"Hey. Feeling any better?" asked the boy at the grill.  
  
"No," was the reply.  
  
Ranma shrugged and flipped another order onto a plate. "Well, you'll get over it eventually. Ranma wasn't the center of the universe."  
  
"What?" said the girl dumbly.  
  
"I was him a long time ago," replied the boy casually. "I left that behind twenty years ago."  
  
"So, now what am I going to do?" she said as she leaned against the wall, not caring about the people watching them from the counter.  
  
"Get over it, go out with someone else," he replied.  
  
"And let that bastard get away with this?" she snarled.  
  
"Well, you saw how well that went the last time. He wasn't trying to hurt you, and he still beat you. It's best not to fight battles you know you can't win. Honor be damned."  
  
"Easy for you to say," she replied hatefully.  
  
"More so than you might think," he replied as he grinned at her. "In any case, his problems don't apply to me. I've got my own life to lead, and you do too."  
  
The girl turned her head away from him and looked at the wall for a long moment.  
  
Ranma smirked at her again. "Why live for revenge, when you've got all this?"   
  
"This? You call this something?" she snapped.  
  
"Better than a handful of revenge," replied the boy with a shrug. "You can buy more with it."  
  
Ukyo snorted and pulled her bakers peel off the wall. "Well, you can have it. I want my revenge, I've earned it." She stormed out of the place and into the street.  
  
Ranma sighed and shook his head. "Well. I tried." He walked over to the window and put up the closed sign. After that, he waited for all the customers to leave and closed the place up behind himself.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Cologne sat with Ranma in front of her and smiled. "You say you have news of Ranma?"  
  
"Yeah. I suppose it won't matter much to you, but it could be important for your Great Granddaughter. Fun's over old woman."  
  
"Pardon?" said the crone as she leaned forward.  
  
"Ranma ran off and eloped with Herb," said the boy with a shrug.  
  
Cologne actually sprayed her tea across the room. "WHAT?"  
  
"They're getting married," said Ranma. "If they aren't already."  
  
Cologne simply stared at him for a moment and coughed. "That's...most unusual."  
  
"Yeah. I thought so too," said the boy with a shrug. "To each his own."  
  
"Indeed," agreed Cologne.  
  
"So, what ya gonna do now?" asked Ranma as he looked at her.  
  
"Well. I think we'll stay for a bit before returning to China," said the old woman with a pleasant smile.  
  
"Oh?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Yes. My Shampoo has much to learn about the outside world, and she still has a Ranma to lust after here to forget the old one."  
  
"In other words, you don't want her going off after Herb's new wife, husband, whatever he is."  
  
"Yes," said Cologne with her head hung a little. "That could be dangerous."  
  
"I get it, but keep her away from me. I ain't as nice as that boy was. I don't take to people grabbing me very well, and I can be just as dangerous."  
  
Cologne frowned at this. "You don't understand boy. I need your help, without you to keep her attention, I may not be able to stop her from going after him. Please."  
  
Ranma blinked at this and sighed. "My patience isn't near as thick as that idiots. Don't forget that, I'll overlook a little to keep her safe, but not too much. Keep her away from my friends, and my family. If they get hurt, I'll take it out on her, and any other Amazon I can get my hands on."  
  
Cologne narrowed her eyes at the threat, but nodded. "That is reasonable."  
  
"That's the most you can hope for," he replied as he stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get home." With that, he left her alone.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Uncharted Waters  



	64. Insertion Part 64

Insertion  
  
Part 64  
  
Uncharted Waters  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Yohiko Hibiki stood on the roof of her home, she had just returned from a patrol on the streets of Tokyo, and she was wrapped in the guise of the Shadow. She smirked as she looked over Nerima for a moment. It had been a quiet night, not much had happened and she jumped down to ground level. This would have been normal, if not for the fact that her cloak flared out a little too much, and caught on the corner of the building.   
  
"Ouch!" cried the woman as her disguise melted away after she slammed into the wall rather undramatically.   
  
"I wonder if this ever happens to Batman," grumbled Carrot as he rubbed their rear gently as they stood up.  
  
"That wasn't very graceful," agreed Xianfu lamely.  
  
"Man, you guys are idiots," commented Dan.  
  
"Didn't see you doing anything to stop it," muttered Carrot.  
  
"Can we go to sleep now? We gotta get up early tomorrow," said Ranma.  
  
"I guess so," commented Carrot as they staggered towards the door.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Xellos opened the door when they walked up and smiled at them. "Did you have fun this evening?"  
  
"Yeah, loads," muttered Yohiko flatly.  
  
"Sounds interesting," said the man cheerfully. He set out some coffee for them and sat across the kitchen table from her.  
  
"Why aren't you asleep?" said the woman as she frowned at him.  
  
"I still don't need it," he replied with a small shrug. "My power is down quite a bit, but my nature hasn't changed."  
  
"Oh. That's useful," said the woman as she nodded at him.  
  
"Very," agreed the man calmly as he sipped at his drink.  
  
"Well, I need sleep. I'm going to bed," replied the woman as she stood up and downed the hot drink all at once.  
  
Xellos blinked at the act, but nodded. "See you bright and early."  
  
"Right," muttered Yohiko as she vanished into her room.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Akane Tendo sat up in bed, sweat covering her body. She clutched herself and stared out her window for a moment, tears streaming down her face. "Ranma...why?" She shook the feeling away and lay back down. It was getting close to morning, and she had a long day ahead of her. She had to go to school; she didn't want too, especially without him there. She curled up and began to cry, a small familiar grunting noise caught her attention, and she looked down to see her pet pig looking up at her from the foot of the bed. He nudged her foot with his snout and looked up at her.   
  
She reached down and took him into her arms, sobbing a little harder. "Oh P-chan. He's gone."  
  
The pig's ears perked up at this. Inside the tiny brain that didn't grow that much larger when he was human, a tiny voice cursed angrily. "What the hell has that honorless bastard done now!? When I get my hands on him, I'll..."  
  
"Ranma," said Akane as she started to sob again.  
  
In her arms, the pig did it's best to comfort her while it was shaking with a renewed hatred and anger.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Usagi Hibiki frowned as she looked at the long black mark just under her right breast. She was getting dressed when she spotted it. "What the?" She poked it with her finger, a horrified frown on her face as she looked down at the ugly mark. "A bruise?"  
  
There was no pain when she touched it. "What is this?" she muttered to herself. She looked up at the door to her room and frowned. She briefly wondered about telling her mother about it, but decided against it. "I'll wait a day or two, and see if it starts to go away first." She nodded at that and put on the top of her dogi. "It's probably from the stupid training anyway."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Nabiki frowned as she snatched the letter that was in her mailbox out. She frowned and glanced up and down the street after seeing the address on the label. It was far too early for mail delivery, and the address told her who it was from. "That bastard," she grumbled. She paused and looked down at it for a moment. The letter was addressed to her. She crumpled it in her hand and looked back at her home again.   
  
After a moment, Akane walked out and she quickly stuffed the letter into her pocket. "Morning sis, feeling any better?"  
  
Akane looked up at her and gave a small frown. "Not really."  
  
"Well, we have to go anyway," she said as she turned into the street and started walking.  
  
"Yeah," said the girl grumpily.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"There was another sighting last night!" said one of the girls sitting behind a desk in a middle school in the Nerima area.  
  
Usagi Hibiki turned and looked at her for a moment. "Huh?"  
  
"You haven't heard!?" cried another one of the girls nearby.  
  
"I dunno. Heard about what?" replied the girl as she looked at them both in confusion.  
  
The girl behind her pulled out a newspaper and showed it to her. "This guy! People are calling him a superhero!"  
  
Usagi blinked at the shadowy figure on the front page. He was standing on top of a building, looking out over the streets. The picture was taken from a fair distance away, but it was surprisingly clear. "Wow! I've heard about him. The Shadow or something." She thought about it for a moment.  
  
"I wonder who he is?" said one of the girls nearby.  
  
"I'll bet he's sexy!" exclaimed another girl with a frown on her face.  
  
"He's older too," said another of the girls nearby as she grabbed the paper and clutched it to her chest.  
  
"I've heard rumors he might be with the Yakuza though," said another nearby girl with a slight frown.  
  
"Those are just rumors," snorted the girl behind Usagi as she waved her hand. "What do you think Usagi?"  
  
"I'm not sure. He's very mysterious," she replied with a shrug. "He looks...big," she added as she peered at the photo for a moment.  
  
"Yeah. I've heard he's eight feet tall," said the girl.  
  
"I heard he's some sort of shinobi," added another.  
  
A boy walked between the huddle on the way to his seat and snorted. He had short cut brown hair and an unusual looking frown. "I heard he's a rumor. Jeez. This is a national paper, you'd think it was one of those smutty tabloids." He looked at the surprised girls and frowned. "What?"  
  
"Who are you?" said the girls as they peered at him for a moment. Most of them were drooling.  
  
The boy brushed his bangs out of his face and frowned at them for a moment. "Jadeite, I'm a new student. Forgive me for being rude, but I think I'm supposed to be introduced at the beginning of class."  
  
Usagi looked at the incredibly pleased looking girls around her and frowned. "What's the big deal about this guy?" She looked up at him. He was kind of cute, but something about him seemed a bit off to her.   
  
The boy smiled at her and sat down. He hadn't heard her comment. After a moment, he appeared to space out and pulled a book out before settling in to read before the bell rang to start class. His eyes moved up to the back of her head as she turned away, and he smirked in a very familiar way. "Defender of love and justice? Heh. We'll see soon enough."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"What are you doing here?" Yohiko blinked and looked up at the girl standing in front of her.  
  
"Great Grandmother say, Shampoo go to school now," said the girl sourly. It was obvious that she wasn't happy with the new development.  
  
"Well, I assume that everyone here knows you," said the woman as she stood up and looked at the class. They all nodded in reply. "We can skip the introduction then, take a seat there." She pointed to an empty desk near the rear of the classroom.  
  
Shampoo hung her head and stumbled towards the back of the room.  
  
After a moment Yohiko looked up again and arched her eyebrow as Ukyo Kuonji walked into the room. She also had a scowl on her face and looked at her. "What is it?"  
  
"Nothing. I'd heard that you'd gone off in search of revenge against your fiancee or something," she replied as she continued to look at the girl in surprise.  
  
"Well, I can't afford a trip to China. Not yet anyway," snorted the girl as she walked towards her desk and sat down. "And he's my ex-fiancee."  
  
"Oh," said the woman with a shrug as she opened her book and turned her attention towards the whole class. "Let's begin then."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome stood overlooking the mountains with a small sigh. He was dressed in silk clothes and was on the porch of a large castle nestled in the woods of China.   
  
"Is something wrong?" asked Herb as he moved up beside him for a moment.  
  
"Nothing. Just thinking about back home," replied the pigtailed boy as he looked down at the villagers below him. There were about a hundred of them, moving about in the small town below; maybe another twenty in direct service to Herb in the castle.  
  
"I imagine it was quite a change. Do you regret this?" said Ranma's husband with a small frown on his face.  
  
"Not really. I still miss them a little though," he replied calmly. "Akane, I know she hit me a lot, but she was nice sometimes."  
  
Herb chuckled at this and shook his head. "Well, perhaps we should visit one day."  
  
Ranma looked at him as if he had another head. "You kiddin? They'll kill me! They only reason I think they won't come now is cause we're so far away."  
  
Herb looked a little surprised at this. "Oh. I see."  
  
"I ain't never goin back there again," said the pigtailed boy with a slight shiver.  
  
"Come my queen, we have things to do," said Herb.  
  
"I told you to quit callin me that!" snapped Ranma as he whirled around and glared at him.  
  
"It is your title now," said the man with a shrug. "It's just a title, don't take it so hard."  
  
Ranma growled. "We're gonna have a long talk about this Lizard-boy!"  
  
Herb sighed and shook his head again. "Please stop calling me that. I am descended from noble dragons!"  
  
"Well you quit callin me 'queen' then!" snapped the pigtailed boy.  
  
"This is more work than I thought it would be," grumbled Herb as he turned away.  
  
"Man. You ain't kiddin. I didn't want to be rulin no people and stuff," grumbled Ranma as he walked by a pair of servants that bowed deeply to him as he went by.  
  
"It's part of the arrangement, please stop complaining so much. The people will think you don't like them," said Herb.  
  
"I like em fine," said the pigtailed boy with another shrug. "I just wasn't expectin this stuff. That's all."  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Yohiko Hibiki frowned as she stared out at her students and scowled. Nabiki Tendo was in the room, as was Kuno. Neither appeared to be paying much attention.  
  
"Nabiki, would you please bring that note up to me?"  
  
The girl gasped and quickly shoved the page down under her desk. "I um...can't..."  
  
"I'd like to know what you find more interesting than my class," said the woman with her frown deepening. "The boy's certainly think it's interesting enough."  
  
"That's not interest in the class," said the girl as she frowned at her.  
  
"True enough, but still. Bring it too me please," said the woman as she held out her hand.  
  
Nabiki slowly stood up, her mind working desperately. "Damn! Gotta think of something!"  
  
By the time she reached the desk, she was still coming up blank.  
  
Yohiko took it from her and read over it for a moment. She sighed and handed it back to her. "I see..."  
  
"I um..." stammered the girl pathetically.  
  
"Don't worry Miss Tendo, take your seat. I want to discuss this with you after class," said the woman as she frowned at her.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
The room was empty, only Nabiki and Yohiko remained behind. School had ended and the woman pointed to a chair that she had set up in front of her desk.  
  
Nabiki sat down nervously and looked at her warily.  
  
"Well Miss Tendo, whatever happens in this room today, remains in this room," said the woman as she sighed and sat back in her chair and looked at her.  
  
"I'm not going to accept the money. It won't keep it a secret," said the girl as she hung her head.  
  
"Well, I'm not sure if I should say I'm glad to hear that, but my opinion of you has risen," said the woman as she nodded her head. "So, you're not going to meet him?"  
  
"I am. I want to shove this letter in his face," snarled the girl.  
  
"Keep it, it's evidence," said the woman calmly.  
  
Nabiki blinked. "It's not worded..."  
  
"It's asking to meet you alone, at night, in a place where not many people will be around," said the woman calmly. "It was incredibly stupid of him to send you a letter like that. I think that he knows that, and I don't think it would be a good idea for you to go."  
  
Nabiki looked at the woman and frowned. "I..."  
  
"Would have gone alone, and with that letter in your hand if I hadn't said something. Is that correct Miss Tendo?"  
  
The girl went pale and nodded dumbly.  
  
"Don't go, and if you do, make a copy of that note," said the woman. "Take the copy, not the original, leave it in the envelope, and in a place where someone will find it. Someone from your family Tendo."  
  
The girl nodded at this and frowned. "I understand."  
  
"I think he believes you're the most important witness," said the woman as she rocked back on her chair and frowned at her. "Don't go. It's dangerous."  
  
"If I don't, there's any number of ways he can still get to me," replied the girl firmly.  
  
"I see. Let me help you then," said the woman a she leaned forward.  
  
"You?" said Nabiki in shock.  
  
"I can't be of much use to you, but I know someone," said the woman as she looked at the girl and smirked. "I'm afraid I can't tell you who it is, but if you need him...he will be there."  
  
"I can't..." stammered the girl as she looked at the woman with her mouth hanging open.  
  
"Don't worry Tendo. However, I need your word on something."  
  
The girl nodded.  
  
"If you need him, you must not tell anyone about his connection to me. He's not dangerous to you, unless one of his secrets is in danger. Understand?"   
  
Nabiki nodded and swallowed. "Who do you mean?"  
  
"I'm hoping you'll never have to find out," said the woman as she smirked at the girl. "Don't look at me that way. I had my share of adventures before I got married dear. Remember?"  
  
The girl nodded and stood up with another swallow. "He's safe?"  
  
"No, he isn't," said the woman as she shook her head.   
  
Nabiki nodded and walked out of the room.  
  
Yohiko sat back and smiled after that for a moment. "Seems I'll be useful in this after all."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Usagi Hibiki blinked as her mother walked into the house. "Where have you been?"  
  
"I do have a job you know dear," said the woman as she smirked at the girl.  
  
"Where is your uncle?" asked the woman as she glanced around suspiciously.  
  
"I dunno, he hasn't been home since I got here," replied the girl with a shrug.  
  
"That rat. He's up to something," grumbled Yohiko as she glanced around for a moment.  
  
"That's not a very nice thing to say," said Usagi with a frown on her face.  
  
"You'd say it too if you knew him like I did," replied the woman as she frowned at the girl for a moment.  
  
"Then why are you letting him stay with us?" asked Usagi in confusion.  
  
"Because he's family dear," said the woman as she pat her daughter on the head. "He's not bad, he's just...got a weird sense of humor."  
  
Usagi nodded at this and shrugged. She turned towards the kitchen and started washing dishes.  
  
Yohiko sighed and turned towards the door. No sooner than she had, then Xellos walked in with a grin on his lips. "Where have you been?" said the woman crossly.  
  
"Out," he replied with a shrug.  
  
"Where?" said the woman coldly.  
  
"I went around checking the area out today," he said with a small shrug.  
  
"You're not telling me everything," said Yohiko.  
  
"No. I'm not. Come on, where's the fun if I just tell you everything I've been doing?" replied the man calmly.  
  
Yohiko rolled her eyes and turned away from him. "Fine. You're staying with her tonight, I've got something to do."  
  
"That Tendo thing?" asked the man calmly.  
  
"Yes," said the woman as she glanced at him for a moment. "That Tendo thing I never told you about. I'd ask how you found out, but I know better."  
  
"I'm glad you understand," said the man cheerfully.  
  
"What are you talking about?" asked Usagi.  
  
"That's a secret," replied Xellos cheerfully.  
  
"I just know you've been dying to say that all day," said Yohiko irritably as she sat down and turned on the television.  
  
"You have no idea," said the man as he picked up the newspaper again and started reading over it.  
  
"I'll bet," said the woman as she relaxed a bit.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Usagi left the adults on their own and went into her room. She took off her school uniform and set out another set of clothes on the bed.  
  
She suddenly remembered something as she took off her shirt and frowned. The black mark, it was still there. "What is this?" she muttered as she poked at it. It was just below her left breast. She felt no pain, but it was an ugly looking mark though.   
  
She sighed and turned away from the mirror to put on her fresh clothes.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Xellos sat at the table, smiling to himself as Yohiko moved towards the door. "Going out?"  
  
"You know where I'm going," she replied as she smirked at him.  
  
"Have fun," said the man calmly.  
  
"I think I will," said the woman as she closed the door behind herself.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Yusaku Godai stood on the porch of the apartment complex and blinked when Yohiko stepped out. "Going somewhere?"  
  
"Yes. I've got something I need to take care of tonight," she replied calmly as she paused and looked at him.  
  
"Mind if I come? I'm bored," said the man as he stood up.  
  
Yohiko paused and seemed to consider it for a moment. Finally, she spoke up, "Sorry, it's kind of personal business."  
  
"Oh," said the man as he sat back down again. "I'll see you tomorrow then."  
  
"Yes. You will," she replied as she smirked at him and turned away.  
  
Yusaku sighed and hung his head. "Yeah. She will."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki Tendo stood in front of the greasy looking man in the park.  
  
"I'm glad you came," he said as he smirked at her for a moment.  
  
"You won't be when you hear what I have to say," she replied calmly.  
  
"Really? I'm offering you a lot of money young lady," he said with a frown growing on his face.  
  
"You can't pay me enough to see that bitch rot in prison," said the girl sharply. She turned away from him.  
  
"I'm sorry to hear that. However, my associates are quite pleased," said the man as he turned away.  
  
Nabiki frowned as she looked around at the punks that stepped out from behind trees and bushes. There were four of them, mean looking men with vicious smirks on their faces.  
  
"Since you're not willing to accept my payment, these men will be glad to take it off my hands to make you disappear."   
  
"You won't get away with this," said Nabiki as she glared at him. "I've got your letter still, people know I'm here."  
  
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. You see, you must have been mugged on the way here and killed. I never met you at all," said the man with an apologetic shrug. "These men do things like this with their free time young lady. I'm afraid that there won't be any connection to me."  
  
Nabiki backed away as the punks closed in around her. "Shit."  
  
"Such a pity, I'd offer you the chance to reconsider, but these men probably won't care for that."  
  
Nabiki moved into a long forgotten combat stance, she knew she didn't stand a chance. "I'm not alone!" she said angrily.  
  
"Oh?" said the lawyer as he started walking away. "Where is your friend? I'm sure they'd love to meet my friends."  
  
"Right here," said the tall figure that actually rose from the shadows in the ground in front of the man.   
  
The lawyer simply stared up at the figure for a moment, his jaw hanging down in shock. "What? Who are you?" he cried in terror.  
  
The man chuckled, slowly breaking into full-blown laughter. "Who am I indeed?" The tiny man stepped back away from the imposing figure and fell onto his rear. Taking a few slow steps forward the tall moving shadow stalked towards him as he backed away from him on the ground. "Who knows the evil that lurks in the hearts of men?"  
  
"I don't know..." stammered the man as the thing glared down at him with metallic shining eyes.  
  
"The shadow knows," replied the thing as he leaned down and put his nose up to the man's face.  
  
Nabiki was simply watching the scene in awe. She couldn't speak or move from shock. After the lawyer started crying on the ground, curled up in a ball, she turned to look around. There was no one standing around her, just a few discarded weapons. "Wow."  
  
"Nabiki Tendo, return home now," said the thing as it looked directly at her. "This one, won't bother you again."  
  
She stepped back and gasped. "You know my name?"  
  
"The Shadow knows..." said the thing cryptically as it reached down and lifted the cowering man in front of it into the air. "The Shadow knows all about you as well. The illegal dealings with the Yakuza, the real estate scam you've been running, even the way you drowned your own pet dog when you were five. "Shima didn't like that at all."  
  
The man started screaming in terror as the thing lifted him up by his throat over his head.  
  
"What are you going to do with him?" said Nabiki as she stepped towards the creature.  
  
"Don't worry. I have ways of dealing with this sort of scum. Return home, you're safe from him," said the thing as he backed into the shadows and vanished with the lawyer in his grip.  
  
Nabiki looked down at the ground. Her legs felt like lead, and her hands were shaking almost violently. "What was that?" she muttered as she finally managed to turn and start running.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"As for you," said the Shadow as he held the man dangling over a rooftop not even two minutes later. "You're going to go to the police, and you're going to confess everything."  
  
"I can't! I'll..."  
  
"Your pathetic existence is of no concern to me. You'll do it, or you'll never be rid of me," said the Shadow firmly.   
  
The man cried out in terror as the thing's grip slipped a little and he jerked downward towards the street. "I..."  
  
"I'll be watching you, in every dark corner, in the shadows of your friends and family. You can't escape me, running away will only make me angry. I'll find you. You can't hide from me anymore than you could from your own shadow. In fact, I might even be your shadow."  
  
The man nodded violently and gripped at the thing's arm a little tighter. "Anything! Please don't kill me!"  
  
"You're going to walk into the police station a block north of here, and confess everything. Is that understood?"  
  
The man nodded again, not daring to speak this time.  
  
"Just because you can't see me doesn't mean I don't know. I always know," said the thing as it jerked its arm back and tossed him onto the gravel that covered the rooftop.  
  
The pathetic man jumped to his feet and looked around. It was gone. He fell to his knees, clutching his head. After a moment of sobbing, he started to laugh madly. He pulled at his hair and sniffled as he staggered to his feet. He calmed a little and looked down at the wet spot on his pants for a moment, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket to try and dry it off a little. "Bastard. I should..."  
  
"You should get going. Don't you have somewhere to be?" said the voice of the Shadow.  
  
The man spun around and screamed in terror as he saw it standing not even a foot away. He stumbled away, rushing towards the stairwell and violently tearing the door open. He didn't stop running until he was inside the police station.  
  
The Shadow stood overhead with a smirk on his face as his clothes melted away, revealing Yohiko once again. "That was very entertaining."  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
When she returned home, she smiled as Xellos met her at the door once again. "A most interesting evening for you?"  
  
"How much do you know?" she replied with a smirk.  
  
"Enough," he said with another small shrug.  
  
"Well, I suppose you've got your ways," she said with a sigh as she sat down in her chair.  
  
"That I do," agreed the man.   
  
"What's tomorrow?" she asked as she looked up at the calendar on the wall.  
  
"Wednesday," said the man as he eyed her for a moment and sipped at his coffee.  
  
"I suppose. Maybe I should go back out?" she said as she noticed the time. It was barely ten 'o clock.   
  
"Perhaps. I think the city will sleep well enough without you for the night," said Xellos cheerfully. He grinned at her and glanced towards Usagi's doorway while her attention was on her drink.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
A half hour earlier...  
  
Usagi frowned as she rolled over and looked at her clock. The book she had been reading was spread out on top of her sheets in front of her and she was tapping a pencil against the page. Her hair was pulled out of her braids and she looked ready for bed.  
  
"That mark," she muttered to herself as she stood up and walked over to her mirror. "It kind of tingles a little."  
  
She lifted up her shirt to reveal it. It was bigger now, and resting just below her breasts, right in the middle. She stared at it for a moment and frowned. "What is this? It moved!"  
  
Her eyes went wide as the mark slid up a little, moving between her breasts. She sucked in a quick breath to scream, but a black substance quickly covered her mouth, silencing her. She struggled against it, pulling at it with her fingers. "No!" she muttered beneath the stuff. It felt warm, almost like...  
  
Finally it just released her, the mark on her chest was gone, and she found herself holding a small black strip of cloth. She stared at it and quickly dropped it to the ground.  
  
It just lay there for a moment. "Weird..." she muttered nervously as she backed away from it and slid onto her bed. She gasped and stared at it. "That dream!"  
  
The cloth flew into the air, latching itself onto her face again, moving as if it was made of liquid again. She gasped again, pulling at it. Finally her struggles slowed as she realized something. She could still breathe, and it wasn't hurting her. It was just, sitting there, clinging to her. She slowly pulled her hands back and let it alone for a second. It moved off of her face and slid behind her head, seeming to hide behind her hair.  
  
"That guy I saw..." she muttered as her mind went back to the tall shadowy figure she had seen jump off the roof of her home. She had assumed it was a dream. She'd watched him fall away, and get his cloak caught on the edge of the roof, ripping a small piece off of it. "Who was that? What is going on?" she asked herself with a little fear in her voice. She stood up, grabbing a rubber band to put her hair up with to get a better look at the thing on her neck. She gasped as it slid up her neck and wrapped around her hair, pulling it into a ponytail.   
  
Her mind wandered back to the dream again. The last thing she remembered was watching something move around near where the man had jumped away. It had moved with impossible speed and jumped at her. The next memory she had was waking up the next day, and assuming it was just a weird dream.  
  
"This thing. Its that man's cloak!" she said to herself. She frowned and touched it gently. "It must be so lonely away from its family. I should find him and..." She paused, realizing that she was wrong. She didn't know why she knew that.  
  
She pulled her hand down and simply looked at herself in the mirror for a moment. "I wonder if it can do other things?" She tried to imagine how it could look as a hat maybe. The black cloth shifted into a baseball cap on her head. "Neat!"  
  
She frowned and tried to think of something else. "Hmmm...a crown!"  
  
She gasped when the thing not only replicated the shape, but also the color and feel of the metal. She touched it gingerly and simply stared at herself in the mirror dumbly. "Whoa."  
  
"Too bad you're not a little bigger, I saw this really cute dress on the way home from..." she blinked and looked down at her new dress. "Oh man."  
  
"What else can you do I wonder? How about...a superhero!" she said as she grinned at the mirror again as her clothes shifted. She was dressed in tights with a long flowing cape and a mask. "Nah. How about something a little different?"  
  
She smirked as her clothes morphed once again, this time changing into a sailor fuku that was insanely short. She had a mask on her face and a pair of knee high boots on. "Wow! This is so cool!"  
  
"Isn't it though?" said a familiar voice behind her.  
  
Usagi screeched and whirled around. Xellos was leaning against her door with a smirk on his face as he watched her. "Hello."  
  
The man nodded his head at her. "That's a nice costume."  
  
"I uh..." Usagi tried to think of an explanation of why she would be wearing it.  
  
"Don't bother, I've been watching you since you turned it into a crown. I was wondering where all that energy was coming from."  
  
The girl went pale and looked at him. "So..."  
  
"So. Did you know that costume makes you faster, stronger, and nearly impossible to hurt?" said the man as he narrowed his eyes at the girl.  
  
"Huh?" said Usagi dumbly.  
  
"It's a very nice piece of magical tailoring. I've seen one like it before," said the man as he walked up to her and kneeled down to look at her.  
  
"So...you've got one too?" said the girl as her eyes went wide.  
  
"No. I don't, I do believe you've heard of the crime fighter called 'The Shadow'?" said the man as he smirked at her.  
  
Usagi nodded. "I saw him... this is a little piece of his..."  
  
"I see. That explains it," said Xellos with his smirk widening a little. "It's very nice. What are you going to call yourself?"  
  
"Call myself?" said the girl as she blinked at him.  
  
"You don't get something like that and let it go to waste. Don't you ever read comic books?" he replied cheerfully.  
  
"Yeah," muttered Usagi in embarrassment. There was a bookcase with hundreds of graphic novels lined up in it just behind her.  
  
"So? What are you going to call yourself?" he repeated.  
  
Usagi turned away. "Mom..."  
  
"She doesn't have to know. That's what secret identities are all about girl," said the man.  
  
"Oh," said Usagi as she blinked at him. "Hey! You're right!"  
  
"See, it'll work out," he said as he grinned at her.   
  
"How about...Super Girl!?" she said as she pumped her arm.   
  
"No. Maybe for that other costume, but not this one," he said as he smirked at her again. "How about, Sailor Moon?"  
  
Usagi blinked and looked down at herself. "Hey. That fits! Thanks Uncle Xellos!"  
  
"Hmm, we'll have to change your hair of course. The ponytail is a good idea. You're hair is too distinctive otherwise. How about blonde?"  
  
The girl looked at him. "I can do that?"  
  
"You can look like whatever you want, whoever you want," he said as he grinned at her again.  
  
Usagi nodded and looked at the mirror. Her hair was now a gold blonde, flowing all the way down to the middle of her back from the ponytail. "Cool!"  
  
"Yes. Just do me one favor," he said as he smirked at her.   
  
"What's that?" she asked him cheerfully.  
  
"Don't just wander off and start attacking criminals right away. Learn about your powers first. That costume is more than a disguise, it's a weapon as well."  
  
The girl looked at him for a moment and blinked. "You sure know a lot about this."  
  
"Magic is...a hobby of mine," he said with a shrug.   
  
"Really?" said the girl with a look of surprise on her face.  
  
"Yes. Really," he said as he pat her on the head. "Why don't you go out for a little while. I'll keep your mother busy if she comes back before you do."  
  
"Okay! Thanks!" said the girl as she rushed into the hall.  
  
"Usagi. Use the window," he said as he pointed towards it.  
  
"Oh. Right! Superhero and all that!" she said cheerfully as she opened it and climbed out onto the roof clumsily.  
  
Xellos's smirk changed into a slightly evil looking leer after the girl had gone. He shook his head and chuckled to himself as he walked back into the home to wait for Yohiko to return.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Yohiko scowled at the sun as she stepped out to go to work. She smiled as she saw Yusaku exiting the building right behind her. "Good morning."  
  
"Yeah," he said lamely. His entire body was sore, and he had a ways to walk.  
  
Xellos came out behind him and handed Yohiko a stack of papers. "Don't forget these Yohiko dear." He smiled at her warmly as she took them away.   
  
"Thanks. Call me that again, and I'll rip your tongue out Xellos," said the woman as she scowled at him.  
  
"I was just being affectionate," said the man with a fake looking pout on his face.  
  
"Yeah. Well stop it. It creeps me out," she said as she turned away from him.   
  
"You'll be home tonight?" he asked her as she moved away.  
  
"Yeah," she muttered as she waved her hand back at him.  
  
Yusaku watched the exchange with tears welling up in his eyes.   
  
"I guess we should plan for family time tonight then," said Xellos as he seemed to not notice the look on the man's face.  
  
"Family time?" muttered Yusaku pathetically as he started to stagger away.  
  
Usagi burst from the building behind him. She had a cheerful smile on her face as she moved by him. "Later!"  
  
"How can she still run?" muttered Yusaku as he scowled at her. "I can barely walk right now."  
  
Xellos paused at that statement and frowned a little. "How indeed. I'll have to talk with her about that later." He turned back into the building and left the man alone.   
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
In a prison, near Tokyo...  
  
"This is all that's left of you? Quite pathetic." He was a man in a pressed black suit. He was looking down on the burnt and shattered form of Vahn.  
  
"At least I'm still sane," growled the man as he moved one of his stumps a little. He was lying in a hospital bed, covered in bandages. His legs were gone, along with his left arm and most of his right hand. His face was half covered in bandages and he was drooling from his broken jaw. He winced in pain from speaking and turned his head away.  
  
"Yes. Olif is useless, little more than a gibbering idiot," said the well-dressed man as he frowned a little deeper.   
  
"What use am I? Once I'm out of here, I'm off to be some prison bitch for the rest of my life," said Vahn hatefully.  
  
"So it seems," said the man with a snort. "What did you want?"  
  
"I want you to kill me. That's why I contacted your Oyabun. We were working for him when this creature attacked us. I'd rather die than live like this."  
  
The man smiled at him. "Creature? He is just a shinobi."  
  
"No!" said Vahn forcefully. He immediately regretted speaking so loud as his jaw exploded in pain, forcing him to roll his head back and close his eyes. "That thing is no ninja. It is not human. It's some kind of monster. A devil," he whispered as he regained himself a little.  
  
"Oh? You were defeated by an Oni?" said the man with a mocking smirk forming on his lips.  
  
"Yes," said Vahn with a decided finality in his voice. "Go speak with Olif if you do not believe us. See what it did to him, what he became."  
  
"Yet you never saw this thing?" said the man as he frowned.  
  
"Not directly, no," admitted Vahn. "I saw what it looked like. It sent us a message before it started killing my men."  
  
The man arched his eyebrow and leaned forward. "I'm listening."  
  
"It wore a large hat, its face was covered by a scarf, and its clothes were all black."  
  
The man stepped back with a slow nod. "I will help you."  
  
"Thank you," said Vahn.   
  
"You will be removed from this facility in two days."  
  
The man's eye went wide. "What?"  
  
"I should kill you, but I have something more interesting in mind."  
  
Vahn closed his eyes and leaned back on his pillow. "I see."  
  
"Be ready," said the man as he turned away.  
  
Vahn nodded and simply relaxed.   
  
++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Vahn's Revenge!  



	65. Insertion Part 65

Insertion  
  
Part 65  
  
The trip  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Six Months later...  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Usagi stood in the shadows of the warehouse.  
Tall stacks of wooden crates and various boxes  
stood around her creating vast hallways through  
the building. It was dark and foreboding, but that  
didn't bother her at all. She could see as if she  
was standing in the middle of a park at noon on a  
bright sunny day. Still, she felt a small pang of  
fear. Not from the shadows, but from the three  
large men who sat around a card table with  
automatic weapons strewn about them with a deck of  
cards.  
  
There were three of them, all of them sitting  
with their full attention on their hand. It was  
almost comical to look at, the largest of them  
frowned as he looked at his companions for a  
moment and scowled. The other was a man of medium  
build, and a skinny looking man with slicked back  
hair. They looked bored if anything else.  
  
She crept silently up to the shadows closest  
to them, their table was lit with a single desk  
lamp, it was small, but dangerously bright.  
  
"Youse gots any threes?" asked the biggest one  
dumbly.  
  
"Go fish," grumbled the skinny man. He was  
irritated that his large companion didn't have  
enough brainpower for poker.  
  
Sitting off to the side in a corner was a  
young girl, she was tied to a chair and had a  
handkerchief tied around her mouth as a gag. Her  
face was stained from tears that she had stopped  
producing a few hours earlier. Now she simply sat  
in silence and watched the men play their game. A  
small rodent moved up to her leg and she let out a  
muffled scream as she tried to shy away from the  
creature.  
  
The men looked over at her and chuckled, one  
of them threw a notebook that was on the card  
table at the rat and it scurried away from her.  
They promptly returned to their game again.  
  
"What should I do?" said Usagi as she frowned  
and looked at the scene for a moment.  
  
"Well? What are you thinking?" asked a  
familiar voice as a face appeared in the air in  
front of her. She gasped in surprise quietly and  
scowled.  
  
"Don't do that to me!" she whispered to her  
uncle's head.  
  
"Oh? Did I surprise you?" he said cheerfully.  
  
"Yes! What is it?" she snapped.  
  
"I'm just checking up on you," he replied as  
cheerfully as ever.  
  
She knew from experience that no one but her  
could see or hear him at the moment. "There's  
three of them, they've got a girl hostage."  
  
"Hmmm, that sounds like the Kagami  
kidnapping," said Xellos as he looked thoughtful  
for a moment.  
  
"Great, so I should save her," said Usagi as  
she peered around the boxes she was hidden behind  
for a moment and narrowed her eyes at the men.  
  
"Sounds like a plan," said Xellos. "Well,  
actually it sounds more like an objective than a  
plan really."  
  
"How should I do this? They've got a hostage,"  
she muttered as she mulled over the problem for a  
moment.  
  
"It would seem that the girl is your first  
priority," said Xellos as he smirked at her.  
  
"Right," agreed Usagi as she sighed. "I guess  
I should go get her, and then beat them up."  
  
"Good idea," said her uncle.  
  
Usagi sighed and started to move back into the  
shadows again, it took her two minutes to make her  
way to the other side of the building. She had to  
avoid the large area that they were sitting in,  
moving along the tops of the walls made it a  
little easier.  
  
Finally, she landed and moved up behind the  
hostage. She was sitting right behind her and  
watching, cloaked in the shadows for the moment.  
With a smirk forming on her face she reached out  
and pulled the girl into the darkness.  
  
The men sitting around the table stood up and  
turned to see nothing but an empty space where  
their hostage had once been.  
  
"Da girl!" cried one of the men in shock.  
  
His companions quickly armed themselves and  
rushed over to the spot, only to find empty  
shadows. They turned on flashlights and peered  
into the darkness with them, finding nothing but  
boxes.  
  
"Oh shit," muttered one of the men quietly.  
  
"Find her!" cried the skinny man angrily.  
  
The big dumb one frowned and looked around for  
a moment. He sighed and started walking.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"MMMMMFFFF!" screamed the frightened girl as  
Usagi pulled her onto the top of the wall of boxes  
near to where she had been. Her hand was keeping  
the sound muffled and she grinned at her with her  
finger up to her lips.  
  
The girl calmed immediately as she saw who was  
standing in front of her. It was a blonde girl  
with a mask over her face, she was wearing what  
appeared to be a very short fuku with a pair of  
knee high boots. Her eyes turned confused and she  
gasped as the stranger pulled her gag away. "Who  
are you?"  
  
"Shhhh. You'll find out in a moment. Just wait  
here, I've got to take care of those guys," said  
Usagi cheerfully. "This could be my big break!"  
she thought privately. The kidnapping was a high  
profile crime recently.  
  
"Wait! They have guns!" whispered the girl  
fearfully as she reached for her savior.  
  
"So? I've got something better," said Usagi as  
she smirked and jumped down into the darkness.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"They can't have gotten far," snarled the  
skinny man as he found himself standing in the  
middle of a crossroads of sorts within the  
towering boxes. His two companions stood behind  
him and glanced around nervously.  
  
"What if it's the cops?" whimpered the big  
one.  
  
"The cops would have just barged in," said the  
medium build man as he scowled at him.  
  
"Right. Still..." said the skinny one. "We  
should split up."  
  
The others were about to agree when they all  
paused.  
  
A bright light was shining in front of them,  
and standing in the middle, seeming to be the  
source was a young blonde girl.  
  
"Villains who dare defile the sanctity of  
family! Your actions are evil, and your hearts  
black! Now the defender of love and justice shall  
punish you on! Sailor Moon!" cried the girl  
triumphantly as she posed in front of them.  
  
The three men stood dumbly watching the scene  
for a moment in a sort of shocked awe. "What the?"  
said the skinny one. He promptly raised his weapon  
up and opened fire.  
  
Usagi screeched as she jumped up and avoided  
the fire. She rose ten feet into the air and  
scowled at them as she hung there for a moment,  
suspended by several small ribbons from her  
costume that had latched onto the walls.  
  
"Neat trick," said the big one dumbly.  
  
"You'll pay for that! No one shoots at Sailor  
Moon!" screamed the girl as the ribbons let go and  
she fell to the ground.  
  
The men trained their weapons when she landed,  
but as soon as she did the ribbons lashed out with  
a blinding speed. They were all disarmed and  
wrapped up within seconds. Usagi smirked at them  
and lifted them up into the air as she walked up  
to them.  
  
They all looked at her fearfully as she  
grinned. "Now, what should I do with you?"  
  
"Let us go?" asked the big one hopefully.  
  
"Nah, this is gonna hurt," said Usagi calmly  
as her grin widened. Rows of spikes started to  
form along the bottom part of her ribbons and  
slowly moved towards the men. "Don't worry, they  
won't kill you," she added cheerfully. "You just  
won't be as pretty as you were before."  
  
The men started to scream in terror as the  
spikes moved closer, they stopped suddenly when  
the lights came on inside the warehouse. She was  
blinded for a split second and shielded her eyes  
with her forearms.  
  
"Well, if it isn't Sailor Moon," said a  
dangerously familiar voice.  
  
Usagi whirled around and her three captives  
were flung into the wooden boxes. They slumped  
down out cold and Usagi growled as she saw someone  
standing on a catwalk above her with the girl held  
forcefully at his side. In his hand was a small  
ball of light. He looked to be about fourteen  
years old, with short brown hair and handsome  
features.  
  
"Jadeite! I should have known you were behind  
this!" screamed the girl hatefully.  
  
"Alas, too little too late," said the boy as  
he smirked at her. "You've been quite the thorn in  
my side lately. I think it's time I got rid of  
you."  
  
"What?" said Usagi as she stepped back. A  
familiar growl sounded from the boxes around her  
and she narrowed here eyes. "This again?"  
  
"Well Sailor Moon, what will you do?" asked  
Jadeite calmly as he pulled the girl along the  
catwalk.  
  
Usagi stepped back as a large pile of boxes  
slowly rose and shifted shape into a humanoid  
creature. "These stupid things! Haven't you  
figured out they don't work by now?" she cried in  
frustration.  
  
"It may not be able to kill you, but it will  
keep you busy long enough for me to make my escape  
and take this girl with me," said Jadeite calmly.  
  
"Damn!" cried Usagi as she jumped away as the  
thing's arm slammed into the ground where she had  
been standing. "I don't have time for this!"  
  
The creature lumbered forward and she jumped  
up and onto the wall next to its head. She stuck  
there and thrust her arm out behind her. The  
ribbons from her costume came to life again, this  
time trapping the creature in them by surrounding  
it on both sides. It struggled for a moment and  
she jerked her arm back. The wall opposite her  
came down slamming into the thing and shattering  
it. She snorted in disgust and jumped up onto the  
catwalk after avoiding the crash below her.  
  
Jadeite turned to face her with a scowl on his  
face as she stood with a firm frown on her face  
and dozens of ribbons floating around behind her  
like the plumes of a peacock crossed with an  
octopus.  
  
He snorted and released the girl, tossing her  
to the ground in front of him. "That didn't take  
as long as I thought it would."  
  
"You won't escape this time," said Sailor Moon  
firmly as she stepped forward.  
  
Jadeite grabbed the girl by her hair and  
growled. "Can you save her and catch me at the  
same time?" he cried as he tossed her over the  
side.  
  
Usagi jumped down after her without a second  
thought, her ribbons wrapped around the girl and  
stopped her decent cold. She frowned as she hit  
something suddenly and groaned painfully.  
  
"Ha ha ha ha! You're as foolish as I thought!"  
called Jadeite as he threw a ball of light into  
the ground at his feet. "We'll meet again soon  
Sailor Moon! I'm sure of it!" He vanished into  
thin air leaving her alone with the girl.  
  
"Sooner than you think," growled Usagi.  
Jadeite had tossed the girl on top of one of the  
walls of boxes. She wouldn't have been hurt in the  
fall at all, but Usagi had dove headfirst into  
them, and managed to keep her from hitting  
anything at all. She rolled onto her back and  
looked up at the girl who was tangled in the  
ribbons and stared at her fearfully. "Are you all  
right?"  
  
The girl nodded almost violently as she stared  
down at her savior in shock. "I'm fine," she  
whimpered.  
  
"Good, let's get out of here," said Usagi with  
a heavy sigh.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Usagi frowned, she had a large pout on her  
lips as she scowled at the image in front of her.  
She had dropped the girl off near a police station  
after tying up the kidnappers. Now she was  
standing on a rooftop in the Juban area. "Why? Why  
did you make me do that?"  
  
"Because you need to keep your identity a  
secret," replied Xellos with a heavy sigh.  
  
"Not that secret! People should know Sailor  
Moon is fighting evil bravely! I can't believe you  
made me make that girl promise to keep me a  
secret!"  
  
"Well, what's done is done. You aren't good  
enough to keep away from the newspapers just yet.  
You still need more training before you can..."  
  
"Oh fine!" said the girl as she crossed her  
arms and pouted again.  
  
"Jadeite again?" asked Xellos with an odd look  
on his face.  
  
"Yes, he doesn't know that I'm Sailor Moon,"  
said Usagi as she sat on the rooftop. "He's in my  
class Xellos, I should be able to stop him!"  
  
"Well, we don't have any proof to incriminate  
him, and you can't just attack him in school,"  
said the man calmly.  
  
"Why not? He's a jerk!" cried Usagi angrily.  
  
"You know why," replied Xellos calmly.  
  
"You always seem bothered by that guy," said  
Usagi as she frowned at him. "You never act this  
way."  
  
Xellos turned his eyes away from her and  
sighed again. "It's not something I can explain  
easily. When the time comes, I'll tell you. Right  
now, it's not important."  
  
"You know something!" cried Usagi as she  
seemed to realize it all at once.  
  
"Nothing that will help you against him,"  
replied Xellos calmly.  
  
"Who is he? How do you know him?" she said  
forcefully.  
  
"Now that...is a secret," replied her uncle as  
his transmission ended.  
  
"You jerk!" cried Usagi angrily.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
On the other side of town...  
  
The Shadow put his smoking weapons back into  
their holsters and turned away from the scene. It  
was an alleyway somewhere in the city, all around  
the cowering young woman were men in black suits.  
All of them were slumped to the ground and out  
cold. His cloak billowed dramatically as he moved  
away.  
  
"Wait!" cried the young Chinese woman that he  
had just saved. "Come on! Give me something!"  
  
"Miss Kung, you should be more careful. I am  
growing tired of saving you," said the  
intimidating figure coolly as he turned his head  
to look at her again.  
  
"You asshole! It's been six months since we  
met! We should be dating by now and you won't even  
give me an interview!?" screamed the young  
reporter as she stood in the middle of a broken  
pile of Yakuza.  
  
"You read too many comic books," said the man  
as he vanished into the shadows again.  
  
"Shit," grumbled the woman as she turned away.  
It had been an undercover assignment, and she was  
doing well. Well, the Yakuza made her think that.  
It had recently discovered who she was, and were  
going to kill her. Luckily the Shadow had decided  
to bust up an illegal drug ring that night. "I  
sure have been seeing a lot of him lately," she  
said as she looked up at the sky for a moment.  
  
All at once she gasped and put her glasses on.  
"That's it! He must work with me! He's got to be  
one of the men I work with!" She walked away at a  
hurried pace and moved towards the street to catch  
a cab.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Carrot, you were right," said Ranma  
cheerfully.  
  
"Following this chick is fun!" agreed Dan.  
  
"She's certainly interesting," agreed Xianfu  
with a small sigh. "She'd be dead by now without  
us."  
  
"Yeah, it was just a hunch I had after we  
saved her the first time," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"Really? I had the same feeling," agreed  
Ranma.  
  
"So now what?" asked Dan casually as their  
costume shifted to street clothes and they turned  
female again.  
  
"Well, I'm hungry," said Carrot.  
  
"Me too," agreed Ranma.  
  
"We should be getting home soon," said Xianfu  
with a slightly frustrated tone.  
  
"Yeah, after we eat though," said Ranma.  
  
"He's right," agreed Carrot. "We can stop on  
the way."  
  
"Chinese?" asked Dan.  
  
"What about that Thai place?" offered Carrot.  
  
"Too spicy before bed," said Xianfu.  
  
"Okay," said Ranma. "There's that Okonomiyaki  
place."  
  
"Naw, not as good as Ucchan's, she's spoiled  
us," said Dan.  
  
"You jerks are going to make us fat!" snarled  
Xianfu.  
  
"Lay off, we'll never get fat as active as we  
are," said Carrot.  
  
"He's right you know," agreed Dan.  
  
"She's just mad because all this running  
around made us put on a few pounds of muscle,"  
pointed out Ranma.  
  
"Jeez," muttered Carrot. "Do you know how many  
women would kill to look like us?" He adjusted  
their breast to illustrate that point.  
  
"Right," grumbled the woman lamely. "We'll  
just go to that take out place on the way home. I  
don't feel like going out of our way tonight."  
  
"Fair enough, but no more complaining that  
we're getting fat!" said Carrot.  
  
"Man, we ate Chinese last night!" complained  
Ranma.  
  
They happily argued their way back to the  
restaurant, and then back home again.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Wake up," said Yohiko as she scowled at her  
daughter. "You should be getting up on your own by  
now."  
  
A mass of disheveled pink hair rose from the  
bed and two tired looking eyes glared up at her.  
"Mom."  
  
"Stop talking and wake up," replied the woman  
as she left the room.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Morning Yotsuya," said Yusaku as he noticed  
the man walking through the halls of the  
apartments.  
  
"Ah, you seem more cheerful than ever young  
Godai," said the man as he nodded to him. "Tell  
me, what do you plan to do with your Saturday?"  
  
"Well, class is over, so I'm not sure,"  
replied the man cheerfully. He was dressed in a  
dirty looking dogi and had a smirk on his face.  
"You?"  
  
"I believe Mrs. Itchinose is planning a  
meeting to discover the identity of our mysterious  
new tenant," said the man with a small nod. "To be  
held in your room this very evening."  
  
"What? My room?" said the man as he hung his  
head. "Just bring your own beer tonight. I've only  
got one left, and it's mine."  
  
"Hmmm, it seems I am saddled with the task of  
putting out the word," said the man as he nodded.  
"Do you plan to buy more?"  
  
"Not until I get paid again," said Yusaku with  
a frown on his face. "You guys are still on about  
that?"  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"Xellos," clarified Yusaku.  
  
"Oh. Yes, it is most distressing," said the  
man. "A man of that age living with two young  
maidens. Surely the implications are enough to  
make you wonder."  
  
"Naw. Xellos is weird, Miss Yohiko doesn't  
seem to like him much either. I'm just wondering  
why she puts up with him."  
  
"Yohiko likes me fine," replied Xellos as he  
put his head between them.  
  
"Ah, We were just speaking of you," said  
Yotsuya.  
  
"Hello," said Godai as his face became  
serious.  
  
"Good morning," said Xellos cheerfully.  
  
"Tell me, where is your destination this fine  
day?" asked Yotsuya cheerfully.  
  
"Shopping, it's my turn to cook," said the man  
as he looked at them.  
  
"You cook with two women in your home?" said  
Yotsuya in mock surprise.  
  
"Well, living here is no reason to get out of  
practice. Besides, Yohiko dear does require it."  
  
"Ah, the things we do for love," said Yotsuya.  
  
"Something like that," said Xellos with a  
smirk on his face.  
  
"There is a meeting in Godai's room this  
evening? Concerning myself?" asked Xellos  
cheerfully.  
  
"Indeed," said Yotsuya.  
  
"Well, good luck solving the mystery. Good day  
to you," said the strange man as he walked away.  
  
"I often hear noises from the home in the  
evening, but they are difficult to make out. It  
could be that Miss Hibiki is not a 'screamer',"  
said Yotsuya with a frown on his face.  
  
"Or it could be that one of them likes to  
watch TV or listen to the radio at night," said  
Yusaku calmly as they watched the man leave the  
hallway.  
  
"Curses, his ambiguity drives me to madness,"  
said Yotsuya as calmly as ever. "It worsens the  
matter that both of the Hibiki women will say  
nothing of this mystery to any of us."  
  
"Speaking of ambiguity, what do you do for a  
living anyway?" said Yusaku as another smirk  
formed on his face.  
  
"If you will excuse me," replied the man as he  
turned towards his room.  
  
"I thought so," muttered Yusaku under his  
breath. "Jeez, it's been months, you'd think  
they'd have figured it out by now."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Yohiko sighed as she stared down at the  
television and frowned. "Man, Saturday is boring."  
  
"Boring? I could call up Mitaka," said Usagi  
hopefully.  
  
"Gah! Stop that!" cried the woman as she  
turned to glare at her daughter. The girl was  
making a sandwich, rather skillfully at that. It  
was a massive undertaking that had many levels and  
complex structures built into it.  
  
"Usagi, I know you have to eat more with how  
active you are, but..." said Yohiko as she stared  
at the thing in front of her daughter.  
  
"Huh? What is it?" said the girl as she looked  
up at her mother.  
  
"You do realize that you have to put that into  
your mouth at some point, right?" said the woman  
as she turned away.  
  
Usagi blushed and saw that it was becoming  
almost as tall as her whole torso. "Oh, right."  
She put the top layer of bread on and hefted it  
over to the table.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Yusaku frowned as he looked around his room  
and tossed his shirt over to the small pile of  
dirty clothes in the corner. He popped his neck  
and sighed as he stripped off his pants and stood  
in the middle of the room for a moment. He  
stretched his arms and began to search through his  
dresser for a new set of clothes.  
  
"What do you mean knock? This is Mr. Flunk  
out's room," said a familiar voice as his door  
opened.  
  
He turned his head and simply stared at the  
two women standing there looking at him for a  
moment. "Heh. Um...do you mind..."  
  
"Yes," said Akemi as her cigarette hit the  
floor.  
  
Itchinose turned away slowly and pushed her  
out of the room, closing the door behind her.  
  
Outside, the pair conversed amongst  
themselves.  
  
"When the hell did -that- happen?!" cried  
Akemi as she simply stared at the floor for a  
moment.  
  
"Wow, that kid sure has changed," agreed  
Itchinose.  
  
The pair looked at one another and rushed over  
to the door, sliding it open just enough to peer  
in.  
  
It opened in their faces and Yusaku was  
staring down at them calmly. "Are you two finished  
yet?"  
  
Akemi marched into his room and pushed him  
back, forcing him to sit down in the middle of the  
floor. "Just sit here a minute."  
  
He complied with a confused looking frown on  
his face. "What is it?"  
  
Akemi picked up his arm and felt it for a  
moment.  
  
"Well?" asked Itchinose.  
  
"Hard as a rock," said the woman as she  
narrowed her eyes at him and began to feel on his  
back, lifting the back of his shirt up in the  
process. "Look at this!"  
  
"Most unusual," said the older woman as she  
looked thoughtful.  
  
"What is it?" said Godai in confusion.  
  
"Shut up. We're trying to figure out when the  
hell you became a babe!" said Akemi.  
  
"Is there some sort of air release valve?"  
asked Itchinose as she felt along his side.  
  
"What?" said Godai dumbly.  
  
He stood up and walked over to the mirror that  
hung from his wall. He blinked and looked at  
himself for a moment. "Well, what did you think  
would happen? I mean, I've been working out every  
morning for the past six months."  
  
"Working out?" said Akemi dumbly.  
  
"I thought you were taking some sort of  
aerobics class with Miss Hibiki," said Itchinose  
in confusion.  
  
"It was martial arts classes, and what do you  
think martial arts classes are?" he replied  
calmly.  
  
"Oh," said the two women in unison.  
  
"Hey Godai," said Yohiko as she walked into  
the room and looked around.  
  
"Huh?" he replied as he turned to face her.  
  
"Training trip, get your stuff," she said  
simply before she walked out of the room.  
  
He blinked for a moment and looked at the two  
women sitting in his room. They stared at one  
another and then looked back at him.  
  
"Training trip?" they asked each other.  
  
Yusaku was packed within a minute and walking  
out the door.  
  
"I wish I was nicer to him now," grumbled  
Akemi as he left them.  
  
"Well what do you know? Yohiko is smarter than  
I thought, rather than looking for a babe, she  
went and made her own," said Itchinose dumbly.  
  
"Training trip indeed," said Akemi flatly.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Mom, where are we going?" asked Usagi as she  
found herself being herded into a cab with Yusaku.  
  
"The mountains," replied the woman calmly.  
  
"The mountains?" asked Yusaku dumbly.  
  
"That's right," said the woman as she put  
their traveling bags into the trunk.  
  
"The mountains?" asked a familiar voice from  
beside her.  
  
Yohiko turned and looked Shun Mitaka in the  
face. He was watching the scene in confusion.  
  
"Yeah," she said as she closed the trunk.  
  
"Mind if I tag along then?" he said  
cheerfully. "I could give you a ride for free at  
the very least."  
  
Yusaku started banging his head against the  
back of the front seat of the car.  
  
"This isn't a vacation Mitaka, this is a  
training trip," she replied calmly.  
  
"Training?" he asked in confusion. "What for?"  
  
"I've been teaching Yusaku and my daughter  
martial arts," she replied calmly.  
  
"Oh? Is that so?" he said cheerfully. "I've  
been taking some lessons myself."  
  
"Really?" asked Yusaku as he stuck his head  
out of the back of the car.  
  
Mitaka seemed surprised that he would be  
interested in that at all. "Yes, my mother thought  
it would be a good idea to take some karate. I've  
been doing it off and on since I was a boy. I just  
recently started again. I've got my second dan."  
  
Yusaku actually got an impressed look on his  
face as he sat back in his seat again.  
  
"Well, this isn't the same thing," replied  
Yohiko calmly.  
  
"I'll tell you what, just take me to my place,  
I'll pay for the ride there, and we can go in my  
car," he said as he grinned at Yusaku.  
  
Yohiko looked at her two students and smirked.  
"All right."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Yohiko sat behind the wheel of the car with a  
grin on her face singing merrily as she drove into  
the wilderness.  
  
"I found out, long a go. It's a long way down  
the holiday road. Holiday ro-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-  
oh-oad, holiday roa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oad!"  
  
Yusaku and Usagi sat in the back seat looking  
rather cheerful as Mitaka blinked in surprise.  
"You can drive a car?"  
  
"Sure," she replied as she looked at him. "Why  
wouldn't I know how?"  
  
"No reason, I just didn't expect it," he said  
with a small shrug.  
  
"First I knew of it," said Usagi.  
  
"Well, I was a lot more active before I got  
married," said the woman cheerfully.  
  
"That's obvious," said Mitaka with a small  
smirk on his face.  
  
"Where is this place anyway?" asked Yusaku.  
  
"Not far now," said Yohiko as she hummed her  
song to herself a little.  
  
After about an hour she parked the car in a  
somewhat deserted parking lot in the middle of a  
small camping area. There were a few other  
families vacationing as well, but it was mostly  
deserted. School wasn't out for the year yet and  
the season for such activity was still a few  
months away.  
  
"It's very pretty here," said Mitaka as he  
grinned at Yohiko suavely.  
  
"Well, we aren't going to have time to enjoy  
the scenery much, take it in while you can," said  
the woman with a serious looking frown. "We've got  
a long walk ahead of us, so get your stuff.  
  
+++++++++  
  
Mitaka was miserable, the trio in front of him  
were still as fresh as they had been four hours  
ago. Every part of his body was aching and he was  
getting short of breath.  
  
"This looks good," said Yohiko as she glanced  
around. They were standing in the middle of a  
large flat area on the side of the mountain. It  
was mostly a huge dirt patch. They could see for  
quite a ways in almost every direction to the  
south. The north was blocked from view by the wall  
of rock a short distance from where they had  
stopped.  
  
"So we should set up camp?" asked Mitaka as he  
sat down on one of the rocks.  
  
"Yes, we'll rest a bit while we're doing that  
and get started. We've still got a whole day ahead  
of us," said Yohiko with a wry looking grin on her  
face. She looked Mitaka up and down and turned  
away with an almost bored expression.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
It had taken about a half-hour to set up the  
campsite, they had taken their time and then sat  
around for another half-hour to rest up.  
  
Mitaka seemed much more cheerful after they  
had started and Yusaku and Usagi were sitting on  
the edge of the cliff looking out at the scenery.  
  
"Well, it's time to get started," said Yohiko  
cheerfully as she stood up and stretched.  
  
"What are we going to do today?" asked Usagi.  
  
"Spar," said the woman as she looked at them.  
  
"Spar?" said the pair in confusion. They  
looked at one another and then back at the woman  
again.  
  
"That's right, we're here to test your  
fighting ability," said the woman as she grinned  
at them for a moment.  
  
"But, you haven't taught us anything about  
fighting," pointed out Yusaku. "We've been doing  
the same thing for six months now. All those  
exercises and stuff. Running around, carrying  
things, digging up weeds, construction work."  
  
"You already know how to fight," said the  
woman as she smirked at him.  
  
Usagi was strangely silent and simply looked  
at Yusaku for a moment.  
  
"What?" said the boy dumbly.  
  
"The motions and techniques of all the work  
you have been doing are all the training you need.  
You have the tools and the knowledge, you just  
need to apply it."  
  
Usagi nodded and cracked her knuckles.  
  
Mitaka looked confused. "Okay. So we'll spar."  
  
"You'll be facing Yusaku," she said as she  
looked at him.  
  
"Are you sure? I mean, I've been doing this  
for a while now," he replied with a small frown.  
  
"Yes, go easy on him, and you'll lose," she  
replied calmly as she turned towards Usagi.  
"You'll fight me."  
  
"Okay," she replied with a small shrug.  
  
"I guess that's for the best, I'm sure Yusaku  
wouldn't feel comfortable fighting her. She's too  
young," said Mitaka.  
  
"Why not?" said the man as he looked at Mitaka  
for a moment in confusion.  
  
"What?" replied Mitaka dumbly.  
  
"She's been doing the exact same thing I have  
for the past six months," he said with a shrug.  
  
"Well, I..." Mitaka noticed the women were  
giving him slightly disgusted frowns and he wisely  
kept his mouth shut.  
  
"We'll get started, you boys go first," said  
Yohiko with a smirk forming on her face.  
  
Mitaka nodded and stood opposite Yusaku, the  
pair bowed to each other and took up stances.  
  
Yusaku looked slightly unsure of himself, but  
his stance was firm. It looked somewhat sloppy  
though, he was wide open and mostly undefended.  
  
Mitaka frowned slightly at this and refrained  
from commenting. In the back of his mind he was  
happy to have this opportunity. He could put a  
little fear into Yusaku without making himself  
look bad. That would make his chances with Yohiko  
better than before. "Gotta be careful, I can't  
hurt him," he thought to himself.  
  
"Begin," said Yohiko.  
  
Mitaka rushed forward taking the offensive  
immediately, he wanted to end it quickly and  
humble his opponent. That would make him easier to  
deal with in the future.  
  
Yusaku stepped back nimbly and bent his back  
slightly to avoid the punch. Mitaka spun into a  
kick and gasped as it met the man's forearm and  
stopped cold.  
  
Yusaku blinked and hit him in the chest.  
Mitaka's eyes went wide as he flew off of his feet  
and was thrown back ten feet into a nearby tree.  
He hit it hard and slumped down to the ground with  
a dazed looking frown. "Ouch."  
  
"Mitaka!" cried Yusaku in alarm as he rushed  
over to his side. "I'm sorry! I didn't think I hit  
you that hard!"  
  
The man looked up at his opponent, he was  
still slightly dazed and laughed to himself.  
"Huh?" He could see honest sincerity in his face.  
"What hit me?"  
  
"I though you said you've been doing this for  
a while," said Usagi as she fell to her knees  
beside him.  
  
"He has been, this is why I didn't want him  
coming along," said Yohiko as she walked up and  
looked down at him. She smiled and extended her  
hand.  
  
Mitaka took it and allowed himself to be  
pulled to his feet. He shook his head and cleared  
it.  
  
"What do you mean?" said Yusaku dumbly.  
  
"The Hibiki school of Martial arts isn't a  
normal art. It's much more difficult to learn, and  
the hardships you endure are much more rigorous  
than those of most other arts."  
  
"What?" said Usagi in confusion.  
  
"Mitaka isn't exactly an expert, he probably  
spends an hour a day, maybe two or three times a  
week in a class. We've been spending four hours a  
day, plus all the extra training I've been putting  
you through on the side. The repairs to the  
building, the yard work, I've been making you both  
do outside of class..."  
  
"Three times a week," said the man groggily as  
he wavered on his feet for a moment.  
  
"Admirable, but the Hibiki style requires that  
you live for the art. It's more than a past time,  
it's a way of life."  
  
Usagi gasped as she noticed the smirk on her  
mother's face, it looked almost malevolent.  
  
"Stay for the whole weekend, and I'll do more  
for you than an entire month in that class will,"  
said the woman as she slapped the man on his back.  
  
"So, should we spar now?" said Usagi.  
  
"There's no need. I just wanted Mitaka to know  
where he stood here, and let Yusaku in on his  
abilities. You are already confident enough," said  
the woman as she smirked at her daughter. "The  
real training for you two is on the other side of  
the mountain."  
  
The pair looked at one another as Yohiko led  
Mitaka towards a nearby boulder to sit for a time.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Yusaku and Usagi blinked as they looked at the  
contraption in front of them. It was a pair of  
harnesses hanging from the trees.  
  
"What is this?" said Usagi dumbly.  
  
"Your training," said Yohiko flatly. "We've  
only got three days before we have to return."  
  
"Three?" said Yusaku and Usagi in confusion.  
  
"Monday is a holiday," said the woman with a  
small shrug.  
  
"It is?" said Usagi.  
  
"Yes, some teacher planning day or something.  
I've already called in," she said as she looked at  
them and smirked.  
  
"What's this for?" said Yusaku as he looked up  
at the harness. Mitaka was standing a short  
distance away, frowning at the scene.  
  
"This," Yohiko turned and walked over to a  
nearby boulder. She tapped it gently with her  
finger and it exploded in a shower of stone and a  
cloud of dust. "The Bakusai Tenketsu. It took me a  
week to learn, and you have two and a half days to  
get it right. You'll remain in these until you  
do."  
  
Usagi and Yusaku looked at one another and  
then back at their sensei again.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Mitaka was watching the scene in a sort of  
shocked awe. Usagi and Yusaku were hanging from  
the trees while two large boulders slammed into  
them repeatedly. They had started only ten minutes  
before, and the pair had already been knocked out  
twice each. They quickly woke up and started the  
process again.  
  
Yohiko turned towards him and smiled. "Don't  
worry, this is the intermediate class. You're not  
ready for this yet."  
  
"Intermediate?" said Mitaka in shock. "What  
are the advanced classes like?" he asked  
fearfully.  
  
"Do you really want to know?" she asked  
cheerfully.  
  
"No, not really," he admitted with his head  
hung low.  
  
"Well, shall we get started?"  
  
"Started?" said the man weakly.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Mitaka was a heap of dead muscle. He couldn't  
move, he could barely speak, and he simply wanted  
to lie in silence until the pain stopped.  
  
"Feeling better?" asked Yohiko as she sat down  
next to him with two cups of tea in her hands.  
  
"Not really," he replied as he tried to sit  
up.  
  
"I'll just leave this here then," said the  
woman cheerfully as she set his cup down next to  
him.  
  
He closed his eyes and ignored the pain as he  
forced himself to sit upright and pick up the tea.  
It felt like it weighed thirty pounds in his  
hands.  
  
The sky was now a sea of stars above them and  
they sat together in silence for a long time. He  
had spent the entire day digging holes, walking  
along low branches, and carrying large rocks  
around. There was more involved as well. They had  
found a waterfall with a large pool and he had  
spent an hour swimming around with a small boulder  
strapped to his back.  
  
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" he asked  
quietly.  
  
"In a way, but you did very well. You  
complained a lot less than those two did the first  
time they had to do that," she replied quietly.  
  
"They did?"  
  
"They've been doing similar things to what you  
just did for the past seven months or so," she  
said as she smiled at him for a moment.  
  
Mitaka sighed and looked down at his hands for  
a moment. "The funny thing is, I believe you."  
  
"Not so confident anymore?" she asked him with  
a tiny amount of amusement in her voice.  
  
"Nowhere near what I was before. This  
was...very humbling." He didn't mention what  
Yusaku had done to him, but it was clear that it  
was what he was referring too.  
  
Yohiko smirked as she realized that he hadn't  
said anything about when she had admitted that she  
was trying to get rid of him.  
  
"Well, you've only got two more days left,"  
she said with a small shrug.  
  
"Do I?" he said as he smiled at her again.  
Even that small act was painful for him.  
  
"If you want to continue after that, you can,"  
she said with a shrug.  
  
"I'm not going to give up, no matter what  
happens. I haven't lost yet," he said without  
looking up at her. He gulped his tea down and lay  
back down, looking up at the stars for a moment  
before closing his eyes.  
  
He didn't notice Yohiko giving a small growl  
as her tin cup bent slightly out of shape in her  
grip. "Oh well. He'll learn soon enough, one way  
or another."  
  
++++++++++  
  
Yusaku screamed as he saw the stone rushing  
towards him, his arm cocked back and he thrust his  
hand forward to strike. His arm exploded in pain  
as the stone shoved it back and slammed into his  
body once again.  
  
Usagi was hanging upside-down nearby with a  
painful frown on her face. "I'm getting tired,"  
she muttered.  
  
"She said we had to stay here until we learned  
this," replied Yusaku as he took up a similar  
position.  
  
"She's not here to watch us right now," said  
Usagi with a slightly disgusted frown.  
  
"We're on the honor system Usagi, you know we  
should keep working," he said firmly.  
  
"I know, but this still sucks," said the girl  
distastefully as she pulled herself upright again.  
  
Yusaku followed suit and the pair began  
working again.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Two more days pass...  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Yohiko frowned as Mitaka coughed up a lung full of  
water and wheezed as he lay sprawled out on the  
edge of the small pond. The boulder was still  
strapped onto his back and made breathing even  
more difficult, but he ignored it in favor of not  
moving at all.  
  
"Well, had enough?" she said as she knelt down  
beside him.  
  
"Never!" he growled as he stood up and  
staggered. He started moving forward again with  
determination burning in his eyes.  
  
Yohiko shrugged and followed after him. After  
a moment they jogged into a familiar clearing,  
Mitaka promptly collapsed as his muscles failed  
again and did not move.  
  
The woman arched her eyebrow in surprise at  
the scene she found herself looking at.  
  
Yusaku was hanging upside-down, out cold and  
snoring loudly. The remains of his boulder lay  
shattered on the ground and he had a stupid  
looking grin on his face as he drooled in his  
sleep.  
  
Usagi was cursing to herself and pushing her  
boulder back and fourth, repeatedly slamming it  
into her body in a frustrated rage. "No fair! No  
fair! Not fucking fair!" she screeched with each  
new attempt.  
  
"Well whaddaya know?" said Yohiko as she  
pulled at the knot that left the man hanging and  
sent him into the ground. He didn't appear to  
notice and continued to sleep.  
  
"I never thought he'd get it this time," she  
said as she looked at him and grinned.  
  
"Really?" asked Mitaka dumbly.  
  
"Naw, took me a week to learn this," she  
replied cheerfully as she kicked her slumbering  
student onto his back. "I figured it'd take him at  
least two, and probably not until he learned to  
control his chi a little more first. I'm honestly  
impressed."  
  
Usagi growled at her mother's assessment. "You  
mean you didn't expect us to learn this?!!"  
  
"Not this time," she admitted.  
  
"Damn you!" screamed the girl in a rage. "Just  
for that I'm gonna learn it anyway!" She went back  
to her task and started in earnest.  
  
"You'll never get it if you're this worked  
up," said her mother flatly.  
  
Usagi growled, but calmed down considerably.  
  
"Clear your mind, it's the only way to see the  
breaking point," said the woman as she turned away  
and started to drag Yusaku away.  
  
"Wait, you mean...that's what I've been doing  
wrong?" said the girl as she looked surprised. The  
boulder decked her again as she finished saying  
this.  
  
"What? You didn't know?" said Yohiko as she  
arched her eyebrow slightly.  
  
"How was I supposed to? You never told us!"  
screamed the girl angrily.  
  
"Oh, sorry," said Yohiko as she dragged Yusaku  
away with Mitaka.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"You didn't tell them?" asked Mitaka as he lay  
against a log and frowned at the woman.  
  
"I didn't want them to get it this time," she  
replied as she looked over at Yusaku. She had  
decided to let him sleep, he had stayed away for  
almost three days trying to learn the technique.  
  
"What?" said Mitaka in shock, he sat up  
abruptly and immediately regretted it. He fell  
back down to the ground in pain and relaxed.  
  
"The whole point of the Bakusai Tenketsu isn't  
the technique itself, but the extra toughness the  
training gives you," said Yohiko with a smirk on  
her face. "The move is essentially useless, it  
only works on rocks. It's good for distraction and  
intimidation, but not much else."  
  
Mitaka looked at her in a sort of horrified  
awe. "You mean? They did all this for nothing?"  
  
"Heh. Mitaka, after Yusaku wakes up, there  
won't be anything you can do to hurt him. He'll  
shrug off your strongest attacks as if they were  
the strikes of a baby. That is the secret of the  
Bakusai Tenketsu. It has nothing to do with the  
technique itself."  
  
The man looked at his rival, someone who he  
considered to be nothing more than a mere boy.  
"I'm glad our relationship is somewhat friendly  
then. I may be his rival, but I still consider him  
a friend."  
  
"He's a good one, I suggest you keep it that  
way," said the woman with a small shrug.  
  
Mitaka nodded and lay his head back down  
again.  
  
"We'll be heading back soon, I suggest you  
rest until then," she said as she looked in the  
direction where her daughter was still training.  
  
"Do I still have a chance?" he asked her  
almost jokingly.  
  
"Neither one of you ever had one. I've been  
trying to tell you that for a while now," was the  
reply.  
  
"We'll see, I won't give up," he said with a  
rough sounding snort as he passed out finally.  
  
Yohiko sighed. "These idiot men are going to  
get themselves killed over this." She stood up and  
walked towards the clearing where Usagi was  
training.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"I said you've done enough. It's time to go,"  
said the woman as she looked up at her daughter's  
angry face.  
  
"No! I'm not done yet!" screamed Usagi angrily  
as she shoved at the boulder again.  
  
"Usagi, that's enough. I didn't really think  
you would get it this time. I'm not angry."  
  
"There's no way I'm gonna let Yusaku show me  
up!" snarled the angry girl as she continued to  
beat herself senseless.  
  
"Usagi..." muttered Yohiko as she jumped up  
and touched the point on the boulder, sending it  
into shards all around the clearing. "That's  
enough. Let it go for now. I promise I'll let you  
take as long as you want next time. We have to go  
home, you've got school tomorrow."  
  
The girl hung her head and turned away in  
shame.  
  
"Don't even start Usagi," growled her mother  
as she undid the knot and sent her to the ground  
in a heap. "You've still got plenty of time ahead  
of you to learn this."  
  
The girl looked up at her mother and sighed.  
"I guess you're right. I wanted to be your best  
student though!"  
  
"I'd rather have two of them," she replied.  
"You'll find that in time, there are some things  
he will do better, but some things you will do  
better as well. This is just one of the things he  
has improved in more."  
  
The girl looked confused. "What do I do better  
in then?"  
  
"If I told you, you would focus only on those  
things, and fall behind in others," replied the  
woman as she put her arm across the girl's  
shoulders.  
  
"I guess you're right," said the girl with a  
heavy sigh.  
  
"Of course I am, I'm your mother. I'm right  
even when I'm wrong child," replied the woman  
cheerfully.  
  
"Mooom..." whined Usagi.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"So, Mitaka. You thinkin about joining us?"  
asked Yusaku as he leaned forward from the back  
seat of the car.  
  
The man looked at him and smiled slightly.  
They were all on their way home from the trip and  
had a good hour left to go before they made it  
back. "I don't think so."  
  
"Huh? Why not?" asked Usagi.  
  
Yohiko was smiling to herself and ignoring  
them as she drove the car.  
  
"Yeah. You did real good," said Yusaku.  
  
"I learned a lot on this trip," said Mitaka as  
he closed his eyes and sat back in his seat. "If I  
stayed with you I'd only drag you two down for a  
long time."  
  
"You sure?" said Usagi with an uncertain  
looking frown.  
  
"He's right. If he joined us now, I'd end up  
neglecting a lot of your training just to get him  
up to speed with you," said Yohiko suddenly. "He  
can join if he likes, but I don't think he's ready  
just yet."  
  
"I will be," said the man firmly. "I hate  
missing a chance like this. I'd love to spend my  
mornings with the woman I love, but I'd be hurting  
the both of you."  
  
Yohiko ignored them again and continued to  
smile blissfully as she watched the road. Yusaku  
turned his head away with an unreadable look on  
his face. Usagi seemed pleased with this  
declaration. Mitaka noticed the lack of a reaction  
on Yohiko and turned away as well.  
  
"Maybe I've already missed my chance?" thought  
Mitaka to himself.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Stay on the right side of the road," growled  
Dan as he forced a slight correction on Carrot as  
they drove the car.  
  
"Sorry, I'm still gettin used to this place,"  
grumbled the boy quietly.  
  
"We'll watch your back," said Ranma calmly.  
"Just keep drivin."  
  
"Yusaku is doing better than I'd thought,"  
said Xianfu seriously.  
  
"Indeed, I never thought he'd get that  
technique, I just wanted to watch them suffer,"  
said Carrot.  
  
"Yeah, it sure was fun torturing loverboy over  
there all weekend," agreed Dan.  
  
"Indeed, he's a bit of an ass, but a nice  
guy," said Xianfu as she made them glance over at  
Mitaka when he wasn't looking at them. They caught  
Usagi grinning at this out of the corner of their  
eye and ignored her for the time being.  
  
"We should do something about miss matchmaker  
too. This is getting annoying," said Carrot  
flatly.  
  
"Right, she gets all excited when we so much  
as speak to the clerk at the grocery store,"  
agreed Dan.  
  
"What can we do?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Not much short of killing her or responding  
to one of these men," said Xianfu.  
  
"Why does it sound like you don't think that's  
a bad idea?" said Carrot distastefully.  
  
"I am a woman," she said coldly.  
  
"Well, yer outvoted," said Dan with a small  
growl. "If it comes to a choice of the two, we  
kill Usagi."  
  
"Don't even joke about that!" cried Pissant  
and Xainfu at the same time.  
  
"Really, you people shouldn't be so mean to  
our friends!" said Pissant.  
  
"Who's being mean? We're giving them  
legitimate training," said Carrot.  
  
"You don't have to enjoy it so much," said  
Pissant irritably.  
  
"That's part of being a master," said Xianfu.  
"If any of you even suggest killing my daughter  
again..."  
  
"Oh, she's your daughter all of a sudden? What  
about us?" snapped Carrot.  
  
"You treat her like a plaything!" snapped the  
woman. "Myself and Ranma are the only ones who act  
like parents at all!"  
  
"Look, we all know we all like the brat," said  
Dan.  
  
"What about me?" said Pissant.  
  
"You just complain, you don't do anything  
else. That's not being a parent," said Ranma  
flatly.  
  
"That wasn't very nice," whimpered the voice.  
  
"At any rate, we need to do something about  
both these idiots. It's obvious they're not going  
to leave us alone on their own. Yusaku ain't as  
bad as he used to be, but still," said Carrot  
flatly.  
  
"Yeah, but what?" said Dan.  
  
"I dunno, we'll figure something out,"  
muttered Ranma.  
  
"What? I happen to think the attention is  
flattering," said Xianfu.  
  
"Yeah, up to a point. These two idiots are  
obsessing. I know Yusaku's had other offers he's  
refused because of us. Mitaka as well. They need  
to get on with their lives without us."  
  
Carrot caught them looking into the rear view  
mirror at the sleeping Yusaku and taking glances  
at Mitaka. "Stop that you perverted witch!"  
  
"What's wrong with it? I'm a woman aren't I?"  
replied Xianfu.  
  
"We ain't," countered Dan.  
  
"You're being selfish," said Pissant.  
  
"What? You're siding with her?" said Carrot  
flatly.  
  
"No! But if she just want's to look it's okay.  
As long as we don't have too..." said the voice  
pathetically.  
  
"I can't believe you pigs! After all you've  
made me do?! What about Hotaru??" snapped Xianfu  
angrily.  
  
"What about her? She ain't here, and we were  
married," said Dan flatly.  
  
"Do you think I enjoyed having to be there  
for...that?" snapped the woman hatefully.  
  
"Probably," said Carrot as he scratched their  
ear for a moment and continued to watch the road.  
  
"Hey lady, we ain't screamers," said Dan with  
a small chuckle.  
  
"Well, maybe I did a little, but it didn't  
feel right!" admitted the woman bitterly. "I'm a  
woman and I need a man!"  
  
"Lady, we all have to agree on some things,  
and that's one of em. No men," countered Dan  
flatly.  
  
"Pigs!" snapped Xianfu. She went silent and  
left them to themselves.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"So, how was the trip?" asked Xellos  
cheerfully as he sat and looked at Yohiko with a  
wry grin on his face.  
  
"Could have been better," said the woman in  
reply.  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"We had a disagreement with ourselves," said  
Yohiko calmly.  
  
"Well, it wasn't the first time I imagine,"  
said Xellos as he seemed to lose interest  
suddenly.  
  
"Or the last," agreed Yohiko. "I'm goin to bed  
now, it's been a long day."  
  
"See you in the morning," said Xellos  
cheerfully. She vanished into her room and left  
him alone. He narrowed his eyes and smirked to  
himself as he called up a small image in front of  
himself. "Usagi? Let's see what you're up to." He  
paused, for a moment he thought he heard a small  
giggle in the back of the home. The sound and  
whatever made it was gone now, and he returned to  
his entertainment.  
  
His grin widened at what he saw and he leaned  
forward. "Oh, this is certainly interesting."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Sailor Moon stood with a dangerous looking  
creature standing over her. She was in an alleyway  
and the large wolf monster loomed over her.  
Jadeite stood on a nearby rooftop laughing to  
himself. "Well, it seems I have you this time  
Sailor Moon!"  
  
"I'll get you yet villain!" screamed Usagi  
angrily as she dodged another strike from the  
monster's claws. She was thrown into the wall as  
the creature used her distracted moment to  
backhand her.  
  
She grunted from the impact and quickly moved  
to her feet. After a moment of surprise from the  
lack of pain, she jumped into action again. The  
creature dodged skillfully around her ribbons and  
kept her on her toes for almost two minutes.  
  
After that time, she made a mistake and  
tripped over a small metal can in the alley. The  
monster lunged forward with its fangs bared.  
  
"No!" cried the girl as she braced herself for  
the blow. It never came. There was a dull sounding  
thud and the ground under her feet vibrated for a  
moment. "Wha?"  
  
"Are you all right Sailor Moon?" said a  
familiar voice.  
  
"Ryoga?" she muttered dumbly as a familiar  
figure stood on top of a nearby dumpster with a  
scowl on his face.  
  
"We need to stop meeting like this," he said  
as he looked down at her with a short nod. He  
turned his head up at Jadeite as he scowled at  
them. "You! How dare you attack a young girl with  
that thing!?" He pointed at the dazed monster for  
a moment in anger. "I won't forgive you! Jadeite,  
prepare to die!"  
  
Usagi snarled as she realized the creature was  
still surprised from the appearance of the  
umbrella that was now embedded into the pavement.  
Her grin went wild and her ribbons lashed out  
suddenly. This time, the ends of them had formed  
into very sharp looking barbed spikes. The monster  
howled in pain as they tore into its flesh and  
began to rip through its body. It vanished in a  
swirl of shadows. She rose to her feet and looked  
up to see Ryoga jumping towards her enemy. "No!  
Look out!"  
  
"Pest!" snarled Jadeite as he threw a ball of  
light into the ground and vanished, leaving the  
lost boy alone on the rooftop.  
  
"Damn, he got away!" snarled Ryoga as he  
jumped back down onto the street. He plucked his  
umbrella out of the pavement and looked at the  
young girl in front of him.  
  
"I'm fine!" said Usagi as she blushed and  
stepped closer to him. "Thank you for saving me."  
  
"You should be more careful, that man is  
dangerous," said Ryoga as he turned away from her.  
  
  
"I have to stop him, no one else will do it,"  
said Usagi as she suddenly steeled herself.  
  
"I understand. I had someone like that once."  
Ryoga turned to face her again. "Good luck."  
  
Usagi pushed herself into his chest and they  
kissed for a moment. She closed her eyes and felt  
her lips suddenly become cold. She blinked and  
realized that he had vanished as mysteriously as  
he had appeared. The same as always. "Damn." She  
turned away and left the alley.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
  
Ryoga sat down on a rooftop a short time  
later. He was simply watching the moon in silence.  
"Damn. That girl...she..." He turned his head in  
disgust. "I've never had anyone treat me like she  
does. Not even Akane, or Akari..." He growled in  
frustration. "She'd never accept my  
curse...but...Damn." He shook his head in  
frustration and disgust with himself. "I can't  
keep doing this, Akane needs me, and Akari...why  
can't I just...Damn, Ranma...I'm starting to  
understand you now." He stood up and jumped away,  
vanishing into the streets. "Not that I'm going to  
forgive you for doing that to Akane though," he  
added as a final thought.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Yusaku Godai lay on his back staring at the  
ceiling. It had been a long day, but he had  
finally succeeded in the end. His grin widened as  
he thought about how things had turned out. Even  
Yohiko hadn't expected him to do so well. "She  
must be very proud of me," he said to himself.  
  
"Oh, I am, very proud. You're coming along  
much better than I had thought."  
  
He sat upright and gasped in shock. He hadn't  
even heard his door open. She was standing in the  
doorway, closing it behind her.  
  
"Miss Yohiko," stammered Yusaku dumbly.  
  
"Shhh, you have to be quiet or you'll wake the  
others," she said calmly as she stepped forward.  
She was wearing a robe, and it was loosely tied.  
It was quite obvious that there wasn't anything  
under it.  
  
He simply sat there and stared, unable to  
move.  
  
"Yusaku, I need something from you," she said  
as she knelt down at his feet and looked into his  
eyes.  
  
"Anything," he managed to mutter.  
  
"Good boy," she replied as she stood up and  
removed her robe.  
  
Yusaku almost passed out cold as she fell to  
her hands and knees and crawled over his body. She  
moved slowly until she was looking him dead in the  
face and smiled. He couldn't move at all and was  
shaking quite badly.  
  
"Just a moment," she said to him. Her leg  
lashed out and knocked over his dresser, covering  
the hole in his wall. There was a tiny muttered  
curse from the other room. "Now, be a good boy and  
stay quiet. We have to be careful."  
  
He nodded numbly as she slowly started to  
remove his clothes.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Morning, a quiet chirping of birds and an  
irritating beam of sunlight. That was all they  
knew at the moment.  
  
"What's that smell?" muttered Carrot as he  
groggily woke up from his slumber. He turned his  
head and froze. "Oh shit."  
  
A familiar face stared back at him with an odd  
looking grin. Yusaku was still sleeping, and had  
the blissful glow that all men have when they've  
just...  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUU  
UUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH  
HHHHHHHHHH!!!"  
  
TBC...  
  
  
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAA!  
  
Let's see how this one sits with ya! Heh.  
  



	66. Insertion Part 66

Insertion  
  
Part 66  
  
The price of womanhood.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome, the Lord of Nightmares and  
ruler of the entire universe stared down into the  
pool in front of him and chuckled as he watched  
the scene play out before him.  
  
"You know they hate us," said Ranma flatly.  
  
"Yeah, we'll get over it," said Carrot calmly.  
  
"I don't mind," said Xianfu with a small  
shrug.  
  
"You're just happy because you finally got  
your way," said Dan calmly.  
  
"Maybe we should stop letting Carrot do so  
much," whimpered Pissant.  
  
"Hey, you know my plans always work out  
towards something," said Carrot irritably. "As  
much as I'd enjoy doing this for no reason, I do  
have a master plan."  
  
"Yeah, a master plan to see how much you can  
get away with," snorted Ranma.  
  
"Look, It'll work out, I promise. Besides, she  
did it on her own. I just made sure she had the  
opportunity. That's all," said Carrot defensively.  
  
"You probably enjoyed it too," said Dan as he  
narrowed his eyes.  
  
"She was the only one awake," said Carrot  
irritably.  
  
"He's right," admitted Ranma. "He was kind  
enough to make sure we didn't wake up." He didn't  
sound too happy with what had happened himself  
though.  
  
"What is the point of this?" snorted Dan.  
  
"Well, I want them to do something in  
particular, and I'm hoping this will be enough to  
put the idea in our head," said Carrot with a  
shrug.  
  
"Idea?" muttered Ranma.  
  
"I knew it, you pervert," snorted Xianfu.  
  
"Not that idea you bitch!" snapped Carrot.  
"Jeez, I'm not like that!"  
  
"What idea are you talking about?" asked  
Ranma.  
  
"Honey, I..." Hotaru walked into the room and  
looked down at the pool for a moment. She blinked  
and looked up at her husband for a moment. "What  
the hell are you doing?"  
  
"Nothing dear, It's all part of our..." They  
backed away suddenly as the woman got a fierce  
look in her eyes.  
  
"What the hell did you do to them?" snarled  
Hotaru.  
  
"Wait! It's important, I needed them too..."  
  
"You had some fantasy, and you couldn't tell  
me about it? Is that it? I can see why you  
wouldn't...but..."  
  
"No! It's not like that!" cried the god  
fearfully. "Look, they weren't even awake! It was  
just her, honest!"  
  
"Her?" Hotaru looked at them for a moment.  
"Xianfu?"  
  
"Yeah, I mean," the god calmed slightly.  
  
"Hey, it's been almost a thousand years," said  
the feminine voice with a small shrug. "I got  
needs too ya know."  
  
"I thought you'd been hanging around Zocite  
and Kunzite a bit much lately," said Hotaru as she  
narrowed her eyes.  
  
"What?! Stop that! We don't have those kinds  
of desires!" cried the god in defense of himself.  
  
"Wait a minute! What do you mean a thousand  
years?" said Dan as he realized what the woman had  
said.  
  
"Well, I was in heaven for a while. I got  
drunk at a party, and Thor thought I was pretty  
cute. So one thing led to another and..."  
  
"We don't need to know any more," said Carrot  
as he turned towards Hotaru.  
  
The woman was simply staring at them with a  
blank looking expression on her face. "Well, those  
springs of yours still work. I suppose if it would  
make you happy..." She blushed and got a slightly  
disgusted look on her face.  
  
"You'd do that?" muttered Xianfu in wonder.  
  
"NO! Hell no!" screamed the others all at  
once.  
  
"The whole point of this was to avoid things  
like that! Jeez, wasn't that enough?" said Carrot.  
  
"What? After a thousand years of nothing, you  
think once is going to be enough?" said Xianfu  
flatly.  
  
"Well, err..." muttered Ranma.  
  
"She's got a point," said Pissant.  
  
"Who's side are you on?" growled Dan angrily.  
"Hey! I bet you were awake for that!"  
  
"I was not!" cried the voice angrily.  
  
Hotaru wasn't sure if she should be angry with  
them for being perverts, or sympathetic with them.  
She sighed and turned away. "Look, when you get  
this sexual frustration out of your system, I'll  
come back."  
  
"Wait!" cried Carrot as he stumbled over the  
pool and fell face first on the floor.  
  
The door closed in their faces as their wife  
left them alone.  
  
"Great, it's all your fault everyone thinks  
we're gay," said Carrot angrily.  
  
Xianfu shrugged. "You can't fault me for not  
being gay."  
  
"The hell we can't," snapped Dan. "If you  
were, our lives would be much easier."  
  
"He's got a point," admitted Ranma.  
  
"Well I'm not, deal with it," she said curtly  
in reply.  
  
"Shouldn't we be making sure we don't kill  
anybody?" said Pissant quietly.  
  
"Oh, right," said Carrot.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Yusaku woke up from a wonderful dream. The sun  
was warm in his face and he felt so refreshed.  
Everything about the morning seemed so right, and  
now. He turned his head slightly and his face  
fell.  
  
Yohiko was looking at him.  
  
Yohiko wasn't speaking.  
  
Yohiko...did not look happy at all.  
  
"Um. Did we...?" he ventured quietly.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"NO! NO! NO! NO!" muttered Ranma in a mantra  
as his brain completely shut down.  
  
Dan hadn't spoken yet, well, not if you call  
an animalistic growl not speaking.  
  
Carrot was simply too stunned to move. He had  
managed to pull the sheets over their body and  
move up against the wall.  
  
Xainfu was feeling quite satisfied with  
herself. "Take that," she said merrily.  
  
Pissant did the dumbest thing he possibly  
could, he spoke what was on his mind out loud.  
  
"Why does our mouth taste funny?"  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Yusaku was feeling a sort of fearful joy at  
that moment. It seemed his dream had become a  
reality. If that was true though, why was he  
feeling the overwhelming sense of dread? Why was  
every muscle in his body screaming for him to run  
away as fast as he could and not look back. Why,  
was Yohiko glowing?  
  
"SHI SHI HOUKOU DAN!!!"  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Usagi blinked as an explosion rocked her out  
of bed. She hit the ground headfirst and sat  
upright immediately. "Huh? What the hell?" She  
quickly stood up and rushed out of her room.  
Xellos was sitting at the table drinking coffee  
and she gasped as she saw sunlight outside. "I  
slept in?" she muttered under her breath. "This  
has got to be a dream, mom would never..."  
  
"Your mother isn't home," said Xellos calmly.  
  
"She's not?" said the girl in wonder. "Where  
is she?"  
  
"I think that's her screaming in the hallway  
now," said the man as he calmly sipped at his  
drink and continued to read the paper.  
  
Yohiko blinked as she opened the door and saw  
her mother rush by in the nude, with only a sheet  
covering her body. She was screaming bloody murder  
and turned into the bathroom.  
  
"Um...Mom?" said the girl tentatively as she  
walked over. She stepped back as the sound of  
someone becoming violently sick suddenly came from  
one of the toilets.  
  
She turned stepped out of the room and noticed  
Yusaku's door looked like it had been ripped out  
of the wall. She wasn't sure what to make of that  
and walked back into the bathroom again. She  
blushed when she saw her mother kneeling over one  
of the toilets.  
  
"Mom?" she muttered as she stepped closer.  
  
"It isn't true, it can't be," said her mother  
in a sort of mad mumble. She was repeating it to  
herself over and over.  
  
"Mother, are you all right?" she asked as she  
put her hand on the woman's shoulder. The woman  
jumped suddenly and pushed herself against the  
wall as she jerked away.  
  
"Mom? Is Yusaku dead?" said the girl quietly.  
  
"God I hope so," said the woman with a fearful  
look in her eyes.  
  
Usagi nodded and turned away. She walked out  
into the hallway and noticed everyone looking at  
her from their doorways. "You'll all pretend  
nothing happened if you know what's good for you,"  
she called out to everyone.  
  
The doors quickly shut and the hallway became  
empty.  
  
Usagi sighed and walked into the man's room.  
She looked around for a moment and surveyed the  
damage. The wall to the outside was completely  
gone, nothing more than a smoking hole. Yusaku was  
not inside the room, but she could see him  
sticking his legs out of a hole in the ground  
about twenty yards away from the building. He was  
naked, and occasionally one of his legs would  
twitch.  
  
"Oh my," she said under her breath as she  
frowned. "Mom? What on earth did you do?" Her mind  
went back to the Bakusai Tenketsu, but this was  
far beyond that level of destruction. It had to be  
something else, something she hadn't seen yet. She  
idly wondered just how powerful her mother really  
was. With a small sigh she jumped down into the  
yard from the hole and wandered over to Yusaku's  
twitching form.  
  
"Hey, Godai, you alive?" she asked as she  
poked him in the leg with her finger.  
  
He moaned painfully and she pulled him out of  
the hole. With a slight blush she tossed a towel  
she had grabbed from his room over his more  
personal areas and kneeled down next to him.  
"Listen, I know you like her, but whatever you did  
to mom, you'd better not do it again. She's real  
upset." She frowned deeply and growled at him as  
he lay there smoking. "Jerk, I'm sure not gonna  
help you get any more dates. That's for sure."  
  
He moaned painfully, unable to respond to  
that.  
  
Usagi sighed and picked him up carefully. She  
was hoping it wasn't what she thought it was, if  
it was, she'd help her mother kill him. Still, she  
didn't know everything yet, and Uncle Xellos  
always told her it was bad to act without knowing  
as much as you could. No matter how upset you  
were.  
  
She came through the doorway and found her  
uncle watching her with an unreadable expression  
on his face.  
  
"So, what do you think happened?" she asked  
him.  
  
"Not much, they probably had sex," he replied  
with a small shrug. "She seems to be taking it  
well."  
  
Usagi blinked and looked towards the bathroom  
again. She could still hear her mother retching  
violently. "She is?"  
  
"Well, the building is still here," replied  
the man with a small shrug. "In any case, it would  
be a bad idea to bring him into your apartment.  
We'd best put him back into his own room until she  
calms down a bit."  
  
Usagi sighed and nodded her head. "Mom  
probably got drunk."  
  
"Most likely, that young lad isn't stupid  
enough to initiate something like that on his  
own," said Xellos with a short nod. His knowing  
grin widened a little as she carried Yusaku  
through the broken remains of his door. "Well,  
isn't this interesting?"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Several hours later...  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Yohiko staggered through the streets of Tokyo  
with a numb look on her face. After she'd finished  
throwing up in the bathroom, she'd walked out,  
reverted to her male form, and simply walked in  
silence.  
  
The sun had set a short time earlier and she  
continued to walk. "We missed work today," said  
Carrot as he looked up at the sky.  
  
"We'll handle that later, that idiot principal  
won't pose much of a problem," commented Dan.  
  
The pair were strangely calm, there was a  
boiling rage somewhere in the back of their  
consciousness though. The had no idea when Ranma  
was going to make his presence known again and  
release that anger.  
  
"Where are we going?" asked Xianfu.  
  
"Shut the hell up," snapped Carrot bitterly.  
  
"Still haven't forgiven me?" she asked coldly.  
The situation seemed almost amusing to her.  
  
"I wouldn't be worried about us, when Ranma  
finally snaps out of his little quiet time, he's  
going to do something we'll all probably regret,"  
replied Carrot calmly. "We aren't going to stop  
him either."  
  
"You claim to be angry," snorted the woman  
hatefully.  
  
"Ha. Claim my ass lady, we're all pissed,"  
snorted Carrot.  
  
"You seem calm enough," said the woman.  
  
"That's because I'm still planning what I'm  
going to do with you," said the voice as a sudden  
chill fell over them.  
  
"What can you do?" she snapped. "You have no  
right to be angry."  
  
"No right, you..." snarled Dan as his own  
temper surged up. "How dare you..."  
  
"How dare I what? Do the exact same thing  
you've been doing to me since we all  
became...this...whatever we are?" she snapped.  
"Now you know how I feel!"  
  
"Lady, you have no idea what you've just  
fucked with," said Dan coldly.  
  
"I think I do," she replied calmly. "Where the  
hell are we anyway?" She paused as she looked up  
at the building in front of them. There was a  
vicious smirk on their face as they stared up into  
the windows of a small mansion. The windows in the  
building all had a red glow to them. "You  
wouldn't!" she gasped in horror.  
  
"He Dan, feel like asserting our manhood?"  
said Carrot with a small chuckle.  
  
"You know it," said the man as their smile  
grew sinister.  
  
"Help me stop them!" snapped Xianfu angrily as  
she struggled with their body.  
  
Pissant said nothing and remained hidden away.  
  
Ranma's consciousness surfaced suddenly and  
the woman gasped.  
  
"Let's go," he said to the other two men.  
Waves of anger and rage were pouring from his  
spirit.  
  
"Oh god no," muttered the woman in horror.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
They entered the building and smirked at the  
woman who approached them and took their coat.  
  
"Welcome," she said seductively.  
  
"Hello," he replied coldly. His smirk fell a  
bit as she saw her shrink back ever so slightly.  
The anger that they were putting off was making  
the half-dressed women around them uncomfortable.  
None of them understood why, but he managed to  
quell it quite a bit and he could feel them relax.  
  
"What is your desire?" she asked him with a  
smirk on her face as she led him towards the group  
of girls sitting off to the side.  
  
He snorted and handed her a large roll of  
money. "I'm going to be here a while tonight."  
  
"Think you can handle it?" said the woman as  
she snorted in amusement. She'd seen men come in  
like this before, all of them were quickly  
humbled.  
  
"You four," said Dan as he pointed at a  
particularly attractive group of females that were  
sitting together.  
  
They looked at one another and smiled wickedly  
as they stood up and moved towards the handsome  
man who stood waiting for them. As they moved  
around him and grabbed his arms he turned his head  
and smirked at the woman who had greeted him.  
"Later."  
  
She wasn't sure if he was naming her as a  
potential target, or saying goodnight. She blinked  
and shook her head as the girls led him up the  
stairs to one of the rooms.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
The three of them stood up and dressed  
themselves as they stood over the exhausted  
prostitutes that lay across the bed they had used  
for most of the night. Their gaze was cold and  
firm as they willed their clothing back into a  
neat and pressed appearance. It shifted  
accordingly and they started towards the door with  
a snort.  
  
"Heh, they weren't expecting that," said  
Carrot calmly as he glanced back at them.  
  
"Having the three of us here does have it's  
advantages at times," agreed Dan with a short nod.  
  
There was a soft whimpering in the back of  
their head and they all pushed it out of their  
minds.  
  
As they walked down the stairs and smirked at  
the surprised gasp of the woman who had greeted  
them, they stopped and grabbed another girl by her  
arm and turned her around. "Hello."  
  
Kung stared them in the face with a sort of  
dull looking fear. She was dressed as a prostitute  
and forced a smile on her face. "This one is  
interesting."  
  
"Y-yes," stammered the woman in disbelief. The  
four girls he had chosen were all experienced,  
very experienced. They should have accompanied him  
out of the room at the very least. He looked as  
fresh as when he'd entered, not even his clothes  
were disheveled.  
  
"Well, are you going to show me to a room, or  
stand there with your mouth open?" said the man as  
he grinned at her.  
  
"R-right," muttered Kung as she led him  
towards the stairs with a carefully concealed  
panic on her face. "Shit. Someone would have to  
pick me," she thought angrily. Her eyes darted in  
the direction she was moving when he'd stopped  
her. A small wooden door that supposedly led to  
the basement of the building. "What should I do  
with this idiot?"  
  
She opened the door and led him into the room.  
Without a word he closed the door behind them.  
Kung whirled around with her leg extended into a  
kick aimed for his head. She was hoping for a  
quick knock out, but spied a nearby metal  
candlestick just in case.  
  
Her expression changed to one of fear as she  
stared at the man in front of her in horror. He  
was standing with her ankle in his hand and  
looking at it in annoyance.  
  
"Tell me why you're here Miss Kung," he said  
calmly.  
  
"You know me?" said the woman as she backed  
away from him.  
  
"I grow tired of saving you Kung, every time I  
see you, someone is trying to kill you. You're  
either very stupid, or there's something people  
don't like about you," said the man as he crossed  
his arms in front of his chest.  
  
"Who?" she muttered as she backed away. "You!"  
Her eyes went wide as she saw his eyes, two  
metallic silver orbs stared her down coldly with a  
familiar intensity. She pulled a camera from out  
of a small handbag she had at her side and took a  
picture.  
  
"Of course, it could be both," said the man as  
he narrowed his eyes at her in irritation.  
  
"I've got you now! I know who you really are!"  
  
"And I know who you really are, what will you  
do if I tell the people down there about you and  
your occupation?" he replied calmly.  
  
"I might escape," she said as she moved  
towards the candlestick.  
  
"I'd thought of that," he replied with a  
shrug.  
  
"This is the biggest story of my life, I've  
got a picture of the real you. I can't just give  
that up!" she said angrily. "You understand, I've  
got to think about my career."  
  
"What makes you think I'm stupid enough to  
show you the real me Kung?" asked the mirror image  
of her that appeared in front of her where the man  
had once stood.  
  
She gasped and stepped back. "What the? What  
the hell are you?"  
  
"I'm the Shadow, and I always know," he  
replied calmly as he narrowed his eyes at her.  
"You're here, stupidly enough, to report on the  
illegal operations below this building. However,  
you only know about the counterfeiting."  
  
"Only?" she muttered dumbly.  
  
"You didn't know about the drug lab in the sub  
basement, and the fact that you would have been  
killed if you had wandered down there dressed that  
way. The prostitutes don't work there, and they  
aren't allowed near that door. You were making  
that Madam down there suspicious."  
  
"How do you know?" she muttered halfheartedly.  
  
They smirked as Xellos's image faded from  
sight. He closed the laptop computer that was  
resting in front of them and winked as he finally  
vanished.  
  
"Do I really have to answer that Miss Kung?"  
he said with a smirk on his face.  
  
"So these pictures of you are useless," she  
muttered irritably as she looked at her camera.  
  
He held a roll of film in front of her and  
smirked. "I'd still rather people didn't know  
about this. I may need to use this alias again one  
day."  
  
"When did?" she muttered in shock as she  
lowered the camera.  
  
"In any case, I should make it easily enough,"  
said the Shadow as he raised his arm and inspected  
the new tattoo that had appeared there. It was  
from a local Yakuza faction. "I suggest you leave,  
it's going to be rather noisy."  
  
"Only if you promise me an interview," she  
said calmly.  
  
"No," he said calmly as he strolled by.  
  
"How about a date then?" she pressed. "Come  
on, give me something!"  
  
The man paused and looked at her for a moment.  
"I imagine it would be virtually the same thing."  
  
She blushed and turned away. "So?"  
  
"I'll think about it," he replied with a sort  
of casual smirk.  
  
"Asshole!" she snapped as she stomped her foot  
on the ground. He had already left the room.  
  
She cussed and walked down the stairs. There  
were a few customers mulling about the area with  
women on their arms. With a small sigh, she walked  
up the Madam and coughed into her hand.  
  
The woman turned to face her and frowned. "Who  
are you? You're not..."  
  
"I suggest you get your girls out of the  
building," said Kung calmly.  
  
"Why is that?" asked the woman.  
  
"Things are about to get messy," said Kung as  
she started towards the door. "For someone who  
relies on shadows and stealth, he sure is messy."  
she thought to herself as she walked into the  
street.  
  
The woman blinked and looked around at the  
women who were now staring at her in confusion.  
Her mind went back to the young man who had  
entered the building and taken four of her girls  
upstairs. She hadn't noticed the tattoo on his  
arm, but he had made it past the door unmolested.  
She didn't recognize him from anyone else in the  
organization..."  
  
Finally it hit her and her eyes went wide.  
"Oyabun knows!" She whirled around and faced the  
girls. "Get everyone out of the rooms now!"  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Carrot smirked as they walked up to the  
doorway and opened it with a casual arrogance  
about them. No one tried to stop them. He did  
notice the armed man sitting behind a small corner  
that couldn't be seen until you were at the  
doorway. He turned and smirked at him as he opened  
the door with a sort of cruel ease.  
  
The man did nothing, he acted just like any  
other of the Oyabun's men would have, and he had  
seen the familiar markings on his arm for a  
moment. "Dey's all jerks," he muttered under his  
breath before returning to his lazy half napping  
state again.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
The man sitting behind the that sat in front  
of the printing press stood up. He looked to be in  
his early twenties, and had a good build about  
him. He was obviously someone who had moved up  
from being muscle for someone smarter. "Who?"  
  
"I was sent to check up on things," said the  
man who stood before him with a sort of cold ease  
about him. His hands were locked behind his back,  
and he was dressed in neat looking silk clothes.  
  
"Check on what?" asked the man.  
  
"Your books, they seemed a bit off recently.  
I'm here to check on them, clear up the mistake if  
there was one," said the man calmly as he strolled  
forward and smirked at him.  
  
The man nodded and pulled out a thick looking  
paper. "We're putting out the bills required,  
we're not making any more than that either. I've  
got invoices for all the paper delivered, and the  
ink. It's more trouble than it's worth to try to  
get my hands on that grade of paper. It'd cost  
more than I'd print with it anyway."  
  
Ranma leaned over the man's desk and looked at  
the pages for a moment. He saw the man's eyes dart  
down at his tattoo for a moment and smirked as he  
stood up. "Where are the other books, Jiro?"  
  
"Other books?" asked the man calmly.  
  
"Yes, the books for..." Ranma's foot slammed  
into the ground suddenly and the man jumped back.  
A hole crumbled away down into the room below them  
revealing another room. Several men were working  
below at what looked like some sort of chemistry  
lab. They were coughing from the dust and  
muttering in confusion. "That," finished Ranma as  
he pointed down the hole.  
  
"Oh shit," muttered the man as he sat back  
down and looked at the man standing over him in  
horror.  
  
"Jiro, the Oyabun doesn't know," said Ranma  
calmly as his smirk widened slightly.  
  
The man relaxed a great deal and wiped the  
sweat from his brow. "Oh kami...you scared the..."  
His voice trailed off as he saw something new  
standing in front of him.  
  
It was a huge man in a black cape. A red scarf  
covered his face and a wide brimmed hat rested on  
top of his head. "The Oyabun doesn't ever have to  
find out about this either. If you turn yourself  
over to the police, confess what you've done and  
rat your friends out. Or I'll personally deliver  
the message to the Oyabun about what you've been  
doing. I'll tell him that you endangered his most  
successful printing operation because you got  
greedy and made a drug lab beneath it. I'll tell  
him that I would have ignored it if it wasn't for  
the drug lab. Do you want me to tell him that,  
Jiro?"  
  
The man was staring at the figure in front of  
him in terror and shook his head from side to side  
violently. "Prison sucks, Jiro, but think of what  
the Oyabun will do if he finds out about this.  
What will he do to you? What will he do to your  
family? What will he do, to torture you before he  
kills you?"  
  
Jiro was pulling desperately at the handgun in the  
drawer now, but it seemed like it was super glued  
to the bottom of it. He screamed as he struggled  
to budge it.  
  
The Shadow chuckled and leaned forward. "Are  
you having trouble Jiro? Maybe I can help you."  
  
His ears filled with the sound of wood tearing  
itself apart as the gun was ripped from his hands  
by an unseen force. The thing standing over him  
chuckled as it stood upright with his gun in it's  
hand.  
  
"Now, I suggest you leave, and tell the police  
about what you and your friends below have been  
doing, before I get impatient," said the thing  
coldly.  
  
The man screamed and started running as he  
stumbled up the stairs.  
  
The shadow turned and smirked as he saw a  
group of armed men climbing through a trap door in  
the floor. They were glaring at him angrily, and  
had apparently overheard the conversation he had  
just had with their boss. Most of them had a  
firearm of some sort in their hands.  
  
The Shadow faced them and they all paused  
suddenly. He was holding only a lighter in his  
hand. They looked at each other in confusion and  
started to train their weapons on the man. His  
appearance changed suddenly, it was as if he had  
suddenly been covered in some sort of liquid  
metal. Then the lighter fell from his fingers and  
into the lab below.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Kung blinked in surprise as a man came out of  
the building screaming in terror. He paused only  
long enough to turn and continued in a mad search  
for the nearest police officer. The whores stood  
around her as they watched the building in silence  
from across the street. Police sirens started  
sounding in the distance and they began to  
disperse.  
  
"That was relatively painless," muttered Kung  
with a small shrug.  
  
The madam stood next to her and sighed. "That  
was a good job too."  
  
They were both knocked off of their feet as  
the building exploded in a spectacular ball of  
flames.  
  
"Whoa!" cried Kung in awe as she shielded her  
face from the heat as best she could.  
  
Both women managed to stagger to their feet  
after a moment and watched as the building burned.  
It started to collapse into itself as the flames  
reached higher and higher. They both watched in a  
sort of horrified awe as a figure walked from the  
flames. he seemed to reflect the light as if  
covered in a sort of metallic armor. It slowly  
melted away, revealing a huge man dressed in  
black. He looked at them for a moment and then  
jumped away, vanishing onto the rooftops and into  
the shadows.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Jadeite cursed as he jumped down and dodged  
the umbrella that passed over his head from the  
rooftop. He landed in the alleyway and chuckled to  
himself as he found himself cornered.  
  
"You won't get away!" cried Sailor Moon as she  
appeared at the front of the alley.  
  
"We have you!" snarled Ryoga as he landed just  
in front of her.  
  
"Fools, haven't you learned you can't trap me  
by now?" snarled Jadeite as he vanished in another  
flash of light.  
  
"Damn! How does he do that?" snarled Ryoga as  
he stood upright and stared at the spot where the  
boy had vanished.  
  
"You...saved me again," said Usagi as she  
turned to face him with a gentle smile on her  
face.  
  
"Yeah, I guess," he muttered as he turned away  
from her.  
  
The girl frowned slightly at his reaction and  
sighed. "Do...I bother you Ryoga?"  
  
"Huh? No! That's not it at all! I mean..." he  
blushed and stepped back a little. "It's just  
that..."  
  
"What? You can tell me!" said the girl as she  
moved towards him.  
  
"It's nothing. I should get going," said the  
boy as he started walking towards the dead end.  
  
"Wouldn't going out this way be easier than  
climbing high enough to jump onto the roof again?"  
asked Usagi in confusion.  
  
"Huh?" Ryoga blushed as he realized she was  
right. He struggled for a moment and came up with  
an explanation. "I forgot my umbrella up there."  
  
"Wait here!" she said with a grin forming on  
her face as she jumped up and stopped suddenly as  
her ribbons grabbed the walls on either side. The  
started to move like the arms of a giant spider  
and she climbed the rest of the way up. After a  
moment of glancing around, she spotted her target  
and rushed over, picking it up into her arms.  
  
Ryoga blinked as she came back down and handed  
it to her. "Thanks."  
  
"You should thank me," she said as she leaned  
in and smirked at him. She puckered her lips and  
closed her eyes.  
  
Ryoga froze and stared at her dumbly. "I  
can't! I mean...Akane...Akari...I...Forgive me!"  
Finally he closed his eyes and leaned forward,  
meeting the girl's lips.  
  
Sailor Moon pushed into him, clutching his  
shoulders and forcing him to be more aggressive.  
She broke the kiss and smiled at him again. "It's  
cute that you're so shy, but you don't have to  
be."  
  
He staggered back and turned away from her. "I  
should go."  
  
"So should I," she admitted with a slight  
disappointment in her voice.  
  
"Goodbye," the muttered in unison. They  
blushed and turned away from one another before  
going their separate ways.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga found himself brooding again, he'd been  
doing a lot of that since he met Sailor Moon. He  
always seemed to just stumble across her at just  
the right time. Right when she needed help. "Damn,  
I've never been able to find someone this much.  
Not that I've been looking..." He frowned, he knew  
he'd actually started seeking her out lately.  
"This is strange, I think I love her. Akari and  
Akane, but...Damn. He growled and turned his head  
in disgust with himself. "I'm such a bastard, I'm  
no better than Ranma, or Kuno. How could a girl  
like that care about a guy who's a pig anyway?"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma lay in his bed staring at the ceiling.  
Occasionally, they'd wipe another tear off their  
face as Xianfu's crying continued. She hadn't said  
much since they'd entered the whorehouse. There  
was no other expression on the face though.  
  
They were in relative silence, until it was  
finally broken by Pissant. "Maybe we went too  
far..."  
  
"No!" was the unanimous reply from all three  
of the others.  
  
"But..." muttered the gentle voice guiltily.  
  
"If she tries something like that again, the  
next time I'm gonna find me one of those bondage  
holes, and we'll keep going every night for a  
week!"  
  
"We almost killed Yusaku," said Pissant in  
irritation.  
  
"He deserved it," snorted Ranma angrily.  
  
"I don't like him much, but I'm not so sure of  
that," said Carrot begrudgingly.  
  
"What do ya mean?" snorted Dan.  
  
"We've known he's had the hots for us for some  
time now. Horny the happy here might have used  
that. I won't kill him for it unless he tries to  
do it again. I sure as hell ain't apologizing for  
what we already did either."  
  
"That seems unlike you," muttered Pissant.  
  
"Even I can't be a bastard all the time, that  
takes all of us," said Carrot with a small snort.  
  
"Yeah. I hate us more and more every day,"  
agreed Dan.  
  
"We can't go on like this, we've got to think  
of something," said Pissant. "It isn't fair to  
her."  
  
There was a pause in Xianfu's sniffling, and  
complete silence.  
  
"There ain't much we can do," said Dan. "I  
ain't willin to give up women, and I ain't willin  
to compromise on fuckin men. It sucks to be her,  
but there are more of us guys in here."  
  
"He's right. As much as it sucks, this is a  
case where the needs of the many outweigh the  
needs of the few," agreed Carrot.  
  
"What do we do then?" asked Pissant. "I wish  
there was a way too..."  
  
Carrot shushed him suddenly as they sat up in  
bed with an unusual expression on their faces. "I  
can't believe I never thought of this before."  
  
"What's up?" asked Dan in confusion.  
"I think I may have at least a partial  
solution to our problem," said Carrot. "I'm not  
sure if it'll work though, but there's no reason  
not to try."  
  
"I'm listenin," said Ranma as he made them  
frown in thought.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"So, what do we do?" asked Dan as he stood in  
the middle of the empty lot in front of them. It  
was late at night and the ground they'd chosen was  
surrounded by a fence on every side. There was a  
little grass, and a few small piles of junk, but  
it was mostly clear.  
  
"This isn't going to be easy, but it just  
might work," said Carrot as he spread their feet  
apart and pulled their fists up at their sides.  
  
They began to glow with power, and a strained  
look appeared on their faces. Slowly, the glow  
died down as their concentration deepened.  
  
"Keep it going," said Carrot to them all.  
  
"I don't feel anything," said Ranma in  
frustration.  
  
"How many times can we do something the first  
time we try?" asked Xianfu.  
  
"Not very often," he admitted with anger clear  
in his voice.  
  
"Dang," said Dan irritably. "We should try  
again tomorrow."  
  
"Well, it worked this time," said Pissant  
lazily.  
  
"Huh?" said everyone dumbly.  
  
"You idiots don't even realize you're not  
talking to each other inside our head anymore do  
you?"  
  
Everyone opened their eyes and saw two other  
Yohiko Hibiki's staring back at them.  
  
"It worked?" muttered Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Yeah," said Dan as he looked at the other two  
in a sort of awe.  
  
"We're free?" said Xianfu in a sort of amazed  
shock.  
  
"Don't get ahead of yourself. We don't know  
how long this lasts," said Carrot firmly.  
  
"Where did you learn this technique?" said  
Ranma as he tried to think back.  
  
"Dragon Ball," replied Carrot.  
  
"Dragon Ball?" muttered Dan dumbly.  
  
"Well, every other technique we've tried from  
that show has worked so far," replied Carrot with  
a shrug.  
  
"Wait. Why are there only three of us?" asked  
Xianfu in confusion as she glanced around.  
  
Dan snorted as he shifted to a male body.  
"I've got Pissboy right now. He said something  
about not being strong enough to handle his own  
body. He's the only one of us who can't move the  
body on his own, so it makes sense I guess."  
  
Carrot shifted to a male body as well before  
he spoke. "Right, and Ranma and I are permanently  
joined, because of what Hild did to us to make us  
a hellspawn, and a demon," said Carrot with a  
shrug. "We couldn't separate if we wanted to."  
  
"Huh?" said the Xianfu in confusion.  
  
"Didn't you notice that Ranma and I always act  
as a pair? I get hungry, so does he, we sleep on  
the same schedule. Things like that, Ranma and I  
are closer to one being than two, because of Hild.  
We figured it out a while back, that's part of how  
we were able to distance ourselves from you while  
we were gathering power to become the Lord of  
Nightmares."  
  
"Right, back when you had Xellos running  
around on Earth stealing the crystal and raising  
Metallia," said Dan as he remembered it.  
  
"Yeah, something like that," said Carrot.  
  
"You realize what this means? Even if it only  
lasts a few hours or so, we can..." started Xianfu  
with a joyous look on her face.  
  
"Finally get some payback," said Dan with a  
smirk on his face.  
  
"I was thinking the same thing," agreed  
Carrot.  
  
Xianfu blinked and looked at the other two for  
a moment. "Huh?"  
  
"Xianfu! Dan! Prepare to die!" screamed Carrot  
as he dove for them.  
  
"Fat chance loser boy!" snarled Dan as he met  
the charge head on.  
  
Xianfu was trapped in the middle.  
"YAAAAAAAAAAAH! You bastards! I'll kill you both  
for this!" She screamed as she managed to regain  
her footing after they both slammed into her sides  
at full force.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Dan was looking up at the stars, they had been  
at it for the past two and a half hours now. For  
the past half-hour or so, he was simply lying on  
his back looking at the sky.  
  
Xianfu and Carrot were still making quite a  
bit of noise as they struggled with one another in  
the dirt a short distance away.  
  
"Mr. Dan...Ummm...why did we stop?" asked  
Pissant.  
  
"Because I got tired of beating on them for a  
little while," replied Dan angrily.  
  
"Not because she hit us in our..." said the  
voice fearfully.  
  
"Well, that too. She's pretty strong,"  
muttered Dan painfully as he put his hand on his  
crotch and felt it throb in pain for a moment.  
  
"Maybe we should get some ice? I mean, Carrot,  
Ranma, and Xianfu are still fighting..." said the  
voice nervously.  
  
"Those three stopped fighting a half hour  
ago," said Dan irritably. "I'd leave, but I'm  
afraid to stand up."  
  
"They did? Then what's that noise?" said  
Pissant obliviously.  
  
"Somethin we're better off not lookin at,"  
said Dan as he purposely turned his head in the  
other direction.  
  
Pissant blushed badly and gasped. "Oh my!"  
  
"Hey, it's been what? Two thousand years or  
somethin like that for her? Did ya think that one  
time would be enough?" snorted Dan irritably.  
  
The noise to his right stopped suddenly and he  
waited a minute or two before turning his head and  
looking at the pair as they both remained sprawled  
out on the ground growling at each other  
painfully.  
  
"Bitch," grumbled Carrot.  
  
"Dick," snarled Xianfu.  
  
"You two finished yet?" said Dan irritably.  
  
"Shut up!" the cried as they sat up.  
  
"I hate you," muttered Carrot angrily as he  
narrowed his eyes at Xianfu as she casually pinned  
her hair behind her bed messily.  
  
Her arm shot out in a right hook that slammed  
across his jaw and she went back to fixing her  
hair. "Tough."  
  
"Can we go home now?" said Dan flatly as he  
slowly stood up.  
  
Xianfu smirked as she noticed he was a little  
bowlegged still.  
  
"Laugh it up bitch," snarled Dan.  
  
"Well, damn," said Carrot as he looked down at  
his hand. It was starting to fade away as his  
exhaustion finally caught up with him.  
  
"What's it been?" said Dan as he noticed the  
same thing.  
  
"About two and a half hours," said Xianfu as  
she turned away from them.  
  
"Well, we were using up a lot of energy  
fighting as well, we could probably go three or  
four if we weren't doing that. Plus we need to  
figure out a range we can go as well." said Carrot  
as he calmly allowed his body to dissipate. The  
world went gray, and then refocused from another  
perspective.  
  
"Everybody here?" asked Ranma.  
  
There was a collective muttering from within  
them and they stood up painfully. They promptly  
collapsed onto the ground again.  
  
"I wasn't hurt this bad!" muttered Dan in  
pain.  
  
"Our injuries are compounded," grumbled Xianfu  
as she gasped for breath.  
  
"Man, that was really stupid," muttered  
Carrot.  
  
"Are we going to miss work again?" whined  
Pissant.  
  
"Yes," said everyone else hatefully.  
  
"We need to test this out tomorrow. For god's  
sake, no fighting!" snapped Carrot. "We need to  
know our limits before we can screw around like  
this again."  
  
"Yeah, no fuckin either," said Dan with a  
small snort. "That goes fer all of us."  
  
"Fine," agreed the others.  
  
"We'll separate right away, and start walking.  
I'd like to know if this has some sort of distance  
range as well," added Carrot.  
  
"After that, we'll stay home and see how long  
it takes after we use this up for us to be able to  
do it again," said Ranma.  
  
"That's a good idea too," agreed Carrot.  
  
"Even if we can only do it for three hours a  
day," said Xianfu cheerfully. "This will solve  
everything!"  
  
"Yeah right," muttered Carrot lamely. "Since  
when have our problems been this easy to fix?"  
  
"Still," said the woman cheerfully.  
  
"Maybe we can make it last longer with  
practice?" said Ranma.  
  
"Maybe, but I don't think we'll ever be able  
to hold it more than a few hours at most. I don't  
think we'd let us do it for more than that,"  
warned Carrot. "Don't get your hopes up."  
  
They struggled to their feet, and started  
walking back towards their home again. For the  
first time in days, their spirit was somewhat high  
on the whole.  
  
Carrot and Ranma were having a conversation of  
their own though.  
  
"Why didn't you let me?" snarled Ranma.  
  
"You saw what happened when we went back to  
normal," said Carrot calmly. "I was being careful  
and it paid off."  
  
"So I can't kill her?" asked Ranma angrily.  
  
"No," said Carrot firmly. "It could kill us  
all if you do, and we'd just end up back together  
when we died. Don't forget that."  
  
"So, I'll bet we can do this as long as we  
like after that," said Ranma.  
  
"No. You're wrong. One of the reasons I wanted  
to try this, besides the obvious of course, is  
that we'd only let ourselves do it here, if we  
couldn't do it as L-sama."  
  
"Can't do? I thought we were all powerful or  
something?" said Ranma.  
  
"Maybe we are, as a collective," said Carrot.  
"We don't know what could happen if we separated.  
It could be really messy to the universe as a  
whole. Or maybe we do know what would happen,"  
said Carrot, "and that's why we won't."  
  
Ranma growled under his breath and sighed.  
"So, I can't ever kill her."  
  
"Not unless you're willing to give everything  
else up on this world," said Carrot with a shrug.  
"Besides, she wasn't all that bad after..."  
  
"So," muttered Ranma in embarrassment.  
  
"We'll worry about it later," replied Carrot  
with a shrug.  
  
"Yeah, later," grumbled Ranma lamely.  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Return To Nerima!  
  



	67. Insertion Part 67

Insertion  
  
Part 67  
  
Visiting Nerima  
  
+++++++++++  
  
It was mid afternoon in Japan, the sun was  
high in the air and slowly descending towards the  
horizon.  
  
They had attempted their new technique earlier  
that morning and had kept it up for about four  
hours. They stayed in the home and things were  
relatively quiet, other than a small scuffle about  
what to watch on television that is.  
  
Now, Carrot stood in the street staring at Dan  
and Xianfu just after they finished their  
separation. "Well, we should get going. I'd say  
we've got anywhere from three to four hours before  
this breaks down on us."  
  
"Right, stay out of trouble," said Dan with a  
snort as he turned away and started walking.  
  
"I suppose I'll see you when you get back  
then," said Xianfu as she turned away.  
  
Ranma growled at her, but didn't say anything.  
Carrot turned them around and started walking.  
"Easy there buddy, we've got other concerns  
today."  
  
They were all in different forms. Carrot and  
Ranma were in their original sixteen-year-old  
form, Dan was in their older adult form, and  
Xianfu had taken the guise of Yohiko.  
  
"Right," grumbled the original owner of their  
body hatefully. "We'll get her later."  
  
"One way or another," agreed Carrot as he  
strolled down the street. "So where are we going?"  
  
"Well, Xianfu is moving into Nerima, who the  
hell knows where Dan wandered off too, so I guess  
we'll go this way," replied Carrot as he pointed  
towards their destination.  
  
"I thought we weren't supposed to fight,"  
muttered Ranma dumbly.  
  
"We should be all right," said Carrot as they  
started towards Nerima.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"So...ummm..." said Pissant as they stepped  
into a bar and sat down at a stool. "What are we  
doing today?"  
  
Dan snorted and glanced up at the bartender.  
"Getting drunk."  
  
"Oh, why?" asked the voice with a slightly  
nervous tone.  
  
"Because I deserve it, and we're gonna need it  
to kill the pain once those idiots get together  
again."  
  
"Oh."  
  
The bartender walked over to them and smiled.  
  
Dan returned the smirk. "Gimme a beer."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Xianfu smiled and sighed with contentment as  
she walked through the streets in silence. It was  
a wonderful feeling to just walk, no constant  
babbling, no arguments, nothing. Just the sweet  
sound of silence.  
  
After a moment she found herself in the middle  
of a small shopping center and sat down at a table  
just outside a cafe.  
  
"Good morning," said the handsome waiter as he  
walked up to her with a notepad in his hand.  
  
"Yes it is isn't it?" she replied with a  
smirk. The man's gaze was lustful and she crossed  
her legs with expert care as she noticed his gaze  
wandering slightly.  
  
He seemed to snap out of his stupor and opened  
his mouth to speak.  
  
She interrupted him and tossed the menu aside.  
"Bring me some green tea."  
  
"Of course," he said nervously.  
  
She watched him leave with a smirk on her  
face, eyeing his rear as he walked away. With a  
heavy sigh she turned away and frowned. "I suppose  
I can behave myself for today."  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Aiya! Airen!" cried Shampoo cheerfully as she  
jumped towards her beloved.  
  
Carrot sighed and sidestepped the glomp,  
barely managing to avoid it. "Damn, gotta remember  
we're not as strong of as fast this way."  
  
The young Amazon girl was undaunted as she  
turned to face them again. "You come to see  
Shampoo?"  
  
"Not really no, but you're here," replied the  
young looking pigtailed boy somewhat pleasantly.  
"How ya been?"  
  
"Ranma not come visit Shampoo for long time!  
Been almost week!" said the girl with a cute  
looking frown.  
  
"I don't come here to visit you Shampoo, I'm  
just checking up on things in general," replied  
the boy casually.  
  
"Ranma being unkind to wife!" snapped the  
girl.  
  
"You're not my wife, and I do come to see you  
and the ghoul while I'm here," replied the boy  
flatly.  
  
The girl nodded and started walking along side  
him. "Ranma stay long time today?"  
  
"Only a few hours," replied the boy calmly.  
"I'm working on something today."  
  
"Oh?" said the girl cheerfully. "What is  
working on?"  
  
"New technique," said Ranma calmly as he  
continued towards the Cat Cafe.  
  
"Well, at any rate..." said the boy as he  
glanced around. "Where is Mousse, he should be  
trying to kill me by now."  
  
"Mousse very busy today," said the girl  
cheerfully. She giggled and bounced towards the  
restaurant.  
  
Ranma followed them inside and sat down at one  
of the tables. Cologne bounced over to him and  
stopped cold.  
  
"Son in law?"  
  
Ranma blinked at this and stared at her.  
"Huh?"  
  
"You have returned from China? Are you  
visiting, or has something happened between  
yourself and the Musk Prince?" said the old woman  
as she sat down beside him. "It was unwise for you  
to return here. The others are not pleased with  
you."  
  
"What the heck are you talkin about you old  
bat?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Don't try to fool me boy, I can read your  
aura," said the old woman as she eyed him  
playfully.  
  
"Actually, I'm not sure what you mean..." the  
boy's voice trailed off as a realization came over  
him. "Oh. That."  
  
Cologne arched her eyebrow and remained  
silent.  
  
"You've got the wrong Ranma," said the boy  
with a chuckle. "I'm working on a new technique,  
so my aura is different than usual."  
  
"A technique that changes your aura?" said the  
woman doubtfully. "It must be a very powerful  
technique, your ki is much lower than..."  
  
"I'm down by a two thirds," said the boy with  
a shrug.  
  
"Oh?" said the woman as she relaxed a little.  
  
"I suppose there's no harm in telling you," he  
said calmly. "It's called the Multiform Technique.  
There's three of me running around town today."  
  
Cologne almost fell out of her chair. "What?"  
  
"I managed to split myself into three separate  
bodies," said the boy calmly.  
  
"That isn't possible," said Cologne  
doubtfully.  
  
"Really? It wasn't very difficult," said the  
boy with a shrug.  
  
Cologne found herself chuckling despite  
herself. "Ah, if it were anyone else, I wouldn't  
believe it. I can see now that your aura is  
slightly different now. That could have been done  
since the boy left for China all those months  
ago."  
  
"Naw, it's just me," replied the boy  
cheerfully.  
  
"If there are three of you, then perhaps we  
can work something out with my Shampoo..." started  
the woman as she set tea out for him and herself.  
  
"Ha! Always manipulating?" he said cheerfully.  
"Well, I still wouldn't do it, but I'm afraid it  
wouldn't work out even if I did."  
  
"Oh?" asked the old woman as she frowned  
slightly.  
  
"The technique only lasts about three or four  
hours, and we aren't sure if there's some sort of  
range effect or not," replied Ranma as he chuckled  
slightly.  
  
"Most interesting, the weakness?" asked the  
woman as she eyed him carefully.  
  
"It's a side effect. Each of us is weaker than  
the original by how many copies we make of  
ourselves. Three is the most I can do at the  
moment."  
  
"Ah, I see," replied the woman as she nodded.  
"So tell me, what brings you to Nerima? Shouldn't  
you be working?"  
  
"Took the day off to test out the technique.  
There's still some things I'm not sure of," he  
replied with a shrug.  
  
"Oh?" she prodded.  
  
"Well, the exact amount of time I can do it  
for one, the range, we're trying that out now, and  
how many times I can do it in one day."  
  
"I see," said the crone with a short nod. "You  
will be staying around today?"  
  
"For a few hours, until this wears off  
anyway," said the boy with a small shrug. "You  
still haven't told Shampoo? I'm getting tired of  
playing Airen for her."  
  
"She isn't ready. I've tried to keep her  
distanced from you, keeping her too busy to go  
looking for you in Juban. I do appreciate what  
you're doing."  
  
"Well, I suppose it's not hurting anything,"  
replied Ranma with another shrug. "Still, you need  
to work this out."  
  
Cologne sighed and nodded. "Believe me, I  
understand."  
  
"I'm surprised she hasn't found out on her own  
though. Kuonji isn't happy with Saotome, and those  
Tendo girls probably would have told her by now  
I'd think."  
  
"It was easy enough to buy silence from them,"  
replied Cologne with a small smirk. "Kuonji was  
the simplest, keeping her revenge private was all  
I needed. Nabiki Tendo, she requires nothing more  
than a small donation. Akane has never liked  
Shampoo, but seems to respect her enough to keep  
silent at my request. The two idiots, they need  
only the knowledge that their plans for reunion  
are exclusive to Akane Tendo. The Kuno family does  
not speak with Shampoo, she tends to avoid them.  
Mousse is an idiot, and he doesn't know thanks to  
you. As for the Hibiki boy, his little habit of  
making his bed with the Tendo girl..."  
  
"I think I get the picture. These fools are  
too easy to manipulate, they all have glaring  
weaknesses."  
  
"You are correct," agreed Cologne.  
  
"Is he still on about that Shinnosuke boy?"  
asked Ranma with a slight chuckle.  
  
"Yes, it maddens him to no end," commented  
Cologne merrily. "Young Akane has been keeping in  
regular contact with him through letters, she  
plans to visit soon. I do not think she will  
return from that valley when she does go."  
  
Ranma nodded and smirked. "Hibiki's still  
losing, despite everything?"  
  
"He doesn't seem to understand it," said the  
woman. "With Ranma out of the picture, he thought  
his love was secure. Poor creature."  
  
"Poor creature indeed, you can't imagine my  
surprise when I heard him bellowing 'Shinnosuke!  
This is all your fault!' Heh."  
  
"I have been getting a strange feeling  
Saotome, that you had something to do with that?"  
asked Cologne as her eyes twinkled in amusement.  
  
"Who? Me?" replied the boy with a knowing grin  
on his face. "What makes you say that?"  
  
"What indeed?" she said as she turned her head  
away from him.  
  
"It wasn't too much of a problem really, I  
just had to fight a dragon, save his worthless  
behind, and tattoo 'write Akane a letter today' on  
the back of his hand." He sighed and hung his  
head. "I just wish I'd done it as a man. I think  
Akane still has a crush on her teacher."  
  
"Yes, she is a very confused young woman,"  
said the hag in amusement.  
  
"Irritatingly so," agreed Ranma flatly.  
  
"So what are your plans for the rest of the  
day?" asked Cologne as she stood up.  
  
"I was planning on wandering around town a  
little. I'm really just waiting for my time to be  
up."  
  
"I see, well, good luck then," said the old  
woman as she smiled at him and hopped away.  
  
"Yeah, thanks," muttered Ranma as he stood up  
and headed for the door.  
  
Shampoo appeared out of the kitchen. "Airen,  
you is leaving?"  
  
"Yeah. Afraid so, I got some stuff to do  
today," he replied as he glanced back at her.  
  
"Shampoo come too then!" squealed the girl.  
  
"Sorry Shampoo, I'm just visiting a few  
people, I'll stop by again if I have time later,  
but no promises."  
  
The girl frowned and pouted. "Ranma not being  
very good husband."  
  
"Whatever, It's personal business Shampoo.  
Don't worry so much," he said with a small sigh as  
he walked out of the building.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Carrot and Ranma found themselves standing  
outside the Ucchan a short time later.  
  
"I'm hungry," said Ranma as he looked up at  
the store sign.  
  
"Well, if you are I am," replied Carrot as he  
shrugged and walked into the front door.  
  
"You!? How dare you show your face here! Die!"  
screamed Ukyo.  
  
"You know, this was kinda funny the first ten  
times it happened Ukyo," said the pigtailed boy  
who found himself standing in the act of dodging  
several small spatulas that were now stuck in the  
wall.  
  
The girl behind the counter blushed and  
relaxed suddenly. "Oh, it's you."  
  
"Yeah, me," said the boy a little sourly.  
"I'll have the usual."  
  
Ukyo nodded and began to prepare his meal  
silently.  
  
"How are things?" asked Ranma as he leaned  
against the counter.  
  
"Well enough, you haven't been by in a while,"  
said the girl with a somewhat cheerful expression  
on her face. It didn't look forced in the  
slightest.  
  
"Yeah, I've been busy. My daughter's falling  
behind in her schoolwork, and my brother is still  
living with me. That useless leech."  
  
"Must run in the family," commented the girl  
as she put the boy's plate in front of him.  
  
"Something like that, I think that gene  
skipped me or something," he said flatly.  
  
"Whatever," muttered the girl irritably.  
  
"Hey, stop comparing me to him. It's annoying  
enough as it is," said the boy as he narrowed his  
eyes at her.  
  
Ukyo blinked and turned to look at him.  
"Brother?"  
  
"Yeah, I've got a brother," replied Ranma  
calmly as he ate.  
  
"Ranma doesn't have a brother," said the girl  
in disbelief.  
  
"And I'm not Ranma," replied the pigtailed boy  
as he smirked at her.  
  
"Who is a useless leech?" said a familiar  
voice from behind Ranma. He found himself face  
down on the counter with a wooden staff in the  
back of his head.  
  
"Who the heck are you?" muttered Ukyo as she  
stared at the newcomer.  
  
"I am Xellos," replied the man cheerfully.  
"I'm this fools brother. He doesn't appreciate me  
though, obviously." He pulled up a chair and sat  
down next to Ranma.  
  
"What the hell are you doing here?" snorted  
the pigtailed boy irritably.  
  
"Just checking up on you and your friends. One  
of them is babe watching in a shopping center, the  
other is getting rather drunk in a bar near our  
home. Neither one is my idea of an ideal day."  
  
"Figures," muttered the boy flatly.  
  
Ukyo froze and stared at the men for a moment.  
"I guess I can see it, kinda."  
  
"Creepy isn't it?" asked Xellos.  
  
"Everyone keeps saying that, but we don't look  
anything alike," grumbled Ranma irritably.  
  
"I guess it's that willing personality we seem  
to have," said Xellos cheerfully.  
  
"Right," muttered Ukyo.  
  
"In any case, I should probably drop by to see  
the Tendo family," said the pigtailed boy with a  
heavy sigh.  
  
"So they can try to force you into marriage?"  
  
Ranma glared at Xellos and sighed. "They  
aren't that bad."  
  
"Whatever," muttered Ukyo as she looked away  
from the pair.  
  
"So how goes the quest for my dear other  
self?" said Ranma as he cheered up suddenly.  
  
"I've almost got enough saved up," grumbled  
Ukyo. "I'll get that bastard yet."  
  
"Well, you do that," said the pigtailed boy as  
he stood up and started towards the door.  
  
"See you around," said Ukyo as he exited.  
  
He gave her an acknowledging wave over his  
shoulder and continued on his way without a word.  
  
"Aren't you going?" asked Ukyo as she noticed  
that Xellos had not moved.  
  
"So those two idiots can try to marry me off?  
No thanks, I'd rather they never found out that  
he's got a brother."  
  
Ukyo shook her head and chuckled despite  
herself. "Well, what can I get you then?"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Boy!"  
  
"Son!"  
  
"Oh my!"  
  
"Great."  
  
"You! Die!"  
  
The Tendo family, plus one Saotome, greeted  
him in their usual fashion.  
  
Ranma ducked under the attacking Akane and  
sent her sprawling across the floor with an  
extended leg. He smiled at Kasumi, and jumped over  
Genma and Soun, only to land in front of Nabiki.  
  
"You know, I almost think you scripted this  
stuff," muttered the girl as she smirked at him.  
  
"Seems that way at times, I wish they'd stop  
this. It's annoying."  
  
Ranma turned to face Genma and Soun. "Hiya old  
guys."  
  
"Boy! It's time you lived up to your  
responsibility!" cried Genma.  
  
"Yes, my poor Akane is so upset!" agreed Soun.  
  
Ranma looked over to where the youngest was  
standing and smiled at her. "Hey Akane, how's  
Shinnosuke doin?"  
  
The girl blinked in surprise and suddenly  
blushed heavily. "How would I know?"  
  
"I dunno, he's been writing you right?" said  
the boy as he looked at her in mock confusion.  
  
"Oh yes!" said Kasumi cheerfully. "In fact,  
she received a letter from her little friend only  
yesterday!"  
  
"Good," said Ranma cheerfully. "I imagine not  
much has changed in that little part of Japan."  
  
"Not really," grumbled Akane as she turned  
away in embarrassment.  
  
"Good," said the boy as he sat down on the  
floor in front of Soun and Genma. "So how's it  
hangin old guys?"  
  
"Boy, your family needs you!" snapped Genma as  
he stood tall in front of him and tried his best  
to be intimidating.  
  
"This again?" grumbled the boy as he frowned  
suddenly. "Man, don't you two ever give up? You'd  
think me or Akane had some sort of inheritance or  
something the way you've been going at this."  
  
Both men fell silent and looked at one  
another.  
  
"Of course not boy! What would make you think  
that?" snapped Genma.  
  
"Because I had one, my evil clone killed you  
after you tried to steal it from him. Too bad, he  
rather liked you from what I understand."  
  
The men looked at one another for a moment and  
fell silent again.  
  
"Did you say evil clone?" asked Nabiki in  
shock.  
  
"Yeah, he was a real asshole. We killed him  
eventually, but he caused all sorts of trouble,"  
said the boy lazily as he picked at his ear.  
  
"Um. Ranma doesn't really have an evil clone  
does he?" asked Akane nervously.  
  
"Huh? I don't think this one does. Well, he  
could, but only if his mother turned into a  
megalomanaical witch over the past ten years or  
so. He killed her too as I understand it. I don't  
know all the details, I was busy being dead for  
most of that time."  
  
"Dead?" muttered Kasumi.  
  
"Yeah, it kinda sucked. I was in hell, then I  
went to heaven. It's a long and involved story  
that I really don't like getting into unless I  
have too."  
  
Kasumi blinked and looked at her sisters  
before sitting down in front of him. "Did you get  
to meet Kamisama?"  
  
"Huh? Well, yeah. I was dead after all. I met  
Hild too, she wasn't all that bad really," replied  
the boy.  
  
"You have got to be kidding me," muttered  
Nabiki.  
  
"So skeptical? Even after everything you've  
seen over the past year or so?" replied the boy  
with an amused looking chuckle.  
  
"Who's Hild?" said Akane dumbly.  
  
"She's the Queen of Hell," said the boy  
cheerfully.  
  
"Oh my!" gasped Kasumi with a scandalized  
looking frown.  
  
"Kamisama wasn't near as impressive looking as  
she was really. It was kind of a let down," said  
Ranma with a small shrug.  
  
"What was he like?" asked Kasumi hopefully.  
She was absolutely enthralled.  
  
"Hmm? Oh, he was nice enough. He's got a  
really weird sense of humor. I even found out he's  
got a boss," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"Wait a minute," said Nabiki. "Let me get this  
straight. Kamisama, has a boss?" The look on her  
face told him she didn't believe a single word of  
it.  
  
"Yeah, L-sama. Lord of Chaos or something.  
It's a really big god that pretty much makes up  
the entire universe," said the boy cheerfully.  
"It's the really big one, even the demons are  
under that thing."  
  
"Oh my! But, you said it was a god," muttered  
Kasumi nervously.  
  
"Well, not really. It's more  
like...hmmm...more like an all-powerful being that  
controls both evil and good. It's sort of both."  
  
"Ranma, you're so full of crap your eyes are  
turning brown," said Nabiki.  
  
Outside, thunder rumbled ominously.  
  
Everyone in the room became quiet.  
  
"Okay, how many people in this room have been  
dead before?" said Ranma as he raised his hand. He  
looked around and saw no one else with their hand  
in the air. "Okay then."  
  
"That doesn't sound very nice," muttered  
Kasumi as she fretted about it for a moment.  
  
"Huh? Don't worry so much Kasumi. Kami's a  
great guy. You've got nothing to worry about.  
You'd probably like L-sama if you met it."  
  
"It?" grumbled Nabiki crossly. "It's not a boy  
or a girl?"  
  
"Actually, I think it's a little of both.  
Mostly male though," replied the boy with a shrug.  
  
"You're just being a jerk and showing off!"  
snapped Akane.  
  
"Why else would I come over here?" replied the  
boy as he looked at her as if she'd grown a second  
head.  
  
"You..." started the girl hatefully.  
  
"What? Calm down and relax. I'm just having a  
little fun, besides, I'm not lying."  
  
"Do you really think L-sama would like me?"  
said Kasumi as she looked at the boy.  
  
"Yeah. I'm sure of it," said Ranma cheerfully.  
"At any rate, those two sure have been quiet." The  
boy suddenly realized that Soun and Genma hadn't  
spoken yet, they were merely sitting in place and  
staring at him.  
  
Finally, Genma spoke up. "That's enough of  
this nonsense boy!"  
  
"My son in law is crazy! Waaahhhh!" cried  
Soun.  
  
Ranma sighed and stood up. "Idiots."  
  
"Show your father some respect boy!" said  
Genma as he charged.  
  
Ranma put his palm against the man's chest and  
casually flipped him aside, sending him into the  
koi pond. "I really wish he'd stop making me do  
that every time I come over."  
  
"So did you just come over here to bother us?"  
asked Nabiki.  
  
"Huh? Naw. I haven't seen Happosai around  
lately," said the boy as he looked up at the room.  
"This is the third time I've been by, and I  
haven't seen so much as panty lying around the  
floor in this place.  
  
"Well, he's avoiding you still," replied  
Nabiki.  
  
"Still? Man, it's been almost a month now!"  
  
"Well, you did sneak in and turn his head into  
a 'Chia Pet'," said Akane without much heat in her  
voice.  
  
"And then there was that time you replaced his  
panty collection with used men's boxers and jock  
straps," pointed out Nabiki.  
  
"Yeah, it was disturbingly easy to find  
volunteers for that one," replied the boy with a  
shudder.  
  
"Don't forget the time he covered all his  
panties in itching powder," said Kasumi  
cheerfully.  
  
"Yeah, his head was beet red for almost two  
weeks from all the scratching," said Akane as she  
seemed to be getting into the spirit of things.  
  
"Well, he did keep trying to activate my  
curse. I just couldn't get it through his skull  
that water didn't work anymore." The boy shrugged  
and turned towards the door. "Oh well. See you  
around, I just dropped by while I was running a  
few errands in town."  
  
"Yeah, see ya," muttered Nabiki as the boy  
walked out the door.  
  
Akane sat down at the table and sighed again.  
She'd been in a rotten mood over the past few days  
or so.  
  
"What is it?" asked Nabiki.  
  
"Nothing. I'm starting to get worried about  
Miss Hibiki. She's missed two days now," said the  
girl with a slightly frustrated frown.  
  
"I'm sure she's fine. She'll probably be in  
tomorrow. I heard there's some sort of little bug  
going around that side of town," said Nabiki as  
she turned away and looked in the direction Ranma  
had walked off in.  
  
"Yeah, she's such a great teacher though. I  
miss her, the substitute just isn't the same,"  
said Akane a little too emotionally.  
  
"I'm really starting to wonder..." muttered  
the older girl to herself as she watched her  
sister stare out into space for a moment.  
  
"Did you say something?" asked Kasumi.  
  
"Huh? No. Just thinking out loud," replied  
Nabiki as she walked towards her room.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Carrot walked into a park, looking for a  
deserted area. It didn't take long for him to find  
a nice quiet corner.  
  
He sighed and sat down, looking up at the sky  
as he felt the last of the ki holding his body  
together fading away. "Well, that was interesting  
if nothing else."  
  
"Wonder where we'll end up? With Dan or  
Xianfu?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Who knows?" said Carrot with a shrug of his  
shoulders.  
  
"It'd be nice if we did," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"Well, that's how things are," replied Carrot.  
  
"Yeah," agreed the boy halfheartedly.  
  
"Ranma!" cried Ryoga Hibiki as he appeared in  
front of them. "I've found you at last! For what  
you've done to Akane, prepare to die!"  
  
"Hiya Ryoga," said the pigtailed boy as he sat  
up and frowned at the lost boy.  
  
"Hiya? Is that all you've got to say to me?"  
snarled Ryoga.  
  
"I'm not Ranma," said Carrot flatly.  
  
"What? How stupid do you think I am? You  
abandoned Akane!"  
  
"You're obviously stupid enough to forget  
about me," said Ranma calmly as he stood up and  
dusted his pants off. "Besides, Shinnosuke is  
Akane's boyfriend, not you."  
  
Ryoga glared at him. "What?"  
  
"You heard me," replied Ranma casually.  
  
"That bastard is not Akane's boyfriend!"  
snarled Ryoga hatefully.  
  
"Well, in any case, it's none of my business  
either way," said Ranma as he frowned at the boy.  
  
"Where am I?" asked Ryoga with a distasteful  
snort.  
  
"A park near the dojo in Nerima," said Ranma  
as he cheered up a little.  
  
"So, I'm near to Akane?" asked the boy  
hopefully.  
  
"I'd take you there myself, but I'm waiting  
for something," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"Waiting?" said Ryoga in confusion.  
  
"Yeah, this body should start do vanish in a  
minute or two," said the pigtailed boy as he  
looked at his hands expectantly.  
  
"WHAT?" muttered Ryoga dumbly.  
  
"I'm testing out a new technique," said Ranma.  
"Don't worry, it's just a side effect. I'll be  
fine."  
  
"Oh," muttered the lost boy dumbly.  
  
"Yeah, whatever."  
  
"So, which direction is the Tendo Dojo then?"  
asked Ryoga.  
  
"The direction you just came from," lied  
Ranma.  
  
Ryoga nodded and started walking directly  
towards it.  
  
"Hey, lucky him," said Carrot cheerfully. He  
glanced down at his hand and noticed his fingers  
were becoming transparent. "Hey. It's showtime. We  
got about...four hours and five minutes in."  
  
Ranma nodded and they drained the last of  
their ki.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
They found themselves sitting in a small cafe,  
staring obsessively at someone's rear.  
  
"Gah!" cried Carrot in shock as he quickly  
jerked their head away.  
  
"Hey! I was watching that!" said Xianfu  
irritably.  
  
"Obviously," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"Hey guys," said Dan as he appeared as well.  
"We might not want to stand up for a minute or  
two."  
  
"Huh?" said Carrot as he ignored the advice  
and immediately stumbled over their chair. "What  
the hell?"  
  
"We got a little carried away," muttered Dan  
sheepishly.  
  
"What the hell did you do to us?" cried Ranma  
in shock.  
  
"We're drunk," said Carrot irritably. "Sit  
down again for a minute. We've got a lot of added  
mass now, it shouldn't last long."  
  
"So, how was your day?" asked Xianfu.  
  
"Fine," said Carrot with a shrug. "We spent  
the day in Nerima."  
  
"I thought you said no fighting," snorted Dan.  
  
"We didn't get into one all day," said Ranma.  
  
"Good," said Xianfu coldly.  
  
"How about you guys?" asked Carrot.  
  
"Huh? We spent all day in a bar," said Dan  
cheerfully.  
  
"I spent most of my day wandering around this  
area," said Xianfu.  
  
"Well, I suppose we should go home then," said  
Carrot as he stood them up. The were a little  
light headed, but the group of them was able to  
keep them somewhat coordinated despite their  
drunken state.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
The arrived home about an hour later and  
looked down at Usagi irritably. "What?"  
  
"You've been gone all day?" she asked her  
mother with a frown on her face.  
  
"Yeah? What of it?" snorted Yohiko.  
  
The girl sighed and watched as her mother  
slowly lowered herself into an armchair. "I'm not  
moving from this spot for a very long time Usagi.  
Please don't bother me."  
  
The girl shrugged and walked into the hallway.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Your performance was less than admirable,"  
said Yotsuya as he glared at Yusaku. They were  
sitting in the remains of his room. The boy still  
had a somewhat dazed look about him.  
  
"Shut up, you're just mad she wouldn't let you  
watch," said the boy as he glared at the man.  
  
"That has nothing to do with my objective  
opinion," said the man as he turned away.  
  
"So Godai finally got lucky," said Itchinose  
as she took a drag off of her cigarette and looked  
at the remains of the wall for a moment.  
  
"I dunno if I'd call that lucky," commented  
Akemi.  
  
"She seemed pretty upset," said Itchinose.  
  
Both women glared at Yusaku for a moment.  
  
"Hey! I didn't, I mean, she came...I um...It's  
not like that! She made me do it!" cried the boy.  
  
Usagi appeared in the doorway and sighed at  
the hole. "Well, I'm not sure what to say."  
  
"Usagi!" cried the man as he fell at her feet.  
"Is she still angry? Tell her I'm sorry!"  
  
"I'm not really sure. She hasn't said anything  
about it," said the girl with a shrug. "She was  
pretty upset though."  
  
"Damn!" muttered the boy as he looked away  
from her. "I've got to do something! Help me! I'll  
do anything!"  
  
Usagi sighed and sat down. "Look, I heard  
about what happened from Yotsuya, I'm not mad at  
you. I don't think she's too angry with you  
either. She seems more upset with herself about  
it. But..."  
  
"But?" muttered Yusaku in horror.  
  
"I'm not sure if there's anything you can do.  
I've never seen her this upset about something,"  
said the girl with a small sigh. "I think you blew  
it Yusaku, sorry."  
  
"Nooooo!" cried the boy in horror. He fell  
face first into the floor and did not move.  
  
"He took that remarkably well," commented  
Akemi.  
  
"Indeed," agreed Itchinose as she took another  
drag off of her cigarette.  
  
Usagi sat down and sighed.  
  
"Now, on to this mysterious Xellos," said  
Yotsuya.  
  
Everyone turned to look at Usagi.  
  
"What? How many times do I gotta tell you?  
Don't look at me that way! I can't ruin his fun  
like that, he'll be angry if I do. You don't want  
him angry at you."  
  
"Why not?" asked Akemi with a slightly worried  
looking frown.  
  
"He gets this really disgustingly cute look on  
his face. It's so pathetic it's horrible! Then  
he'll start doing things. Like one time, I got him  
mad, so he froze all my panties, and then put them  
back in my drawer right before I woke up. Then  
later, he filled my shampoo bottle with shaving  
cream. After that, he made curry flavored waffles  
for breakfast..."  
  
"How diabolical," said Yotsuya in horror.  
  
"Yeah, tell me about it. You're just gonna  
have to figure him out on your own," agreed the  
girl.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Carrot and the others sat around in the  
bedroom calmly. They were all looking at one  
another. Dan and Pissant were wearing a black  
leather jacket and shades, while Carrot and Ranma  
looked exactly the same, but without the jacket or  
shades. Xianfu was the only one currently in  
female form and she glared at her companions.  
  
"So, roughly twice a day fully charged," said  
Carrot calmly.  
  
"This is the third time," said Dan calmly.  
  
"We probably only got about two hour's worth  
in this one," said Ranma calmly. "Besides, we  
don't need to be doin this stuff all the time."  
  
"What?" said Xianfu angrily.  
  
"He's right, we're weak afterwards. We're just  
testing the limits. I suggest we keep it down to  
maybe once a day, and we don't have to go for all  
four hours either. Think of it as sort of  
borrowing the car from mom or dad. Go out, get  
what you need, and come back." Carrot smirked at  
the looks on the other's faces.  
  
Dan sighed and shrugged his shoulders.  
"Whatever. I can live with that."  
  
"Well, I was hoping for a little more than  
that," grumbled Xianfu irritably. "But..."  
  
"Well you can stop complaining right now  
bitch!" snarled Ranma as he jumped up and glared  
at her hatefully.  
  
Dan arched his eyebrow at this and snorted.  
  
"The hell! Look you jerk..." snapped the woman  
in retort.  
  
"This is all your fault! Just cause you whine  
and..."  
  
"Asshole! Do you have any idea what I was  
going through?" snarled Xianfu as she stuck her  
face into the pigtailed man's. Their foreheads  
touched together as they glared at each other.  
  
"Brother," muttered Dan irritably.  
  
"Yes I do thanks to you bitch! I ought to kill  
you for that!" snapped Ranma hatefully.  
  
"Just try it!" snarled Xianfu.  
  
"You're on!" retorted Ranma as he shoved her  
back and tackled her onto the floor.  
  
Dan stood up and paused suddenly as he saw  
Usagi standing in the doorway watching the scene  
in shock.  
  
He looked at the ground and then back at the  
girl again.  
  
"Asshole!"  
  
"Bitch!"  
  
"Hey kid," he said as he walked up next to her  
and leaned against the wall.  
  
"Mom!" cried the girl in alarm as the shock  
finally wore off.  
  
"Don't worry about those two, they're always  
like this," said Dan calmly.  
  
"Always? Who are you?" said Usagi as she  
backed away from him and looked at the fight with  
an uncertain frown. "Mom!" she started forward to  
help her mother but found a restraining hand on  
her shoulder.  
  
"She'll be angry if you butt in on her fight  
kid," said Dan calmly.  
  
Usagi blinked and looked up at him again. "Who  
are you?" She looked somewhat frightened.  
  
Xellos walked into the room and smiled warmly.  
"Ah, just like old times eh, Dan?"  
  
"Yeah, I suppose so," said the man at Usagi's  
side with a sly looking grin on his face.  
  
Carrot and Xianfu were clutching at each  
other's throats and rolling around on the ground  
while kicking at each other. It wasn't even close  
to a martial arts match. "Uncle Xellos? You know  
these people?"  
  
"Of course, they trained under my father with  
your mother to learn Martial arts. Carrot and  
Yohiko are old...friends..." said the man  
cheerfully. He looked somewhat uncertain at that  
last part.  
  
"He's trying to kill her!" cried Usagi as she  
pointed at them and froze. A deep blush covered  
her face as she noticed they were no longer trying  
to kill each other, but were locked in a rather  
passionate, if somewhat violent, looking embrace.  
"Oh my!"  
  
"Heh, come on kid," said Dan as he pulled her  
and Xellos out of the room and left the pair  
alone.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Usagi blinked as she looked at the man and  
frowned. "You trained with my mother in martial  
arts?"  
  
"That's right," said Dan with a small nod. He  
smirked to himself at the irony, it wasn't really  
a lie.  
  
"So, how come you never visited?" asked the  
girl as she frowned at them.  
  
"What? You saw what Carrot and Yohiko are  
like," said Dan. "She was married, and she'd given  
up the art too. We'd heard she'd picked it up  
again and decided to stop by and see her."  
  
"How did you know?" asked Usagi.  
  
"I told them," said Xellos as he sipped at a  
small cup of tea.  
  
"Oh," replied the girl as she frowned and  
turned her head slightly at some of the noises  
that were coming out of the room. She was blushing  
quite badly when she turned back.  
  
"Man, I been hangin around Carrot too long,"  
thought Dan to himself.  
  
"I'm surprised you were able to think all that  
up so quickly," agreed Pissant.  
  
"Shaddap," grumbled Dan in his mind.  
  
"Well, I think it's time we got some sleep,"  
said Xellos as he stood up and pat Usagi on the  
shoulder. "We've got things to do."  
  
The girl nodded and stood up to go to her  
room.  
  
Dan sighed and relaxed as he sat back in his  
chair.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Xellos smiled at Usagi and looked at the wall  
next to them as it began to shake rather  
violently. "Um, perhaps it would be best if you  
went out for a while. We both know you aren't  
getting any sleep with...ahem...all this going on  
around here."  
  
The girl blushed deeply and grinned at him.  
"Yeah. Thanks Uncle Xellos."  
  
"Come back in a few hours or so," said the man  
as he walked out and left her alone.  
  
Usagi nodded and stepped out of her window as  
her clothes transformed.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
A short time later she found herself jumping  
across rooftops with a huge grin on her face. "I'm  
gonna have to meet this Carrot later. If Mom likes  
him this much, he might be just what I need to get  
her over Dad!"  
  
She landed in the middle of a small abandoned  
lot and blinked in surprise. A small tent was set  
up, with a familiar figure sitting in front of it  
with a pot of water boiling in front of him. He  
poured the water into his cup of ramen and set it  
down to cook.  
  
"Ryoga?" she said out loud.  
  
The boy jumped to his feet and blinked in  
surprise. "Sailor Moon?"  
  
"Hey, it is you," she said as she walked over  
to him and smiled. "You know, this is the first  
time we've met when something wasn't trying to  
kill me."  
  
"Um, yeah," replied the boy.  
  
"What are you doing out here?" she asked him  
as she noticed his tent.  
  
"My house is pretty far away from here," he  
muttered under his breath as he looked at the  
tent. "It's just easier this way."  
  
"Oh," said the girl as she looked at his  
campsite and smiled. "Nice tent."  
  
Ryoga blushed and quickly covered his crotch  
as he sat back down again and leaned over the  
fire. "Um, sit down if you'd like," he muttered  
nervously.  
  
Usagi did, right next to him as opposed to  
opposite the fire where he had indicated. Ryoga  
was sweating bullets.  
  
"Are you hungry? I made some...um..." he  
turned his head and noticed her staring directly  
at him.  
  
"No thanks, I already ate," said the girl as  
she smiled at him. She turned her head up at the  
sky and leaned back in her seat. This put her  
breasts at Ryoga's eye level, and he found himself  
unable to move. "It sure is pretty out here," she  
commented while looking up at the stars.  
  
"Yeah, um...pretty..." he muttered as he  
finally managed to tear his eyes away from her  
chest and look at his cup of noodles. He blinked  
as he saw a spot of red appear on his hand. "No!  
Not now!" His mind screamed as he desperately  
plugged his nose with a tissue he pulled from his  
pocket.  
  
"Are you all right?" said Usagi as she moved  
in front of him and forced him to tilt his head  
back. Not before he managed to get an eyeful of  
her skintight uniform as she practically shoved it  
into his face without realizing it.  
  
"I just feel a little light headed," he  
muttered pathetically.  
  
"Oh my! You should lie down!" said the girl as  
she grabbed the blanket he had set out and forced  
him to lay on top of it.  
  
"Are you hurt? What happened?" said the girl  
with a worried look in her face as she took his  
hand away from his nose and applied pressure to  
the wound.  
  
"It's nothing, just..." he muttered weakly.  
"My god! I'm gonna pass out again," he said as he  
tried to sit up and move away from him.  
  
In his flailing, he accidentally grabbed her  
chest and froze with his hand there as he realized  
what he'd done. "I...I'm sorry! I didn't mean  
too...I mean...I..."  
  
Usagi looked slightly irritated for a moment  
and gently grabbed his hand. She sighed and shook  
her head. "You're not doing it right."  
  
Ryoga went white as a sheet as she pressed his  
hand against her chest and slowly leaned forward  
to kiss him.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA! I am so sick and evil!  
Heh. Anyway, this is going towards something, so  
don't worry... Next time: Vahn's Revenge!  
  



	68. Insertion part 68

Insertion  
  
Part 68  
  
Vahn's Revenge Part one.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Usagi Hibiki sat in front of her mother with a  
grin on her face as she ate breakfast. The woman  
was frowning at her and looking thoughtful. The  
morning lesson had gone off without a hitch,  
Yusaku included. It had been that way for several  
days now. Though no one spoke of the incident that  
had occurred two weeks before.  
  
"What are you so happy about?" grumbled the  
woman irritably.  
  
"Nothing," said the girl cheerfully.  
  
"Right," muttered Yohiko as she turned her  
head away.  
  
Inside the woman's mind, the group was  
speculating what had occurred.  
  
"You know, she's been real happy for the past  
week or so," commented Dan.  
  
"She's probably overjoyed that I'm getting  
laid," grumbled Xianfu.  
  
"Yeah, you don't seem to share the mood," said  
Carrot.  
  
"Maybe if I was enjoying it I might," said the  
woman in retort.  
  
"Yeah, but you keep coming back," said Carrot  
cheerfully.  
  
"You're convenient. Four hours a day isn't  
enough to find a boyfriend and start a  
relationship on my own."  
  
"Yusaku would be happy to oblige," commented  
Dan.  
  
"You stay out of this!" snapped Xianfu.  
  
"Whatever," muttered Ranma angrily.  
  
Pissant kept silent, not wanting to anger his  
fellow 'roommates' unnecessarily.  
  
"I think it's just that I'm a better lay,"  
commented Carrot indifferently.  
  
"Yeah, that does help," said Xianfu with the  
same indifference.  
  
"Well, at any rate, she's acting like you  
should be. I wonder who the lucky guy is?" said  
Dan.  
  
"Don't even joke about that!" snapped Xianfu  
in shock.  
  
"It's too easy," said Dan with an amused  
chuckle.  
  
Ranma arched their eyebrows slightly as they  
turned to look at their daughter again. "You know,  
that kinda makes sense."  
  
"What?" muttered Xianfu in horror. "No! She  
wouldn't?"  
  
"Hey, don't forget who her mother is. We  
modeled her after the real one," commented Carrot  
with a frown on their face.  
  
"..."  
  
"It's time to go to work," said Pissant hoping  
to end the discussion.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Miss Hibiki!" said a familiar voice as Yohiko  
entered the school grounds. The woman winced as  
she turned to see a very cheerful Akane Tendo  
rushing up to them.  
  
"Good morning, Akane," she said with a false  
cheerfulness on her face.  
  
"I'm glad to see you're well," said the girl  
as she bowed to her.  
  
"Well, anyone can catch a little flu now and  
then," said the woman as she returned the  
formality with a much lighter bow.  
  
"Yes, it was terrible while you were gone,"  
said the girl sourly. "That substitute just wasn't  
the same."  
  
"You're bordering on brown nosing, Akane,"  
replied the woman with a playful smirk.  
  
The girl blushed and laughed slightly at the  
jab. "Sorry."  
  
"Don't worry about it," replied Yohiko as she  
strolled towards the building. "Aren't you here a  
little early today?"  
  
"Yes, I'm...not going to class today," replied  
the girl with a blush on her face. "I'm  
transferring out of Furinkan. I'll miss this  
place, and I'll really miss you. I hate to leave,  
but..."  
  
Yohiko blinked dumbly. "Pardon?"  
  
"I'm moving in with my fiancee," said the girl  
a little sadly. "My father doesn't know yet."  
  
"Fiancee?" said the woman as her face suddenly  
became serious. "I thought that..."  
  
"No, not him," said the girl with a sudden  
pain flashing on her face. "You know him, it's  
Shinnosuke. We're old friends from when I was very  
young. We've been keeping in contact through  
letters, and..."  
  
The older woman blinked and smiled at her.  
"So, he asked you to marry him?"  
  
"Yes, a month ago. I just recently accepted,"  
said the girl as she turned away from her.  
  
Yohiko smirked and laughed gently. "I'm  
surprised he remembered."  
  
"Really?" said the girl as her face fell.  
  
"Well, I suppose I shouldn't be, I did tattoo  
it on the back of his hand after all," she  
amended.  
  
Akane smiled. "Yes, thank you."  
  
"Well, when will you be leaving?"  
  
"I'm going to pack now," replied the girl.  
  
"Well, good luck to you then," said the woman.  
  
"Miss Yohiko?" asked Akane as she turned to  
face the woman.  
  
"Yes Akane?"  
  
"You never did tell me why you were there. At  
Ryuugenzawa I mean."  
  
The older woman's face fell and she blinked.  
"Oh that." She scratched the back of her head and  
laughed nervously. "I'm afraid it's quite simple.  
I saw you leaving and I was bored, so I followed  
you."  
  
Akane blinked. "Huh?"  
  
"There really isn't much to do outside of this  
town you know," said the woman with a shrug.  
  
"You followed me all the way there?" gasped  
the girl as she stared at her. "That's like..."  
  
"Yes, well...I didn't come across anything  
more interesting while I was after you," she said  
as she chuckled.  
  
"Oh," replied Akane with a small shrug. She  
grabbed the woman around her waist and hugged her.  
"I'll really miss you, Miss Yohiko."  
  
"It won't be the same without you here dear,"  
replied the woman with a short nod. "It'll be a  
lot more peaceful," she thought to herself.  
  
"Yes," said Akane as she let go and stepped  
back with a blush on her face as she realized that  
the woman's breasts almost completely enveloped  
her head.  
  
"Send me an invitation to the wedding all  
right? I'll try to make it. It would be nice to  
see the boy again, he was very nice, if a little  
absent minded."  
  
"I promise I will!" said the teary eyed girl  
as she turned and dashed away suddenly.  
  
"That was unusual," commented Yohiko as she  
noted the abruptness of the girl's exit.  
  
Yohiko smirked to herself and stopped walking  
towards the building. She turned and noticed that  
the students were starting to file in. "Hmmm..."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Why are you standing here?"  
  
Tatewaki Kuno turned to look at the woman who  
had asked him the question and nodded his  
greeting. "Ah, my beloved..."  
  
She punched him in the gut and stopped the  
speech rather quickly. "Just answer the question."  
  
"I await my love, Akane Tendo, so that we  
might spar this day. I must prove my love..." He  
was cut off as she leveled a glare at him. "Off  
school grounds of course."  
  
"Of course," she said with a smirk forming on  
her lips. "Sorry to tell you, Akane Tendo isn't  
coming to school anymore."  
  
"So, she has sought the path of an honorable  
housewife to prepare for her life with myself! Oh,  
I knew it must be so. She pines away for me in her  
bridal training!"  
  
"You know, you're not that far off the mark,  
but no. She isn't at home pining for you. She  
decided to move in with her fiancee."  
  
Kuno froze. "Pardon?"  
  
"She went to live with her fiancee," replied  
Yohiko calmly.  
  
"So! The cur, Saotome, has decided to return  
at last? I shall destroy him..."  
  
"Actually, it isn't Ranma. I believe the boy's  
name is...Shinnosuke. I think that's right."  
Yohiko pondered for a moment. "He lives in some  
legendary valley or something, no big deal. She  
left this morning."  
  
"What?!" roared the boy. "I shall not allow  
it!"  
  
"There really isn't anything you can do about  
it," said the woman cheerfully. She was enjoying  
this a little too much. "She's already gone, and  
she seemed quite happy with her decision."  
  
"Base lies!" snarled Kuno.  
  
The woman put him into a rather painful  
headlock. "Are you calling me a liar?"  
  
Kuno started to sweat nervously. "No, you must  
have been fooled by the foul sorcerer's illusion!"  
  
"Oh, well then," she said as she released him.  
"I suppose I can accept that."  
  
"I must go and save her from..."  
  
"Well, you don't know where she is," said  
Yohiko cheerfully.  
  
Kuno stopped moving and looked at her. "What?"  
  
"You don't know where she is," repeated the  
woman.  
  
By this point, students who were absorbing the  
information for spreading within the student  
population surrounded them.  
  
"Tell me! I must save her..."  
  
"My! Tatewaki, you aren't planning to skip  
school today are you? You don't look sick to me.  
I'm sure your father would be delighted to hear  
that!"  
  
"Indeed, he understands the concept of Honor  
on some level then..."  
  
"I understand he just bought a new set of  
barber's sheers and is just itching to try them  
out!" said the woman happily.  
  
Kuno froze and went as white as a sheet.  
"Perhaps, I shall wait until later to rescue my  
love. It would not do for such a noble person as  
myself to fall behind in his studies."  
  
"Quite," replied Yohiko.  
  
The boy staggered towards his first class in a  
rather pathetic display.  
  
"Next," said Yohiko to herself as she noticed  
Shampoo and Ukyo approaching.  
  
"Hello girls," said the woman as she walked up  
to them.  
  
"Miss Yohiko?" said Ukyo dumbly. It was very  
unusual to see her outside of the room this late  
in the morning. Especially since Ranma had left  
them.  
  
"It's nice to see you today," said the woman  
as she grinned at the pair.  
  
"What is teacher wanting?" said Shampoo as she  
looked up at her. She was wearing her usual  
Chinese clothes, but had a school bag slung over  
her shoulder. Enrolling in Furinkan was one of  
Cologne's ploys to keep the girl occupied and away  
from her 'Airen'.  
  
"Well, I thought you might want to know that  
Akane is leaving," said the woman.  
  
"Huh?" muttered Ukyo.  
  
"Yes, she's moving in with her new fiancee."  
  
"Shampoo not care," said the girl sourly.  
  
"I knew that Old Man Tendo was a jerk. He's  
gotten her engaged again?" snapped Ukyo angrily.  
  
"Actually, he doesn't know yet. She stopped by  
to say goodbye before she left and told me,"  
replied Yohiko cheerfully. "His name is  
Shinnosuke. He's a very nice boy, I met him once.  
I think she'll be happy with him."  
  
"Is good," said Shampoo with a shrug.  
  
"I guess," muttered Ukyo. She had no real  
anger for the girl, and even considered her  
somewhat of a friend. The information had a plus  
side as well. Akane was out of her way in her  
revenge on Ranma.  
  
"It seems the troupe is drifting apart," said  
Yohiko with a wistful smile on her face as she  
watched them leave.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"You're late, Miss Tendo," said Yohiko as she  
sat behind her desk and remained looking down at  
the book in her hands.  
  
Nabiki handed her a note from the office and  
shrugged. "I had some personal business to take  
care of at home."  
  
"Yes, Akane told me she was leaving today.  
Take your seat," said the woman as she pointed at  
the desk. "I think everyone in the school knows  
about it by now."  
  
Nabiki's jaw dropped like a rock. "Huh?"  
  
"I told them. What are you gonna do about it?"  
said the woman's confident smirk as she eyed the  
girl for a moment. "Are you just going to stand  
there?"  
  
Nabiki hung her head and slowly stalked  
towards her desk. She was out of the loan  
sharking, gambling, and photo business. Selling  
information wasn't illegal though, and she had  
continued that part of her business despite the  
fall of her blackmailer.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"You had no right," seethed Nabiki as she  
glared at the woman during the lunch break.  
  
"Oh? Didn't I?" said Yohiko calmly as she  
watched the girl coolly. They were standing in the  
hall, opposing one another.  
  
"Akane was my sister," said Nabiki in  
frustration.  
  
"Really? What do you think Kuno would have  
done when you told him?"  
  
"What does it matter?" snapped the girl as she  
turned her head away.  
  
"You'll notice that he's still here, whether  
or not that lasts all day is still in question,  
but he is still here."  
  
Nabiki blinked. "What?"  
  
"He'd have gone charging off after her. You  
would have worded telling Shampoo and Ukyo  
differently, making them think that Akane was with  
Ranma," continued the woman as she turned her head  
away from her in a mocking gesture. "Sending both  
of them after her as well."  
  
Nabiki looked at the floor. "It's none of your  
business."  
  
"Akane is something of a friend, at least to  
Miss Yohiko," replied the woman with a shrug.  
  
"She hates you," snapped Nabiki.  
  
"The real me, yes," agreed the woman. "I find  
myself liking her a little anyway. Strange girl,  
hot tempered, even a little violent. Still, she  
has a good heart, if not a good head on her  
shoulders."  
  
Nabiki growled.  
  
"You don't have the right to ruin this for  
her. She finally has the chance to be happy, and  
escape from this place. Something I've noticed  
you're longing to do."  
  
Nabiki's frowned deepened.  
  
"Akane got out first, and you're jealous.  
Don't try to pass this off as something for the  
family, or protecting her. Shinnosuke is  
honorable, and a good man. He will make her happy  
I believe."  
  
"What do you mean jealous?" snapped Nabiki.  
  
"You're as much of a brat as she is at times,  
Nabiki," said the woman as her features lightened.  
"You're throwing a tantrum because she left you  
behind to move on with her life, instead of the  
other way around."  
  
"I like Nerima fine," said the girl angrily.  
  
"Really? Then why are all the colleges you're  
trying for happen to be as far away from here as  
you can manage?"  
  
Nabiki froze and stared at her.  
  
"I've been keeping an eye on you, and your  
academics. It is my job Nabiki. You show a lot of  
promise, and you'll succeed I think, probably  
quite easily. However, don't drag down your  
sister's one chance at happiness now. You'll  
regret it later."  
  
The girl turned away from her, angrily at  
first as she stormed away. Her hurried walk slowed  
to a snails pace as she moved away and mulled over  
the problem silently.  
  
Yohiko smirked and strolled towards the  
teacher's lounge for her lunch.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"You goin to da date wit da big..."  
  
The door to the lounge exploded as Kochou Kuno  
flew from the room. Yohiko strolled out and dusted  
off her hands as she turned towards her next class  
as the bell rang. "Give it up you loser."  
  
The rest of the day was uneventful.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Usagi frowned as she glared daggers into the  
back of Jadeite's head. He was three feet in front  
of her, sitting at his desk with a smirk on his  
face as he ignored the lesson and seemed to  
daydream.  
  
"Nothing, I can't do anything!" she growled  
mentally. School had become one long frustration.  
Her work was suffering because of it and she knew  
it. "If only I could get that bastard, I could go  
back to normal again!" She frowned at the thought.  
Perhaps normal wasn't a good word for it, she'd at  
least be able to study again.  
  
The boy glanced back at her over his shoulder  
and smirked. It had frightened her the first time  
he'd done that. She was wondering if he'd  
discovered her secret. However, as much as she  
watched him, she'd realized he did that to pretty  
much all the girls.  
  
Most of them pined for him, asked him out,  
practically threw themselves at him. She wondered  
if they would if they really knew. "Well, Mitsuki  
probably would, but not the others," she thought  
to herself a little nervously as she took a glance  
towards the quiet looking girl in the front row.  
  
Who knows what the school would think if they  
knew the teacher's pet kept a leather bodice and  
crotchless vinyl panties in her gym bag. She was  
thankful that the deodorant the girl had asked her  
to fetch for her in the locker room one day wasn't  
any deeper than that. She didn't want to know what  
was under those.  
  
The bell rang and the students stood up to go  
to lunch.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Isn't he dreamy?" said one of the girls in  
the group she ate lunch with.  
  
Usagi frowned and glared at Jadeite on the  
opposite side of the field. "No. I think he's a  
jerk."  
  
The two girls on either side of her looked at  
her as if she'd grown a second head.  
  
"What?" gasped the one on her right.  
  
"You can't be serious! He's always so polite,  
so dashing! He treats all the girls so, so..."  
  
"Romantically!" finished the other as the  
first girl struggled to find the right word.  
  
"That's just a front. He's a monster," growled  
Usagi.  
  
"You sound like you know something," said the  
one on her right with a seriously worried gasp.  
  
"It's nothing. I can just tell, he's hiding  
something, and it isn't good," said the girl as  
she continued to glare at the boy.  
  
"You're just being paranoid," said the other  
girl.  
  
"I only wish I was," she thought to herself.  
"I don't like him, besides, I've got..." she cut  
herself off abruptly.  
  
Both girls squealed as they jumped in front of  
her. "Tell us! You've met someone haven't you!  
Details! Details!" They both said this in a rather  
disturbing unison.  
  
Usagi blushed badly and turned her head away.  
"His name is Ryoga, he doesn't go here."  
  
"What's he like?" cried one of the girls.  
  
"Just Ryoga?" said the other one in confusion.  
  
Usagi blinked and stared at the second girl.  
"You know, I don't think I ever asked him what his  
family name was."  
  
"You mean you don't know?" said the pair at  
the same time again.  
  
"No," muttered Usagi in a sort of surprise.  
"He's always been so mysterious..."  
  
"A mysterious and handsome man? Wai!" cried  
one of the girls.  
  
"That sounds so romantic!" agreed the other.  
  
"Yeah, I suppose it is," said Usagi.  
  
"Where does he live? Can we meet him?" asked  
the pair.  
  
"I don't know. We just sort of keep bumping  
into one another," said Usagi as she blushed  
again.  
  
"Um, you're dating right?" said the first one  
as she looked at her friend oddly.  
  
"Yeah! Of course we are!" said Usagi crossly.  
  
"You don't know where he lives?" said the  
other one dumbly.  
  
"It...never came up," said the pigtailed girl  
lamely.  
  
"Usa-chan! I can't believe you!" said one of  
the girls in a scandalized tone. "Secret  
rendezvous!"  
  
"Yeah, kinda," commented the girl to herself.  
She seemed to realize all at once that Ryoga had  
no idea who she really was. He'd only known her as  
Sailor Moon, he'd never even seen the real her.  
Not that there was much difference, only her hair  
color and outfit changed really. "I should do  
something about that...but not yet." Doubt started  
to form in her mind.  
  
"What if Ryoga only likes blondes? What if  
he's some sort of bum? I've never seen his house!  
What if..." She sighed and hung her head.  
  
"Hello," said a familiar voice.  
  
Usagi and her friends looked up to see Jadeite  
standing over them with his confident smirk on his  
face.  
  
"What is it?" said Usagi coldly. Her heart was  
racing. "Does he know?" screamed her mind. Her  
clothes shifted slightly against her skin, ready  
to spring to action in defense of her friends.  
  
Jadeite ignored the two girls on either side  
of her and stared directly at Usagi. "Have...we  
met somewhere before? I keep thinking we have, and  
it's been bugging me for a while now. I can't  
place you."  
  
"No," said the girl firmly as she glared up at  
him, her eyes challenging him to try something.  
  
"Are you certain? I'm pretty sure. I can't  
figure it out though," he said as he continued to  
look down at her a little harder than before.  
  
"I don't think so," she insisted calmly. A war  
was going on between their eyes.  
  
"Hmmm. Maybe I've just seen you walking around  
town before," he said with a shrug as he turned  
away and left them.  
  
Usagi continued to glare at him as he moved  
away.  
  
"Sorry to bother you then," he said as he  
waved at them with his back turned as he walked.  
  
"Did...he just hit on Usagi?" muttered one of  
the girls dumbly.  
  
"Waaaahhh! I wish he'd done that to me! He  
would pick the one girl who doesn't like him!"  
cried the other.  
  
Usagi merely looked down at the half empty  
bento in her lap and growled. "Damn! Does he know?  
Is he just toying with me? Is it that he suspects  
and he's trying to figure it out? Or is it just  
that he really thinks I'm someone he's just seen  
before?" She sighed and slowly started eating  
again, knowing the questions would go unanswered  
for some time to come.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Jadeite turned around a corner to a deserted  
area of the school grounds and smirked at the  
figure who stood before him. "Hello Jadeite."  
  
"You're toying with her," said Xellos calmly.  
  
"So what?" he snorted casually as he leaned  
against the wall and crossed his arms over his  
chest.  
  
"You're treading on dangerous waters," said  
Xellos with a slight anger in his eyes.  
  
"Are you afraid you might get blamed for  
this?"  
  
"I'm not worried about this one, they don't  
know how much of my power I've retained in this  
world. They aren't a danger to me here."  
  
"It still isn't wise to cross them too much,"  
said Jadeite with a small chuckle. "I'll do my  
job, don't worry."  
  
"Me? Worry about you? You can get yourself  
destroyed on this world for all I care. We both  
know not much will come of a death here for any of  
us."  
  
"Hurt her, and L-sama could be angry. That's  
unwise," said Xellos. "There are certain things we  
can't do, and you know it."  
  
"What? You're worried about that? Ha!" said  
Jadeite calmly. "I'm just pulling her chain a  
little. I remember what I'm supposed to do here.  
She's nothing more than an irritation. It's hard  
to work around her that way."  
  
"Heh. I've been keeping up my end, it's almost  
time," said Xellos. "Just don't screw up yours."  
  
"Right," said Jadeite casually. "You worry too  
much. I'll make sure the brat is there. We still  
have a little time before things come to a head."  
  
"Don't get careless and let her kill you in  
that body. They need to be apart from the  
beginning. Your current activity is secondary to  
that, don't forget it," replied Xellos.  
  
"I'm..."  
  
"Seriously limited, unlike me. You need to  
watch yourself, don't get cocky or careless. That  
child is quite capable of killing you under the  
right circumstances. I'm not telling you to stop  
playing your little game, but don't get stupid. We  
have other objectives."  
  
"Right," grumbled Jadeite as he turned away.  
"Just don't forget that I'm not your servant  
Jadeite."  
  
"I'll try to remember that," said Xellos as he  
vanished into the shadows.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Oh, Tamahome! No! You can't..."  
  
"Sir!" cried a voice as the door behind Tanaka  
opened suddenly. He jerked upright and quickly hid  
what was in his hands under the desk. His back was  
facing the door and he frowned deeply.  
  
"You didn't see anything did you?" he snapped  
angrily.  
  
"No sir! I didn't see you reading your shojo  
manga again sir!" said the man firmly.  
  
"Good. What is it?" snapped Tanaka as he  
turned and looked at the man behind him.  
  
"They're here sir!" said the large man as he  
stepped aside.  
  
"Good!" said the small Japanese man as he  
stood up and dusted off his jacket lapel. He was  
wearing a dark blue business suit. His tie was  
perfectly in place and he stood up from the small  
cluttered desk. "Is everything ready?"  
  
"Yes sir, everything is set," said the man  
calmly as he motioned with his arm for the man to  
move by him.  
  
"Excellent," replied Tanaka coldly as he  
stepped out into the large warehouse.  
  
Inside were hundreds of machine parts, motors  
and various other car parts were stacked high into  
the air within the almost pitch black room.  
  
Standing in the center of the room, were  
several men who were also dressed in suits. They  
were grouped together defensively, with some of  
the men carrying briefcases.  
  
Tanaka smirked as he noticed the older man  
standing in the middle of the men. He was dressed  
in what appeared to be samurai clothing. A sword  
hung from his side and a scowl was on his aged  
face.  
  
"Tanaka, what is this?" said the old man  
angrily. "We've got business to discuss, and I  
don't like waiting."  
  
"I apologize," said Tanaka with a small bow.  
The only other man in the room was his own  
bodyguard; the man who had fetched him.  
  
"Well, we should get this over with," snorted  
the old man.  
  
"Yes, I agree," said Tanaka as he pulled a  
pair of glasses out of his pocket and put them on  
his face casually.  
  
"Your boss must relinquish control of the  
southern pier to me by midnight on Friday of next  
week," stated the old man calmly. "Those are my  
terms, no negotiations. I hold control of the  
surrounding area, and will take it by force if  
need be."  
  
"So you say," said Tanaka calmly.  
  
"What is this?" snapped the man as his scowl  
deepened.  
  
"My employer does not agree with that  
assessment," said the small man with a serious  
expression on his face. "We will hold the property  
quite easily."  
  
"Bah," snorted the old man in disgust. "You  
overestimate your resources, and underestimate my  
own. Tell that fool that he is as stupid as he  
ever was! Where is he! I was supposed to meet him  
here. I didn't come all this way just to look at  
your disgusting face!"  
  
Tanaka smirked and shook his head. "He's not  
here. I don't think you'll be taking that property  
if you never give the order."  
  
The old man stepped back in shock. "What is  
this?"  
  
"A trap," said Tanaka as a huge stack of  
engines fell in front of him, creating a huge  
burst of noise and hiding him and his bodyguard  
from view.  
  
"What? You said the building was clear!"  
snapped the old man as he turned to look at his  
men.  
  
"There's no one in here but us!" cried the man  
next to him as he showed the old man a thermal  
readout on the small laptop computer at his side.  
  
A low humming noise suddenly started in front  
of them. Something like a pressurized thump hit  
the ground, and then the noise repeated. It  
sounded like mechanical footsteps.  
  
"You are mistaken," said a new voice from the  
shadows. It was a heavily accented gaijin voice.  
  
"Who is there?" cried the old man angrily as  
he raised his arm into the air.  
  
The briefcases the men around him were  
carrying were opened within a split second, all of  
them were now armed with small automatic weapons.  
  
"You were supposed to come unarmed," said the  
voice coldly.  
  
"Yes, a trap for my old rival, it seems we  
think alike," said the old man with a chuckle.  
  
"Not really, my employer was smart enough not  
to come," said Tanaka's voice from a speaker  
system somewhere in the room.  
  
"A fitting deception. It seems we have a  
standoff. We'll be leaving now," said the old man  
calmly as he turned to walk away.  
  
The sound of automatic gunfire exploded from  
the shadows and one of his bodyguards' head  
exploded in a spray of red.  
  
"There!" cried the others as they fired in the  
direction the shot had come from. Bullets filled  
the air, ricocheting off of metal as they vanished  
into the shadows.  
  
"You missed," said the old man as he started  
walking away again.  
  
"No, I hit exactly what I was aiming for,"  
said the gajin's voice.  
  
"What?" said the old man in disbelief.  
  
The strange mechanical sound started again,  
much faster this time as it moved closer, still  
cloaked in shadows.  
  
The men saw something moving towards them, a  
huge mass of shadows and darkness. They fired on  
it, but it didn't even stop its momentum as it  
charged forward.  
  
The last thing the old man saw was a huge  
metal claw reaching for his face.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Heh, our trap was better," said Tanaka as he  
watched the scene play out before him. The muffled  
sounds of desperate gunfire halted suddenly as a  
large caliber weapon came to life and decimated  
the small band of Yakuza.  
  
"Yes sir," said his assistant calmly.  
  
"Vahn, are you finished yet?" he asked over  
the intercom.  
  
"They are dead," said the calm voice icily.  
  
"I can see that," replied Tanaka.  
  
"Good, I grow tired of this though," said the  
voice.  
  
"Patience. You'll get your revenge," said  
Tanaka coldly. "Your life belongs to us though.  
Don't forget that. We gave you everything, and you  
were dead when we found you."  
  
"I was alive," replied the voice. "Now I am  
dead."  
  
"You might as well have been dead," snorted  
Tanaka without much interest. "This 'Shadow' will  
show up sooner or later. When he interferes with  
our operations again, you can have him. We don't  
need you tearing around Tokyo looking for him. As  
strong as you are, it won't take long for the JSDF  
to destroy you. You can't hide easily as you are."  
  
"I understand," said the voice.  
  
"See that you don't forget that," said Tanaka.  
"We can protect you from that, you're quite useful  
to us."  
  
"I can hide, but I will not forget my debt,"  
said Vahn. "I will fulfill my end. I will destroy  
the Shadow, and finally avenge myself and my  
brothers."  
  
"Yes, do that," said Tanaka in a patronizing  
tone. "Until then, you remain patient."  
  
"I do not like being patient," snapped Vahn.  
  
"Well, I could shut you down, and put someone  
else inside that thing. It would be quite painful,  
but I'm sure we could find a more willing  
volunteer..."  
  
"No. I will wait...for now."  
  
"Good boy."  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Jadeite Strikes!  



	69. Insertion Part 69

Insertion  
  
Part 69  
  
Vahn's Revenge Part 2  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Yohiko Hibiki smirked as she looked at Coach  
Mitaka. He was worn and tired. "So, how are you  
enjoying your job so far?" They were both standing  
in the schoolyard after classes had ended for the  
day with most of the students long gone.  
  
"How can you stand it here?" he grumbled  
irritably.  
  
"Easy, I'm the biggest fish in this little  
pond," she replied calmly.  
  
Mitaka nodded and sighed. "Right."  
  
"How are your studies coming?" she asked him  
calmly.  
  
"I've improved a lot since that trip," he said  
with a smirk. "I imagine you wouldn't even break a  
sweat though."  
  
"That's good," she responded with a nod. "How  
about it then?"  
  
Mitaka blinked. "You're not going to hurt me  
are you?"  
  
"As much as I'd enjoy that, I think I can go  
easy on you," replied the woman calmly.  
  
Mitaka nodded and moved into a combat stance.  
  
Yohiko smirked; his defense was actually  
pretty solid. "Not bad," she commented.  
  
"Thanks," he said nervously.  
  
"Come on then, attack me," she said with a  
small sigh.  
  
"Right," replied the man as he rushed forward.  
  
Yohiko dodged around him easily, his speed was  
good, but he was still little more than an  
educated idiot as far as she was concerned. "Well,  
you have improved haven't you?"  
  
The man stopped his attack and backed away,  
panting for breath. "Yeah. I think so anyway, I'm  
still not ready for your class though."  
  
"I'd give you a year or so," she replied with  
a shrug. "Yusaku would wipe the floor with you.  
You need to build speed more than anything else.  
Your technique is surprisingly good for as long as  
you've been at this."  
  
"Well, I have been taking classes since I was  
little," grumbled the man. "I'd like to think that  
counts for something."  
  
"You had a good teacher then," said the woman  
with a smirk on her face.  
  
"Most people don't take this as seriously as  
you do," he said with a small snort.  
  
"Well, most people don't need to," she replied  
with a shrug.  
  
"Yeah, I figured that," muttered the man.  
"Fighting off the boy's classes, and escaping  
those perverted girls probably helps."  
  
"Ha!" said the woman in genuine amusement.  
  
"What?" said the man with a hurt look forming  
on his face.  
  
"Nothing, your method of training is similar  
to someone I know. He does it intentionally  
though."  
  
"Intentionally?" muttered Mitaka dumbly.  
  
"Yes, his name is Happosai," said the woman  
cheerfully. "You probably wouldn't like him much."  
  
The man shook his head. "I'm finally able to  
at least hold a class now."  
  
"Yes, I'd noticed. You haven't been getting  
chased around the campus much these days," she  
said with a smirk on her face. "You'll get this if  
you keep up. Maybe even before the year is up if  
you keep working at it."  
  
"Right," said the man. "Are you doing anything  
tonight?"  
  
"Now Mitaka, you know you don't stand a  
chance. Just give up and find another woman. There  
are plenty of women more willing than I am."  
  
The man sighed. "I don't want another woman."  
  
"Yes, I know. I'm out of reach though," she  
replied with a shrug. "I'm past pining for my  
husband, and I'm enjoying myself as things are  
now. I don't want a man in my life."  
  
A man walked up to the pair with a smirk on  
his face. "Oh? What am I then? Chopped liver?" He  
had a long pigtail going down his back all the way  
to his waist, and was dressed in silk Chinese  
clothing.  
  
"Huh?" said Mitaka.  
  
"Mitaka, this is Carrot," said Yohiko with a  
frown forming on her face. "He's...an old training  
partner of mine."  
  
"Hiya. I'm Yohiko's lover," said the man  
cheerfully as he politely bowed to the man. "You  
must be Mitaka."  
  
The poor man about choked where he stood.  
  
"You are not my lover!" screamed Yohiko  
angrily.  
  
"What would you call it then? Fuck buddy?"  
replied the man with his smirk remaining strong.  
  
"You bastard!" she snarled as she stepped back  
into a combat stance.  
  
Carrot merely smiled at her and looked at  
Mitaka. "Good luck, I'd be happy if you managed to  
take her off my hands."  
  
"What?" cried the man in shock.  
  
"I'll kill you!" screamed Yohiko.  
  
"Maybe later, in private," said Carrot  
cheerfully. "You seen Dan around today?"  
  
Yohiko relaxed slightly and growled. "No. Not  
since you two left." The group had separated at  
the end of the last lunch period about two hours  
earlier.  
  
"Hmmm. I hope he's not getting drunk again,"  
commented Carrot with a shrug.  
  
"Dan?" said Mitaka in confusion.  
  
"He trained with us too," said Carrot  
cheerfully.  
  
"Oh," said the man as he found himself  
becoming more and more confused. "He's lying,  
right Miss Yohiko?"  
  
"Not really," said Carrot lazily. "We don't  
get along very well, but we just can't seem to  
help ourselves. It's weird really."-  
  
Mitaka was white as a sheet, and Yohiko was  
turning red with anger.  
  
"We can fight about it later, I'll see ya,"  
said Carrot as he turned away and started walking  
towards the gates.  
  
"That bastard!" snarled Yohiko.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Ah, Carrot," said Cologne as her former son  
in law's doppelganger walked into the restaurant  
and sat down at one of the tables.  
  
"Hiya," said the boy cheerfully.  
  
"What brings you to this place?" said the old  
woman.  
  
"I've been using that new technique to hang  
around town while I'm teaching classes."  
  
Cologne nodded at this and sighed. "I see.  
It's a shame it's not more permanent."  
  
"Not really, I'd probably end up killing most  
of the Amazon tribe in the end," he said with a  
thoughtful frown.  
  
Cologne coughed in surprise. "I think you  
overestimate yourself."  
  
"Naw, you'd get me in the end I think, but I'd  
take a whole bunch of you down with me. Not  
economical really."  
  
"It's a moot point, but I fail to see how  
you'd survive against three thousand years of  
Amazon techniques."  
  
"With two thousand year old martial arts  
counters of course," said the boy cheerfully.  
  
Cologne almost sprayed her tea across the  
table, but managed to control herself. "Pardon?"  
  
"I've been studying up," he replied with a  
shrug. "The old Musk techniques would be useful,  
as well as a few of the techniques of that old  
monastery that used to be around your area about  
fifteen hundred years or so ago. They had all  
sorts of counters, as I recall, you got the  
Hiryuushotenha from them. They had a counter for  
it; I've almost got it. I learned how to defeat  
the Splitting Cat Hair's technique about two weeks  
ago."  
  
Cologne's eyes about bugged out of her head.  
"Where did you learn about that?"  
  
"It's a secret," replied the boy cheerfully.  
The Mercury computer they had was very useful to  
them. It couldn't predict the future, or alter  
reality, but its information database was  
flawless.  
  
"The counter techniques for the Hiryuushotenha  
and the Splitting Cat Hair's techniques were  
destroyed with that hellish place. We burned it to  
the ground, along with everything and everyone  
inside it!"  
  
"Yeah, a real shame," said Carrot lazily.  
  
Cologne simply sat where she was and mulled  
over this revelation. "There's no way! It's  
impossible for any of those techniques to have  
survived that inferno."  
  
"Don't look at me. It's not my fault your  
elders were so hateful in your world."  
  
Cologne seemed to relax suddenly. "So that's  
it! In his world, they must have survived, or the  
Amazons didn't destroy that knowledge. A pity."  
She looked up at him as her thoughts ended. "Yes,  
my ancestors were foolish in that regard."  
  
"Haven't changed that much," he replied with a  
snort. "Three thousand years of staying the same  
ain't healthy ya know."  
  
"We have survived this long because of it!"  
she snapped.  
  
"Naw, you survived this long because you're  
living in the mountains, it was too much trouble  
to be rid of you. Sending an army up there would  
have been difficult until recently. If the Red  
Army decided to get rid of you..."  
  
Cologne snorted at this. "Preposterous!"  
  
"Yeah, don't go getting all belligerent on  
me," said the boy casually. "I think you're smart  
enough to realize what a battalion of tanks and  
soldiers would do to your little paradise, to say  
nothing of the Chinese Air Force that would  
precede them."  
  
Cologne merely sat in her chair, shaking.  
Carrot couldn't tell if it was anger or simply  
fear of the idea he'd just placed in her head.  
"I'm sure your political contacts and herbal  
medicine have been able to keep yourself beneath  
notice though. As long as you're useful, you've  
got nothing to fear."  
  
Cologne's head snapped up at him and her eyes  
narrowed. "How would he know about that?"  
  
"Don't look at me that way. I'm not your brain  
dead son in law. I've learned a lot over the  
years," he replied calmly. "It's the same way you  
avoided notice where I'm from. The higher offices  
of the Chinese Government benefit from your  
counters to poisons, cures for rare diseases, and  
assorted magic. To say nothing of the use of some  
of the poisons that are only available to you in  
your area."  
  
Cologne sighed and shook her head; she was  
actually chuckling with laughter. "You never cease  
to amaze me boy. It's a shame you weren't born a  
woman."  
  
"Who says I wasn't?" retorted the boy calmly.  
  
Cologne's head snapped up again.  
  
Carrot chuckled as he decided to put the  
finishing touch on his little game of psyche out.  
"The dreaded training ground of Jusenkyo Hot  
Springs. Each pool cursed with a tragic legend."  
Ranma started screaming obscenities inside their  
head at this announcement.  
  
"What?" muttered Cologne.  
  
"Well, I did tell you I wasn't from this  
world," he replied with a shrug. "You don't think  
a boy would be as smart as I am do you?" He  
shifted to his older female form and grinned at  
her.  
  
Cologne gasped, everything made sense now.  
  
"But..."  
  
"I have a daughter Cologne, I'm her mother,"  
said the woman as her eyes sparkled with  
amusement. "My name is Yohiko Hibiki, you don't  
think my parents would name me Ranma if I was born  
a woman do you?"  
  
"This is..." stammered the woman in shock.  
  
"I've been watching this place for a while,  
ever since I was sent to this world. I've been  
here for a while ya know. I even got married, my  
husband died about seven years ago."  
  
Cologne simply stared at her, unable to speak  
or move. Everything was starting to make sense  
now.  
  
"I've always been fascinated by Ranma Saotome.  
What I would have been had I been born a man."  
  
"So, you were sent here from another world,  
into the past," said the old woman as she nodded  
her head. Things were starting to make sense.  
  
"Something like that," agreed the woman  
casually. This was probably the greatest session  
of bullshitting she'd ever done. It was immensely  
satisfying.  
  
Cologne frowned. "That would explain your  
reluctance to allow my Shampoo to chase you, and  
your attitude about fighting off these girls. The  
male Ranma would never do such a thing without a  
good reason."  
  
"You're catching on," said the woman as her  
face contorted into anger for a moment. It quickly  
shifted back to a pleasant smile before Cologne  
noticed.  
  
"I see," replied the old woman as she nodded  
her head and sighed. "A daughter?"  
  
"Yes," said the woman cheerfully. "Her name is  
Usagi Hibiki, by a strange coincidence, I am Ryoga  
Hibiki's aunt in this world. I had no idea Keiichi  
was related to them."  
  
Cologne jolted from this mild shock, shaken  
already by the previous revelations.  
  
Yohiko looked down at her hand and smirked.  
"Looks like my time is up. Later old lady."  
  
Cologne merely stared as the woman started to  
fade away. "Wait! I..." She sighed as the woman  
vanished completely. "This changes everything. I  
can't have Shampoo chasing her around anymore. The  
council would pitch a fit if they found out about  
that." She mulled over her problem for a moment  
and sighed. "Oh dear. I suppose it's time to tell  
her."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Within a minute, they were all back together  
in the apartment.  
  
"So, now what?" asked Carrot lazily.  
  
"Time for afternoon class," said Xianfu  
irritably. "You and I are gonna have a little talk  
later."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," replied Ranma with an  
angry snort. "We got some stuff to tell ya about.  
Carrot's being an asshole again."  
  
"Heh. I'm sorry, I couldn't resist! Admit it,  
the look on her face was worth it!" replied the  
voice cheerfully.  
  
Ranma tried to be angry, he really did.  
Finally he sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it.  
It was kinda funny."  
  
"That's the spirit!" said Carrot.  
  
"What the hell have you done now?" snarled  
Dan.  
  
"I know this is gonna bite us all in the ass,"  
snapped Xianfu.  
  
"Probably, but we can deal with it. It's only  
the Amazons," said Carrot.  
  
"Oh, that's okay then," replied Dan with a  
shrug.  
  
"Right," agreed Pissant. "It wasn't mean was  
it?" he asked hopefully.  
  
"Not really," said Ranma. "Well, at least not  
for Carrot."  
  
"Oh, well then," replied Xianfu.  
  
"Anyway, let's go get our lazy students," said  
Carrot cheerfully.  
  
Ranma growled slightly as they walked out into  
the hall and moved towards Yusaku's door.  
  
They opened it and smirked at the scene  
inside. "Well, hello."  
  
Everyone froze and stared at the woman for a  
moment.  
  
Yusaku was halfway through the act of putting  
a beer to his lips. Usagi was beside him talking  
with Akemi, and the rest of the residents were in  
the process of getting rather drunk.  
  
"Um. Miss Yohiko..." said Yusaku dumbly. "I  
didn't think you'd join us..."  
  
"That's Sensei, Godai, get dressed, I feel  
like a workout," she replied calmly as she turned  
away.  
  
Usagi and the boy looked at each other with a  
frown forming on their faces. "Again?" grumbled  
Usagi. "We already did that today!"  
  
"Do you really want her to come get us?" said  
Yusaku.  
  
"Right," grumbled the girl as she stood up and  
walked out of the apartment.  
  
"Everyone out, I gotta get changed," said  
Yusaku as he glared at the drunks for a moment.  
  
"Hey. I ain't goin nowhere," said Akemi with a  
sultry looking grin.  
  
"Me too! Me too!" agreed Itchinose.  
  
"Out!" cried Yusaku as he shoved both women  
out the door.  
  
Yotsuya quietly slid back through his hole in  
the wall and left the boy to change.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Why are we doing this right now?" grumbled  
Usagi.  
  
"Silence!" snapped her mother. They were  
standing in the middle of the abandoned lot they  
used for practice. "Yusaku! One hundred Bakusai  
Tenketsu! Get started!"  
  
"Right," muttered the boy as he walked over to  
a large pile of rocks that he and Usagi regularly  
lugged to the site during their normal training  
hours.  
  
"As for you," said Yohiko as she stared at her  
daughter. "You're going to keep practicing the  
Katsutenshin Amaguriken for the rest of the day. I  
won't have you two slacking off!  
Bwahahahahahahaaa!"  
  
A moment later, Cologne pogoed over the wall  
just in time to see Yohiko laughing. She paused  
for a moment and noticed what the girl's students  
were doing. "Well, it seems I've caught you in the  
middle of a lesson."  
  
"Huh?" said the woman as she blinked and  
turned towards the hag. "Oh, yes. My lazy students  
aren't working hard enough lately, so I'm giving  
an extra lesson today! Bwahahahahaaa!"  
  
"Is she always like this?" asked Cologne as  
she turned to the young girl.  
  
"No, she's usually much worse," grumbled the  
child as she rubbed at the burns forming on her  
hands.  
  
"Yes, I thought she was taking it awfully easy  
on you," said the crone with a shrug of her  
shoulders. "You must be Usagi."  
  
"Huh? Do I know you?" said the girl in  
surprise.  
  
"This is Cologne, she's an old friend of  
mine," said Yohiko.  
  
"Ha! Old is right!" said Usagi cheerfully.  
  
Cologne promptly whacked her on her head with  
her staff. "Faster! You'll never master that  
technique if you're slacking off and talking to  
me!"  
  
Usagi sniffled with a tear in her eye and  
turned back to the small fire she had just  
started.  
  
"What brings you here?" said Yohiko calmly.  
  
"Not much, just checking up on the chi  
signature I felt. I thought it was you, but these  
two others had me wondering."  
  
"Ah, not much to worry about," said Yohiko  
calmly.  
  
"Yes, I can sense they are both mere  
beginners," agreed Cologne.  
  
"About half a year, they've come along rather  
well. I thought it would take at least two years  
before I could start these techniques with them."  
  
"Six months?" muttered Cologne in wonder.  
"You're joking?"  
  
"Huh? Not really, it's been a little more than  
that, almost eight months really."  
  
"And they are already up to this level?" said  
Cologne as she turned to look at the pair. "Most  
impressive young lady."  
  
"Really? I didn't think so, they're both  
slackers," snorted Yohiko calmly. "I have to keep  
them both on their toes all the time. They keep  
trying to get out of training. Yusaku's not so  
bad, on account of he's still trying to get into  
my pants."  
  
The boy paused his exercise for a moment, only  
to receive a thwack on his head from Cologne. The  
old woman didn't even look at him, or stop her  
conversation with Yohiko. He grumbled and started  
again.  
  
"It's a good motivator," replied Cologne.  
  
"Yeah, I've been trying to beat him out of it,  
or wear him down. He's stubborn though," replied  
Yohiko.  
  
"Well, I'll leave you to your students then,"  
said Cologne cheerfully. As she hopped away, her  
mind worked diligently. "A woman like that, could  
be useful. If she was able to teach her students  
to be so strong in such a short time!? Plus her  
teaching degree in academics?! This is a prize I  
cannot pass up!" She smirked as she put the small  
camera she had hidden in her palm into her robes.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"What is this?" snorted Tanaka as he glared at  
the paper in his hand.  
  
"Your next assignment," replied the man in a  
dark suit that stood in front of him.  
  
"A brothel?" snorted the man irritably.  
  
"Yes," said the man calmly. "We have reports  
of a drug lab being run inside this operation."  
  
"Again?" said Tanaka irritably. "The last time  
we had a suspected report of this kind of  
thing..."  
  
"You understand then," said the man with a  
small chuckle.  
  
"Oh, I see. You think he's going to show up  
again," said Tanaka calmly.  
  
"Yes, go there, eliminate the one who is doing  
this without our consent, and take over the  
operation. Don't shut it down."  
  
"Vahn will be pleased to hear this, he's  
growing impatient," said Tanaka calmly. "I'll be  
take care of this right away."  
  
"Excellent."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
A small moving truck backed into the back of  
the large mansion. It was unmarked and the estate  
was on a rather large lot. It was a high-class  
brothel frequented by some of the most powerful  
men in Japan. The Oyabun would not be pleased that  
a drug lab tainted this operation at all. In fact,  
the order probably came from him. It was very  
unusual for someone as high ranked as the person  
running the operation to become greedy and do  
something so stupid. He probably thought he could  
get away with it because he was so high.  
  
Tanaka snorted as he jumped out of the  
passenger seat of the truck and glanced around. He  
turned towards the well-built man who was driving.  
The man was wearing overalls and a mover's  
uniform. "Let him out, send him into the basement.  
Tanaka pointed at the large pair of doors that  
lead into the basement.  
  
The back of the truck was opened, revealing a  
pair of red glowing eyes deep in the blackness of  
the rear.  
  
"Go in, don't kill too many people, and try  
not to damage anything. This place is our bait."  
  
"As you wish," replied the mechanical voice.  
There was a whirring sound as the thing stood up  
and began to climb towards the door. "At last, the  
time for my revenge grows near."  
  
Tanaka smirked to himself as he turned away  
and started walking towards the front of the  
building. "I might enjoy staying here for a time."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
That night, Usagi Hibiki stood on the rooftops  
of Tokyo with a frown on her face. She was in the  
guise of Sailor Moon, and had yet to find anything  
of interest. "Man, this is boring."  
  
Xellos appeared before her and grinned.  
"That's a good thing. It means you're doing a good  
job."  
  
"Jadeite is still out there, I know he's  
plotting something," replied the girl sourly.  
"I'll be happy when I get him."  
  
"I'm sure you will," replied the man calmly.  
  
Usagi paused, she was on the outskirts of  
town, and noticed something unusual.  
  
Several men in suits, surrounding an old man.  
They led him to a limousine and climbed in around  
him.  
  
"What's a guy like that doing in a place like  
this?" muttered the girl in confusion. She wasn't  
in the best neighborhood in Tokyo. It was a run  
down looking place really, graffiti cluttered the  
walls, and trash was thrown carelessly on the  
streets. The whole place looked rather grimy and  
gray.  
  
"Probably a Yakuza," said Xellos as he noted  
the quiet display. "Nothing for us to worry  
about."  
  
"Yakuza are criminals," replied Usagi.  
  
"Yes, very powerful ones at that," agreed  
Xellos. "He's not doing anything wrong. He  
probably owns a lot of the property around here.  
Just let it be."  
  
Usagi frowned at this and snorted. "There's  
nothing else of interest around here. I'm gonna  
follow him."  
  
"I don't recommend it," warned Xellos.  
  
"Screw it, I'm bored," she responded as she  
jumped away.  
  
A moment later, Xellos appeared on the rooftop  
where she had once been standing. Another image  
appeared in front of him, Jadeite's face. "We have  
a problem. I need you."  
  
"Why, I had no idea you swung that way old  
friend," said Jadeite calmly.  
  
"You've been spending too much time around  
Zocite and Kunzite," replied the man casually. "I  
need you to distract Usagi, she's following a  
Yakuza somewhere. Looks like he's pretty high  
ranked too."  
  
"In over her head?" asked Jadeite with a  
chuckle.  
  
"Not really, but it's more trouble than I  
think she wants to get into if she does find  
something. This is more of a hobby for her than  
anything, those kidnappings and such were mostly  
one-time things. If she's not careful, she'll get  
pulled into something a lot more serious and  
complicated than she's ready for."  
  
"I see," replied Jadeite calmly. "I'll see  
what I can do."  
  
"Do that," said Xellos as he vanished.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Usagi frowned as she looked down on the  
mansion that the limo had driven into. "What? I  
guess he just went home," she said with a small  
sigh. She waited anyway and frowned when several  
other expensive looking cars pulled up to the  
building. "What's this? A party?" Her eyes  
narrowed as she jumped down into the street and  
started towards the building.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Getting into the building was easy enough. She  
changed her appearance and now looked like a woman  
in her early twenties. She was wearing a business  
suit and her long blonde hair was now tied into a  
tight bun on the back of her head. A pair of  
sophisticated looking glasses appeared on her face  
as well.  
  
No one tried to stop her as she walked into  
the building. What she found, she definitely  
wasn't expecting. She was standing in the middle  
of a whorehouse. She snorted in disgust and went  
in anyway, it would seem odd if she just walked  
out. Xellos had taught her a lot over the past few  
months. She knew it would be best if she waited  
for one of the men in suits to leave, and followed  
him out. It would look like she was working for  
him, and he'd stopped off for a little relaxation  
after a meeting or something. Then she could slip  
away quietly.  
  
One of the men walked up to her and smirked  
lecherously. "How much for a night with you?"  
  
"Do I look like one of these whores to you?"  
she snapped as she leveled a glare at him angrily.  
  
The man chuckled at this and grinned. "No, but  
that makes you more interesting."  
  
"Find yourself someone more willing, pig," she  
snapped sharply.  
  
"I see, you're upset your boss isn't satisfied  
with you," he said with a small shrug. "Is that  
it?"  
  
She turned away and stormed off in a huff.  
After a moment, she sat down in one of the chairs  
that lined the walls, away from the whores that  
lounged around the room lazily, waiting for  
someone to find them interesting.  
  
She was pissed after almost fifteen minutes of  
watching more men come in. No one left, but there  
were a few other women sitting with her now. Most  
of them in the same position.  
  
"Why do they bring us to these places," said  
the redhead to her right. She was in her early  
thirties and had a scowl on her face much the same  
as her companions.  
  
"Who knows? I think they either just don't  
care, or they want to humiliate us," responded the  
brunette to her right.  
  
"Why do you put up with them if you don't like  
it?" asked Usagi with the same irritation in her  
voice.  
  
"Hey, you're here too. They're all sexist  
pigs, disgusting perverts, and complete jerks. We  
all know that, but we put up with them because  
they take care of us. We're relief at the office,  
we work well, and their wives are good at ignoring  
us more than they ignore places like this."  
  
"No better than the women who work here I  
suppose," said Usagi with a small sigh.  
  
"Don't say that darling. I can see you're new  
to this," said the redhead sympathetically. "We  
only do what we do for money it's true, but we  
only do it for one man." She winked at her and  
smirked. "As long as we're young and pretty, we're  
set. The retirement plan is great too, they'll pay  
for us for the rest of our lives out of gratitude,  
and to keep us quiet."  
  
"If they don't kill us that is," joked the  
brunette.  
  
"You make it sound...not so bad," muttered  
Usagi in surprise.  
  
The redhead laughed at this. "We aren't  
criminals dear, but our lovers are."  
  
"Hey! My boss is a governor!" snapped the  
Brunette.  
  
"If he's here, you can bet he's dabbled in a  
little criminal behavior. In fact, that's what  
this place is," responded the redhead.  
  
The woman blushed slightly and turned her head  
away.  
  
Usagi had stopped paying attention though,  
something had caught her eye. A man in overalls  
walked over to one of the men hanging around the  
back of the room. He'd come from a stairwell that  
led to the basement. The man leaned into the  
character in a suit and whispered something in his  
ear.  
  
Usagi stood up and started walking towards  
them slowly. She was cautious and moved slowly.  
  
"Hello," said a man who walked up to her and  
grabbed her arm roughly. "I haven't seen you  
around here before."  
  
Usagi gasped and glared at him as she jerked  
her arm away from him. "Back off I'm not here to  
entertain you."  
  
The man snorted in disgust and grabbed her  
roughly. "How dare you speak to me that way wench!  
I think your boss will appreciate me teaching you  
a lesson! He started to pull her towards the  
stairs roughly.  
  
That was when he suddenly jerked to a stop and  
almost lost his grip on the woman. She was  
standing firmly in place, and seemed to almost be  
riveted to the floor. "Let me go, or you'll regret  
it," she said coolly. Everyone had their attention  
on her now.  
  
The man reared his hand back to slap her, but  
stopped as her features slowly melted away,  
revealing a much younger girl dressed in a fuku.  
Long tendrils of ribbons floated in the air behind  
her, and an aura of menace surrounded her. "I was  
going to leave quietly, but then I noticed  
something is going on downstairs. Plus, you've  
gone and done something stupid. I think I'll have  
a little fun before I leave now."  
  
The man jumped back in horror, but not before  
the ribbons lashed out and snagged him. He was  
thrown into the wall and left a crater in his  
wake. He slumped down against the wall as Usagi  
was lifted into the air as several of her ribbons  
latched onto the floor. There were now dozens of  
them floating around her, grabbing men in suits  
indiscriminately and tossing them around the room.  
  
The one by the wall with the man in the  
overalls simply stared in shock. He turned his  
head and said something to the figure in the  
overalls. The man dashed down the stairs and he  
continued to stare at the girl.  
  
"What are you looking at?" she snarled as she  
moved towards him. Her ribbons acting like the  
legs of a spider as she crawled across the floor  
and walls towards him.  
  
"Cool!" he exclaimed with tears in his eyes.  
  
Usagi blinked and almost fell out of the air.  
"Huh?"  
  
"A real magical girl! What's your name!?"  
cried the man as he almost fell to his knees in  
front of her.  
  
"I'm...uh...Sailor Moon," she replied dumbly.  
  
"Can I have your autograph?" said the man with  
a fanatical smile on his face. "This is so cool! I  
didn't think stuff like this was real!"  
  
Usagi took the pen and pad he'd offered her  
and signed it. She wasn't quite over the shock of  
her situation. Her ribbons continued to work  
around her, disarming thugs and throwing people  
around the room.  
  
"Do you have a handsome and mysterious  
boyfriend?" asked the man cheerfully as he took  
his pad back.  
  
"Yeah, kinda. How do you know about that?" she  
muttered dumbly.  
  
"This is so great!" said the man. "I'm Tanaka.  
I'm an evil Yakuza. It's always been my dream to  
be one of those villainous Bishonen guys! I never  
thought my dream would come true!"  
  
"Huh?" said Usagi with confusion clear on her  
face.  
  
"Are you doing anything later?" he said  
cheerfully.  
  
"Gross! I'm fourteen! You pervert!" snapped  
the girl angrily. Her ribbons started to reach for  
the man.  
  
"Oh, you've probably already got a boyfriend  
then," said the man as he looked at the floor and  
mulled over this.  
  
"I just told you I did!" snapped Usagi.  
  
"Well, I'm pretty bishonen, don't you think? I  
could be better," he said cheerfully.  
  
"Not really, you're kinda short, and your hair  
is all greasy," replied the girl as she pointed to  
his slicked back hairstyle.  
  
"Hmmm, maybe I should start fluffing my hair  
some? Do you think I'd look good with long hair?  
Maybe I should grow it out some..."  
  
"Um, you'd probably look better with short  
hair really," said the girl honestly.  
  
"You're right. I should fluff it out some.  
Maybe get an earring too," said the man with a  
small snort. "Of course, I'd need a cape, and some  
armor. A really big sword or a rapier would  
probably help too."  
  
"You'd still be too short," said Usagi  
irritably. "Look, I've got to destroy this place  
in righteous anger. So, sorry about this."  
  
Tanaka blinked as he saw one of the ribbons  
wrap around his waist. There wasn't really anyone  
left standing in the room anymore. People had  
stopped bursting from the bedrooms, and most of  
anyone who could had already run away.  
  
"Well, I suppose I'll have to stop you," said  
Tanaka cheerfully. "Man this is so cool!"  
  
Usagi blinked as a strange sound emerged from  
the stairwell that led to the basement. "What's  
that?"  
  
"That's just Vahn. I'm sorry about this, but I  
am the villain it seems. I have to try and kill  
you now. You understand? Hopefully you'll escape,  
and we'll have all sorts of interesting battles!"  
  
"Right," grumbled Usagi as she tossed him  
aside and he hit the wall roughly. The man  
staggered to his feet and she ignored him in favor  
of the doorway with the strange noises coming from  
it.  
  
The small wooden frame exploded outward, and  
Usagi gasped. "What the fuck?!!"  
  
"Meet Vahn, my servant," said Tanaka as he  
stumbled forward a little.  
  
The thing emerged from the hole that had once  
been a door. It was huge, eight feet tall and  
completely metal.  
  
"A robot?" gasped Usagi as she backed away.  
  
"Cyborg actually," replied Tanaka proudly.  
  
The mechanical legs were bent back, like those  
of a bird. The metal claws on the end dug into the  
ground, supporting the massive weight and  
balancing the thing as it stood there. Its torso  
was huge, almost four feet wide. A skull like head  
glared at her with glowing eyes. A closer  
inspection revealed it to be more of a helmet than  
an artificial head. The arms were the scariest  
part of it. Two thick cable like protrusions that  
resembled a pair of muscular human arms. On the  
ends of both arms was a huge set of claws. One  
resembled a human hand, while the left arm had  
four finger like protrusions opposite one another.  
Each of them ended in a sharp blade. In the center  
of the palm was a small hole. Usagi could see  
quite a few door like seams in the chest and  
shoulders. Probably hiding hidden firearms of some  
sort.  
  
"No fucking way!" she muttered in horror.  
  
"Impressive ne?" said Tanaka cheerfully. His  
face fell as he snarled at Vahn. "Kill her."  
  
"You are not the one I seek," said the thing  
as it started towards the girl.  
  
"You're not so big. I'll kick your ass!"  
snarled Usagi as she rushed forward.  
  
The thing leveled its left arm at her and the  
girl's eyes went wide. A roar filled the room and  
Usagi found herself sprawled across the ground and  
rolling on the carpet in pain. She had noticed a  
small hole in his shoulder that spat out around  
twenty spent shells. Her chest was smoking, and  
there was a scorch mark on her chest. "Damn!"  
  
Vahn chuckled as he lurched forward.  
"Interesting."  
  
"Monster! I'll kill you for that!" snarled the  
girl as she sat up.  
  
Vahn responded by grabbing her face with his  
left arm, the four claw like fingers grabbing her  
head.  
  
Usagi screamed in pain as the barrel burned at  
her face. Vahn lifted her up off the ground and  
held her. Her ribbons were desperately wrapping  
around the thing. Sparks were being thrown off the  
thing's hide as they met with the razor edge of  
the ribbons.  
  
Vahn ignored this, and began to increase the  
pressure on her head, a long threaded rod began to  
slowly rotate out of the back of his shoulder as  
the claws started to crush her head. "I had hoped  
this would be more interesting. My true opponent  
will be less disappointing I hope."  
  
Usagi screamed as her head pounded in pain.  
Finally, she grit her teeth, her entire body  
suddenly changed. She turned silver, and the sound  
of gears grinding inside Vahn's shoulder sounded.  
  
The metallic Usagi raised her fists forward  
and pointed them at Vahn. Her hands turned to  
metal spikes and shot forward, slamming into the  
thing's chest. A few sparks flew from the impact,  
but Vahn's chest was little more than slightly  
dented.  
  
The cyborg snorted and opened fire with its  
arm cannon, blasting Usagi in the face at point  
blank range. She flew from his grasp and slammed  
into the wall. She grunted from the impact, but  
slowly rose to her feet again. "Bastard! It'll  
take more than you to kill me!"  
  
Vahn had started his next attack already  
though. Usagi gasped as two compartments on his  
shoulders opened. Two mini-guns rose up on either  
side of his head and started firing.  
  
The girl screamed as she was pelted with high  
velocity bullets. Her costume protected her, but  
she could feel the bruising they were causing on  
her body. "Damn!" she screamed again as she fell  
to her knees.  
  
"You are no match for me," said Vahn coldly.  
His right hand slid into his wrist, and a blade of  
energy formed on his arm. It looked something like  
a four-foot blowtorch.  
  
"This is really gonna hurt," muttered Usagi as  
she struggled to move. Her eyes were latched onto  
the flame as the thing moved towards her. She  
wasn't sure if her costume could protect her from  
that. She screamed in effort and her ribbons  
lifted her off the ground and onto the ceiling  
away from the thing's slash just in time. "Damn  
it!"  
  
Vahn snorted and looked up at her. Usagi's  
eyes went wide as she saw something large emerge  
from its back. A jetpack, the thing had a damn  
jetpack. The jets roared to life and Vahn crouched  
to leap up at her.  
  
"No!" she screamed as she willed herself to  
move, but it was obvious she wouldn't be fast  
enough.  
  
"SHI SHI HOUKOU DAN!"  
  
"Wa?" gasped the girl as a beam of power  
slammed into Vahn and sent him crashing into a  
wall. She dropped down to the ground, but didn't  
have the strength to stand despite the fact that  
she'd landed on her feet.  
  
A familiar pair of arms wrapped around her and  
she gasped.  
  
Ryoga Hibiki was glaring at the thing in the  
wall as it struggled to right itself again. He  
glanced at Tanaka and then started to back away.  
"Sailor Moon. Are you all right?"  
  
"Not really," replied the girl weakly.  
  
"Bastards," growled the boy as he turned and  
ran, carrying the girl in his arms.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
A few minutes later, Ryoga was sitting in a  
quiet park with a fire going in front of him.  
Usagi was lying on the ground resting next to him.  
  
"Are you hurt?" he asked her gently as he  
touched her face lightly.  
  
"Not really, that thing was really strong  
though. I'll be a little sore, but I'm fine thanks  
to you."  
  
Ryoga nodded and frowned at her. "You  
shouldn't have tried fighting that thing! You  
could have been killed!"  
  
"I can't run away," she replied calmly. "If I  
don't fight it, who will?"  
  
Ryoga closed his eyes and nodded. "Still."  
  
"Don't worry. I'm sure it has a weakness, I've  
just got to find it," she said with a smile on her  
face. She blinked suddenly. "Hey. What the heck  
were you doing in a place like that?"  
  
"What? What place?" he replied dumbly.  
  
"That was a whore house! Why were you there?  
What, I'm not good enough?"  
  
Ryoga went beet red. "What? No! I heard the  
noises, and went to check it out! I had no idea!"  
he replied as fast as he could.  
  
"Oh," said the girl sheepishly. She wrapped  
her arms around his neck. "Thank you Ryoga."  
  
"Yeah, sure," he muttered in embarrassment.  
"Anytime."  
  
"I don't know what I would have done if you  
hadn't come along, I mean it," she replied.  
  
"I couldn't let anything happen to you,"  
replied the boy with a romantic look on his face  
for the briefest of moments. "You should get home,  
you need rest."  
  
"Ryoga, I don't think I need any sleep," she  
said with a smirk growing on her face. She pulled  
him down into a kiss and he floundered on top of  
her for a moment before relaxing.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Oh my," muttered Jadeite as he stared at the  
scene for a shadow. "Who could have known she had  
it in her?"  
  
Xellos appeared beside him. "Oh, again?" he  
muttered in slight disgust.  
  
"Aren't they..." asked Jadeite as he looked at  
Xellos for a moment.  
  
"Yes, neither of them knows though," said  
Xellos with a smirk on his face. "Still, this  
thing could be a problem."  
  
"You're right, Usagi might not survive another  
encounter with it. I couldn't make it fast enough  
to stop her," said Jadeite. "I arrived just about  
the same time he did. I would have had to blow my  
cover and save her if not for him."  
  
"Such a shame," snorted Xellos lazily. "In any  
case, I'll set mother on the right path, she  
should be able to handle this. This is right up  
Dan's alley really. They'll probably enjoy it."  
  
"Should we interrupt them? Yohiko won't be  
pleased to find out her daughter is sleeping with  
her cousin," asked Jadeite nervously.  
  
"No, as far as I'm concerned, neither one of  
us knows about this. We're safer that way," said  
Xellos with a slight wavering in his voice. "I'm  
surprised the boy didn't pass out yet. Look at  
what she's doing to him."  
  
"I'd rather not. Incest isn't my thing," said  
Jadeite with a slightly sick frown. "Zocite and  
Kunzite I can deal with, this is just sick."  
  
"I'll be surprised if the boy manages to  
survive when her mother finds out about this,"  
agreed Xellos as he started walking.  
  
"She doesn't know about Sailor Moon yet? I'm  
surprised, she gets pretty banged up sometimes,"  
commented Jadeite.  
  
"I've been healing anything major," said  
Xellos. "Small wounds can be attributed to her  
training."  
  
"Oh," said Jadeite with a small shrug. "I'll  
be seeing you."  
  
"Yes, it's almost time," agreed Xellos as he  
faded into the shadows.  
  
Jadeite shuddered as a cry of pleasure floated  
over to where he was standing. "Little perverts,"  
he grumbled as he faded away as well.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next time: Vahn's Revenge, the final chapter!  
  



	70. Insertion Part 70

Insertion  
  
Part 70  
  
Vahn's Revenge, Final.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Pardon?" asked Yohiko as she sat with Xellos  
at the table and blinked.  
  
"I said, Vahn is still alive, and he's causing  
trouble," replied the man simply.  
  
The woman looked thoughtful for a moment and  
frowned. "Vahn?"  
  
"Yes, I believe you blew him up," replied the  
mage casually. "During that party, with the  
terrorists?"  
  
"Oh! Oh yeah," said the woman cheerfully.  
"Neat. I suppose he wants..."  
  
"Yes, Revenge," replied Xellos with a slight  
frown. "A rather nasty character that one."  
  
"Yeah, I didn't really meet him before. I  
believe it was a trap I set that got him."  
  
"Something like that," said the mage with a  
small shrug. "He's the only one besides your  
friend Olif that survived."  
  
"Hmmm. I guess so, but...I halfway expected to  
see Olif before that guy, he didn't have any arms  
or legs."  
  
Xellos sighed and shook his head. "Olif is  
living rather quietly, cowering in the corner of  
his cell and muttering gibberish in a mental  
institution."  
  
"Oh," said the woman as she sipped at the cup  
of tea that rested in her palms. "Well, I imagine  
I'll have to oblige him then."  
  
"Quite," said Xellos calmly as he stared at  
her for a moment.  
  
"Well, I suppose I should look for him tonight  
then," replied the woman with a small shrug.  
  
"Well, it's Saturday, get some sleep first,"  
said the man cheerfully.  
  
"Where is Usagi?" said the woman as she  
glanced around the room.  
  
"She's over with Godai, participating in the  
meeting of tenants there."  
  
"What for?"  
  
"Mostly so they can grill her about who I am  
in relation to you," said the man with a smirk on  
his face.  
  
"You mean they still haven't figured that  
out?" said the woman with a slightly surprised  
frown on her face.  
  
"No," replied the man as he lifted the  
newspaper up and started reading.  
  
"Boy, I'd think they'd have figured it out by  
now," said the woman with a small shrug.  
  
"I'm good at keeping secrets," said the mage  
with a slightly evil smirk forming on his face.  
  
"I suppose so," replied the woman. "Still,  
everyone else says they can see it in us. I don't  
get it myself, but..."  
  
"Who knows?" replied Xellos with a small  
shrug.  
  
Yohiko smirked as she picked up a letter that  
was sitting on the table. "Akane's getting married  
next month. She invited me and my family along.  
Want to go?"  
  
"Why not?" replied the man with a small shrug.  
  
"Behave yourself. I kinda like her, despite  
everything," replied the woman with a smirk on her  
face.  
  
"Oh, very well then," muttered Xellos.  
  
"I mean it. I know you."  
  
"Right, right, I promise, Mazoku's honor," said  
the man with a slightly disgusted frown on his  
face.  
  
"What honor?" said the woman with her smirk  
widening.  
  
"Har, har," said Xellos.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Usagi sat in the room with the others, only  
half-listening to the debate about whether her  
Uncle was Yohiko's lover or not. A few of the  
guesses were close, but they never quite got it  
right. A cousin was as close as they came.  
  
She didn't particularly care. Her mind was  
working on a more serious dilemma. That thing she  
had fought two nights ago. Well, when she wasn't  
distracted by thoughts of what had happened  
afterwards.  
  
A slight blush crossed the girl's face as she  
thought about it and she noticed everyone was  
staring at her.  
  
"What?" said the girl in confusion.  
  
"You mean...he's really that big?" said Akemi  
dumbly.  
  
"That explains a lot," muttered Itchinose as  
her cigarette hung from her lip in what appeared  
to be awe.  
  
"What are you talking about?" said the girl as  
she looked at them.  
  
Yotsuya was standing in front of a chalkboard  
with a somewhat surprised looking frown on his  
face. "Indeed. It seems my calculations were  
correct."  
  
The girl blanched when she saw that the words  
Xellos's Penis size were written on the board with  
a question mark behind it.  
  
"So that's why she puts up with him,"  
commented Akemi.  
  
"Nooooo!" cried Godai as he stood up and  
flopped to the ground in horror.  
  
"When I asked you, I didn't think you knew,"  
commented Yotsuya.  
  
"What? I wouldn't know that! I was thinking  
about something else! I wasn't even paying  
attention!" cried the girl in defense.  
  
"She hides her shame so well," said Yotsuya.  
  
"Musta seen him coming out of the bath or  
something," agreed Akemi.  
  
"Even if I did! I wouldn't be looking at  
that!" snapped the girl. "Gross!"  
  
"Your mother is not married. There is no shame  
in assessing an unattached man," said Yotsuya  
calmly.  
  
"You jerks!" cried the girl.  
  
"It isn't true!" muttered Godai pathetically.  
  
Usagi stood up and crossed her arms over her  
chest. "I'm leaving! You can figure this out on  
your own!" She turned away and slammed the door  
behind her.  
  
"Her embarrassment reveals the truth," said  
Yotsuya as he looked at the sobbing form of  
Yusaku.  
  
Akemi had her arm around him and was  
comforting him as best she could. She also  
appeared to be enjoying it a little too much.  
  
"Don't touch that!" cried the boy as he jumped  
up suddenly.  
  
"Sorry," she said sheepishly as she wiggled  
her fingers and smirked.  
  
"If I was single again," said Itchinose with a  
slightly wistful sigh.  
  
"Stop saying things like that you perverts!"  
cried the boy in horror.  
  
"Hey, it's not our fault you got cute all of a  
sudden," said Akemi as she blew a puff of smoke  
into the air.  
  
Godai hung his head and sat down again to  
sulk. "Just, leave me alone."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Usagi started to open her door and paused as  
the voice of Yohiko and her Uncle stopped her.  
  
"Right, right, Mazoku's honor," said the man  
cheerfully.  
  
"What honor?" replied her mother.  
  
"Har, har," said her Uncle flatly.  
  
"Mazoku?" muttered the girl under her breath  
with a slightly surprised frown. "What...some kind  
of monster?" She stepped back and sucked in a  
quick breath as her mother opened the door.  
  
"Hello Usagi, I thought you were talking with  
the band of idiots today," said the woman  
cheerfully.  
  
The girl paused. "I umm..."  
  
Xellos sighed. "How much did you hear child?"  
he said with a weary looking frown on his face.  
  
"Nothing! I didn't hear anything about a  
Mazoku!" cried the girl fearfully.  
  
Yohiko blinked. "What?" She turned her head to  
look at Xellos for a moment and frowned. "Come on  
in, might as well get this over with."  
  
The girl nervously complied, ready to jump  
away at a moment's notice.  
  
"That's just a title dear," said Xellos.  
  
"He's right," said Yohiko. "Xellos is..."  
  
"I've already told her I'm a sorcerer,"  
supplied the man calmly. "It's no big deal."  
  
Usagi relaxed. "So, that's some kind  
of...sorcerer thing?"  
  
"Something like that," said Xellos with a  
small chuckle. "More like a school, it's closer to  
say you're born into it."  
  
"So, mother is..."  
  
"No dear," said the woman with a small sigh.  
It was true, she was as human as Usagi at the  
moment.  
  
"Um, I'm not..."  
  
"No," said Yohiko with a small chuckle. "Don't  
worry. It's part of the reason he's the way he  
is."  
  
"Kind of hard to explain to someone who's not  
informed," said Xellos. "At least not without  
scaring the hell out of them," he thought  
privately.  
  
"Oh," said the girl as she took it on face  
value. "Well, I guess so."  
  
"Right dear, don't think too hard about it,"  
said Yohiko cheerfully.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Usagi stood on the roof of her home and  
glanced around as she jumped down into the street,  
the transformation taking place as she landed. She  
smiled and dashed off into the darkness, not  
realizing that another figure did much the same  
thing on the other side of the home.  
  
She didn't get very far before she paused and  
noticed someone waiting for her in the street.  
  
"Ryoga?"  
  
"Hello Sailor Moon," said the boy as he nodded  
at her.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked in  
confusion.  
  
The boy blushed, he'd been trying to find his  
way to the Tendo Dojo. He had to say goodbye to  
Akane at least. After the last meeting with Usagi,  
he realized that he would never be with his first  
love. So, he'd moved on. He hadn't yet told her  
about his family curse, and floundered over it for  
a moment. "I knew you'd be going out again, after  
that thing." He steeled himself as her expression  
told him he was right.  
  
"I have too," she said as she turned her gaze  
away from him. "No one else is going to beat him."  
  
"I'm going with you," said the boy as he  
started walking towards her.  
  
She frowned at this. "It's dangerous."  
  
"That's why I'm going," he replied calmly.  
  
"I don't want you to get hurt," she insisted.  
  
"And I don't want you to get hurt either, who  
knows what would have happened if I hadn't shown  
up when I did."  
  
The girl nodded as she realized he wasn't  
going to leave her alone. "All right." A grin  
formed on her face as she grabbed his arm and  
started to pull him along. "We'll celebrate after  
we beat him!"  
  
"What?" said the boy as his entire body turned  
beet red.  
  
"It isn't at that mansion anymore," said the  
girl. "I went back a few days ago, but it was  
cleared out. Police were everywhere."  
  
"I see," said Ryoga. "So where are we going?"  
  
"Back to that mansion," said Usagi firmly.  
  
"Huh? But you said..."  
  
"They might have left a clue about where they  
went behind. I couldn't get in last time because  
of the police."  
  
"Oh," said the boy dumbly.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
They arrived within an hour and stood staring  
at the doorway. There were no longer any police,  
but the scene was taped off. There were boards  
nailed up on the windows of the entrance, but the  
rest of the home was untouched.  
  
The pair walked inside calmly. The door had  
been locked, but Usagi's costume was easily able  
to mimic the key by filling in the lock like a  
sort of liquid.  
  
"So, what are we looking for?" asked Ryoga.  
  
"Anything. Maybe we should split up?" said the  
girl as she glanced back at her companion.  
  
"I don't think that would be a very good  
idea," said the boy nervously.  
  
"You're not scared are you?" she quipped.  
  
"No! But..."  
  
"All right, you can stay with me then!" said  
the girl as she latched onto his arm.  
  
"This isn't a date you know," he said weakly.  
  
"Well, it's as close as we've come to one,"  
said the girl cheerfully as she pulled him into  
the middle of the lobby.  
  
"How quaint," said a voice from the shadows.  
The lights came on and the pair stood there in  
shock. Usagi released Ryoga's arm and frowned at  
the figure that stood at the top of the stairs.  
  
Tanaka smirked at the pair. He was wearing a  
long cape with armored shoulder pads over a light  
purple uniform. A broadsword hung at his side and  
his hair was now fluffed into a style that hung  
into his face from his bangs. "Welcome back. I  
suspected you might return here. The police  
presence kept me from setting my trap until now."  
He pointed at the girl and laughed.  
  
"Um...are you wearing lipstick?" said Usagi as  
she seemed to peer at him for a moment.  
  
"Why, yes," replied the man calmly. "I am  
wearing lipstick."  
  
"Why?" muttered Ryoga in confusion.  
  
"Because, I am an evil bishonen villain!"  
  
"Oh," replied the pair.  
  
"Vahn! Welcome our guests!" snarled the man as  
he drew his sword and pointed it at them  
dramatically. After a second or two, he let the  
tip touch the floor and gasped. "This thing is  
heavy!"  
  
"It's that thing!" said Ryoga as the  
mechanical beast appeared in the room from the  
basement again.  
  
"Ah, they have returned. I didn't come here to  
play your games Tanaka. I want the other one, not  
this puny being!"  
  
Usagi blinked. "Other?"  
  
"The Shadow," said the thing hatefully. "He is  
my true enemy, you are nothing to me, and I will  
destroy you to satisfy my obligation. I will have  
my real revenge soon enough!"  
  
The girl's ribbons started to elongate from  
her back and float in the air again. "Ryoga, get  
out of the way, you won't do me any good out  
here."  
  
"Right, I'll wait for an opportunity to  
strike," he said with frustration clear in his  
voice. "I shouldn't have come. I caught him by  
surprise before, I'll just get in the way against  
that thing!"  
  
Usagi was already moving forward with grim  
determination in her eyes. "You're going down this  
time!"  
  
"You cannot win," said the thing coldly as its  
claws began to work in anticipation.  
  
Ryoga glanced down nervously as he started to  
walk towards the man standing at the top of the  
stairs. His gaze was cold, and Vahn ignored him.  
  
"So, she sends her sidekick to die at my  
hands?" said Tanaka coldly.  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" snarled  
Ryoga as he clenched his fists at his side. "I'm  
not her sidekick!"  
  
"No matter, we all know that only Sailor Moon  
has the power to vanquish me! Your attempts will  
be laughably pathetic!"  
  
"Is that so?" snarled Ryoga as he stood off  
against the man.  
  
"Yes, It's inevitable. If she manages to  
defeat Vahn, we will have a dramatic battle on the  
roof of this building. In the moonlight, we will  
face each other in honorable combat, with only one  
of us surviving."  
  
"You read too much manga," said Ryoga coldly  
as he took up a combat stance.  
  
"Martial arts?" said the man in amusement as  
he put his sword on his shoulder pad and chuckled.  
"You fool, I'm a bishonen villain. It's my very  
nature to be deceptive and cowardly."  
  
"What?" said the boy in confusion.  
  
"Lucky for me, it's an interpretive art form,"  
said the man as he took a handgun from his belt  
and promptly shot Ryoga.  
  
The lost boy's eyes went wide, he had moved,  
but not soon enough. "I..." he said as he slumped  
down against the stair rail and clung to it for a  
moment. His left arm hung uselessly at his side.  
"You bastard. I'll."  
  
"You'll die," said Tanaka coldly.  
  
Usagi's attention had vanished from Vahn at  
the sound of the shot. She gasped in horror and  
looked up at the scene. "No! Ryoga!" she screamed  
angrily.  
  
Vahn simply stood there for a moment, but  
started to move towards her to stop her.  
  
Another voice entered the room and everyone  
went silent.  
  
"Pathetic, you're nothing more than a  
charlatan," said an evilly smooth tone from one of  
the upstairs rooms as the door opened. "I'd like  
to see how you'll do against a real bishonen  
villain."  
  
"What?" gasped Tanaka. He spun around and took  
a step back.  
  
Jadeite was standing there with a rapier in  
his hand and a cool smile on his face. "I was  
going to just let this little drama play out, but  
you're a disgrace. I won't have you besmirching  
such a title with such a pathetic display."  
  
Vahn stopped moving and spoke to Usagi. "We  
will not be interrupted. Your friend will live, if  
you manage to survive me again."  
  
The girl glanced at Ryoga. He was on his feet,  
and didn't appear to be too badly hurt. He now had  
one of his bandannas tied to the wound on his  
shoulder and simply watched the pair in front of  
him.  
  
The girl turned to face the cyborg and  
frowned.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Tanaka snarled as he hefted his sword and  
pointed it at the man. "You say I'm not good  
enough to be a bishonen villain? How dare you!"  
  
"You're too short," said the notably taller  
Jadeite calmly as he stepped forward.  
  
"I'll kill you!" snarled the man as he charged  
and swung his sword clumsily.  
  
Jadeite merely raised his hand and a pillar of  
dark magic engulfed the man.  
  
A charred looking skeleton slumped onto the  
ground when the light faded. "Heh. Pathetic." He  
narrowed his eyes and turned towards Vahn. "Now,  
as for you..."  
  
"My, it certainly is noisy in here tonight,"  
said a cold voice from the darkness. Everyone  
turned to see a tall dark blob of darkness walk  
through the front door of the home. the shadows  
melted away from the thing, revealing a tall man  
with a pair of handguns held at the ready. His  
eyes were amused more than anything else.  
  
"You!" cried Vahn as he swat Usagi aside. The  
girl had a few tendrils of ribbon wrapped around  
him, but hadn't really started fighting yet.  
  
The girl hit the wall roughly and rubbed at  
her head in irritation.  
  
The Shadow paused and looked at the thing for  
a moment, not even bothering to take stock of the  
situation around him otherwise. "Vahn?"  
  
"At last! I shall have my revenge!" roared the  
thing as it raised its claws into the air in  
triumph.  
  
Everyone paused when The Shadow suddenly fell  
to his knees.  
  
Vahn chuckled, his nemesis was paralyzed with  
fear, to shocked to fight. "I hope you'll give me  
a better fight than this."  
  
The Shadow ignored him. "A...A...A Su...A  
Suuu...A Suup...A Super Villain?!" He jumped up to  
his feet and raised his arms in triumph. "Thank  
you!"  
  
Everyone simply stared at him for a moment.  
  
"What?" said Usagi dumbly. "Hey! He's my Super  
villain!" cried the girl irritably. "I was just  
gonna kick his ass!"  
  
The Shadow paused again, realizing that there  
were others in the room with him. "Wha?"  
  
Usagi blinked as she fell under the  
intimidating figure's gaze. "USAGI? What the hell  
are you doing here?"  
  
"Um...I know you?" said the girl in confusion.  
  
"Oh, You are in so much trouble when you get  
home young lady!" said the Shadow as he rushed up  
to her and grabbed her ear, twisting it painfully.  
  
"What? Let me go you freak! Wait! Home! You're  
going to tell my mother about this!?"  
  
"Your mother?" said the figure dumbly. "You'd  
better get your behind back home right now!" he  
snapped. "You and I are going to have a long  
discussion about this when I get back young lady!"  
  
"What the hell? Who are you?" cried Usagi as  
she tried to escape the figure's grip on her ear.  
Tears of pain were starting to well up in her  
eyes.  
  
"You let her go!" screamed Ryoga as he dove  
towards the figure in an offensive stance.  
  
"Ryoga? What are you doing here?!" cried The  
Shadow as he finally noticed the boy.  
  
"Huh?" said the boy dumbly as he found himself  
grabbed by his ear. "You two are in on this  
together?"  
  
"What?" said Usagi in shock.  
  
"What kind of trouble have you been getting  
your cousin into mister?" snapped the angry man as  
he jerked Ryoga's head from side to side  
violently.  
  
"Cousin?" said the pair in unison as they  
suddenly froze and looked at the man in shock.  
  
Vahn wasn't sure what to do, he simply stared  
at the scene. "I...um..."  
  
"Hold your horses! I'll get to you when I deal  
with this!" said the Shadow impatiently.  
  
"But I..." said Usagi in horror. "He is not my  
cousin! He's my boyfriend!"  
  
"Um! Yeah!" said the boy lamely.  
  
"Usagi Hibiki, what the hell are you talking  
about?" snapped The Shadow.  
  
Ryoga froze and looked at the girl. "Your name  
is Hibiki?" he muttered as he almost passed out.  
  
"Um yeah...don't tell me..." said the girl  
quietly.  
  
"Ryoga Hibiki," confirmed the boy. He seemed  
to be on the verge of tears.  
  
"WAAAAAAHHHHHH! I'll never have sex again!"  
cried the girl as she burst into tears.  
  
The Shadow froze and released both teens.  
"What?" Slowly, his head turned to look at the  
boy, a cold fire burning in the back of his eyes.  
  
"She made me do it!" cried Ryoga in horror.  
  
The Shadow growled, it was an inhuman sound.  
The two handguns appeared in his grip again and he  
leveled them on the unfortunate boy.  
  
"Oh shit," said Ryoga lamely. He turned and  
started running.  
  
The Shadow moved after him, firing shots that  
barely missed the boy. His skills clouded by an  
intense anger. "Die! Die! How dare you! My little  
girl! You perverted bastard! Just you wait until I  
get my hands on you!"  
  
Vahn had yet to move. He simply watched the  
scene, unable to do anything. "What the hell is  
this?" he muttered to himself.  
  
"Little bastard! I'll see how well you can get  
to know your cousin without it!"  
  
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" cried Ryoga fearfully as he  
was chased back and fourth through the room.  
  
Usagi chased after the man, her ribbons  
clinging to him desperately as she tried to stop  
him without much success. "No! Don't hurt him!"  
  
Jadeite blinked and turned away, intent on  
leaving quietly.  
  
A pair of bullet holes stopped his escape and  
he slowly turned around.  
  
The shadow was glaring at him from below,  
pausing his chase of the lost boy for a moment.  
"Where the hell do you think you're going?"  
  
"I was just leaving," said the man lamely.  
  
"You stay put Nephrite! We're going to have a  
long talk about this, and why the hell you're  
here!"  
  
The man hung his head and sat down on the  
floor. "Man."  
  
"Noo! Don't hurt him!" screamed Usagi as she  
latched onto the man's back, trying to hold him  
back more than ever. "Stop it! Stop trying to kill  
him, and leave my super villains alone!"  
  
"All right, that does it," snapped the  
intimidating figure as his form slowly melted  
away.  
  
Usagi froze, absolute terror suddenly  
appearing on her face as she realized who she was  
holding in her grip. The ribbons fell away,  
seeming to almost be sheepish as they slumped off  
of the woman.  
  
"Young lady, you'd better get your ass home,  
right now."  
  
"Mom?!!!" cried the girl as she simply fell to  
her knees. "No way!"  
  
"Mom?" muttered Vahn. The whirring of  
machinery coming to life filled the room and a  
rage built up inside him. "A woman? A woman did  
this to me? I was beaten by a woman?!!"  
  
Yohiko finally seemed to remember he was there  
and cursed under her breath. "Get lost Usagi, I'll  
handle this. He's an old friend of mine, and you  
and I are going to talk about this later."  
  
The girl stumbled back, not even trying to  
argue.  
  
"Auntie Yohiko?" said Ryoga as he poked his  
head around a corner. He shook for a moment, and  
then passed out cold.  
  
"Nephrite, get them out of here and take them  
home. You'd better be there when I get back."  
  
The man stood up from his seat and frowned.  
"Fine. Ya jerk."  
  
Vahn's chest had slid open, revealing a  
compartment inside with a round red object inside.  
Yohiko growled as a black liquid seemed to form  
around her body, changing her form.  
  
"Die! I'll kill you and your whole family!  
Revenge is mine!" he screamed as a small missile  
blasted from his chest. It took Yohiko dead center  
and threw her through a wall. There was an  
explosion on the other side, and the building  
started to burn.  
  
"Mother! No!" screamed Usagi as she started to  
move.  
  
Jadeite appeared behind her and grabbed her.  
"She's fine! That's not enough to kill her," he  
said sharply as he pulled her away without too  
much trouble. He grabbed Ryoga around his neck and  
the boy made no move to stop him. They all  
vanished in a flash of light.  
  
Vahn growled as he saw this. "No! They have  
escaped!" He turned towards the smoldering hole  
and chuckled. "No matter, I shall send your family  
to meet you in hell soon enough."  
  
There was a familiar sound from inside the  
hole, barely audible over the flames.  
  
Vahn's sensors picked it up and he frowned.  
"What?"  
  
It was the rhythmic sound of machinery moving,  
and the soft thump of footsteps.  
  
"Freeze, creep," said a mechanical sounding  
voice.  
  
Vahn stepped back in shock, not believing what  
he was seeing before him. A small armored man was  
walking out of the hole. "What is this?"  
  
"You're under arrest," said the thing calmly.  
Its arm moved mechanically to its side, and a  
compartment opened out of its leg. A huge firearm  
appeared and moved into its grip.  
  
"Is this some sort of joke?" snarled Vahn  
angrily as it raised its arm and began to fire at  
the thing.  
  
The armored figure calmly walked forward,  
jerking only slightly as the occasional stray  
bullet struck it in the chest. "You're going  
down," it said in an emotionless monotone as it  
began to fire at Vahn.  
  
Both of the machines were doing little damage  
to each other, they simply circled, firing at one  
another and doing nothing more than make sparks  
fly off each other's bodies.  
  
Vahn quickly tired of this and charged  
forward. His claws opened wide and he dove for the  
thing.  
  
"Big mistake," said the thing coldly.  
  
"Eh?" muttered Vahn as he found his claws met  
with the thing's fists. They stood pushing on each  
other. Vahn chuckled as he pushed the thing back,  
easily sliding it slowly across the floor. "It  
seems you're weaker than I am. I'll tear you  
apart!"  
  
"You'll try," said the thing calmly. "I'm  
afraid I can't allow that though.  
  
"What?" said Vahn as he realized something was  
wrong. The thing didn't have the silver shine to  
it any longer. Instead it had turned jet black,  
the blackness was slowly moving up his arms and  
the robotic figure melted away to reveal the  
woman's face. "Heh. Fool."  
  
"What are you doing?" cried Vahn as the  
darkness covered his chest.  
  
"Too bad I've got other places to be tonight,  
I'd love to stay and play with you for a while,  
but I've got family business.  
  
Vahn desperately tried to escape, he thrashed  
violently, but the woman's grip was iron solid.  
"No! It can't be!"  
  
Yohiko chuckled as the darkness slowly started  
to seep into the cracks and seams of the robot,  
prying them apart slowly and moving through the  
innards of the monster. "Where are you?"  
  
"No! This is impossible!" screamed Vahn in  
horror as he began to feel something sliding  
across what was left of his chest. he was deep  
inside the monstrosity, invulnerable to any  
attack.  
  
"Ah, there you are," said Yohiko. "Goodbye."  
  
Vahn went silent as a sharp pain exploded  
across his chest, the pressure that had started to  
build inside his armor had crushed him inside the  
beast. The machine went silent.  
  
Yohiko chuckled and removed the last traces of  
the costume from inside Vahn's shell. "Well, that  
was quick."  
  
"What's that noise?" asked Pissant.  
  
"What noise?" asked Carrot.  
  
"That beeping?" muttered Xainfu in confusion.  
  
"Beeping?" muttered Dan. "Oh shit."  
  
The entire building exploded in a spectacular  
ball of flame.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"Who are you really?" snarled Usagi angrily.  
  
Jadeite was sitting across from Xellos with a  
frown on his face. "My real name is Nephrite. I'm  
an old friend of your...mother."  
  
"What's going on here?" screamed the girl in  
frustration. "What happened to my mom?"  
  
Xellos didn't look very comfortable. "She  
found her?"  
  
"Yeah, we're screwed too," said Nephrite as he  
faded into Phibrizo.  
  
"What the? What's going on? Who the hell is  
this kid?" screamed Usagi. "What happened to  
Jadeite?"  
  
"Actually, my name is Jadeite, he's Nephrite,"  
said her Uncle with a small nervous chuckle.  
  
"Huh?!" cried the girl in frustration.  
  
"I was training you," said Nephrite with a  
small shrug. "I was playing evil villain and  
keeping an eye on you."  
  
"You kidnapped people to train me?" screamed  
the girl in anger.  
  
"No, I just sort of showed up at the end and  
started giving orders. They were usually in so  
much chaos that they listened to me without  
question. I haven't really done anything," said  
the boy with a small shrug.  
  
Ryoga stood next to the table with a horrified  
look on his face. "Could someone please tell me  
what's going on? Sailor Moon isn't really Auntie  
Yohiko's daughter is she?"  
  
"Well, her mother's name is Yohiko..." said  
Xellos.  
  
"This sucks," grumbled Usagi.  
  
"How dare you! You raped me! My own cousin!"  
cried Ryoga in anguish.  
  
"Shut the hell up! You should have told me you  
were a Hibiki!" cried the girl.  
  
"Now, now. Wait, did you say rape?" Xellos  
paused and looked at the girl. "Oh, you didn't."  
  
Nephrite seemed to catch on and looked at  
them. "You slept with your cousin?"  
  
"Yes! No! I mean...We didn't know!" said Usagi  
as she hung her head.  
  
"Man, no wonder Yohiko was so pissed," said  
Nephrite.  
  
Both of them knew of this some time ago, but  
playing stupid now would make it easier to  
convince Yohiko that they were ignorant later. If  
she was as angry as Nephrite had said, it could  
possibly save their lives.  
  
"Why isn't she here yet?" cried Usagi  
fearfully.  
  
"Huh? Don't worry, Vahn's not strong enough to  
hurt her. Her costume is much more powerful than  
yours," said Xellos with a small smirk.  
  
The girl nodded and watched the door. "I hope  
you're right."  
  
"Staying there would have just put us in the  
way," commented Nephrite.  
  
"In any case, there isn't much we can do now  
besides wait anyway," agreed Xellos.  
  
"What's going on?" muttered Ryoga fearfully.  
  
"We're waiting for Usagi's mother to get home  
to kill you, and hopefully we'll be able to talk  
our way out of it ourselves. I'd let you go, but  
I'm hoping she'll blow off enough steam to leave  
us alone after she's through with you," said  
Xellos.  
  
"Yeah. Sorry, you understand right?" agreed  
Nephrite.  
  
"What? Kill me?" cried the boy in shock.  
  
"Don't worry Ryoga, I don't think it'll go  
that far..." said Usagi with a weak smile.  
  
The door opened and slammed into the wall.  
Yohiko stood there with an aura burning around her  
as she glared into the room. "Now..."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Nephrite, Jadeite, and Usagi all sat at the  
table in silence. None of them daring to speak.  
Ryoga was a broken pile of unconscious blood on  
the floor behind the intimidating woman.  
  
"You're all going to tell me a story, a story  
about Sailor Moon, and why you thought it would be  
a good idea to keep it from me that my daughter  
was running around the streets at night, alone."  
  
"She wasn't alone," grumbled Nephrite. "I was  
usually following her. Most of the time."  
  
"Oh?" said Yohiko as she looked back at Ryoga.  
  
"I had no idea! I swear!" cried the boy  
fearfully. "She must have done it after I left  
her! I was just training her! Xellos asked me to  
do it!"  
  
The priest glared at Nephrite. "You little..."  
  
"Oh, he did?" said Yohiko darkly.  
  
"I didn't have any say in the matter. They  
were orders from further up," he said as he turned  
his head away. "I'd find a nice kidnapping or  
something, set her towards it. Gutless here would  
play villain while he kept her safe while she  
learned. After that was over our job was done and  
we assumed she was just coming home."  
  
"Assumed? You?" said Yohiko with a frown on  
her face.  
  
"All right. I'll admit I knew something was  
going on. I was trying to be nice and give the  
girl some privacy. I figured there was maybe a  
Mamoru running around, and she was meeting up with  
him."  
  
"Privacy?" snorted Yohiko as her aura burned a  
little brighter.  
  
"I'm a lot of things, and a voyeur isn't one  
of them," replied Xellos with a hurt look. "I  
don't spy on Carrot and Yohiko either. It's a  
family courtesy."  
  
"So, you knew my daughter was running around  
with some strange boy, a boy who happens to be her  
cousin, and you said nothing?"  
  
"Parenting isn't my job," said Xellos coldly.  
"It's my nature to be deceptive."  
  
Yohiko sighed and stood up. She walked over to  
the kitchen and poured herself a cup of sake.  
After that, she poured another cup and walked back  
to the table with the bottle as well. She set it  
down at the table and put one of the cups in front  
of her daughter.  
  
"Huh?" said Usagi dumbly.  
  
"So, you want to play super hero do you?" said  
the woman with a smirk on her face.  
  
"Well..." said the girl nervously as she  
looked away.  
  
"Fine, I'm taking over your training as of  
now," she said calmly. She turned and glared at  
the pair opposite her. "Understood?"  
  
Both men nodded.  
  
"The only reason you two aren't dead, is  
because I know you're not here for this. It's  
something else, I'm not stupid enough to believe  
that you were sent here just because it was  
amusing either. They're up to something."  
  
"Well, if you've already figured that out..."  
said Xellos with a slightly nervous laugh.  
  
"You're moving out, right now," said Yohiko as  
she glared at him. "I'd better not see you again  
for at least a week. After that, maybe."  
  
"Right," said Xellos as he hung his head.  
  
"We can't just throw him into the street! He's  
helped me at least! I can't..."  
  
"He's just moving in with Nephrite, that's  
all," said Yohiko with a small chuckle.  
  
Usagi blinked and looked at the pair. They  
were already walking out the door. "Sorry, gotta  
go, bye!" said Xellos quickly as he rushed away.  
  
"Traitors! How dare you leave me alone to face  
this!?" cried the girl.  
  
"Now as for you, your training starts tomorrow  
night," said Yohiko calmly.  
  
"Man, I've got a feeling this is going to  
hurt," muttered the girl dejectedly.  
  
"You have no idea," agreed Yohiko with an evil  
smirk. "As for tonight, you and I are getting  
drunk. I think you deserve it after what this  
pervert pulled." She glanced over her shoulder at  
Ryoga. The boy probably wouldn't wake up for a  
while, and when he did, he wouldn't be happy.  
  
Usagi blushed and looked away. "I told you it  
was my fault. You didn't have to hurt him."  
  
"That's the only reason he's still alive,"  
said Yohiko coldly. She smiled and pat the girl on  
her back. "Come on, you've got a broken heart, and  
I've got a gallon of ice-cream. Drink up."  
  
The girl looked up at her mother and then  
downed the cup in front of her in a swift motion.  
She took a moment to catch her breath after that  
and almost gagged.  
  
"Don't worry, it gets easier. Don't think I'm  
gonna let you get away with this later on either.  
You're still not old enough."  
  
The girl nodded as her mother poured her  
another cup. "Okay."  
  
"I suppose I should do something with him,"  
grumbled Yohiko as she looked at Ryoga for a  
moment. She sighed and lifted him onto her  
shoulder. She calmly walked across the room and  
opened the window before tossing him out.  
  
"Mother!" cried Usagi in shock.  
  
"He's fine. I was nice enough to open the  
window first," replied the woman with a shrug.  
  
Usagi sighed and glanced at the window  
nervously before gulping down another shot. "Oh  
man. This sucks," she muttered to herself.  
  
"Most things do dear," said Yohiko cheerfully  
as she joined her daughter and poured herself  
another glass as well.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
No, not the end of this world arc just yet.  
One more story arc to go! Then I'll move on to the  
final world of Insertion.  



	71. Insertion Part 71

Insertion  
  
Part 71  
  
Akane's Wedding  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Cologne frowned as she sat in the Cat Cafe and  
looked at Shampoo.  
  
"Something is wrong Great Grandmother?" asked  
the girl in confusion.  
  
"Yes, I'm afraid there is. I have some bad  
news Shampoo, it concerns the son in law."  
  
The girl sat upright and frowned at the old  
woman for a moment. "What is talking?"  
  
"Your intended, has been gone for some time my  
dear," said the old woman calmly. "He left almost  
eight months ago."  
  
Shampoo blinked at this and shook her head.  
"Ranma not go anywhere, Shampoo see him..."  
  
"That boy, was not the son in law. I am sorry  
for deceiving you Shampoo, but I had hoped you  
would grow distant from the boy. It was our plan  
from the start."  
  
Shampoo let out a nervous laugh and waved the  
comment aside. "Is funny joke..."  
  
"I am not joking, the boy who has been helping  
me is known as Carrot. He agreed to pretend to be  
the son in law until we could discover a way to  
break this too you." The old woman stood up.  
  
"What is talking?" said the girl with a cold  
looking frown forming on her face.  
  
"Silence, and I will explain," said Cologne.  
"A while back, the son in law went off and married  
the Musk prince Herb. It was done in secret,  
before any of us had time to think or react to it.  
I knew you would be foolish enough to chase him."  
  
"What?" said Shampoo with horror forming on  
her face.  
  
"The boy you have been chasing, is a double  
for the son in law. In fact, he's not even really  
a man. I wasn't aware of this, but when I found  
out, I knew this had to stop. I am sorry."  
  
"Great Grandmother lying!" screamed the girl  
as she stood up and glared at the old woman  
angrily.  
  
"Sit down!" snapped Cologne in an  
authoritative voice. "You will listen to me  
child."  
  
The girl reluctantly did so, and scowled at  
the hag angrily.  
  
Cologne sighed. "It was our hope that you  
would drift apart. Your devotion was more than  
even I had counted on." She shook her head gently  
and sighed again. "Unfortunately, I can not allow  
this to continue."  
  
Shampoo merely stared dumbly at the woman.  
  
"Ranma Saotome, as you have known him, is the  
curse of a woman known as Yohiko Hibiki."  
  
"Miss Yohiko?" said Shampoo in shock. "Shampoo  
teacher?"  
  
"Yes, she did not like doing this for me, but  
agreed. I cannot have you chasing the boy any  
longer. He lives in China, and is the ruler of the  
Musk kingdom now. Your heart, though dear to me as  
it is, would no doubt start a war between our  
tribes if you followed it. I'm sorry, but you must  
stop chasing him. Starting at this moment."  
  
"No! Ranma belong to Shampoo I not...!"  
  
"Enough! This must end Shampoo; I cannot allow  
you to go on with this any longer! You have lost!  
Now you must accept that!"  
  
Tears were flowing down the girl's face as she  
stared at the old woman in shock.  
  
"I am sorry, I tried my best to win him for  
you, and tried to protect you from doing something  
foolish as long as I could. Even I am not  
infallible. We have both failed child. It is  
over."  
  
The girl stood up and rushed up the stairs to  
her room, slamming the door.  
  
Cologne gave a heavy sigh and shook her head.  
"What a fool I am."  
  
Mousse came down the stairs with an angry  
snarl on his face and weapons brandished in his  
hands. "Saotome! How dare you!?"  
  
"Mousse?" said the hag dumbly.  
  
"Where is he? I'll cut his heart out for  
making Shampoo cry!" snarled the boy as he shook a  
stool violently. "Tell me old woman!"  
  
"Ranma Saotome is not at fault, that was my  
doing," said the old woman calmly.  
  
"What?" said Mousse in horror.  
  
"Shampoo is not permitted to chase the boy any  
longer, Ranma Saotome is no longer her betrothed."  
  
Mousse merely stood there with his jaw hanging  
down. "What?"  
  
"You heard me boy," said the hag coolly.  
  
"This is the happiest moment of my life!"  
cried the boy in joy as he dashed up the stairs  
after his beloved.  
  
"Mousse!" snapped Cologne. She sighed and sat  
back down, the boy was still as stupid as he ever  
was.  
  
The fact that his beaten form came barreling  
down the stairs a moment later didn't perturb him  
in the slightest. "My love! At last we can be  
together! You don't have to pretend to be in love  
with that fool any longer!"  
  
Cologne hopped away, washing her hands of the  
situation. "Let him get himself killed, then I can  
stop worrying about him."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Yohiko frowned as she stood next to Shampoo in  
the hallway of Furinkan with Shampoo during the  
lunch break. That day had been a break in the  
normality of her life so far. Shampoo was in a  
foul mood, and Ukyo seemed almost pleasant.  
  
"Well?" asked the woman impatiently.  
  
"Is true?" said Shampoo as she glared at the  
woman.  
  
"Told you did she?" said Yohiko with a sudden  
understanding in her voice.  
  
"So, it true. Why you do thing like that to  
Shampoo?"  
  
"I felt obligated to her, even though I don't  
agree with what she's done," said the woman with a  
small sigh.  
  
Shampoo frowned, tears forming in her eyes.  
"So, Ranma leave Shampoo?"  
  
"Why do you think Kuonji's been in such a foul  
mood lately? Plus Akane Tendo leaving to marry her  
new fiancee? All of this was because of him, don't  
think you were alone in this."  
  
The girl gasped and looked up at the woman's  
small frown. Yohiko shrugged her shoulders and  
gripped the girl by her arms. "Look, I'm sorry  
about what happened. Hopefully, you'll use this to  
make yourself stronger rather than allow it to  
weaken you. There isn't much else I can say or do  
about it. I wish there was, but it's not my  
place."  
  
The girl hung her head and nodded. "Shampoo  
understand, well not really. Shampoo don't know  
why, but not angry, not with teacher anyway."  
  
"I'm glad, I'd hate to have to beat you up,"  
said the woman with a pleasant looking smile.  
  
"You not underestimate Amazon strength!"  
snapped Shampoo irritably.  
  
"You're right, I shouldn't," agreed the woman.  
  
  
Ukyo walked up with a frown on her face after  
Shampoo had left. Yohiko arched her eyebrow  
slightly as she found herself holding a small  
folded paper. "What's this?"  
  
"I'm withdrawing from school," said the girl  
as she stared at the teacher.  
  
"May I ask why?" asked Yohiko calmly.  
  
"I'm almost there. I've almost got enough  
saved up. I'll be going to China within two months  
time. I'll find that bastard, and make him pay."  
  
Yohiko nodded slowly at this. "You know you  
can't win."  
  
"That doesn't mean I can't try," replied the  
girl coldly.  
  
"This doesn't suit you Ukyo, but there isn't  
anything I can do about that," replied the woman  
as she nodded and looked over the paper.  
  
"You're wrong, this is what I've been for most  
of my life," replied the girl calmly as she turned  
away.  
  
"Yes, it's a shame," agreed Yohiko as she  
walked away.  
  
"Isn't it though?" muttered Ukyo with a  
bittersweet tone in her voice.  
  
Yohiko sighed as she turned to glance back at  
the girl for a moment. "And so, the last bond is  
shattered."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Some time later...  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga Hibiki frowned as he strolled through  
the streets of Tokyo, his injuries were now  
healing, and it had now been almost a month since  
that fateful night. His thoughts were broken, his  
heart shattered. "Damn," he mumbled as he found  
himself standing in front of a large building.  
  
Usagi Hibiki was staring at him as she left  
the school at the end of her day.  
  
"Ryoga?" she muttered in shock.  
  
"Hello Usagi," he replied calmly. He turned  
his eyes away and started walking again.  
  
"Wait!" cried the girl as she rushed after  
him. "Is that all you have to say to me?"  
  
"I've dishonored you, made a mockery of our  
family and name, and now..."  
  
"We're family," said the girl with a frown on  
her face. "We don't have to like it Ryoga, but we  
didn't know. I'm sorry, it was my fault."  
  
"We're both to blame," he said with a heavy  
sigh as he realized she wasn't going to let him  
just walk away.  
  
"Where are you going?" she asked with a small  
smile.  
  
"Away from here, as far as I could, of course  
I should have known that it would bring me right  
too you sooner or later."  
  
Usagi nodded her head and sighed. "I'm sorry."  
  
"Stop saying that," he said a little shortly.  
"Look, I don't think it would be a good idea for  
us to be around one another."  
  
The girl shook her head. "No, that isn't  
right. I haven't known anyone in my family because  
of your curse. I finally get to meet one of you,  
and you're going to start acting like this? All I  
have besides you is my mother."  
  
Ryoga flinched slightly and sighed. "I don't  
understand."  
  
"Mother will forgive you," she said with a  
small frown. "But not if you don't even try."  
  
"I don't want her forgiveness, I deserved what  
I got," he replied sharply. "I'm lucky she's so  
nice, I would have killed me."  
  
"Don't say things like that!" snapped Usagi.  
  
"Sorry," he replied as he glanced away from  
her.  
  
"I don't want every time we talk with each  
other to be another apology," said Usagi firmly.  
"Where are you going. I'll help you get there."  
  
Ryoga blinked and blushed suddenly. "The Tendo  
dojo. I don't think it would be a good idea for  
you to go with me."  
  
"Huh? Why not...?" Usagi trailed off and  
smirked at her cousin. "A girl? It's a girl isn't  
it?"  
  
Ryoga blushed a little harder and turned away  
from her.  
  
"That's great! What's her name? How do you  
know her?"  
  
"Akane Tendo, she was my first love. Before  
you..." said the boy with a slightly pained frown.  
  
"Oh!" Usagi blushed and frowned. "I didn't  
come between you did I?"  
  
"No, it was something else. I'd almost given  
up on her already, now..."  
  
"You've got to try again," said Usagi with a  
slight nod.  
  
"I can't let my chance slip through my  
fingers," said the boy with a short nod.  
  
"Well, I'll take you there," said Usagi  
cheerfully.  
  
"Right," said the boy.  
  
"Well, come on then," said the girl  
cheerfully.  
  
"Tendo? Where have I heard that name before?"  
muttered Usagi with a slight frown on her face.  
She suddenly froze and stared at Ryoga. "The  
wedding! Tomorrow! I...Oh no! He doesn't know?!"  
screamed the girl's mind as everything fell into  
place. "What should I do? I can't break his heart  
like that! I..." She didn't even realize that  
she'd started crying.  
  
Ryoga paused as the girl froze up and stared  
at her in confusion for a moment. "What? Is  
something wrong? Why are you crying?"  
  
The girl stared at him for a moment. "Oh! Oh  
Ryoga! I can't...I can't do that to you again!"  
  
The boy's jaw hardened and he glared at her.  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"I'm sorry! I can't!" she said as she started  
to back away.  
  
The lost boy managed to snag her arm and pull  
her back to him before she could run. "What?  
What's wrong? What is this about me?"  
  
Usagi was shaking and she turned her head in  
shame. "Ryoga. Akane Tendo, I'm sorry."  
  
"Something has happened to Akane?" cried the  
boy in horror. "You'd better tell me!"  
  
"She doesn't live at the Tendo dojo anymore,"  
said the girl.  
  
"What?" said Ryoga. "Did those two idiot men  
lose that dojo to someone again? Without Ranma  
around, it doesn't surprise me. I'll have to get  
it back for them then!"  
  
"No, Ryoga. Akane has moved in with her  
fiance, she's getting married tomorrow," said the  
girl.  
  
"What?" said Ryoga as he suddenly went  
completely still. "Akane?"  
  
"My mother was invited to the wedding! I have  
to go with her tomorrow," said the girl as she  
looked at him with a deep sorrow in her eyes. "I'm  
so sorry! I...this is all my fault!"  
  
"Your fault?" said the boy with a sort of lost  
and distant stare. "How?"  
  
"If I hadn't been, if we hadn't...you might  
have..." said the girl as she sobbed. "I can't ask  
your forgiveness for this! I..."  
  
Ryoga was shaking, tears began to flow freely  
from his eyes as he dashed away. "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!"  
  
Usagi fell to her knees as the boy started to  
round a corner clutching his head. She paused when  
he swatted aside a huge animal that had moved in  
front of him without stopping.  
  
"Katsunishi!" cried a girl that rushed up to  
the animal's side. She paused and watched as the  
boy continued to run down the street.  
  
"Oh! Are you all right?" cried Usagi as she  
rushed up to the girl's side. "He isn't hurt is  
he? I'm sorry, Ryoga can be..."  
  
"Ryoga? Is that the boy's name?" asked the  
girl with a small frown on her face.  
  
"I'm terribly sorry, he's just had his heart  
broken. Please forgive him," said Usagi with a low  
bow. "He didn't know what was happening. I'm sure  
of it."  
  
"His heart broken?" asked the girl in  
confusion.  
  
"Yes, I'm terribly sorry, please forgive him.  
He's not hurt is he?"  
  
The animal was grunting and struggling back to  
his feet. "Don't worry, he's fine." She smiled at  
the girl warmly. "Tell me about this boy? Who is  
he? How do you know him? He's very strong."  
  
"Um, yes. His name is Ryoga, he's...my  
cousin," said Usagi with a blush on her cheeks.  
  
"Oh," replied the girl as her smile widened.  
"My name is Akari Unryuu. This is Katsunishi."  
  
"Um, hi," muttered Usagi lamely as she  
realized the absurdity of the situation. She was  
staring at an eight-foot tall pig, and it was  
smiling and nodding at her. "I'm Usagi Hibiki.  
Nice to meet you."  
  
"A pleasure!" said the girl cheerfully. "Well,  
I should go. We'll meet again one day, I'm sure of  
it."  
  
"Right," agreed Usagi dumbly. "That  
was...strange; even for me."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Yohiko smiled as she breathed in the fresh  
mountain air and walked with her daughter at her  
side. Xellos was standing right behind her, with  
Nephrite at his side.  
  
"So, this wedding is in the mountains?" asked  
Usagi.  
  
"Yes, it will be a small affair, we'll  
probably be the only guests really. Shinnosuke  
only has his grandfather, and Akane isn't dumb  
enough to invite her family along," said Xellos.  
  
"Oh," said Usagi in confusion. "Why is that?"  
  
"Because they'll try to stop the wedding if  
they do show up," said Yohiko calmly. "Don't worry  
dear."  
  
"Oh," said the girl with a frown on her face.  
"What if they show up and try to stop it anyway?"  
  
"They just might, that's one reason why I  
wanted all of us to come. Akane deserves to be  
happy. I'm not going to let that happen. I'll stop  
anyone who tries to disturb this wedding."  
  
Usagi nodded and sighed. "Oh, that's nice of  
you. I guess..."  
  
"We're almost there," said Yohiko with a smirk  
on her face.  
  
"What makes you say that?" muttered Xellos  
calmly. He was staring at a gigantic lizard that  
was clinging to a nearby tree.  
  
"What is this place?" muttered Usagi  
nervously. Her ribbons started to appear around  
her body and floated around defensively.  
  
"Put those away dear, we're perfectly safe,"  
said Yohiko with a slight frown. "The springs in  
this area have magical properties, and they make  
the animals grow unusually large. It's not a real  
danger."  
  
Nephrite smirked. "Yes, what we really have to  
worry about are..." He promptly fell into a hole  
and was covered in rocks that fell on him from  
above. "...the traps."  
  
Xellos smirked and waved his arm. Tiny specks  
of light suddenly became visible across their  
field of vision. "Don't get near the lights,  
that's where the traps are," he informed them.  
  
Nephrite climbed out of the trap and frowned.  
"You could have done that sooner!"  
  
"Yes, I could have," said the man cheerfully.  
  
"What are you doing here? Don't you know it's  
dangerous?" snapped a voice from in front of the  
group.  
  
Usagi blushed at the incredibly handsome boy  
who appeared out of the mist with a frown on his  
face. He was holding a staff in his hand and  
glared at them all coldly.  
  
"Why yes, we know exactly how dangerous it is  
here," said Xellos cheerfully.  
  
"Well, hello Shinnosuke. Patrolling on your  
wedding day?" said Yohiko with a smirk on her  
face.  
  
"Who are you? What do you want? What do you  
mean wedding day?" snapped the boy angrily.  
  
"Shinnosuke?" said Usagi with a slight  
disappointment in her voice. Then she realized  
what he had said. "What? There's no wedding?"  
  
"No, the idiot forgot about it, that's all,"  
said Yohiko with a smirk on her face.  
  
"Do I know you?" said the boy as he stared at  
Yohiko for a minute.  
  
"Yes you do," said the woman with a smirk on  
her face. "It's been a while Shinnosuke. I suggest  
you come with us, or Akane will be angry."  
  
The boy scratched his head and frowned.  
"Akane? I suppose so." He noticed the tattoo on  
the back of his hand and frowned. "You're right! I  
haven't written her a letter today!"  
  
"Dolt," grumbled Yohiko flatly.  
  
"Is something wrong with him?" asked Usagi.  
  
"He has the memory as long as Xellos's  
attention span," said the woman with a small  
snort.  
  
"Hey!" muttered the mage with a hurt look on  
his face.  
  
"Come on dope, I've got to change that  
tattoo," grumbled Yohiko as she grabbed the boy by  
his arm and started to pull him along. "You'll  
drown her in letters if I don't. She lives with  
you halfwit!"  
  
"Oh, she does?" muttered the boy in confusion.  
"Hey! She does! I'd better get back soon, I don't  
want to miss breakfast."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
The group made it to the home and a familiar  
figure rushed up to them. "Miss Yohiko! You came?"  
  
"Well! Hello! You should have told me you  
invited them dear!" said the old man who stood  
with Akane in the front yard. They were working in  
a small garden in front of the home.  
  
"All this work today? You're planning on  
getting married today aren't you?" said Yohiko  
with a small frown on her face.  
  
"Yes, but...the chores don't wait," she said  
sheepishly.  
  
Yohiko frowned at the old man. "They can wait  
for a day."  
  
"We have to keep things relatively the same  
here, or Shinnosuke gets confused, more than  
normal," said the old man with a shrug.  
  
"Hmmm, well I managed to drag him back," said  
Yohiko with a smirk on her face. "So tell me  
Akane, how many times has he proposed since you  
came here?"  
  
"Huh?" said Shinnosuke dumbly.  
  
"Seventeen," muttered the girl with a blush on  
her face.  
  
"I proposed to Akane?" cried the boy in shock.  
  
"Yes dolt, you're getting married today.  
That's why we're here," said Yohiko.  
  
"Who are you again?" muttered the boy.  
  
"This is getting annoying," said Nephrite.  
  
"He's a good kid," replied Xellos with a  
shrug.  
  
"At any rate, it's time we got started. I  
don't believe you're dressed that way Akane!"  
cried Yohiko as she took the girl by her arm.  
  
"I guess that leaves us stuck with Captain  
Memory here," said Xellos with a small sigh.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Akane was wearing a simple white dress and  
blushed heavily. "I shouldn't yet. I've got to go  
escort the priest here."  
  
Yohiko smirked at this and chuckled. "Don't  
worry dear, I'll send my brother to get him."  
  
"Oh," said the girl sheepishly. "Thank you."  
  
"Not a problem. So, have you been enjoying  
your stay here so far?"  
  
"It's been wonderful, almost like a dream,"  
said the girl wistfully.  
  
"Hmmm. I imagine it would be," agreed Yohiko.  
"He's a very handsome boy." No one noticed the  
slightly disgusted flash on her face, it vanished  
as quickly as it came.  
  
"Wow, I hope I meet someone as handsome as him  
one day," said Usagi cheerfully.  
  
"Oh! I haven't introduced you two yet. I'd  
forgotten that you'd never met before. Akane, this  
is Usagi, my daughter."  
  
"What?" said the girl in shock. "You've got a  
daughter this old?"  
  
"Everyone is always surprised about that,"  
said the woman with a cheerful smile on her face.  
  
"Wow," said Akane as she smiled at the younger  
girl.  
  
"I just hope it runs in the family," said  
Usagi with a small sigh.  
  
"No kidding," agreed Akane, "I hope I age as  
perfectly as that."  
  
"Now, this is your day Akane, I'm supposed to  
be the one complimenting you," chided Yohiko  
lightly.  
  
"Yes, thank you," said the girl. "I didn't  
think you'd really come."  
  
"I wouldn't miss it, besides, you'll need the  
protection," said the woman cheerfully.  
  
"Huh?" said the girl in confusion.  
  
"Your father is still out there, as well as  
Ranma Saotome's father," replied the woman with a  
slight frown. "That's part of the reason I brought  
so many people along with me."  
  
"So, you know about that do you?" said the  
girl with a slight frown on her face.  
  
"I promise I won't let them interfere," said  
Yohiko with a smirk on her face. "I also won't  
hurt them too badly if they show up and step out  
of line. Don't worry dear."  
  
"Thank you," said the girl with a huge blush  
on her face. "Miss Yohiko?"  
  
"Hmmm?"  
  
"Nevermind, it's nothing," said the girl as  
she sighed and sat down on a small stool.  
  
"All right. You're beautiful, you know that?"  
said the woman.  
  
"Thank you, that means a lot coming from you,"  
said the girl as she smiled back at her.  
  
"Wow," agreed Usagi with her own blush. "This  
is all so...romantic!"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Saotome! This is it!" said Soun firmly as he  
stood in front of the dark woods with his hands on  
his hips.  
  
"Indeed Tendo, this is the first step. We'll  
retrieve that ungrateful daughter of yours, and  
then go find my son! We'll ensure the schools are  
united yet!"  
  
Kasumi was standing behind them with Nabiki at  
her side. "Oh my! I hope she's all right! Poor  
Akane, she's been kidnapped by these horrible  
people!"  
  
"She wasn't kidnapped. This is her boyfriend  
remember? She came here on her own to marry him,"  
grumbled Nabiki. She was obviously unhappy about  
being here.  
  
"Oh. Hello. Are you here for the wedding?"  
said the priest that walked up behind them with a  
smile on his face.  
  
Soun and Genma turned to face him and blinked.  
  
  
"Why yes, yes we are," said Genma.  
  
"Oh, how nice. I was told to wait here for an  
escort. These woods are dangerous," said the  
priest as he looked at the woods for a moment and  
smiled.  
  
The two men looked at each other and then back  
at the priest.  
  
"Is something wrong?"  
  
Nabiki shook her head and sighed. There wasn't  
anything she could do to stop her idiot parents  
from ruining this. Well, nothing she hadn't  
already done, but that wouldn't come into play  
until later.  
  
Within moments, the priest was tied to a tree  
and relieved of his clothing. He was also out  
cold.  
  
A small boy appeared out of the woods and  
smiled at them. "Well, you must be the priest."  
  
"Indeed," said Soun as he adjusted his collar.  
  
"Who are these other people?"  
  
"They help me set up for the ceremony," said  
Soun nervously.  
  
Nephrite smirked at them and turned into the  
woods. "I suppose I'm the guide then. Follow me  
please."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
About an hour later, Nabiki smirked as Genma  
and Soun fell into their thirty-second trap of the  
day.  
  
"Watch out, there's a trap there," said the  
boy calmly.  
  
"Yes, too late once again," said Soun.  
  
"Well, you should be more careful. I told you  
about them."  
  
Nabiki sighed and shook her head again. "Look,  
I know you're stalling them, but I don't want to  
miss my sister's wedding. Could we please go there  
now?"  
  
The boy blinked and looked at Genma and Soun.  
"I suppose I've done enough to them. They're too  
beat up to pose much of a problem."  
  
"Oh my!" said Kasumi.  
  
"Yes, I suppose so," said Nabiki as she  
smirked.  
  
"We're just going to lie here for a while,"  
said Soun. Genma silently agreed by nodding his  
head.  
  
"Oh, well. You just stay there. I'm going to  
take these ladies to their sister's wedding. I'm  
sure Xellos has retrieved the real priest by now."  
He smirked at the looks on their faces as they  
realized they had been duped. "Don't get any  
stupid ideas in your heads either. You don't stand  
a chance of stopping this. Akane has a lot of very  
angry friends."  
  
"You have no idea," commented Nabiki.  
  
"Well, I was referring to people who aren't  
going to try and stop this," said the boy with a  
shrug.  
  
"Oh, well then. Shall we?" said Nabiki  
cheerfully.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Yohiko smiled as Nabiki and Kasumi rushed up  
to their sister and hugged her warmly. There was  
lots of girlish squealing, even some from Nabiki.  
She smirked and walked up to the pair with a smile  
on her face.  
  
"Well hello. I trust the idiots are resting  
soundly by now?" she asked with a smirk on her  
face.  
  
Nabiki nodded. "I don't think they'll be  
bothering us. I made sure of it actually."  
  
"Oh?" asked Yohiko cheerfully.  
  
"Well, I'm glad to see you approve," said the  
woman with a warm grin.  
  
"Oh! Akane! I'm so proud of you!" cried Kasumi  
as she started sobbing on her youngest sibling's  
shoulder.  
  
"Well, daddy isn't here. I guess someone has  
to do it," commented Nabiki.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Xellos smirked as he sat with all the men  
involved, including the priest. Nephrite was  
sitting lazily and running a projector.  
  
Shinnosuke was as white as a sheet as he  
stared at the image on the wall in shock. "What is  
this? I..."  
  
Xellos chuckled and pat his hand on the small  
pile of porn movies they had yet to watch. "It's a  
tradition. Try and enjoy yourself."  
  
The boy merely nodded and simply sat there  
with his mouth hung open.  
  
His grandfather had tears in his eyes as he  
stared at the screen. "Oh no! Do you think Orgasmo  
will be able to escape this time?!"  
  
The priest merely blushed and looked at the  
men. "I don't think it's tradition for me to be  
here for this part."  
  
"Sorry, it's for your own safety, there are a  
few people who don't want this to happen, and that  
makes you a target. You're safe with us though,"  
said Nephrite calmly.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Now where am I?" cried Ryoga Hibiki as he  
glanced around at the forest around him in  
frustration.  
  
The large animals that surrounded him were  
vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.  
"Damn! I've got to find Akane before it's too  
late!"  
  
Unbeknownst to him, but knownst to us, a  
figure sat on top of a gigantic animal of her own,  
following the trail. The huge creature looked  
oddly in place in the strange forest.  
  
"You're sure he went this way Katsunishi?"  
  
The giant pig grunted and nodded vigorously as  
it continued to follow the scent trail the boy  
left behind.  
  
"Onward then!" cried the girl with a grin  
forming on her face. "Ryoga Hibiki! I will find  
you!"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ukyo Kuonji frowned as she looked at the map  
in her hands. She turned her head towards her  
partner and frowned. "You're sure about this?"  
  
"Yes, Shampoo sure," said her companion as  
they stood looking at the intimidating forest.  
"Spatula girl not trust Shampoo?"  
  
"Of course I don't," replied Ukyo with a small  
snort.  
  
"Is good, Shampoo deceive Spatula Girl many  
times."  
  
"Well let's go sugar," said Ukyo with a smirk  
on her face. "We gotta find Akane before it's too  
late."  
  
"Shampoo understand," said the girl firmly.  
  
"Right. Come on," said Ukyo as she started to  
move forward.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Can you move, Tendo?"  
  
"Yes, Saotome."  
  
"Come on then! We've got to make it before  
it's too late!"  
  
"Quite so, Saotome!"  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"It's time," said Yohiko as she smiled down at  
the incredibly nervous girl.  
  
"Right," agreed Usagi with a cheerful smile on  
her face.  
  
"I'm ready," said Akane more to herself than  
anyone else.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to witness  
the holy union of Akane Tendo, and Shinnosuke..."  
  
"Stop!" cried a pair of familiar voices from  
the back of the small clearing where everyone was  
seated.  
  
Akane turned around, horror on her face as she  
looked at Soun and Genma. The pair was standing  
next to each other and glared angrily at those  
gathered.  
  
"Damn it! I didn't think they'd recover this  
fast," said Nephrite angrily.  
  
Yohiko stood up and turned to face the pair.  
  
"Akane!" cried another familiar voice. Ryoga  
staggered through the trees. "You can't! I..." He  
paused when he noticed the scene in front of him.  
"Huh?"  
  
"No!" cried Akane with tears of pain in her  
eyes. "You can't! I won't let you ruin this!" She  
was glaring at Soun and Genma as she said it, but  
the words drove a spike of pain through the lost  
boy's heart.  
  
"What?" muttered Ryoga to himself in  
confusion. "This is...she...she wants this?"  
  
"Keep going," said Yohiko as she smiled at  
Akane and the priest. "We'll handle this. I won't  
allow them to ruin this for you, don't worry."  
  
"She's right," agreed Usagi as a mass of  
ribbons appeared from her back. "No one has the  
right to take such a wonderful memory away from a  
young girl! On behalf of the moon, I shall punish  
you!"  
  
"I had hoped those traps would be enough to  
stop you, but you're dumber than I'd thought. I'm  
gonna have to take care of this myself it seems."  
  
"Don't hog all the fun, just don't forget not  
to kill them," said Xellos. "Akane wouldn't like  
that."  
  
"Aiya! We not make it in time?" cried a  
familiar voice.  
  
"Maybe not, Sugar," said Ukyo as both she and  
Shampoo appeared on either side of the altar.  
  
"Damn! What the hell are those two doing  
here?" growled Yohiko in frustration. She turned  
and glared at Nabiki for a moment, only to meet a  
cool looking smile. "So, she's still going to go  
through with this?"  
  
"Ha!" snarled Genma. He turned to look at  
Ryoga for a moment. "Come on boy! Now is your  
chance! They can't take all of us!"  
  
"Heh, Don't worry sweetie, we'll handle these  
two thugs. I've got a score to settle with the fat  
one anyway," said Ukyo as she leveled her glare at  
Genma.  
  
"Shampoo agree, men not interfere with this  
now. She not allow it!"  
  
The girl looked at them in shock. "What?"  
  
"Take your time. Sugar, I don't want to miss  
this. You should have invited us," said Ukyo as  
she smirked at Akane.  
  
"Shampoo agree, but will forgive Violent Girl  
this time,"  
  
Genma and Soun backed away, and everyone  
turned their attention on Ryoga Hibiki. He was  
standing there in silence with a scowl on his  
face. He looked at Akane and his gaze intensified.  
"Akane. Is this what you want? Is this what will  
make you happy?"  
  
The girl blinked at his words, not quite  
understanding why he was asking her that. "Yes."  
She hadn't even hesitated in her answer.  
  
The boy smiled at her and nodded his head.  
"Then I guess...it was meant to be. I won't allow  
these two to stop it. Goodbye then." Rather than  
run away, Ryoga turned to look at the pair of men  
standing in the center of an angry looking mob. "I  
won't allow you to destroy Akane's happiness!"  
  
Genma and Soun were frozen in shock, neither  
had enough sense to run, and the two of them  
didn't have a working pair brain cells to rub  
together at the moment.  
  
Ryoga turned his attention towards Shinnosuke  
and frowned at him for a moment. "If you ever hurt  
Akane, I'll destroy you. You'd better make her  
happy!"  
  
"Wait! You can't Akane! I won't allow this!"  
cried Soun as he tried to rush forward with his  
head becoming a huge demonic figure. "I won't let  
you taint my little girl's honor!"  
  
"Out of our way! You can't stop us!" agreed  
Genma.  
  
It was probably the dumbest thing the pair had  
ever done.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
The ceremony went perfectly after that. Soun  
and Genma were hung just outside the reception by  
their feet from a branch. They were tightly bound  
and had gags over their mouths.  
  
The party afterwards was more than anyone had  
expected. Food was limited, but Ukyo did help with  
that as best she could. In the end, everything  
went well.  
  
The crowd dispersed just before it got dark,  
leaving only Yohiko and Usagi behind as they stood  
with Akane and her new husband.  
  
"Well, it's time to say goodbye," said Yohiko.  
  
  
"Yes. I can't thank you enough," said Akane as  
she bowed deeply.  
  
"I suppose I'll have to cut the idiots down  
before I leave," said Yohiko with a small sigh.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Akane with a slight blush.  
  
"I guess I'll probably have to do this when  
Nabiki finally ties the knot as well. Kasumi is  
probably pretty safe, but I'd best show up for  
that one as well. Just to be safe," said Yohiko  
cheerfully.  
  
"You have our gratitude," said Shinnosuke's  
grandfather.  
  
"Don't forget to thank your sister. Nabiki is  
the one who had Ukyo and Shampoo show up. She had  
me scared for a moment."  
  
Akane blushed. "Me too."  
  
"It seems you have more friends than you  
realized. Although, I doubt if you'll see each  
other anytime soon. I believe the Amazon's are  
going back to China soon, and Ukyo won't be far  
after them. She's still intent on her revenge. Who  
knows, she might get it. Not in the way she's  
hoping for though."  
  
Akane nodded and smiled at the pair. "It's  
getting late, are you sure you don't need to  
stay?"  
  
"Yes, the woods are very dangerous," agreed  
Shinnosuke.  
  
"We'll be fine. You two need your privacy  
tonight," said Yohiko with a small chuckle.  
  
Akane blushed deeply, and Shinnosuke got a  
confused looking frown on his face. "Privacy? I  
wonder why? Maybe after we got married we would,  
but..."  
  
"That dope forgot already?!!" whispered Usagi  
in disbelief.  
  
"Shhh, Akane will remind him soon enough,"  
replied Yohiko quietly.  
  
"Thank you again, for everything," said Akane  
as she bowed deeply.  
  
"Not a problem," said Yohiko as she turned  
away with her daughter at her side.  
  
Akane looked at Shinnosuke for a moment and  
smiled warmly. "I'm sorry. Just this once." She  
rushed away from him and rushed up to Yohiko.  
"Wait!"  
  
"Huh?" said the woman as she turned to look at  
the girl.  
  
"Please forgive me, but I have to do it. Just  
once!" said the girl as she jumped into the  
woman's arms and kissed her deeply.  
  
Yohiko couldn't move she was so shocked. She  
felt the girl's tongue inside her mouth and the  
male portion of her returned the action and  
grabbed the girl.  
  
Akane blushed and they stayed that way for a  
moment, breaking off and breathing deeply. "Miss  
Yohiko?" said the girl in shock.  
  
"Only because it was just this once dear,"  
said the woman as she winked at her.  
  
"Thank you," said the girl as she blushed. "I  
love you."  
  
"Well, you're very special to me, Akane," said  
the woman as she smiled at the girl. "I hope you  
live well. I'm sure we'll see each other again  
some time."  
  
"Visit any time!" said Akane with tears  
forming in her eyes.  
  
"I just might take you up on that someday,"  
said the woman cheerfully.  
  
"Yes! Visit -anytime-!" said Shinnosuke's  
grandfather.  
  
The boy was simply staring at the scene in  
shock. His jaw was hanging down and there was a  
small trickle of blood coming out of his nose.  
  
Akane turned away and started walking back  
towards her husband.  
  
Yohiko turned to find her daughter staring at  
her in a sort of disgusted shock. "M-mom?"  
  
"Don't worry dear," said the woman as she pat  
the girl on her head.  
  
"Oh, you were just being nice? I mean, it was  
just cause it was that one time, and she's married  
now? Right?"  
  
The woman turned to look at her daughter and  
pat her on the head. "It's something like that  
dear."  
  
"Whew," said Usagi as she turned away. "Can we  
go now?"  
  
"Yes dear, we're going home," said Yohiko  
cheerfully.  
  
"Okay. I'm tired, it's been a long day," said  
Usagi.  
  
"Speaking of long day. What was with that  
stupid speech you gave earlier?" said Yohiko as  
she looked down at her daughter. "'I'll punish you  
on behalf of the moon?' What the hell were you  
thinking child?"  
  
"Moooommm!"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga Hibiki looked up at the stars as he lay  
on his back. His heart was shattered again, but  
this time, it also left a slightly warm feeling in  
his chest. It wasn't quite as empty as it had been  
before he had come here. "I suppose I really had  
accepted my defeat a long time ago."  
  
He sighed again and began to stare at the sky  
in silent contemplation. "Things...I guess they  
have a way of working out. Damn you Ranma, I can't  
blame you for this one."  
  
A huge black forehead and a large pair of eyes  
suddenly overshadowed his view. "Huh?"  
  
"Bweeee!"  
  
"You found him Katsunishi!"  
  
"What the hell?"  
  
"Oh Ryoga! I've found you at last my love!"  
  
"What?! Who are you?!"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Rise of the Phoenix!  
  



	72. Insertion Part 72

Insertion  
  
Part 72  
  
The beginning of something new  
  
++++++++++  
  
It was a quiet day in the Hibiki household.  
Usagi was doing her homework at the table, while  
her mother sat with Dan and Carrot in the living  
room. The three had separated only a few minutes  
before just outside. To Usagi, it seemed as if her  
mother had invited them over or something. It  
wasn't a new development at any rate.  
  
Yohiko frowned at the two men as they stared  
at the television and stood up, moving to the back  
of the home and into her room.  
  
Carrot smirked at this and followed shortly  
after.  
  
Dan glanced around and sighed. "Oh well. Come  
on kid, you and I are going out," he said as he  
stood up and walked over to Usagi.  
  
The girl looked up at him and blinked. "Huh?  
I've got to do this for..."  
  
"It can wait, Carrot and your mother seem to  
have something to discuss in private," said the  
man with a rough sounding snort.  
  
The girl blinked at this as she just missed  
grasping what he was telling her in a round about  
way. "Um, sure I guess. Where are we going?"  
  
"I feel like a beer, but since you're coming,  
I guess I'll have to make do with ice-cream."  
  
The girl smiled cheerfully at this and jumped  
up from her seat. "Great!"  
  
"I just hope she doesn't eat as much as her  
namesake," grumbled Dan under his breath as he  
walked out the door after her.  
  
The girl didn't appear to hear him and  
cheerfully rushed off in front of him. "Come on! I  
know a great place near here!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah," muttered Dan irritably.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Carrot shoved Xianfu against the wall and  
smirked as she stared at him. Neither of them was  
wearing a shirt at the moment and they simply  
stood for a moment as they were. Their eyes  
warring with each other for dominance.  
  
Yohiko had her skirt hiked up around her  
waist, and one of her legs was wrapped around the  
man's waist.  
  
He smirked a little more and rubbed his hand  
down her thigh, pushing her nylon stocking down a  
little. "So, here we are again."  
  
The woman put her face up to his, their lips  
only a hair's width away from each other. "So it  
seems."  
  
"You don't look like you're enjoying  
yourself," said Carrot with a small chuckle as he  
shoved her up against the wall. His chest pushed  
her breasts up against her body, sending  
sensations coursing through her. Her nipples  
hardened and she gave an almost mocking snort.  
  
"You disgust me."  
  
"I know," he replied calmly as he leaned in a  
little more, touching his cheek against hers.  
"Intoxicating isn't it?"  
  
"What? You think I care about you? Is that  
it?" she snorted.  
  
"Care? I wouldn't say that," he said as he  
breathed into her ear. The heat of his breath  
causing her to shudder as she clutched at his back  
a little tighter with her hands.  
  
"Stop teasing me then," she said coldly.  
  
"You've known me long enough to know that I  
enjoy teasing you," he said in a soft whisper.  
  
"A little too much," she said as she pulled  
his head back a little with her hand.  
  
"Sometimes," he replied. "Right now, you love  
it though."  
  
"Do you hate me?" she asked calmly.  
  
"No, I don't," said Carrot as he pulled at her  
pigtail, jerking her head back gently. "Ranma  
does."  
  
"Does he? So, this is just you then?" she said  
with a cruel smile on her face.  
  
"No, both of us seem to enjoy this pastime,"  
replied the man coolly.  
  
"Both of you?" she said as she glared into his  
eyes. The hatred there causing an exhilarating  
tremor of fear to run down her spine.  
  
"I never forgave you for what you did to us,  
but Ranma, has not accepted it. I doubt if he ever  
will."  
  
"So, what do you think of me then? Is it love,  
something I can throw in your face?" she said  
coldly.  
  
"No, you're a real bitch, but you are  
beautiful. I suppose that helps," said Carrot as  
he kissed her roughly. She responded by pushing  
back with as much force as he gave.  
  
Carrot felt her tongue push gently between his  
lips, inviting him to open his mouth. He pulled  
back and chuckled.  
  
"You don't get it at all do you?" he said to  
her.  
  
She cocked her head in a slightly annoyed and  
confused fashion.  
  
"Don't you understand woman? I am evil.  
Everything dark in this world is mine, my doing,  
my plan. I am the devil, and you, you are the  
goddess."  
  
"Is that so?" she said with a small smirk of  
her own.  
  
"You and Pissant represent the light, and  
myself and Ranma are the darkness. He's fallen  
from grace, not as innocent as he once was. I'm  
cold, calculating, and evil. The emotion he feels  
the most is anger and rage. We rule hell, and  
you..."  
  
"I am what?"  
  
"You're justice, Pissant is kindness and  
forgiveness," replied the man coldly. "You know  
it, and it drives you up the wall that you're so  
attracted to it." He whispered this into her ear  
and kissed her neck, moving slowly down towards  
her shoulder, stopping to suck softly with each  
subtle movement of his neck. "You love it, because  
you know it's wrong."  
  
She muttered through her soft moans. "What  
does that make Dan?"  
  
"Neutral. He's the deciding vote, the one who  
decides which of us will win, when it comes down  
to a decision."  
  
"The middle ground?" she said as she pulled  
his head back and gently nipped at his chin. "Is  
that it?"  
  
"You're not a fool," replied Carrot calmly as  
his hand caressed her breast softly. Their lips  
met again, this time he welcomed her tongue and  
responded with his own.  
  
"What is it that you get out of this?" she  
asked coolly.  
  
"My reasons are the same as yours, lover," he  
replied simply.  
  
"Love has no place with us. Don't call me  
that," she said with a slightly angry snarl in her  
voice.  
  
"Fair enough. You know, I'm the only thing  
stopping him from killing you now," said the man  
with a slight growl to his voice. "I almost want  
to set him loose on you."  
  
"You won't though," she replied. "I know I'm  
safe in your arms."  
  
"Are you?" he prodded as he kissed her cheek.  
  
"Oh yes," she said passionately. "You could,  
but you won't. I don't think you ever will." She  
could feel the waves of negative emotion pouring  
from his soul. It sent a tingling sensation down  
her body as her danger sense kicked in, adrenaline  
coursed through her veins.  
  
Carrot chuckled as he brushed the soft flesh  
of her neck with his hand, tracing her jawline  
slowly. "You're right."  
  
"Why is that? Why won't you?"  
  
"Because I enjoy this game as much as you do,"  
he replied simply.  
  
He squeezed her breast again and slowly slid  
his hand down her belly.  
  
She pressed herself up against the wall as he  
did this, aching for release. "Stop toying with  
me."  
  
"I'll stop when I feel like stopping," he  
replied with a cruel smirk. Once again, he had won  
the battle of wills.  
  
"So what does that make us? Enemies?" she  
snapped as she stared at him with an anger of her  
own.  
  
"No, we're partners, and we always will be.  
Family, mate, soulmate, opposites. We are a part  
of a single being."  
  
"And this is your way of jerking off?" she  
replied snidely.  
  
"Everyone needs a little release, and Hotaru  
isn't here to play with us anymore," replied the  
boy in an equally condescending tone.  
  
"So. Go ahead and vent then," she said as she  
shoved him back away from the wall and forced him  
down onto the bed, straddling him forcefully.  
  
Carrot smirked as she pressed down his  
shoulders and stared him dead in the eyes,  
signaling that she hadn't yet given up the fight  
just yet. She leaned forward, brushing the tips of  
her nipples along his chest as she did so. "Do you  
want this body?"  
  
"Is this a trick question?" he responded  
calmly, his smile never once leaving his lips  
throughout all this.  
  
"I'm tired of playing, and I've got the  
advantage now. No more talking, understand?"  
  
Carrot smirked as she locked her lips on his  
again and forced her tongue into his mouth,  
forcing her way through his teeth. His resistance  
was minimal though. She broke off and he simply  
chuckled.  
  
"Why do you kiss me, if you hate me?" he  
asked.  
  
She narrowed her eyes at this and smiled back.  
"Because it feels wrong. It's very satisfying."  
  
"So you admit I'm right?" he responded.  
  
"I never said you weren't," she said coolly.  
Her hand slid under the waist of his pants, and he  
arched his head back, finally submitting.  
  
"Hmmm. Good boy," she said with a slight  
cooing in her tone.  
  
"Never have been," he said through a small  
gasp.  
  
"Well, that's what makes this so  
entertaining."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Dan sighed as he watched the girl eat yet  
another bowl of ice cream. He'd only ordered one  
for himself, and he was still picking at the soupy  
remains.  
  
"That was great!" said the girl cheerfully.  
"So, do you think they're done fucking yet?"  
  
Dan almost fell face first on the table. "What  
the?"  
  
"Oh come on! I'm not that stupid! I may just  
be a kid, but I'm not that young!" said the girl  
as she laughed at him.  
  
"I know that, I was just surprised about how  
you put it," he said a little sourly as he glared  
at her for a moment.  
  
"Well, they don't seem to like each other  
much," said Usagi. "It's weird really."  
  
"I suppose so, they didn't used to be this  
bad," said Dan with a small shrug.  
  
"Really?" said Usagi in surprise.  
  
"No, before, she was just trying to kill us  
all the time," said the man with a small shrug.  
  
"Oh," said the girl as she blinked at the  
comment. "This is better than that though, right?"  
  
"Not really," said Dan with a small frown. "At  
least she leaves me alone these days."  
  
"Why do you visit so often?" asked Usagi.  
  
"Because Carrot is a horny bastard, and so is  
your mother," replied Dan with another shrug.  
  
"Hey!" cried the girl.  
  
"This from the girl who just told me that her  
mother was fucking some guy right now?" snorted  
the man in retort.  
  
"Oh, well I guess you've got a point there,"  
grumbled the girl irritably.  
  
"Yeah, pretty much," he responded with a  
slight frown. The voice in side his head was  
scolding him angrily about speaking in such a  
manner to such a young girl. He pinched his leg  
and it quieted down for the most part.  
  
"What did you mean about 'namesake'?" asked  
the girl suddenly.  
  
"Huh?" said Dan dumbly.  
  
"You said something about a namesake when we  
left the house. Oh, yeah." The girl seemed to  
remember something and Dan felt a sharp pain on  
his leg.  
  
"Ouch! Damn it!" he cried irritably. "What the  
hell?"  
  
"What do you mean eat as much as my  
'namesake'? Are you callin me fat?"  
  
"Actually, she was as skinny as a bean pole.  
Grew up to be quite a pretty lady," responded Dan.  
"She could pack away twice as much ice-cream as  
you just ate."  
  
The girl blushed at this and muttered an  
apology. She looked up at him again and sighed.  
"Her name was Usagi?"  
  
"Yeah. I'm not sure if your mother named her  
after you, or if she just liked the name. We all  
knew her, but Carrot and I knew her a lot longer  
than your mother did." The statement was full of  
half-truths, but Dan wasn't about to start  
explaining that they were the Supreme Being reborn  
in a human body...sort of.  
  
Dan looked at his watch and sighed. "Come on.  
We should get back."  
  
The girl sighed and nodded her head. "All  
right. Thanks Mr. Dan."  
  
"Whatever," replied the man with a shrug. "I  
just wanted to get away from all that screaming  
for a while. It's no place for a girl your age to  
be either. Even if you have done it before  
yourself."  
  
Usagi froze and stared at him. "Wha?"  
  
"Thought I didn't know about that did you?"  
  
"MOM TOLD YOU?!!!"  
  
"Naw, Carrot and I are in on the whole  
'Shadow' thing," replied the man with a shrug. "He  
thought it was funny as hell. Me, not so much."  
  
The girl blushed and quietly followed the man  
as he went to pay the bill.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Carrot sat up staring at the wall. Xianfu was  
sleeping soundly beside him, her naked body  
covered in the sheets. He mulled silently and  
turned to look at her for a moment.  
  
"You think we had something to do with this?"  
asked Ranma suddenly.  
  
"With what we've been doing? The way we feel  
about her? No, I don't think so."  
  
"But?" insisted Ranma.  
  
"Right, but I also think we know about it, and  
we're using it somehow."  
  
"How do you feel about her?" snorted Ranma.  
  
"If you're wondering if I'm in love with her,  
no. I don't love her. I don't know what it is,  
it's similar, but not love," replied Carrot  
calmly.  
  
"So you like her?"  
  
"No more than you do, but it's different. I'm  
not as direct as you, you should know that by  
now," said Carrot with a small chuckle. "There is  
some feeling there. It's a bond, I'd almost say  
family. Not quite, more like I'm clinging to a  
part of myself that I don't like, but I can't let  
go."  
  
Ranma nodded at this. "I understand."  
  
"Same for you too huh?" said Carrot with a  
small snort of amusement.  
  
"Shut up!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Stop it," said Carrot coolly. "You and I both  
know it's true. We're more connected to each other  
than the others are. There isn't much you can hide  
from me."  
  
"Same here, don't forget it," snapped Ranma.  
  
"Much as I hate to admit it, I do care. I  
don't want her to die, she deserves us more,"  
replied Carrot with a cold smile on his face.  
"She'll get what she deserves."  
  
"Let me kill her," snarled Ranma.  
  
"No," replied Carrot.  
  
"You're going soft."  
  
"You've just grown to hard, that's all."  
  
"Going to hell will do that to a man," snapped  
Ranma.  
  
"Didn't do it to me," retorted Carrot.  
  
"You're different, you've changed too. Not for  
the better either," said Ranma.  
  
"Maybe so, but we fit our roles as well," said  
Carrot with a somewhat broken grin on his face.  
"You've got to learn how to calm down. You're as  
bad as this Akane used to be sometimes."  
  
"I..."  
  
"We aren't in hell anymore Ranma," responded  
Carrot. "He's dead, we've righted the wrongs,  
we've won."  
  
"..."  
  
"Our real victory is yet to come, have  
patience. We've got all the time in the universe."  
  
"Ya really mean that too," said Ranma. He  
chuckled at the realization and shook his head.  
"Tired yet?"  
  
"Naw."  
  
"Then why is she sleeping?"  
  
Carrot looked down at Xianfu and brushed her  
hair out of her face with his fingers. She shifted  
and muttered to herself in her sleep. His hand  
paused over her neck for the briefest of moments,  
and he smirked.  
  
He leaned in and kissed her, rolling onto her  
a little.  
  
Slowly she opened her eyes and returned the  
kiss. Neither one of them said a word.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
It was morning. Carrot sat up and shielded  
their face from the rays of the sun. He squinted  
and groaned in irritation. "Damn. Why is morning  
so damn early?"  
  
"Shut up," muttered Xianfu as she rolled over  
onto her side and pulled the covers a little  
tighter onto her body.  
  
Carrot froze. Very slowly, he turned his head  
and looked at the small alarm clock that rested on  
the small table beside the bed. He gasped when he  
noticed the time. "Eight hours."  
  
"What's going on?" grumbled Ranma irritably.  
  
"Ranma, it's been eight hours. Something is  
wrong."  
  
"Wha?" muttered the lazy voice.  
  
"Dan? You in here?" said Carrot.  
  
"Who are you talking too?" asked Xianfu as she  
sat up and slammed her pillow into their faces.  
She slumped back down and started to snore again.  
  
Carrot narrowed his eyes at her and jerked the  
blankets away, tossing her roughly out of bed.  
  
"What the hell? You bastard!" screamed the  
woman as she jumped to her feet. She paused and  
blinked at him for a moment. "Again? Isn't it a  
little early for this?"  
  
He looked down at himself and his clothes  
melted into place, she did the same and frowned in  
confusion.  
  
"Do you have Dan with you?" asked the man  
calmly.  
  
"Huh?" she looked blank for a moment. "No.  
Didn't he leave already?"  
  
"Shit," muttered Carrot. "We never went back  
last night."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Something is up. We're still separated," said  
Carrot as he frowned at her. "We never merged back  
last night."  
  
"Maybe we did it in our sleep?" muttered the  
woman irritably.  
  
"I don't think so, all of us at the same time  
is unlikely," said Carrot as he glanced around.  
"We should find Dan."  
  
"Maybe he did it?" she muttered.  
  
"That wouldn't have separated the three of  
us," said Carrot.  
  
Xianfu frowned and opened the bedroom door.  
She walked out into the hall and frowned as she  
noticed the man sleeping with a bottle of alcohol  
in his hand at the table.  
  
"Wake up idiot," she snapped.  
  
"Hun? Whazzis?" he muttered as he sat upright  
and glanced around. "Hey. Took ya long enough. I  
fell asleep waitin on ya."  
  
"Waiting on what?" asked Carrot.  
  
"For this thing to run out? What time is it?  
How much we got left. I think my watch is busted,"  
said the man irritably.  
  
"Shit," grumbled Xianfu.  
  
"Well, this is just great," muttered Carrot.  
  
"You're damn right it is, get out of my  
house," said Xianfu as she smirked at them evilly.  
"Both of you. You're not welcome here."  
  
"Heh. Yohiko Hibiki lives here," replied  
Carrot as he shifted forms in front of her,  
becoming a mirror image. "Yohiko Hibiki, has my  
handwriting too. I'm also the one with all of our  
financial information."  
  
The woman's face fell. "Shit."  
  
"Huh?" said Dan dumbly.  
  
"Well, looks like Yohiko Hibiki just got two  
more roommates until we figure this out," said  
Carrot.  
  
"Maybe we just improved a little. It's only  
been eight hours," said Dan.  
  
"No, doesn't feel right. This is something  
else. We should get ahold of Xellos."  
  
"I'm afraid you're quite separate, at least  
temporarily. It will last quite a while though,"  
said the voice as Xellos appeared in the room with  
a smirk on his face.  
  
"What caused this?" asked Carrot.  
  
"This? Well, I'm not entirely sure..." said  
Xellos with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Can it loon. I know you know exactly what's  
going on," snarled Xianfu.  
  
"All right, you have me," said the man as he  
backed away from the three angry stares. "Some of  
it has to do with that little talk you had with  
Carrot last night."  
  
Xianfu gasped. "What?"  
  
"You've started to realize your places in the  
grand scheme of things, now it's time for that to  
develop a little bit."  
  
Carrot frowned at him and shook his head.  
"That's not all though. Is it?"  
  
"No, but the rest...is a secret."  
  
"From us?"  
  
"Only myself, and L-sama know the full  
details. Nephrite only knows what he needs too,"  
said the priest calmly. "I couldn't tell you if I  
wanted too. My hands are tied, not that I would if  
they weren't though."  
  
"I'm betting this was your idea, whatever it  
is," said Dan as he glared at Carrot for a moment.  
  
The man in question froze and simply stared at  
the wall, knowing better than to argue with that  
statement. "Heh." Both Dan and Xianfu were glaring  
at him.  
  
"At any rate, I've said what I need to. See  
you later," the mazoku vanished from sight and the  
trio all sat down at the table.  
  
"Not a bad deal," said Dan with a shrug. "I  
get some 'me' time."  
  
"Who has Pissant?" asked Carrot as he glanced  
at the pair.  
  
"He does, the whiner always goes with him,"  
said Xainfu as she pointed at Dan.  
  
"Yeah, irritating bastard," grumbled the man  
sourly. "I can ignore him pretty good though. I  
got lots of practice."  
  
"Yeah, whatever. "Well, I suppose we're free,  
for a while anyway."  
  
"Vacation then?" asked Xianfu cheerfully.  
  
"I doubt if that'll happen," grumbled Carrot.  
  
"Yeah, I hate us," said Dan sourly.  
  
"We aren't sure how long we have either,"  
pointed out Carrot.  
  
"So, we'll work this out later," agreed  
Xianfu.  
  
"Now what?" asked Dan.  
  
"Well, I'm going to wake up my lazy good for  
nothing daughter," snorted Xianfu.  
  
"Our daughter," replied Carrot calmly.  
  
"Yeah, you do that," snorted Dan.  
  
"We'll discuss that later," said Xianfu as she  
glared at Carrot.  
  
"She was my idea, she's based on my real  
daughter, so I do have a legitimate claim here.  
Don't start getting pissy with me. You'll regret  
it, and you know better than to cross me on  
something like this," replied Carrot.  
  
"What does this matter to you?" she said with  
a deep hatred lacing her voice.  
  
"I like her, Ranma is attached to her, plus he  
wants to irritate you," said Carrot with a shrug.  
  
"And you don't?" snorted Dan as he pretended  
to ignore the conversation.  
  
"Well, I don't think it's a bad idea if that's  
what you're asking," replied Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"Dick," snorted Xianfu as she turned away.  
  
"And that's about all you're interested in  
from what I gather," retorted Carrot as he picked  
up a newspaper from the table with an indifferent  
look on his face.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Carrot sighed as he walked through the streets  
of Nerima with his hands in his pockets; or  
rather, her pockets. She'd decided to go out as  
Yohiko again whenever she was in this area of  
town.  
  
She paused and stared at the empty building in  
front of her and her smirk fell. "What?"  
  
The Cat Cafe was closed down.  
  
"When did this happen?" said the woman in  
confusion as she stared at the note. It informed  
anyone interested enough to read it that the  
Amazon's had returned to China. "Whoa."  
  
Carrot shrugged and turned away, moving down  
the street. It was somewhat unexpected, but not a  
complete surprise. Soon enough, the Ucchan would  
be closing down as well. Ridding the area of the  
last remnants of what Carrot and Dan knew as the  
'Nerima Wrecking Crew'.  
  
"Well. Wanna stop and grab a bite?" asked  
Carrot as they looked towards the Ucchan.  
  
"Sure, why not?" replied Ranma.  
  
The plan was shattered as a young girl turned  
the corner in front of a small construction site  
down the street.  
  
"What the hell?" muttered Ranma in shock.  
  
"Hey! That's..." said Carrot dumbly.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Aiya! Is the end for me!" screamed the girl  
as she dashed away. A dark mass of black crows  
flew behind her, gaining ever closer as they  
threatened to overtake her.  
  
She gasped as she felt someone grab ahold of  
her and swat the birds out of the air as she dove  
by them. The strange woman was flicking stones at  
them from a small pile at the edge of the  
construction site.  
  
The bird's dispersed and revealed an angry  
looking birdman that glared at her savior angrily.  
  
"Kah! Give me that girl!"  
  
"Heh. Come get her," replied the woman  
confidently.  
  
"Kah! You'll die then!"  
  
Yohiko jumped back with the girl in her arms  
and dashed down the road.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Hmmm. Looks like it might rain again." Ryoga  
Hibiki was walking down the road with his umbrella  
held over his shoulder as he wandered aimlessly.  
His thoughts floated around the strange girl he  
had met recently. He'd seen her a few times, and  
she was almost as aggressive as Usagi had been, if  
not a little more. He wasn't entirely comfortable  
with her, especially with her weird pig obsession.  
That was for obvious reasons. However, he could  
feel his resolve weakening.  
  
"Damn you Ryoga Hibiki! Why must you be so  
spineless when it comes to women?" he lamented  
angrily. He paused when he noticed a familiar  
figure running down the road towards him. "Auntie  
Yohiko?"  
  
"Ryoga! Catch!" cried the woman as she tossed  
the girl to him.  
  
He caught her without thinking and blinked in  
surprise as he looked down at the small Chinese  
girl in his arms. "Huh?"  
  
"Aiya! I'm delicate!" cried the girl fearfully  
as she landed on him a little roughly.  
  
Yohiko smirked as she turned to face off  
against the birdmen.  
  
"Give us the girl landling!" snarled one of  
the pair of birdmen who now hovered in the air  
behind her.  
  
She chuckled and glared at them icily. "Who  
are you calling a landling feather boy?"  
  
The pair gasped in shock and almost fell out  
of the air.  
  
Out of Yohiko Hibiki's back, were a huge pair of  
bat-like wings. They gave her a ten-foot wingspan  
as they spread out wide behind her.  
  
"Auntie?" muttered Ryoga in shock.  
  
"What is this?" cried one of the birdmen as he  
floated up a little higher.  
  
"She's not a landling? What is she?" muttered  
his companion in confusion.  
  
"I've never seen..." muttered the other  
birdman dumbly.  
  
Yohiko rose into the sky, just as a light rain  
started to fall around them.  
  
The birdmen crashed to the ground and glared  
at the woman, to their surprise she was now slowly  
descending towards them with huge flaps of her  
wings slowing her decent. The pair now appeared to  
be human, their wings gone, and their clawed feet  
and hands replaced with human limbs. "It seems  
you're the ones with the disadvantage now. How  
interesting."  
  
"Damn you woman! If it wasn't for this rain,  
we'd have kicked your sorry ass!" snapped one of  
the two boys.  
  
"I seriously doubt that," said Yohiko coldly.  
She swat them into the wall with one of her wings  
and they slumped to the ground. Ryoga and the  
little girl joined in beating them to the ground.  
  
"You saved me!" cried the girl as she looked  
up at Yohiko and Ryoga. The woman was regarded  
with more than a little caution.  
  
"Hmm. So, tell me what those flying rats from  
Phoenix Mountain were doing chasing you little  
girl?"  
  
"You are their enemy?" asked the girl  
cautiously.  
  
Yohiko laughed. "No, but I've heard of them.  
Don't worry child, my wings aren't real. My  
clothes have a spell on them." It was the easiest  
explanation and she shifted into a Chinese style  
dress to show the girl. "I've seen your face  
before. In a photo on the Jusenkyo guide's desk."  
Another lie, but it was the best way to explain  
her knowledge.  
  
"You are Honored Guest!?"  
  
"At one time," said the woman with a small  
nod.  
  
Ryoga gasped at this, his umbrella faltered in  
his grip for a moment, but he managed to catch it.  
"You mean? You too?"  
  
Yohiko sighed. "Not really."  
  
"Oh! I'm so glad," said the boy with a  
relieved sigh.  
  
"Thank you for saving me. I am Plum," said  
the girl politely.  
  
"No problem. You'll be safe with us. Come on  
and tell us about your little problem. Maybe we  
can help you," said Yohiko.  
  
Ryoga frowned at this and looked at his aunt.  
"Huh?"  
  
"Come with us, Ryoga," said the woman calmly.  
  
"I..." muttered the boy lamely. He sighed and  
did as he was told, walking after his Aunt with  
his head hung. "I wish, I wish, I wish I had a  
spine..."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Next Time: Kiima! Wai! Wai! ^_^  



	73. Insertion Part 73

Insertion  
  
Part 73  
  
Jusenkyo's Secret!  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Usagi stared at her cousin and her mother in a  
sort of happy wonder. They were getting along so  
well, it was almost scary.  
  
Of course, the fact that Carrot, Dan, Yusaku,  
Xellos, and the man everyone now knew as Nephrite  
were now in the room with their new guest didn't  
hurt either.  
  
"What's up with this?" asked Dan irritably.  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure of it! I hadn't even thought  
about it until now," agreed Carrot as they all  
looked at Nephrite.  
  
The man was simply looking at them in  
confusion. He appeared to be no more than twelve  
years old as he was now. He also had a sort of  
innocent smile on his face.  
  
"Well..." said Xellos cheerfully.  
  
"You shut up, we aren't asking you," snorted  
Carrot.  
  
The man wisely kept his mouth shut and sat  
back in his chair after this.  
  
"Why the hell are you Phibrizzo anyway? You  
were Gaav when we left," said Carrot irritably.  
  
"What they is talking about?" asked Plum as  
she leaned in towards Usagi.  
  
The older girl looked down at her and  
shrugged. "Got me, must be some more backwards  
sorcerer stuff."  
  
"Sorcerer?" muttered Plum dumbly.  
  
"Yeah, something like that. Don't worry, he's  
my uncle, and they're both okay guys," whispered  
the girl cheerfully.  
  
Nephrite finally got around to answering.  
"Well, It's like this. We found out about this  
'Slayers' thing. Naturally, Zocite and Kunzite  
didn't like the idea of one of them betraying the  
other and becoming rouge. I offered to switch  
around with him, and you agreed. That's all."  
  
"Oh, well, you idiots do realize that that's  
just a manga right?" asked Dan with a small frown.  
  
"We didn't want to take any chances with you  
around," snorted Xellos calmly. He was looking  
directly at Carrot as he said this.  
  
"Oh, right," said Carrot with a small shrug. "On  
to other business!"  
  
"Why am I here? What's going on? What's all  
this stuff about Phibritso and stuff?" muttered  
Yusaku in confusion. "Someone please explain  
what's going on!"  
  
The smaller Mazoku chuckled. "Well, for  
starters, Phibrizzo is my name."  
  
"Oh, Who are you?" asked Yusaku.  
  
"I'm Yohiko's love child with Carrot!"  
announced the boy proudly.  
  
Everyone fell face first onto the table.  
  
"WHAT!?" screamed Yohiko. "You little..."  
  
"I have a brother?" gasped Usagi.  
  
"Does that make him my cousin?" asked Ryoga  
fearfully.  
  
"Don't worry, not much danger of you sleeping  
with this one," replied Dan.  
  
"I thought we were gonna keep this a secret!  
You weren't supposed to say anything!" snapped  
Carrot as he grabbed Phibrizzo by his collar and  
shook him. His face was a mask of fake anger.  
  
"It's not true!" screamed Yohiko.  
  
"Say it isn't so!" wailed Yusaku.  
  
Xellos chuckled as he felt the shift in  
reality fade again. He wondered just how long it  
would be until L-sama stopped laughing after he  
told them that Phibrizzo really was their love  
child now.  
  
"I'll kill him!" screamed Yohiko as she  
attempted to dive across the table and grab the  
boy's neck.  
  
"Calm down," said Carrot as he held her back.  
  
"WAAAAHHH! Rejected by my own mother! Oh the  
shame!" cried Nephrite cheerfully. He was really  
trying not to smile, but it was more than he could  
handle.  
  
"Everyone BE QUIET!" screamed Plum at the top  
of her lungs.  
  
The whole room turned to look at her.  
  
The girl slammed her palm down on the table  
and an old looking sheet of paper was slapped  
across the surface. She sighed and looked at them  
all for a moment. "I brought this map with me. Dad  
always called it, "Jusenkyo's secret". If this map  
falls into their hands, then the Spring of Drowned  
Man, The spring of Drowned Girl, all the springs  
at Jusenkyo will dry up!"  
  
"WHAT?" cried Ryoga in horror.  
  
"Tough luck kid," said Carrot as he pat the  
boy on his back and smiled at him.  
  
"We've gotta do something!" cried Ryoga.  
  
"What the heck is Jusenkyo?" asked Usagi  
lamely.  
  
"The Training Ground of Cursed Springs," said  
Yohiko calmly.  
  
"Yes, very tragic story!" agreed Plum.  
  
"So, you're that old guide's runt?" snorted  
Dan indifferently. "Didn't figure him for the  
marrying type."  
  
"In any case, this is interesting. Problem is,  
I don't see any reason not to just give this map  
to them," said Carrot with a small shrug.  
  
Plum blinked. "What you is saying? No more  
cure for Jusenkyo curses anymore!"  
  
"Well, Ryoga is keeping his as punishment for  
what he did to Usagi," said Carrot calmly.  
  
The boy froze up and made a choking sound.  
  
"Other than that, I say we make a deal. A few  
flasks of Jusenkyo's drowned girl and man springs  
in exchange for the map. After that, no more  
curses. You won't need a cure."  
  
"No more job for family either!" snapped Plum.  
  
"You'll just have to find other work. As it  
is, you're living off the suffering of others,"  
said Yohiko with a small snort. "Besides, what  
about all those Jusenkyo Springs Mail Order  
Products?"  
  
Plum frowned and clutched the map to her  
chest.  
  
"What's all this about curses?" muttered  
Yusaku dumbly.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Ryoga is the only one  
here with a problem," replied Carrot with a small  
shrug. "In any case, these Phoenix people are  
mostly harmless right? Other than being extremely  
territorial that is."  
  
"No," replied Xellos calmly. "It's much worse  
than that."  
  
Everyone looked at him in surprise. "There  
hasn't been a Phoenix King in a thousand years. If  
Lord Saffron completes his transformation, things  
will go very badly for the people in that area. It  
will seriously cripple China, and possibly go as  
far as engulfing the entire world in a war. A war  
against someone who is very nearly immortal, and  
immune to any weapon that uses heat to destroy."  
  
Carrot narrowed his eyes at this. "What do you  
mean?"  
  
"Nukes won't kill him," supplied Dan calmly.  
"Radiation might though, just not the blast  
itself."  
  
"There's more to a nuclear explosion than heat  
ya know," grumbled Carrot.  
  
"Still, there is a high probability that he  
will survive unharmed, and possibly not be  
effected by the radiation fall out that would  
occur either," said Xellos with a sort of dark  
foreboding in his tone.  
  
"So what? Now we just go and cream the bastard  
then right? He's just a kid now," snorted Carrot.  
  
"Allow me," said Xellos cheerfully. He waved  
his hand and an image appeared in front of them on  
the table. It was little more than old looking  
drawings depicting his story, but Yusaku almost  
fell out of his chair when he saw it.  
  
"The Bayankala Mountain Range, in the Quinghai  
region of China. To the south of Mount Kensei,  
which holds Jusenkyo, stands Mount Phoenix. At the  
summit of Mount Phoenix, is a poll as cursed as  
the pools of Jusenkyo are cursed." Xellos smirked  
at the bored expression on the three adult's faces  
and showed them images of these places. "According  
to the ancient lore, the pool at the summit of  
Mount Phoenix was cursed, when one of the many  
birds surrounding the peak fell in and drowned."  
  
"Hence, the bird people that live there," said  
Carrot with a small nod. "The three of us have  
heard all this before."  
  
"We have?" asked Yohiko.  
  
"Well, Dan and I have at any rate," commented  
Carrot with a shrug. "No big thing."  
  
"What is talking? You know why they're trying  
to destroy Jusenkyo?" asked Plum in confusion.  
  
"Yeah, they want to raise some Phoenix God  
named Saffron. It has something to do with that,"  
said Carrot calmly.  
  
"How...do you know all this?" asked Usagi in  
confusion.  
  
"Various adventures in the past, I've been to  
Jusenkyo myself actually," replied Yohiko. "It's  
nothing to worry about."  
  
"Oh, okay," said Usagi in confusion.  
  
Yusaku was simply staring at the scene. He had  
no clue about any of this. He jumped to his feet  
and frowned. "You there! Come on out!"  
  
Carrot turned and chuckled at the trio that  
now stood in the window. "Well, what have we  
here?"  
  
Dan turned as well and blinked. "Whoa, what a  
babe!"  
  
"Yeah, you said it," agreed Carrot as they  
both stared at the winged woman who had entered  
with her two male lackeys at her side.  
  
"Um? What?" asked Usagi as she turned to stare  
at them. "I guess she is kinda pretty..."  
  
"What? I'm not good enough?" snarled Yohiko as  
she put Carrot into a headlock.  
  
"What? You don't like me anyway!" snapped the  
man in retort.  
  
"You bastard! How dare you cheat on my auntie  
right in front of her!" cried Ryoga angrily.  
  
"We have to actually be dating for me to cheat  
on her! We just fooled around a bit!" cried  
Carrot.  
  
"Enemy to all women!" screamed Yusaku angrily  
as he stood beside Ryoga and started to stalk  
towards Carrot.  
  
"I...um..." said the bird woman dumbly. "Um,  
hello..."  
  
"What should we do?" asked Usagi as she pulled  
on Dan's sleeve.  
  
"Do what you want, I'm gonna check out the  
babe," said Dan as he pointed at the newcomers.  
  
Kiima was starting go grow red with anger.  
"What the hell is this?"  
  
"Please! Stop fighting! We must defeat evil  
monsters! Save Jusenkyo remember?"  
  
"Sure," said Carrot as he jumped over Ryoga  
and Yusaku and kicked them both in the back of  
their heads. The pair slammed into the wall and  
slumped down. Neither one of them was out though,  
they simply sat there rubbing their foreheads in  
irritation. "Anything if I get to see more of her.  
Bet she can fight too, my kinda woman!"  
  
"Shut up!" screamed Kiima.  
  
"Won't work, she already did that," said  
Carrot as he pointed at Plum. Both he and Dan were  
standing on either side of her, with her two  
lackeys easily kicked out of the way.  
  
"What?" she muttered in confusion. "Why are  
you? Enough of this! Give me that..."  
  
"Great move, now she's mad at us," grumbled  
Dan.  
  
"Hey, ain't like you had a better idea,"  
snorted Carrot irritably.  
  
"Enough!" snapped Kiima as she slapped them  
both.  
  
The men blinked at her and then looked at each  
other.  
  
Finally, Dan sighed and turned around. "Okay,  
everyone turn around and pay attention while the  
pretty bird lady tells us who she is and threatens  
us!"  
  
Everyone immediately did so.  
  
Kiima blinked at this. "Um...thank you."  
  
"Sure thing," said Dan as he winked at her and  
stepped aside with Carrot so that she could pose  
with her lackeys. They were somewhat woozy, but  
quickly recovered.  
  
"I am Captain Kiima of Mount Phoenix!"  
announced the woman.  
  
"I'm Koruma," said the dark skinned boy next  
to her.  
  
"The name is Masara," finished the lighter  
skinned boy. His hair was a spiky mess as well. He  
also had a bow and arrows strapped onto his  
shoulder.  
  
Kiima and Koruma both had swords on their  
belts as well. Both boys were wearing expensive  
looking silk clothes with mostly ornamental  
looking armor. Kiima had little more than an  
armored leotard on.  
  
Kiima turned and looked at several owls  
fluttering around just outside and smirked.  
"Thanks for guiding us, return home with our  
blessing."  
  
Ryoga chuckled as he cracked his knuckles.  
"Never would have guessed that you'd come here.  
Makes our lives easier."  
  
"Pipe down! I'm tryin to make a good  
impression!" snapped Dan as he belted the boy  
across his head.  
  
"Don't bother, you know we're gonna have to  
fight her," snorted Carrot. "Real shame though,"  
he added with a sigh.  
  
"Pigs!" snapped Yohiko.  
  
Usagi was standing there with her arms crossed  
in front of her chest and a scowl on her face. She  
nodded in agreement with her mother. Plum was  
standing in the back of the room with Xellos and  
Phibrizzo.  
  
"You are great sorcerers right? You should do  
something!" said the girl nervously.  
  
"Oh dear me no!" exclaimed Xellos.  
  
"Yeah, we could get hurt," agreed Phibrizzo  
cheerfully.  
  
"What?" muttered the girl in confusion.  
  
Yusaku wasn't taking this whole mess very  
well, he simply stood against the wall and stared  
at the bird people dumbly. "Man, what a night! No  
more of that curry flavored Ramen before bed. Not  
ever again!"  
  
"Kukuku. Your bravado is quite entertaining to  
behold. It would seem that you're not going to  
just hand over the Jusenkyo map peacefully."  
  
"Well, I might be persuaded..." said Carrot  
with a somewhat lecherous looking grin forming on  
his face.  
  
"Damn! Wish I'd thought of that," grumbled  
Dan.  
  
Kiima narrowed her eyes at this and smirked.  
"So, no agreement can be reached then."  
  
"Well that's disappointing, you didn't even  
try to negotiate," said Carrot with a small frown.  
"I'd like to think a handsome guy like me would  
have some kinda chance. Right Dan?"  
  
"Yeah," agreed Carrot's mirror image as he  
looked down at himself. The only difference  
between them was the Dan's shades and the leather  
jacket that hung from his shoulders.  
  
"Oh, you are soooo dead," growled Yohiko  
irritably.  
  
"Seems you're already spoken for," said Kiima  
as she and her lackeys started to spread out a  
bit. "Besides, I'd never soil myself on a mere  
landling, no matter how handsome his exterior.  
  
Carrot chuckled at this opening and simply  
crossed his arms, ignoring her defensive posture.  
"Who are you callin a landling?"  
  
"What?" muttered Kiima in shock. The trio of  
adults all had odd-looking grins on their faces.  
The room was suddenly filled as they all grew a  
huge pair of bat-like wings from nothing.  
  
"What is this?" gasped Kiima in shock. She  
backed away and almost fell over her companions.  
  
"You've just walked into a trap Lady Kiima,"  
said Carrot calmly as he frowned at her. "Too bad,  
you really are a babe too."  
  
Whap!  
  
"OUCH! What the hell is wrong with you?" cried  
Carrot as he turned his head just in time to see  
Yohiko pulling her wing back with a satisfied  
looking smirk on her face.  
  
Usagi was drooling on the floor.  
"Coooooooooollllll!" Her eyes were wide and she  
had an incredibly huge grin on her face.  
  
Yusaku was clutching the wall fearfully.  
  
Xellos, Ryoga, Plum, and Nephrite were all  
simply watching the scene from the back of the  
room. They had decided that it would be best to  
stand away from the mess.  
  
"Maybe we should leave?" asked Plum.  
  
"Good idea," agreed Ryoga.  
  
"I suppose we should, this could get messy,"  
agreed Xellos. He twirled his staff and they  
vanished from the room.  
  
"The map!" cried Kiima.  
  
"I can't believe they left me here!" cried  
Yusaku as he stared at the empty spot where the  
others had been. "Man."  
  
A hand reached out of the plaster and pulled  
him inside the wall, leaving only a liquid like  
ripple in his wake.  
  
Usagi was still kneeling on the floor and now  
appeared somewhat thoughtful. "Hmmm..." She closed  
her eyes and stood up. Wings like those the others  
had were now sprouting from her back, they were a  
little smaller, but proportionately around the  
same size. "Wow! This is so cool!"  
  
Kiima's wings shot straight up, shattering the  
ceiling above her. She crossed her arms and  
chuckled. "Fools! Thousand Wings of the Seabird  
Attack!"  
  
Carrot simply folded his wings in front of  
himself, creating a sort of cocoon of darkness  
around himself.  
  
Dan and Yohiko quickly followed his example,  
this combined wall blocked Usagi.  
  
Kiima smiled in satisfaction, but it quickly  
fell away when the wings opened up and revealed  
that the group had not even been slightly injured.  
"What?"  
  
"Surprised?" asked Carrot as he eyed her for a  
moment.  
  
"Again then!" she snarled. "Thousand..."  
  
"Dark Wind!" cried Carrot as he formed a ball  
of chi energy in his palms and pointed it at her.  
Before she could complete her attack, his wings  
swooped down and released a huge burst of wind.  
The ball of power in his hand shot forward,  
carried by the force of his winds, and increased  
them a hundred times.  
  
Kiima screamed in pain as the superheated air  
slammed into her and shot her through the open  
window.  
  
"What magic is this?" cried Masara in shock.  
  
"Captain Kiima has been defeated? What do we  
do now?" said Koruma.  
  
"Running would seem to be the best option,"  
said Carrot with a small chuckle. "You won't find  
that map at the moment, Plum has it and he's run  
off with my friend Xellos. Looking for her tonight  
would prove fruitless."  
  
"Defeated? Have some faith in your Captain!"  
snapped Kiima as she appeared in the room and  
conked the pair on their heads. She turned her  
head towards Carrot and frowned. "And you, that  
hurt. You'll pay. Mark my words, we'll meet  
again!"  
  
"God I hope so," muttered Carrot and Dan in  
unison.  
  
"Koruma! Masara! To the skies!" snapped Kiima.  
  
"Yes, Captain!" cried the pair as they  
followed her.  
  
"Well, that's over for now. Dang, didn't get a  
phone number or anything," grumbled Carrot. "I  
must be losing my touch."  
  
"Yeah, how depressing," agreed Dan with a  
small sigh.  
  
"You idiots!" screamed Yohiko. "Think outside  
your own pants for once!"  
  
"Hey, it's never let me down before," replied  
Carrot with a shrug.  
  
"If it don't make you drunk, have breasts, or  
explode, I ain't interested," replied Dan as he  
mirrored Carrot's reaction.  
  
"Um, Mom...now what?" asked Usagi in  
confusion.  
  
"Well, you're going to put those wings away  
and go to sleep, I'm going to beat the hell out of  
these two, and in the morning, Xellos and Nephrite  
will bring Yusaku, your cousin, and Plum back."  
  
"But, I wanna try them out!" whined the girl  
as she flapped them experimentally.  
  
"You'll get plenty of chances later. I don't  
want you running around with those bird people  
flying about. Just go to sleep."  
  
"Yes, Ma'am," grumbled the girl dejectedly.  
  
"Right," said Yohiko as she sighed.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Meanwhile, in the Quinghai region of China, at  
Mount Phoenix...  
  
"Hey old man! Isn't my bath ready yet?"  
  
The old birdman knelt before the empty pool  
and sighed. "My lord, please be patient for just a  
little bit longer. Soon Kiima and her soldiers  
will come back with the secrets of Jusenkyo."  
  
"Damn it! They're too slow!" snapped Saffron  
as he tossed his bath pail into the empty tub.  
  
The old man started to shake in fear as a huge  
crack appeared in the base. "Yes Lord Saffron! You  
have every right to be angry! So I have created  
this, in order to ease your suffering." He pulled  
what looked like a chalk board eraser from behind  
his back and began to tap at it, sending a cloud  
of aromatic powder into the air. "See? Smells just  
like a bath house!"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Where are we again?" asked Ryoga as he  
glanced around at the glowing walls of brimstone  
and flowing magma that surrounded them.  
  
"Huh? Just my lab," said Xellos. "It's sort of  
a wizards workshop, no big deal really. Don't  
worry, you're all protected by my magic here."  
  
"Is warm," said Plum nervously.  
  
"Ah, it's nice to be home for a while,"  
commented Phibrizzo.  
  
"Isn't it though?" agreed Xellos.  
  
"Sure is scary for a lab," said Yusaku.  
  
"Yes, I suppose it is. Sometimes I just have  
to have a little room though to try something out.  
I suppose it can't be helped."  
  
Ryoga sighed again and sat down. "I think I've  
been here before." He paused and pointed at the  
wall. "Hey! It's still there! This is where I  
carved my name in the wall."  
  
Xellos blinked and looked at the spot. "Hmm.  
So it is. How did you managed to get all the way  
down to the thirteenth level though?"  
  
"Well, Hells not the same place it used to be  
I suppose," commented Phibrizzo.  
  
"I guess you're right," agreed Xellos with a  
small sigh.  
  
"What's that noise?" asked Yusaku as a sort of  
wailing floated across the wind.  
  
"Huh? Oh that. Just the tortured souls,  
nothing to worry about. They're quite a ways away.  
I sort of staked this place out for myself. You  
can only hear them if they get really loud some  
nights. Don't wander off anyone, just try to catch  
a little sleep. We've got to go back tomorrow."  
  
"Tomorrow?" muttered Yusaku in shock. "We've  
got to stay here tonight? Where the hell are we?"  
  
"Funny you should mention that..." said  
Phibrizzo cheerfully.  
  
"Neat!" cried Plum cheerfully as she ran her  
hand through the molten magma unharmed by the  
flames. She played with it cheerfully and started  
to make cute little castles and statues with as if  
it was sand on the beach. She didn't even notice  
the fact that her clothes had little holes burning  
in them now from the splattering. She looked up at  
Xellos and smiled. "Can I go swimming?"  
  
"Well, okay, but take off your clothes or  
they'll burn off and you'll be naked anyway."  
  
The girl nodded cheerfully and started  
stripping.  
  
"This isn't happening to me!" muttered Yusaku  
as he clutched the side of his head and started  
rocking back and fourth.  
  
"Don't be such a weenie, it's only for a few  
hours. Teleporting us all took a lot out of me,"  
snorted Xellos as he sat back and closed his eyes  
to rest.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Dan frowned as he walked down the street with  
a bottle in his hand. Naturally, Yohiko's attempt  
to beat up Carrot and ended as it always did. The  
pair were going at it like sex starved rabbits in  
a wool sock. He sighed and took a swig of his beer  
as he continued walking through the cool night  
air.  
  
"Man, why do they gotta make so much damn  
noise?" he muttered irritably. He paused when a  
mess of arrows landed all around him on the  
ground. He blinked and looked around himself  
calmly, they had all missed, but not by much.  
"Shit." He turned his head and saw Koruma jumping  
towards him. The boy was in his human form, and  
was lobbing some sort of white things at him.  
  
His eyes went wide as he realized what they  
were. "Oh man! Shit!" They slammed into his body,  
several small eggs that cracked on impact. Before  
he could even react he found himself wrapped up in  
the tiny fibers that flowed from inside the eggs.  
"Well isn't this just fuckin great!"  
  
Masara appeared beside his companion and  
chuckled. "Ha. Got him."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Kiima sat on top of the chimney where they had  
created a base of operations. Tiny birds flocked  
around her and she spoke to one that was resting  
on her hand.  
  
"My messenger, report this to Mount Phoenix.  
"By the end of the night, the map will be ours!"  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
A few hours later, near morning...  
  
Kiima caressed the giant egg that had engulfed  
Dan and kept her wings wrapped around it to  
protect it from the cold night air.  
  
Finally, it cracked and she smiled to herself.  
She chuckled softly as the arm burst from inside  
the egg and smirked.  
  
She gasped in shock as two jet black wings  
shot out from inside, they were feathered this  
time. Like those of an eagle, the egg exploded  
outward and the man inside stood up with a smirk  
on his face. His eyes cast down to the ground.  
"Heh."  
  
The bird woman simply stared up at her new  
hatchling in shock, unable to speak or move. "What  
the?" she managed after a moment.  
  
Dan looked at her. His intense gaze locking  
with her slightly frightened one. "Hello."  
  
Kiima smirked as she stood up and regained her  
composure. "I am your mother now. You are my  
child, and you will do as I say."  
  
Dan smile grew slightly as he watched her  
carefully. "Lady, you're much too young to be my  
mother."  
  
Kiima gasped in shock and stepped back. "It  
failed? Wha? How?"  
  
The man grabbed her by her shoulders and  
leaned her down deeply. "Heh. Gimme some sugar  
baby."  
  
Kiima's eyes went wide as the man planted his  
lips onto hers. She wasn't quite sure what to make  
of it. She relaxed slightly as he pulled her back  
up to her feet.  
  
She staggered for a moment with a huge blush  
on her face as he turned away from her and looked  
out over the city. "What?"  
  
"So, I take it you wanted something from me?  
You wouldn't go to all that trouble for nuthin  
pretty lady."  
  
Kiima smirked at him. "Well, isn't this  
interesting."  
  
"I want that map, do whatever it takes to get  
it," said Kiima as she smirked at him.  
  
The man turned his head to look at her again.  
He cocked his eyebrow and chuckled. "Groovy." He  
stood upright and looked down at the city. "Well,  
tough luck Carrot. I get the babe this time. All  
that, and I finally get to do what I've always  
wanted to. Get ready you bastard." He opened his  
wings wide and smirked back at Kiima again.  
  
She backed away from him with a slightly  
frightened frown on her face. "Tell you what. I'll  
call you Mom like you wanted, if you tell me I'm  
your Daddy."  
  
The woman blinked in confusion, not quite sure  
what to make of this.  
  
"Looks like I'm gonna have ta show ya," he  
replied with another chuckle.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Damn birds," the old man looked out the  
window of his apartment and shook his fist at the  
sky. The industrial chimney could be seen from his  
window and he frowned. "They never used to be this  
loud!"  
  
"Come to bed and forget about the stupid  
birds!" snapped the old woman from the large futon  
in the middle of the floor.  
  
"I can't! All that racket in the middle of the  
night?" snapped the man angrily. "I'm gonna make  
some calls tomorrow and see about putting in  
another formal complaint!"  
  
"You do that, for now come to bed! You're  
keeping me up with all this muttering!"  
  
"Bah!" cried the man as he waved his hand and  
turned away from the window. He just missed seeing  
the giant pair of wings appear there, and then the  
silhouette of a naked woman arching her back in a  
cry of passion before vanishing back down into the  
large nest again.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
It gets better! Next Time: Dan Vs. Nerima.  



	74. Insertion 74

Insertion   
  
Part 74   
  
Dan vs. Nerima   
  
+++++++++++++++   
  
It was a cold morning; Dan stood overlooking   
the rooftops of Nerima with Kiima, a cold looking   
smirk on his face as he glared out at the burg.   
"Heh. So you want that map do you?"   
  
"Yes," she replied calmly, a blanket wrapped   
around her shoulders.   
  
"No problem, it won't be easy though," said   
Dan calmly. "I'll get it done. So relax."   
  
She nodded and frowned slightly. "You're   
different than the others."   
  
"Maybe," replied Dan with a chuckle. He turned   
to look at her and smirked. "See you later."   
  
The woman nodded and looked uncomfortable   
again, she clutched the blanket a little tighter   
and looked away.   
  
Dan jumped off the chimney and spread his   
wings. He soared off into the sky, leaving her   
sitting there with a frown on her face.   
  
++++++++++++   
  
In the air, a familiar voice piped up in Dan's   
mind.   
  
"Was it right for us to do that to Mom?"   
whimpered Pissant.   
  
"She's not our mother," replied Dan calmly.   
  
"I know, but it still seems so...wrong,"   
muttered Pissant.   
  
"Maybe it was, but I've got a feeling she   
won't be complaining much when we get back with   
that map," snorted Dan.   
  
"The others will probably know what happened   
to us," replied Pissant. "Carrot will I think."   
  
"You're right," agreed Dan. "That is, if they   
even realize we were gone at all. I doubt Xellos   
and Phibrizzo will let them in on it."   
  
"What are we gonna do?" asked Pissant with a   
worried sounding tone.   
  
"Kick Carrot's ass if he gets in the way, it   
won't take him long to figure this out, even if he   
doesn't know. We need to get to Plum."   
  
"You're not going to attack Carrot are you?"   
whimpered the voice.   
  
"Naw, he'll probably attack me, if not, we'll   
get our chance later. Heh." Dan narrowed his eyes   
and floated down towards the ground. "I'm debating   
whether or not we should even bother hiding."   
  
"It would make things easier if they don't   
know," said Pissant.   
  
"It's late, they'll know we've been gone,   
Carrot will suspect if nothing else."   
  
"Still, we should try," grumbled Pissant.   
  
"Your wussiness is starting to piss me off,"   
snorted Dan. "We're going to fight them sooner or   
later."   
  
"Maybe not," muttered Pissant.   
  
"Right, you keep thinkin that, I'm goin to get   
that map, don't get in the way," snorted Dan as he   
started walking towards the apartment. It was only   
a few blocks away, and he wanted some time to   
think before he got there.   
  
++++++++++++   
  
"Welcome back," said Carrot as Xellos appeared   
with the others at his side. They walked into the   
room and looked around.   
  
Yohiko was wearing a bathrobe with a cup of   
coffee in her hands. "Morning."   
  
Usagi walked out of the kitchen with some   
toast hanging from her mouth and smiled.   
"Gmrning."   
  
"Well, we're back," said Phibrizzo. "How's it   
goin pop?"   
  
Carrot snorted at this and nodded his head at   
the boy. "I thought you'd be here earlier than   
this."   
  
"Where's Dan?" asked Xellos.   
  
"You know where he is, and I'm worried about   
it," said Carrot as he frowned slightly.   
  
Plum was sitting at the table looking around   
in confusion. "What?"   
  
"One of us is missing?" asked Ryoga with a   
frown. "Why aren't you looking for him?"   
  
"Because I already have a pretty good idea   
what happened to him," said Carrot with a small   
sigh.   
  
Yusaku had a huge dumb looking grin on his   
face as he sat down. He didn't care what was going   
on, as long as he was back from that place the   
sorcerers had kept him for all those hours. He   
looked like he needed sleep, but it could wait a   
little longer.   
  
"What happened to Dan?" asked Usagi in   
confusion. She sat down next to her new 'half-   
brother' and looked at him for a moment before   
turning back to the problem at hand.   
  
"He probably got caught when he went out last   
night. I'm betting that chick brainwashed him, and   
he's working for them now," replied Carrot with a   
small sigh.   
  
"What?" said Yohiko in shock.   
  
"No big deal, he's probably having the time of   
his life. He needs to blow off some steam anyway,"   
said Carrot with a shrug.   
  
"What?" replied most of the room dumbly.   
  
"Those bird people have these egg things that   
take over people's minds and stuff. No big thing,"   
said Carrot calmly. "He's workin for Kiima."   
  
"So, we have to fight Dan now?" asked Yohiko   
with a small snort.   
  
"You don't sound very upset about that,"   
commented Xellos.   
  
"None of us like each other much," replied   
Carrot as he shrugged. "I'd rather it was me, but   
I suppose Dan deserves to get himself a chick now   
and then too."   
  
"Funny you should put it that way," commented   
Yohiko with a small frown.   
  
"Yeah, no pun intended," said Carrot as he   
smiled at her.   
  
"This is strange," said Plum as she frowned at   
the situation.   
  
"I've seen worse," replied Usagi as she leaned   
her head on her palm and lost interest.   
  
"Yeah, you get used to this sort of thing if   
you're around them a lot," said Phibrizzo   
cheerfully.   
  
"Oh," said Plum as she shook her head. "Still,   
what we do now?"   
  
"Well, Kiima will probably send Dan to get   
that map. I suppose we should try and stop him,"   
said Carrot with a small shrug.   
  
"You don't sound very sure of that," commented   
Yohiko flatly.   
  
"Well, sooner or later, we'll end up in China.   
L-sama isn't likely to let us off this easy," said   
Carrot as he sighed and turned to look at her.   
"You know how it is."   
  
"Who's L-sama?" asked Usagi.   
  
"God," said Carrot calmly.   
  
"Yeah, him," agreed Yohiko.   
  
Everyone in the room blinked and stared at   
them.   
  
Xellos spoke up next. "Well, now that it's out   
of the way. What are you going to do now?"   
  
"Ignore you, you're not going to help us   
anyway," said Carrot. "At least, not directly.   
Neither one of you idiots wants to get your hands   
dirty I'll bet."   
  
"So cruel!" cried Phibrizzo in mock insult.   
  
"Still, he's correct. We can't interfere. Not   
directly anyway," agreed Xellos. "We've got other   
concerns, remember?"   
  
"Right," said Phibrizzo cheerfully.   
  
"You're not planning on telling us what those   
concerns are?" said Yohiko.   
  
"Nope," said Xellos cheerfully.   
  
"So, these two are useless," said Carrot with   
a sigh.   
  
"What are they talking about?" muttered Usagi   
as she looked at the adults for a moment and   
frowned.   
  
"It's a secret," said Yohiko before Xellos   
could open his mouth to respond.   
  
The Mazoku frowned and crossed his arms.   
"You're no fun."   
  
The woman smirked and looked at Yusaku. "You   
go home and get some sleep before you pass out in   
that chair. We'll come and get you later on, if we   
need your help."   
  
The man nodded his head and stood up, slowly   
walking towards the door.   
  
Plum sighed and rested her head in her palms.   
"So, we wait for this Dan person now?"   
  
"Basically. There isn't much else we can do,"   
replied Carrot.   
  
"Can I go outside?" grumbled Usagi.   
  
"No, put your wings away and just be patient,   
you'll be sick of them by the end of the week,   
believe me," replied Yohiko calmly.   
  
Carrot smirked at this and turned his head   
towards Plum. "Give me that map will ya?"   
  
The girl looked up at him and frowned. "What   
for?"   
  
"Would you rather have Dan attack you to get   
it, or me? He's going to head right for you,   
unless he knows someone else has it," said Carrot   
as he smirked at her. "I'll take Usagi outside,   
we'll get some training in, she can break in her   
wings, and Dan will have something besides our   
apartment to blow up. I'd like to get our deposit   
back ya know."   
  
Yohiko turned her head towards the shattered   
window and frowned. "What's left of it anyway."   
  
"Right, you get the idea then," said Carrot   
cheerfully.   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
Carrot smirked as he stood off against Usagi   
in a small open lot near the home. "Well, your   
mother has been training you has she?"   
  
"That's right," said the girl with a slightly   
nervous frown.   
  
"Relax, I'll go easy on you. This is more to   
get you accustomed to your wings than anything   
else."   
  
The girl blinked at this and smiled. "Really?"   
  
"Right, you're going to be using them a lot in   
the near future I think, we've got to fight off an   
entire race of bird people after all," said the   
boy as he grinned at her.   
  
"Sounds like fun!" she said cheerfully.   
  
"Doesn't it though?" replied Carrot as he   
spread his feet apart and sprouted his wings. They   
flapped once before settling back in a folded   
position. "Go ahead, we'll probably get   
interrupted soon, but hey."   
  
The girl nodded and sprouted her wings as   
well, flapping them and pulling herself off the   
ground. Carrot smirked and followed after her.   
  
Usagi wobbled a bit, but soon found a   
comfortable rhythm and managed to hover about a   
hundred feet in the air. Carrot did the same and   
the pair faced off. Usagi took up a combat stance   
and frowned.   
  
"What the hell are you doing?" asked Carrot as   
he smirked at her.   
  
"What? I'm getting ready for you!" said the   
girl in confusion.   
  
"You're acting like we're on the ground,   
you're wide open from above and below," said   
Carrot. "You can't think that your opponent is   
going to come right at you in the air." To   
demonstrate this point he swooped at her, curving   
and weaving in the air, almost coming down on top   
of her as he lashed out with a kick. "You can't   
defend a circle anymore Usagi. You've got to think   
in terms of a sphere. An enemy can attack from any   
position now, above, below. You don't have a plane   
like the ground, or limits like walls, to work   
with."   
  
The girl took the hit, it was light and didn't   
hurt at all, but she saw his point. "So...what do   
I do?"   
  
Carrot chuckled and stared at her for a   
moment. "Defend yourself, the only real way to   
learn, is by doing."   
  
The girl's eyes went wide as he attacked, she   
desperately tried to block his strikes and counter   
them, but it was a losing battle. Luckily, he was   
being rather gentle with her, and she only   
received a few bruises from the assault.   
  
Finally, he stopped and smirked at her. "Good   
job kid. Better than I thought, you've picked this   
up rather quickly."   
  
Usagi was gasping and flying in a circle   
around him. She was trying to catch her breath,   
and doing a rather poor job of it as she gasped   
and swallowed repeatedly.   
  
"You're not as fast as you could be,   
Katsutenshin Amaguriken is it?"   
  
The girl nodded at this as she continued to   
circle him.   
  
"Hmmm, you have been practicing it seems," he   
said with a smirk on his face. "Not bad for a   
newbie, kid."   
  
The girl frowned at this and managed to start   
hovering again. "Hey! I..."   
  
"Come on, we should land before Dan gets too   
impatient," said Carrot as he winked at her and   
started to dive downward.   
  
He hit the ground lightly, and smirked as   
Usagi slammed into the dirt face first. She lay   
there for a moment looking dazed.   
  
"Ouchie!"   
  
"You've got to learn how to land kid," said   
Carrot calmly. He glanced around and sighed. "Come   
on Dan. I don't have all day."   
  
"Teaching the kid a few tricks?" asked Dan as   
he stepped out from behind a wall and chuckled.   
"Never expected to find you out in the open."   
  
"Have fun last night?" asked Carrot   
cheerfully.   
  
"Loads," replied Dan.   
  
"What was she like?" asked Carrot cheerfully.   
  
Dan frowned at this and snorted. "None of your   
business."   
  
"Hey! Don't be like that! I told you what   
Yohiko was like when you asked. Come on, be a   
pal!" said Carrot as he leaned on Dan's shoulder   
and smirked.   
  
"What? Well, I guess so..." grumbled the man.   
"Never mind about that. You know why I'm here!"   
  
"If you tell me, I'll give you the map," said   
Carrot as he grinned at the man. He held it out to   
the man and Dan simply looked at it.   
  
"I...ummm..." said Dan as he looked at Carrot.   
"Heh. Okay."   
  
"Great. Don't worry about her, she's still out   
cold from her landing. I guess I'm gonna have to   
teach her about that before China."   
  
Dan shook his head and sighed. "I suppose so.   
Just keep her out of my way will ya?"   
  
"No problem, we'll get our chance to fight   
soon enough," agreed Carrot. "Come on, I'll buy   
you a drink. You can tell me all about her." He   
pointed at a small cafe that was near to the site   
and started walking.   
  
Dan shrugged and walked after him with his   
hands in his pockets.   
  
After a moment the pair were sitting across   
from each other at one of the tables.   
  
"Claws?" asked Carrot with a slight shudder.   
  
"Yeah, my back is still sore. Man, don't they   
have something besides these girly tea things   
here?" He frowned at the menu and sighed. "Anyway,   
she does the cutest thing with her wings when   
she's embarrassed..."   
  
"KAHH! What the hell are you doing?" screamed   
a familiar voice.   
  
Dan and Carrot looked up to see Kiima floating   
above the ground, glaring at them both. "Huh?"   
  
"Hey Hon! I'll have that map in a few   
minutes!" said Dan cheerfully.   
  
"You're having tea with him?" snapped Kiima   
angrily. "What the hell are you two talking   
about!"   
  
Carrot blinked. "Women. I told him about my   
girlfriend, it's only fair."   
  
Kiima's face was a mask of rage as she landed   
next to Dan and slammed her fist into the back of   
his skull.   
  
"Ouch!" muttered the man. "Come on! Don't be   
angry!"   
  
Carrot shrugged, "Will you two quit hiding and   
just come out?"   
  
Masara and Koruma both appeared with huge   
blushes on their faces. "You don't really make   
that noise do you Captain? I mean...he's   
never...ummm..." They both looked at Dan.   
  
"What of it?" snorted the man as he glared at   
them.   
  
"But, he's your pet landling!" cried Masara.   
"Captain! You didn't!"   
  
"Who are you callin a landling?" snorted Dan   
irritably as his wings sprouted again. "Look you   
stupid punks..."   
  
"Now, now! Calm down!" said Carrot as he put   
up his hands. "Come on Kiima, don't be mad. He   
really likes you!"   
  
"You'd better have that map, Dan," snarled the   
woman.   
  
"Actually, I told him I'd give it to him if he   
told me about you. We're pals, it's nothing to   
worry about. Don't be angry," said Carrot.   
  
"What?" muttered Kiima as she looked at the   
man.   
  
"Well, he did tell me about his girl..." said   
Dan sheepishly. "I mean, it's not like I was   
saying this out of the blue or anything."   
  
"I wouldn't call her my 'girl' either," said   
Carrot with a small frown.   
  
"Well you snore!" snapped Kiima.   
  
"Yeah, tell me about it," agreed Carrot with a   
frown on his face.   
  
"Hey!" snapped Dan.   
  
Masara and Koruma had gone pale as they glared   
at the two men.   
  
"We're roommates! It's not like that you   
perverts!" snapped Carrot as he glared at them.   
  
"She makes these little whistling bird noises   
in her sleep," whispered Dan.   
  
"How cute!" said Carrot cheerfully.   
  
Kiima was beet red, she wasn't sure what was   
going on, or how she should react to this. "I'll   
kill them both!" she announced finally.   
  
"If it'll make you feel any better, I'll let   
you tell me embarrassing things about him too,"   
offered Carrot.   
  
"Yeah," agreed Masara and Koruma.   
  
"You two! Get lost! This is a private matter!"   
snarled Kiima.   
  
"Great, now she's mad at me!" said Dan   
irritably. "You did tell me to do whatever it   
takes to get the map, and this is what it takes."   
  
Kiima blinked at this. "What?"   
  
"Oh yeah, here ya go buddy. Ya know we're   
gonna be following you, I kinda have to lie about   
how you got this from me." Carrot winked at the   
man and handed him the map as he pat his shoulder.   
  
"Oh, right. Thanks," said Dan cheerfully.   
"Here ya go hon, mission accomplished."   
  
Kiima accepted it and simply stared at the   
pair for a moment, unsure of what to say or do.   
"I...Enough of this! Dan, come with me! We'll   
return home at last!"   
  
"Right," agreed the man cheerfully. "See ya   
around, Carrot."   
  
"Later man, we'll have to beat the hell outa   
each other next time!"   
  
"Right, I look forward to it!"   
  
Masara and Koruma rushed out after their   
master. "Wait! Captain! Wait for us!"   
  
"Bye!" said Carrot as he waved at them as they   
vanished into the sky.   
  
He sighed and walked over to where Usagi was   
sitting on the ground in the middle of the   
abandoned lot. She had a scowl on her face, and   
there were several craters on the ground now.   
  
"Hey. Did you get it yet?" asked Carrot.   
  
The girl looked at him and blinked, tears   
started to form in her eyes. "I can't land!"   
  
"Oh, relax, it just takes a bit of practice.   
My first landing wasn't that great either. Carrot   
cocked his head and remembered the fight with   
Valdis during the Silver Millenium. "Really hurt   
too."   
  
"Really?" said the girl with tears in her   
eyes.   
  
"Yeah," said the boy cheerfully. "Come on, we   
should get back now. I'm sure your mother is   
worried, or something like that."   
  
"Huh? What about that map?" asked the girl in   
confusion.   
  
"Oh, yeah. Dan already showed up. You missed   
it. I lost the map, and he ran off with that bird   
chick. We gotta follow them to China now."   
  
"WHAT!?" cried Usagi.   
  
"No big deal," said the boy as he shrugged.   
"Come on, we should go back. We gotta start packin   
and stuff."   
  
"Oh man!" grumbled the girl as she hung her   
head and sighed.   
  
"Cheer up! You get to go see China! It'll be   
an adventure and all," said Carrot as he grabbed   
her shoulder. "You'll love it there, it's very   
pretty."   
  
"Oh, that's nice...I guess," muttered Usagi as   
she seemed to think about it for a moment.   
  
+++++++++++++++   
  
"You lost map!!!???" Plum grabbed the boy by   
his collar and shook him.   
  
"Quit it! We'll just have to go get it, that's   
all," muttered Carrot irritably.   
  
Plum released him and fell to the ground with   
a saddened look on her face. "Great. Is just   
great."   
  
"We have to go to China?" said Ryoga with a   
frown on his face.   
  
"Yeah, you're coming along too lost boy,"   
snorted Carrot. "We'll bring Usagi, Yohiko,   
myself, Ryoga, and Plum."   
  
"What about Yusaku?" replied Usagi in   
confusion.   
  
"What about him?" asked Carrot with a shrug.   
"He's not far enough along in his training to be   
of any real use. He'll just slow us down as he is   
now."   
  
"He's right," agreed Yohiko reluctantly.   
  
"What about these two idiots?" asked Usagi as   
she jerked her thumb back at Xellos and Phibrizzo.   
  
"They'll be there getting under our skin   
whether we take them ourselves or not. I'd rather   
force them to make their own way there."   
  
"Ouch," commented Xellos cheerfully.   
  
"My family hates me it seems," agreed   
Phibrizzo.   
  
"You'll get over it," commented Carrot.   
  
"How can you be so mean to your own son!?"   
cried Usagi in shock.   
  
"Yes, tell us father?" said Phibrizzo   
cheerfully.   
  
"Well, I don't treat my daughter much better,   
what are you complaining about anyway?" snorted   
Carrot as he looked at the boy.   
  
"I'm not complaining, just agreeing with her,"   
said the boy cheerfully.   
  
Usagi blinked. "Daughter?"   
  
"Oops, not supposed to let that slip was I?"   
said Carrot cheerfully as he looked at Yohiko.   
  
The woman stared at him blankly for a moment,   
after a few seconds it started to sink in. "You   
wouldn't."   
  
"Already done," said Xellos with a small   
shrug. "What's the big deal, you've already got   
one love child. What's one more?"   
  
"You've got a daughter too? What kind of   
pervert are you?" snapped Usagi angrily.   
  
"Yeah, you," replied Carrot calmly as he   
scratched his ear and turned to look at her half   
way.   
  
Usagi froze and stared at him for a moment.   
"What?"   
  
Yohiko was looking at something on the floor   
that she suddenly found rather interesting.   
  
"Well, isn't this interesting?" commented   
Xellos as he smirked at the pair.   
  
"My father is dead!" snapped Usagi angrily as   
she stood up.   
  
"No, your Dad is dead, your father is rather   
enjoying himself right now," said Xellos as he   
pointed at Carrot.   
  
"What?" muttered the girl in confusion. She   
stared at her mother, not quite understanding what   
was going on still.   
  
"Usagi, Keiichi wasn't your father...I just   
married him after you were..."   
  
"I wasn't around, so she took the next best   
thing," finished Carrot calmly.   
  
"Not around!" cried Usagi in shock.   
  
"Why do you think I stayed away for so long?"   
snorted the man irritably. "Come back and find out   
some loser wimp married your wife, and was raising   
the daughter you never knew about as if she was   
his own? I was pissed."   
  
Yohiko growled, "Why are you doing this to   
her?"   
  
"Easier in the long run," said Carrot calmly.   
"Especially if we're stuck this way."   
  
Usagi was simply looking at him with tears in   
her eyes.   
  
"She is my daughter you know. I'm not lying to   
her," said Carrot calmly.   
  
"Sometimes I hate the fact that she's more   
yours than mine," replied the woman as she turned   
her head away and refused to look at the girl.   
Carrot had based the girl after the male portion   
of them's real daughter, one she had no part of.   
  
Usagi fell to her knees and stared at her   
mother for a moment. "It...it's true?"   
  
The woman nodded slowly, not sure what else to   
say.   
  
Plum and the two sorcerers hung back with   
Ryoga.   
  
"What's going on here?" asked the lost boy.   
  
"I'm not sure," replied Plum.   
  
"Shhhh!" said Xellos as he munched on some   
popcorn with Phibrizzo next to him.   
  
"Wow, this is like one of those soap opera   
things," said the boy.   
  
"So, she is your sister?" asked Plum in   
confusion.   
  
"Well, not really...but..." said Phibrizzo.   
  
"Actually, she is your sister," said Xellos.   
  
The boy looked at him and blinked. "Huh?"   
  
"You should have known better than to open   
your mouth that way around them. It's how I got   
stuck here in the first place," said the man as he   
smirked at his companion.   
  
"You mean?" muttered the boy dumbly.   
  
"Uh huh," said Xellos cheerfully.   
  
"Oh man, I bet they think this is hilarious,"   
grumbled Phibrizzo irritably.   
  
"Of course they do," said Xellos cheerfully.   
  
"Who is they?" asked Plum.   
  
"It's complicated," said Xellos.   
  
"Oh," muttered Ryoga as he looked at the   
ground in frustration. "So, you're my cousin too?"   
  
"Apparently," said Phibrizzo with a small   
sigh.   
  
"Well, we've all got a big day tomorrow. We're   
going to China," said Carrot as he jumped up out   
of his chair and smirked at them all. "This   
emotional family stuff can wait until later."   
  
"What? You asshole!" cried Yohiko as she   
slammed her chair over the man's head.   
  
"Ouch," grumbled Carrot.   
  
"Daddy!" cried Usagi as she burst into tears   
and rushed into his chest.   
  
"Hey! I said wait until..." He sighed and   
backed away. The girl was attached to his waist   
rather firmly. He sighed and slumped down into the   
recliner in front of the television. "All right,   
fine."   
  
Yohiko snorted angrily, ready to pound him in   
the dirt again. She paused when she saw her   
daughter curling up in the man's lap, and the   
strange expression that flashed on his face for a   
moment. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but   
decided to leave them alone for the time being.   
  
"So, we'll see you tomorrow then?" asked   
Xellos cheerfully.   
  
"Ryoga, you stay here tonight," said Yohiko as   
she turned to look at the boy. "Plum can stay in   
Usagi's room."   
  
"Right," said the boy as he looked at the   
woman for a moment and turned back to watching   
Usagi for a moment. "Is she?"   
  
"She's fine," said Yohiko. "Don't worry about   
her."   
  
Ryoga nodded and simply remained seated where   
he was.   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
"So, we go back to China?" said Dan as he   
looked out over the ocean with Kiima at his side.   
His head had several large lumps on it, and his   
face was covered in tiny scratches.   
  
"Maybe next time you'll keep your mouth shut,"   
snorted the woman irritably.   
  
"Hey, it was a one time thing," said Dan as he   
looked at her and sighed.   
  
"So, what are we going to do with him   
Captain?" asked Masara.   
  
"Yeah?" agreed Koruma.   
  
"Take him with us of course," said Kiima.   
  
Dan snorted as they looked at him warily.   
"How? I mean, he's too big to carry."   
  
"I can fly to you half wits," snorted Dan as   
he promptly thwacked the pair with his wings.   
"These work fine."   
  
"How dare you attack...!" started Masara.   
  
"Leave him alone," snarled Kiima.   
  
"Thanks," said Dan with a smirk on his face.   
  
"He's one of our kind," responded Kiima   
flatly.   
  
"I don't think he is," muttered Masara.   
  
"He's got wings, that's enough," replied   
Kiima. "At any rate, it's none of your concern. He   
won't betray me, his loyalty is unquestioned."   
  
"She's right about that," agreed Koruma.   
  
"He's acting funny," snorted Masara. "I've   
never seen anyone..."   
  
"I'm a special case, besides, I like being   
around. You'll have to beat me to get rid of me.   
Think you two losers can handle that?" Dan eyed   
them both coldly, and the pair backed off   
slightly. "Good."   
  
"Quit squabbling and let's go!" snorted Kiima   
as she rose into the air.   
  
Dan nodded and followed after her. "Come on   
losers, see if you can keep up."   
  
The two birdmen growled and followed after   
him.   
  
"Is that a challenge?" snapped Masara.   
  
"Sounded like one to me!" agreed Koruma.   
  
"Last one to China was a rotten egg!" replied   
Dan as he sped forward.   
  
"No fair! You've got a head start!" snapped   
Masara.   
  
++++++++++++   
  
It was early morning and Carrot smirked as he   
followed the others to wards the train station.   
They were going to take the rail to the docks   
where Plum's boat was waiting for them.   
  
"Hey, Just a minute," he said as he paused in   
the middle of the street. He turned away from them   
and jogged towards a familiar building.   
  
++++++++++++   
  
Ukyo blinked as a familiar face poked his head   
into the restaurant. "Huh?"   
  
"Hey, Ucchan. We're going to China. Want a   
ride?" asked Carrot.   
  
The girl stared at him for a moment, not sure   
what to say. "I uhhh..."   
  
"If you're coming, hurry up. There's people   
waiting on me," said the boy cheerfully.   
  
"Wha?" stammered Ukyo as she looked at him for   
a moment. "Um...okay. I gotta get my stuff and..."   
  
"Great. We'll just stop and have breakfast   
while you pack. Don't forget anything."   
  
++++++++++++++   
  
Plum waved the group on board the small craft   
cheerfully. "Come on! The weather is just right   
for sailing!"   
  
Ukyo stood on the dock looking at the boat   
that would carry them all to China. "Not much to   
look at is it?"   
  
"I've seen worse, should do though," said   
Carrot with a shrug.   
  
Usagi blinked. "It's kinda small."   
  
"Beats swimming. That's how I had to get there   
last time," replied Carrot with a shrug.   
  
"Yes," agreed Yohiko.   
  
"You bet! Especially in such cold water.   
Brrr!" said Plum.   
  
"You guys be careful. This thing is just wood,   
and I don't want to end up carrying anyone," said   
Carrot as he looked at the martial artist gathered   
on board.   
  
"Why are you going to China anyway Ryoga?"   
asked Ukyo as she glared at the boy for a moment.   
  
"I'm going to help my family," replied the boy   
as he looked at her in confusion.   
  
"So, you're not going after Ranma?" she   
prodded.   
  
"Stop that Ukyo, he's not going to bother   
Ranma," replied Yohiko. "My nephew is going to   
fulfill a family obligation."   
  
The girl nodded and sighed. "So, this is your   
daughter?"   
  
Usagi smiled at the girl. "Hiya! I'm Usagi   
Hibiki! You're one of my mother's students?"   
  
"I hear you're not doing to well in school,"   
said Ukyo.   
  
Usagi stopped speaking and simply froze. "I   
uhhh. Heh..."   
  
"Oh, that's right," said Carrot as he put his   
pack on the ground. "I brought your school books   
with us. I figure you could use them. It's a long   
trip."   
  
Usagi stared at the man for a long time.   
"You're kidding?"   
  
"Nope, get to work," replied Carrot.   
  
"Why are there two of you?" asked Ukyo as she   
looked at Carrot and Yohiko. It was obviously not   
the first time she'd asked that, and she was   
clearly suspicious.   
  
"Long story, and it's complicated," said the   
boy with a small shrug.   
  
"Plus, it's a secret," said Yohiko as she   
nodded towards Usagi and frowned.   
  
"You'll explain this to me later though?"   
insisted the girl.   
  
"If we get time, yes. Not with so many ears   
around," said Carrot as he frowned at her.   
  
"Right," said the girl as she turned her head   
away and looked out over the ocean.   
  
"This is going to be a long trip," said Ryoga   
with a small sigh.   
  
"You have no idea," grumbled Usagi as she   
passed by him with an armload of books and tears   
in her eyes.   
  
++++++++++++++++   
  
TBC...   
  
Next Time: China! 


	75. Insertion 75

Insertion   
  
Part 75   
  
Another Chinese Adventure!   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
Carrot smirked as he stood on the shores of   
China. They had landed in the wilderness and the   
group stood in the sand, looking into the thick   
forest that ran along the edge of the beach.   
  
"Wow," muttered Usagi as she stared at the tree   
line, it stretched as far as the eye could see in   
either direction.   
  
"It's just the beginning. It's been a long   
time," commented Yohiko calmly as she stared at   
the shores.   
  
"Kinda weird looking at it again isn't it?"   
said Carrot as he smirked at her.   
  
"Yes," said the woman as she glanced at Usagi   
for a moment. "It's been a very long time."   
  
"What do we do now?" asked Ryoga as he frowned   
at the pair.   
  
"Ask our guide," replied Carrot as he turned   
to look at Plum.   
  
Ukyo stepped forward. "I've got my own reason   
for being here." She started to walk away, but   
Carrot grabbed her shoulder.   
  
"Not so fast, you have no idea where you're   
going," he said calmly.   
  
Plum blinked at this and stared at the   
brunette for a moment. "What is talking?"   
  
"Where are we going? What's our route?" said   
Carrot as he pulled his hand off of the frowning   
Ukyo.   
  
"We go this way," said Plum as she pulled out   
a map and pointed out their route. It was drawn   
onto the map with a highlighter.   
  
"Why does it go around this area?" asked   
Carrot as he smirked at her.   
  
"We are going to Mount Phoenix," said the   
girl. "Lots of dangerous people in area."   
  
"You mean the Musk," said Carrot with a small   
chuckle.   
  
"Yes, this where Musk tribe live. Not many   
left, but still better to avoid them," said Plum   
with a small nod.   
  
"We'll be fine," said Carrot. "We'll shave a   
day off our trip by going through there."   
  
"More like add a day," said Yohiko irritably.   
  
"Well, that depends on how our old friend   
feels about us. Either way, we should be able to   
gain safe passage at least," responded Carrot.   
"Especially after he hears that most of us are   
just passing through."   
  
"Ukyo isn't, she might compromise the rest of   
us," pointed out Yohiko.   
  
"Aw, don't be such a spoilsport," snorted   
Carrot cheerfully.   
  
"What are you talking about?" asked Ryoga in   
confusion.   
  
"Yeah?" agreed Usagi.   
  
"We're going to pass through Amazon held land,   
and Musk held land to get where we're going. I'm   
friendly with the Amazons," said Carrot with a   
small sigh. "That shouldn't cause too much   
trouble. Plus, Ranma is the Princess of the Musk   
now or something, so that should get us through   
there. Ukyo can take care of what she needs after   
we've gone."   
  
The girl flashed an angry looking frown at   
him.   
  
"You've waited this long, waiting until we've   
passed through to do whatever you need won't hurt   
you," said Yohiko firmly.   
  
The girl nodded and turned her head away. "I   
guess it will be the fastest way to find the   
place."   
  
"Right, you're catching on," said Carrot   
cheerfully.   
  
"Why don't we just fly there?" asked Usagi.   
  
"Sure, if you want to carry Ryoga across   
China, go right ahead," said Carrot as he smirked   
at the girl. "Plum can't fly either. I'm sure   
she'll need a lift, plus that leaves another one   
of us to carry Ukyo, meaning we'll all have   
passengers."   
  
Usagi looked at her cousin and frowned. "I get   
the point."   
  
"Hey! I am not fat!" snapped Ryoga irritably.   
  
"No, but you're heavy," responded Yohiko. "I'm   
not lugging you around, and I don't trust you with   
my daughter."   
  
"We didn't know!" cried the boy defensively.   
  
"Let's not start that again, you're going to   
make me angry just talking about it," snorted   
Carrot.   
  
"Can we go now?" muttered Plum.   
  
"Yeah, good idea," agreed Yohiko.   
  
Carrot sighed and pulled on Ryoga's collar to   
keep the boy moving in the right direction.   
  
++++++++++++++   
  
Two days later...   
  
"Where are we?" grumbled Ryoga as he glared at   
the rope tied around his wrist. Plum was tugging   
him along with a sort of lazy expression on her   
face.   
  
"We could have been there by now," whined   
Usagi.   
  
"Relax and take in some of the culture,"   
replied Carrot as he slapped at his neck.   
  
"Well the culture is covering me with bug   
bites!" snapped Usagi as she did the same thing.   
  
"Quit whining," grumbled Yohiko as she looked   
up at the mountains that surrounded them on either   
side.   
  
"Where are we anyway?" repeated Ryoga.   
  
"About a mile into Musk held territory," said   
Carrot. "Well, the map is kinda old, and the   
Amazon's thought they'd died out, so I doubt if   
they hold much of the land anymore."   
  
"Yeah, we'll probably miss them, but they   
should be somewhere in this area."   
  
"After we pass through here, then we go about   
a hundred miles to get into the mountains where   
the amazons live. We got a while to walk yet."   
  
"This would have taken weeks, thank goodness   
for modern transportation," said Yohiko with a   
small sigh.   
  
"Yeah, I miss the train," commented Usagi.   
  
"Well there aren't any trains that come here,"   
snorted Carrot. "It's called a 'remote region' for   
a reason you know."   
  
"Yeah, yeah," grumbled Usagi.   
  
Ukyo had been silent for most of the trip and   
hung back away from the rest of the crowd. She   
snorted at the bickering and glanced around at her   
surroundings. "So, Ranma should be near here   
somewhere?"   
  
"We aren't sure of that, we got about a   
hundred mile diameter area that might be possible.   
Don't go wandering off just yet. We may run into   
them, if not, you can always backtrack. It'll be a   
good way for you to get familiar with the terrain   
anyway," said Carrot calmly.   
  
The girl snorted again, but complied anyway.   
"Why should I trust you?"   
  
"Why shouldn't you?" replied Yohiko as she   
smirked at her.   
  
Ukyo grumbled and looked away from her   
purposefully.   
  
"Stupid trees!" growled Usagi.   
  
"You'll look back on this and be glad it   
happened," commented Carrot.   
  
The bushes all around them suddenly shifted   
and the group looked at the large group of armed   
men that now surrounded them.   
  
"Hiya!" said Carrot cheerfully.   
  
++++++++++++   
  
Usagi growled as she swung back and fourth,   
she had been bound by her ankles and wrists and   
was being carried on a pole between two of the   
men. "Yeah, I'm sure I'll treasure this memory."   
  
"It builds character," commented Carrot from   
his own pole just behind her.   
  
The whole group had been captured. Ryoga was   
rather angry about allowing themselves to be taken   
that way, but he accepted it. It wasn't a   
situation he couldn't escape from. Especially with   
Usagi and her parents there.   
  
Ukyo had also put up no resistance, without   
being prompted by the two adults.   
  
"We're never going to get there at this rate,"   
grumbled Plum from her position at the back of the   
line. She was being pulled along by her wrists as   
her arms and legs were too small to really string   
her up like the others had been.   
  
"Relax, I've got it all under control," said   
Carrot cheerfully.   
  
"Right, try not to piss them off, the already   
don't like you," said Yohiko irritably.   
  
"Well, they don't exactly like you either,"   
said Carrot with a small shrug.   
  
"Quiet down!" snapped one of the larger men   
carrying him. He had fangs and stripes on his face   
like a tiger. He also had a tail, and his ears   
were like those of the animal that was in his   
blood.   
  
"Heh, you look strong, this should be a good   
fight," said Carrot as he glared at the man for a   
moment.   
  
The tiger man snorted at this and turned away.   
"Stupid trespassers."   
  
"You should put up signs or something if you   
don't want people on your land," commented Yohiko.   
  
"Are we sure?" asked one of the men carrying   
her.   
  
"No, but Lord Herb can tell us," commented the   
one behind her.   
  
"Still, it should be interesting if they are!"   
said the first one.   
  
"Yeah, a tournament again!" said the one in   
back. "Real girls! We've got three that look like   
they might be! I'll win me a wife for sure!"   
  
"Are you sure those things are titties?"   
commented the first one.   
  
"I dunno," commented the other one. "Maybe we   
should look."   
  
Yohiko snapped her head around and stared at   
him.   
  
"What are you looking at prisoner?"   
  
"Uh oh, so much for that plan," commented   
Carrot.   
  
"No! You may not feel to see if they're real   
or not!" screamed Usagi.   
  
"Aiya! I'm too young to have breasts! Stop   
that!"   
  
"You Jackass! Of course I look like a boy! I'm   
supposed too!"   
  
"Bloody hell," said Carrot with a final sigh.   
He strained for a second and snapped the bonds on   
his feet and hands. The two men carrying him   
blinked in surprise.   
  
"What do you think you're doing?" snarled the   
Tiger man.   
  
"Trying to keep your men from getting   
themselves killed," replied Carrot as he started   
walking towards the others.   
  
"Pardon?" muttered the tiger man as he blinked   
and faltered out of his fighting stance for a   
moment.   
  
By the time Carrot got close enough, it was   
already too late.   
  
"DIEEE!" screamed Yohiko as her body suddenly   
exploded with power. Her wings shot out of her   
back and began to knock her captors away easily.   
"Usagi! Are you all right?"   
  
The girl was sitting on the ground looking   
somewhat dazed as her mother hovered over her   
protectively. Black tendrils of her clothing were   
lashing out at the Musk as they tried to move in   
around her. They were growing more cautious   
though.   
  
Ryoga rushed up from behind with Ukyo at his   
side, they both kept their distance. Carrot   
noticed Plum was hanging off the lost boy's neck   
in his arm.   
  
There was a trail of men lying on the ground   
behind them.   
  
"That's enough!" demanded Carrot as he stood   
firmly in the middle of the path.   
  
Everyone turned to look at him and he sighed.   
"Damn, I'd forgotten about how perverted these   
idiots are." He glanced around at the fallen Musk,   
and the few others who were still circling the   
scene warily.   
  
He paused when he heard growling behind him   
and turned to face the angry looking tiger man.   
"So, it was an ambush?!"   
  
"The hell it was! You idiot! You can't just go   
around grabbing girls' breasts! They get all   
pissed off when you do!" snapped Carrot.   
  
The man faltered and stared at him. "What?"   
  
"Well look at them! You're lucky no one is   
dead!" said Carrot as he looked at the man for a   
moment. "Calm down all of you!"   
  
The group of angry women, and one little girl   
all glared at him.   
  
"Yohiko, I'm betting at least you and Plum had   
some idea about this. Come on, give them a break   
will ya?" he said with a small sigh. "We'll go   
talk to Ranma first before we send them to   
extinction."   
  
The tiger man bared his fangs and moved to   
grab Carrot in anger.   
  
The man casually sidestepped and grabbed his   
neck, lifting him off the ground and dangling him   
there for a moment. The man's claws quickly   
bloodied his arm, but a protective wrapping moved   
up from his clothes and prevented any further   
damage. "Calm down. We're old friends of Herb's   
bride. We need to talk with him."   
  
The beast man glared at him, but calmed   
considerably. "You are the ones we were told   
about! I'll never allow you near the Queen!"   
  
"Queen?" said Carrot as he arched his eyebrow   
slightly. "Well, she's one of them. The rest of us   
aren't. That's his old teacher, and I'm a relative   
of his. Can't you see the resemblance."   
  
"Relative? You've come to kidnap the queen?!"   
cried the man in alarm as his struggles increased   
again.   
  
"Stop that!" snapped Carrot as he shook the   
man violently. "I'm not his father. Relax would   
you, the girl he was engaged to is married now,   
there's no danger of a kidnapping." He turned his   
head and frowned at Ukyo for a moment. "You, come   
here."   
  
The girl reluctantly did so, stopping long   
enough to kick one of the downed men in the   
stomach. The remaining warriors started to emerge   
from the bushes with their weapons drawn.   
  
Carrot sighed. "I know you want revenge, but   
you're going to behave yourself until we're gone   
at least. After that, you do what you want."   
  
"Why are we going to see Ranma?" snorted   
Yohiko.   
  
"We may get ourselves an ally out of this,"   
said Carrot calmly. "Ranma might help us."   
  
"We attacked him the last time we saw him,"   
pointed out Yohiko.   
  
"We also introduced him to his husband, or   
wife...whatever the hell Herb is to him,"   
responded Carrot. "I think he might appreciate   
that."   
  
"He might not be happy about it," replied   
Yohiko.   
  
"What's all this about Ranma?" said Ryoga with   
a small frown on his face.   
  
"Don't you start. Ranma Saotome is off   
limits," said Carrot calmly as he leveled a small   
glare at the man. He dropped the tiger man on the   
ground and snorted. "We come in peace, we need to   
talk to your leader. There's trouble on Mount   
Pheonix."   
  
The beast man's eyes went wide and he glared   
at his former captor. "Lies!"   
  
"I don't care about Ranma Saotome, or his   
relationship with anyone from Japan. I'm also   
pretty aware of what Saffron and his friends will   
do if the Pheonix God is allowed to rise again."   
  
"The Pheonix God?" said the tiger man in   
shock. "What do you know of this?"   
  
"That young girl, is from Jusenkyo. She is the   
daughter of the guide there. People from Mount   
Pheonix chased her to us, and we were attacked. We   
learned that the people there are seeking   
Jusendo."   
  
"That means..." said the tiger man with an   
angry growl.   
  
"Yes, the rise of the Pheonix God is near. You   
know, I've heard old legends about a battle   
between a Dragon and a Pheonix. I wonder, do the   
Musk have anything to do with that legend?"   
  
The tiger man stared up at him and a cold   
smile formed on his lips. "You're perceptive for   
an outsider."   
  
"It's what I do," replied Carrot with a small   
chuckle. "Whatever concerns we might have with   
Ranma Saotome, they can wait until this is over."   
  
The beast man nodded and signaled the large group   
of warriors with his clawed hand. "We will take   
you to Lord Herb. Perhaps he should hear of this."   
  
Carrot nodded and motioned for the others to   
follow him. Ukyo walked up to his side and glared   
at him angrily. "What's going on here?"   
  
"This is much deeper than your revenge Kuonji,   
and much more important. Something terrible is   
about to be unleashed on the world, and we're the   
only ones who know about it."   
  
"So tell someone else!" she snapped.   
  
"Tell them what? That a demigod is about to be   
reborn in a remote region of China, and they   
should send an army to stop it? I'd like to have   
some credibility in the future."   
  
"What the hell are you talking about? What   
demigod?"   
  
"Lord Saffron. The ancient enemy of our   
people," replied the tiger man as he moved in step   
with Ranma. "This is not to be taken lightly. The   
last time the Pheonix God came, he enslaved most   
of the world. Saffron is over a thousand years   
old, but lives in the body of a child. When the   
time comes, he'll use the magic of Jusendo to   
transform, and become his true self again."   
  
"I've never heard of this," snorted Ukyo.   
  
"Yes, luckily, we were able to stop him. His   
rule lasted only a few months. The Great Musk   
King, Cumin, defeated him, but at a high cost."   
  
"High cost?" muttered the girl in confusion.   
  
"Surely you've heard the legend of the Dragon   
and the Pheonix Kuonji," said Yohiko as she moved   
up beside the trio. "The Dragon defeated the   
Pheonix, but it was reborn in flames."   
  
"Yes, and his rebirth, destroyed Cumin,   
leaving his young son Herb to rule in his stead."   
  
"Hmmm, Herb is older than I had thought,"   
commented Carrot. "I'd heard of Saffron before,   
but I had no idea he was a problem of   
this...magnitude."   
  
"Because of his blood, Lord Herb matured very   
slowly. He has just become an adult within the   
last few years," said the tiger man with a slight   
snort. "He is very powerful now."   
  
"But is he powerful enough?" commented Carrot   
carefully.   
  
"He'd better be," snorted the beast man with a   
slight growl of irritation.   
  
"I wasn't implying that he was weak, calm   
down. We don't know how powerful Saffron is, nor   
do we know how strong Herb is in relation to him."   
Carrot had some idea, but he was pretty sure Herb   
wouldn't last long.   
  
"Anyone who would know of this battle, is long   
since dead," replied the beast man with a small   
sigh.   
  
"I would think so," said Carrot. "I've noticed   
you're not as human looking as the Musk I've seen   
before."   
  
"Yes." It was a statement with no malice in   
it.   
  
"Are most Musk like you? I've seen Herb, and   
Lime and Mint."   
  
"We vary. It depends how long our bloodlines   
go back," commented the beast man. "Most of our   
wives came from Jusenkyo until the fall about a   
hundred years ago. However, we did take women from   
neighboring villages on occasion."   
  
"The closer your family is related to   
Jusenkyo, the more you look like the beasts in   
your line," said Carrot with an understanding nod.   
  
  
"Yes, only the more human looking members of   
our tribe ever leave the village."   
  
"That would make sense, although I imagine the   
few exceptions gave rise to the legends about   
lycanthropies that seem to run about most of the   
world."   
  
"Yes," said the beast man with a slight chuckle.   
  
++++++++++++   
  
"Captain Toras, what brings you back from   
patrol so early?" said Herb as he stood up from   
his throne within the small palace. It was nestled   
within a tiny village well hidden in a small   
valley between several large mountains.   
  
The tiger man bowed deeply and growled. "I   
bring distressing news."   
  
"Yes?" said Herb seriously as he motioned for   
the man to rise.   
  
"Reports, from outsiders we met on our patrol.   
They speak of Mount Pheonix," said Toras with a   
firm conviction in his voice.   
  
"Outsiders?" said Herb with a small frown.   
"Should we trust them?"   
  
"They knew too much for it to be false," responded   
Toras. "A little too much if you ask me. They also   
claimed to know both you and the Queen."   
  
"I thought I told you about callin me that!"   
snapped Ranma as he entered the room. He was   
dressed in rich silk clothing with an armored   
breastplate over his chest.   
  
"Well, I am the King," said Herb with a small   
sigh. "You are my mate, that makes you..."   
  
"Don't you dare say it!" snapped Ranma   
irritably.   
  
"Fine," said Herb with a small sigh.   
  
"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in,"   
said a quiet voice from the shadows. A man walked   
out and smirked at the pair on the throne with a   
staff in his hands. He bowed to them and chuckled.   
  
Toras bolted upright and growled at the man.   
"Who are you? How dare you..."   
  
"I am Xellos, I've come to soften the way a   
bit for dear Ranma's friends," responded the   
mazoku calmly. "I'll be out of your hair in a   
moment, don't worry."   
  
"Who are you?" snarled Herb as a glow started   
to form around his body.   
  
"Someone who far exceeds any dragon in power,"   
replied Xellos with a dangerous tone to his voice.   
"I suggest you pay attention for a moment. What I   
have to tell you is important."   
  
"Who the heck are you?" growled Ranma.   
  
"No human exceeds a dragon in power! Fool!   
I'll destroy you!" growled Herb as he started to   
step forward.   
  
Xellos's eyes glowed with a purple energy as   
he stared the man down calmly. "Whoever said I was   
human? In any case, you've got some old friends   
visiting Ranma."   
  
"Wha?" said the pigtailed boy as he stepped   
back.   
  
"Some of your friends from Nerima have come to   
China," said the man as he turned his back on the   
pair and paced a bit in front of them.   
  
"No! Guards! Make em go away!" cried the   
pigtailed boy as he jumped behind his throne and   
peered around it.   
  
"At once!" said Toras as he turned to leave.   
  
"I wouldn't recommend that," warned Xellos.   
"You're going to need their help in order to   
defeat Saffron."   
  
"What?" said Herb as his face went pale.   
  
"The Lord of Mount Pheonix is rising again   
Herb," said the priest calmly as he turned to look   
at him. "You're not powerful enough to face him   
yet. In dragons' terms, you're still a fledgling.   
You haven't even had your first molting yet."   
  
The man staggered back and slumped down onto   
his throne. "It can't be!"   
  
"Saffron will destroy you as you are now, but   
you already know that. You remember just how   
strong your father was."   
  
"What's he talkin about?" asked Ranma as he   
peered at his husband in confusion.   
  
"Just the end of the world as we know it, if   
you fail to kill Saffron that is. However, you're   
about to get all the help you'll need. If you're   
smart enough to listen."   
  
"Xellos! That had better not be you!" said   
Carrot as he shoved the doors to the throne room   
open and walked in with a scowl on his face.   
  
"Oh! Fancy meeting you here!" said the priest   
cheerfully.   
  
"What the hell is he doing here?" snapped   
Yohiko.   
  
"Hi Uncle Xellos!" said Usagi cheerfully.   
  
"Hello," said Ryoga nervously.   
  
"Hey, it that guy again," muttered Plum.   
  
"You're..." said Ukyo with a small frown.   
  
"AAAAAHHHHH! They've come for me! Don't let em   
get me!" cried Ranma as he dove for cover. "I   
didn't mean to do it! Please don't..." He blinked   
when he peered out from behind his throne and saw   
only once fiancee standing there. "Huh? Ucchan?"   
  
"Don't you dare call me that!" cried the girl   
as she pulled her spatula from behind her back.   
  
"Ukyo!" snapped Carrot as he whirled around to   
face her. Xellos started creeping off while his   
back was turned.   
  
"No you don't," said Yohiko as she snagged his   
collar.   
  
"I was being helpful! Honest!" said the priest   
somewhat pathetically.   
  
"That woman!" gasped Herb dumbly.   
  
"Hello again," she said with a smirk on her   
face. "I can see you two have grown quite   
comfortable."   
  
"You've come to take my mate away have you?"   
snarled Herb as his power flared out suddenly.   
  
"Actually, we're here about Saffron," replied   
Carrot with a small shrug.   
  
"I know you...two of you?" gasped Herb in   
horror. His head darted between Yohiko and Carrot   
for a moment.   
  
"Relax, we aren't here about Ranma. Well, most   
of us aren't. Just Ukyo here, all she wants is   
revenge, she sort of tagged along for the ride   
though."   
  
"What?" said Ranma in confusion.   
  
"I'll get you yet!" snapped Ukyo hatefully.   
  
"Over my dead body!" snarled Herb.   
  
"Hey! I don't need your help damn it!" snapped   
Ranma as he shoved his husband aside.   
"Ucchan...I..."   
  
"That's enough! You two can work this out on   
your own later, I don't particularly care,"   
announced Carrot firmly. "We've got bigger   
problems."   
  
"What the heck are you talking about?" snapped   
Ranma.   
  
"Saffron," responded Herb with a sudden calm   
coming over him.   
  
"That's right," said Carrot with a smirk on   
his face. "The Demigod has been reborn. I'm   
wondering just how much help you can be."   
  
"You're going to fight Saffron?" snorted Herb   
in disgust. "You won't last a minute against that   
monster."   
  
"Just like I wouldn't last a minute against   
you, right?" replied Yohiko with a smirk of her   
own.   
  
Herb turned his head away from her. "Saffron   
is far beyond my power. I'm not strong enough to   
face him. It's too soon."   
  
"Then you're going to need our help," replied   
Carrot.   
  
Herb frowned at them. "It seems you have me."   
  
"What the hell is going on here?" cried Ranma   
as he looked around the room in confusion.   
  
"We aren't here for you Ranma. There's   
something more important right now," replied Ukyo   
as she leveled a glare of hatred on the boy.   
  
Carrot and Yohiko turned to look at her in   
surprise.   
  
"When it's over, you and I are going   
to...discuss this," she said coldly.   
  
"Ucchan...I..." stammered the boy with a hurt   
look on his face.   
  
"Later Saotome," said Carrot before he could   
speak. "The fate of the world is in our hands.   
Your personal problems can wait."   
  
"How dare you speak to my queen that way?"   
snapped Herb.   
  
Ranma hit him over the head with his own   
throne. "I told you about callin me that!"   
  
"Ouch," commented Usagi. "Wait...those two are   
married?" She got a slightly sick look on her   
face. "No way! They're both such cute guys!"   
  
"Ranma...you really..."   
  
"What of it porky?" snorted the pigtailed boy   
as he crossed his arms and blushed.   
  
"You mean to tell me, that you left   
Akane...for a man?" said Ryoga in disbelief.   
  
"It ain't like that!" snapped Ranma angrily as   
he moved into a combat stance, ready for Ryoga to   
start crying out for vengeance.   
  
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"   
  
"What the hell are you laughing at?" snapped   
the pigtailed boy.   
  
"Ranma! Married a man! Ha! I don't believe it!   
Mr. Manly! HA! HA! Macho jerk! Married a man!   
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!"   
  
Herb recovered and sent a huge ball of chi   
into the boy, silencing his laughter.   
  
Ryoga stood up and blinked. "That hurt!"   
  
"Enough! We've got enough problems as it is!   
You can be civil until later," said Yohiko as she   
stepped between them.   
  
"Bad move lady," said Carrot just before Herb   
blasted her as well. "Are you through yet?"   
  
"But, they're so cute!" said Usagi with tears   
of confusion in her eyes.   
  
"I'll explain it later dear," said Carrot   
cheerfully.   
  
"Okay..." muttered the girl in confusion.   
  
"Well, I've said what I needed to," said   
Xellos as he vanished into the shadows.   
  
"Where the hell do you think you're going?"   
snapped Yohiko as she stood up and jumped after   
him. He was gone when she landed and she snapped   
her fingers. "Damn it."   
  
"Who was that?" said Ranma as he frowned at   
where he had been.   
  
"Xellos is..a sorcerer. He's helpful   
sometimes, but he has a nasty tendency to withhold   
information. You shouldn't trust him, not   
completely," replied Carrot.   
  
"Oh," said Ranma with a small shrug.   
  
"So, what should we do Lord Herb?" asked   
Toras.   
  
"What was your plan?" asked the King as he   
looked at Carrot.   
  
"We were on our way to Mount Pheonix, we need   
to get the map of Jusendo back from them."   
  
"The map will be useless. They already know   
where Jusendo is by now," said Herb calmly.   
  
"We don't, do you?" asked Carrot.   
  
"Lost, to the winds of time," said Herb as he   
shook his head.   
  
"So we do need the map. They'll be difficult   
to follow. They can fly, it would be too easy to   
spot us or distract us if we tried to just follow   
them. Plus, for all we know, they're already   
there."   
  
"I understand, the map is needed to simply get   
there," said Herb.   
  
"I can get us there, but we need map anyway,"   
said Plum. "There is a map to Jusendo on the wall   
of my home. I'll bet Pheonix people knew location   
already, they needed map to enter mountain   
safely."   
  
Everyone but Carrot turned to look at her.   
  
"I thought you could," responded the man as he   
smirked at her. "Still, I took a look at that map.   
We need it to get into Jusendo. Only one entrance   
is the real one, the rest are traps."   
  
"He's right," said Plum.   
  
"So what can we do?" asked Ranma.   
  
"Offer any help we can, if we can stop   
Saffron's rebirth, we must do so," said Herb.   
  
"The Amazons might be helpful," said Carrot.   
  
"We'll send for a representative," said Herb.   
  
"We don't have time," pointed out Carrot.   
"We're going that way anyway."   
  
"I shall accompany you," said Toras.   
  
"No, you'll stay here. I'll go," said Herb.   
  
"Lord Herb!" cried Toras in shock.   
  
"I'm going too," said Ranma firmly.   
  
"No, you'll stay here. If something happens to   
me, my people need a leader. They will need you   
especially if I do not return."   
  
"What?" gasped Ranma in shock.   
  
"He's right Ranma. If we fail, Saffron will   
come here, and he'll die anyway. Saffron may   
ignore you and your people if Herb is with us.   
You're no threat to him without Herb."   
  
"But...no way! I ain't..."   
  
"You are a ruler of the Musk! You have   
responsibilities now!" snapped Herb angrily.   
  
The pigtailed boy frowned and stared at the   
man for a moment. "I..."   
  
"Your people are more important Ranma," said   
Carrot calmly.   
  
The pigtailed boy clenched his fist and   
frowned at Herb. "You'd better come back."   
  
"If I do not come back in a week, take the   
tribe and move into the jungles to the south,"   
replied Herb calmly. "We'll just have to wait   
until Saffron's rule is over, and live quietly   
until he dies. Do not attack him if we fail, or   
all the Musk will perish."   
  
"What?" cried Ranma in shock.   
  
"He's right Saotome, but we won't fail," said   
Carrot with a small chuckle. "You of all people   
should know, that we don't fail."   
  
The boy looked at him for a moment. Finally he   
nodded his head. "If it was anyone but you..."   
  
"Don't worry, I'll try to bring him back in   
one piece," said Carrot cheerfully.   
  
"So, we should get going?" said Ryoga.   
  
"No, you'll stay here tonight. It's dark, not   
even my people will roam these woods at night,"   
said Herb with a small frown.   
  
"Something out there?" asked Carrot.   
  
"Not in so many words," said Herb with a small   
chuckle. "There are those with too much of   
Jusenkyo in them. They no longer live amongst the   
Musk."   
  
"In these woods?" asked Usagi nervously.   
  
"No, far to the south. They avoid us for the   
most part, still, occasionally one of them will   
wander nearby," replied Herb calmly. "Beasts know   
when they are outclassed. Still, they are strong,   
and dangerous."   
  
"I see," said Carrot as he nodded. "We need   
rest anyway. We wouldn't make the Amazon village   
until the middle of the night anyway. I don't feel   
like trying to get past their patrols and into the   
village. They are likely to think we're some sort   
of criminals. It would take much more time to   
explain things to them."   
  
"He's right," agreed Yohiko. "It's best to   
approach them in daylight."   
  
"So, you will stay here for the night," said   
Herb with a small sigh. "I shall have rooms   
prepared for you."   
  
"Herb, you know what I can do. These women are   
under my protection, make sure it's clear," said   
Carrot firmly.   
  
The Musk King nodded slowly and flashed a   
glance at Toras.   
  
"I shall get them cloaks," he said with a   
slight bow of his head. "Please follow me."   
  
"Wear what he gives you, most of the people   
here have never seen a woman before," said Yohiko   
to the girls. "That goes for you too Kuonji, it's   
best not to take chances."   
  
The girl growled, but nodded.   
  
The group followed the tiger man out of the   
throne room and walked through the halls. Carrot   
moved up to his side and casually started a   
conversation.   
  
"You seem remarkably calm," said Carrot as he   
smirked at Toras.   
  
"I have a wife," he replied with a small   
shrug.   
  
"Oh?"   
  
"Yes, there are more women here than most   
people know about. We tend to be secretive about   
women when we do get them," said Toras with a   
small chuckle.   
  
"I thought I'd seen a few heavy cloaks in the   
village," commented Carrot.   
  
"Really? I didn't think you'd see more than   
one. We have to be very protective of women here,   
for obvious reasons."   
  
"Well, I suggest you keep your mouth shut   
about these girls. I defeated both Ranma and Herb   
alone when they were in Japan," said the man   
calmly.   
  
"What?" said Toras.   
  
"You heard me, if one of them goes missing, I   
will be quite angry," said Carrot with a slightly   
amused chuckle. "Otherwise, we'll get along fine."   
  
"You shouldn't be so greedy," commented Toras   
in amusement.   
  
"These women don't belong to me Toras, they're   
free to do as they choose. None of them would   
choose to remain here, I know them well enough to   
know better," said Carrot calmly. "Besides, two of   
them would kill anyone who tried to abduct them   
quite easily, and at least one more would give you   
a nasty thrashing at least. They are powerful   
warriors."   
  
"I'd noticed. Which two should I be wary of?"   
  
"Now that...is a secret," said Carrot   
cheerfully.   
  
"Hmmm, you're a wise man for one so young,"   
said Toras with another chuckle.   
  
"I'm not as young as I look," replied Carrot.   
"Besides, these women would mostly make poor   
wives. They are remarkably destructive, especially   
if they are unwilling wives, and they would be."   
  
"Yes, most women are," commented Toras. "They   
do grow to accept us over time. Most of the time   
anyway."   
  
"Where are Lime and Mint anyway? I haven't   
seen them around," commented Carrot.   
  
"In their homes. They are relatively weak   
fighters. They look remarkably human, so they   
accompany royalty when on missions outside of the   
village. They also work as spies for the area   
around us."   
  
"Sort of representatives of the Musk to the   
rest of the world?" commented Carrot.   
  
"Yes, they have worked past their weak   
bloodlines remarkably well. They are very skilled   
for mostly human warriors," agreed Toras. "I am   
proud to have them in my guard. They are the   
youngest ever to receive as many honors as they   
have."   
  
"Yes, they seem to work well together. Gave me   
a little trouble as well," agreed Carrot.   
  
Toras stopped at a closet in the hallway and   
removed several dark brown cloaks. "Here, give   
these to the women."   
  
Carrot took them and smiled at the man.   
"Thanks." He turned and started to hand them out.   
After a moment, four irate looking women were   
following the men.   
  
"These things itch!" snapped Yohiko.   
  
"Aiya. You don't have anything smaller?"   
muttered Plum.   
  
"Relax, it's only temporary," said Carrot.   
"Quit whining and come on. We need sleep."   
  
Ryoga grumbled irritably as he walked in the   
middle of the mess, someone on every side of him   
to keep him from wandering off.   
  
"These three rooms will be yours for the   
evening," said Toras.   
  
"Come on," said Yohiko as she pulled on   
Carrot.   
  
"Um..." muttered Ryoga in confusion. "I guess,   
I'll take this one and you guys take that one."   
  
"What? You get a room to yourself?" snorted   
Ukyo angrily.   
  
"Well, the rest of us are girls," pointed out   
Usagi.   
  
"He's your cousin, you stay with him, and I'll   
take the kid," said the chef as she pulled Plum   
into one of the rooms and closed the door behind   
her.   
  
"Wait!" said Ryoga as the door closed in his   
face. He froze and then slowly turned to face   
Usagi. "I uhhh..."   
  
The girl was staring at the floor with her   
cheeks flushing bright red. "Great."   
  
"Look, I'll stay in the hall, and..." started   
Ryoga.   
  
"No, I guess it can't hurt anything. I mean,   
it's not like we have anything the other hasn't   
seen before..." muttered the girl.   
  
"But..." said Ryoga as he glanced at Carrot   
and Yohiko's room nervously. "I don't wanna die!"   
  
"Oh, don't be such a baby. We'll be fine. It's   
not like I'm gonna try anything. I mean, I'm your   
cousin!" said Usagi irritably.   
  
"But still..." whimpered Ryoga as he was   
pulled into the room forcibly. "I'll just stay in   
the hall..."   
  
Usagi sighed and tossed some blankets on the   
ground off the bed along with a pillow. "Look, you   
sleep there, and I'll sleep here. We'll be fine.   
We're family remember? It'll be fine."   
  
Ryoga sighed and nodded his head in defeat.   
"Fine."   
  
"If you have to go to the bathroom, wake me   
up! I won't be angry, and we don't need to be   
looking for you in the morning," said Usagi   
firmly.   
  
The boy sighed and nodded again.   
  
Usagi shrugged her shoulders and started   
taking off her shirt and rummaged around in her   
traveling pack.   
  
"What are you doing?!" cried Ryoga in alarm.   
  
"Changing clothes. Don't be such a baby!   
You've seen them before," snorted Usagi as she   
frowned at him. "Relax. I'm not gonna try   
anything."   
  
Ryoga turned red and turned his back to her.   
"It's not you I'm worried about!" he replied   
irritably.   
  
"What?" said the girl dumbly.   
  
"Look I could have stopped you if I'd wanted   
to. I wasn't exactly saying no back then. So   
please keep your clothes on!"   
  
Usagi blushed and sighed. "All right, but I   
need to change. I'm all sweaty! Just stay like   
that until I'm done."   
  
Ryoga did just that, after a few minutes Usagi   
climbed into bed, and he lay down on the sheets on   
the ground to sleep.   
  
+++++++++++++++++   
  
Ranma sighed as he sat up in the bed and   
gasped, he was covered in sweat and breathing   
irregularly. The Dragon King was in his female   
form and sighed with the cutest expression on her   
face. She also looked somewhat worn out. "Okay,   
your turn."   
  
The pigtailed boy nodded and grabbed one of   
the two pitchers that sat on the small nightstand.   
He climbed out of bed and poured some of it out   
over his head. Herb did the same with the other   
pitcher and they moved back under the sheets in   
the opposite forms once again.   
  
Ranma looked at him and smiled weakly. "This   
part still bugs me a bit."   
  
"How so?" asked Herb as he looked at her with   
a small frown. They were currently lying on the   
sheets next to one another doing nothing.   
  
"It feels weird when you first put it in   
there, it's not so bad after a moment, but just at   
first," responded Ranma with her face scrunched up   
slightly.   
  
"I'm going away for a while tomorrow. Maybe we   
should try that foreplay thing I heard about while   
I was in Japan?" offered Herb.   
  
"I ain't puttin that thing in my mouth!   
Gross!" said Ranma in disgust.   
  
"Okay. I guess I can understand that, I don't   
really want to do that either," replied Herb.   
  
"Yeah, how can girls do that? I mean, I heard   
once that they put the whole thing in there!" said   
Ranma with a small shudder.   
  
"Yes, it does seem kind of unbelievable,"   
commented Herb. "How would they breathe?"   
  
"I dunno, maybe they don't do it for that   
long? Besides, that's guy stuff. I don't wanna   
know what that tastes like! Ick!" responded Ranma.   
  
"Maybe...if we were both girls?" said Herb   
with a slightly thoughtful frown. "Then it   
wouldn't be so bad?"   
  
"Yeah, but what's the point of that? I mean,   
it'd just be that hole," pointed out Ranma.   
  
"Well, it does seem kind of sensitive,"   
replied Herb.   
  
"I guess so," said Ranma with a shrug.   
  
"I want to touch them again too," said Herb as   
he looked down at Ranma's chest. "I like doing   
that."   
  
"I think you get more out of it than I do for   
some reason," said Ranma as he looked at Herb's   
now flat chest in contemplation.   
  
"I'm not sure," replied Herb.   
  
"Should I turn into a girl then?" asked Herb.   
  
"Where did you hear about that anyway?" said   
Ranma as she looked at Herb in confusion.   
  
"Some Magazine I saw in Japan. I found it next   
to the trash. I'd heard that reading is a good way   
to find things out about places. It was something   
about 'Woman's something or other'. There was also   
this interesting test about 'How to tell if your   
boyfriend is cheating on you.'"   
  
Ranma shrugged. "Oh."   
  
"It was quite confusing, but there was some   
mention of putting it in your mouth. It's supposed   
to be pleasurable, but I'm not sure for who."   
  
"Well, I don't want to find out that bad,"   
replied Ranma with a slight shudder. "Not with a   
guy anyway."   
  
"Okay, so girl it is. I can always change back   
if we don't like it," said Herb. "It said   
something about it being 'safe sex'. I wasn't   
aware that there was danger in this. It doesn't   
seem that bad really."   
  
"I dunno, most chicks are pretty weak. I guess   
that's more for normal girls. Maybe they get hurt   
easily doin stuff like that?"   
  
"Hmm, could be," said Herb with a shrug.   
  
"Hurry up will ya? I think I'm leakin again,"   
said Ranma as she lifted the sheets and looked   
down. "Yup. Wonder why that happens?"   
  
"I'm not entirely sure," responded Herb as he   
poured the cold water over his head and shrugged.   
She sat down in the bed and climbed back in.   
"So...who gets to be on top?"   
  
Ranma pulled out a coin and sighed. "Flip ya   
for it."   
  
"Heads," said Herb.   
  
"Tails, you got bottom," said Ranma   
cheerfully. "So who's first? Flip again?"   
  
"I think we can both do it at the same time,"   
said Herb as he looked at the redhead.   
  
"Oh, that makes it easier then," replied Ranma   
with another shrug as she started climbing on her   
mate.   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
Ukyo glared at the wall opposite her with Plum   
next to her in the bed. The pair was sitting   
upright with bloodshot eyes.   
  
"How long they do this?" muttered Plum.   
  
"I don't know," said Ukyo irritably.   
  
The screams increased in volume and the wall   
opposite the pair vibrated violently as Carrot and   
Yohiko continued their third coupling of the   
night.   
  
"I no can sleep," said Plum.   
  
"I'm going to kill them both," growled Ukyo.   
  
"Tell them stop maybe?" muttered Plum.   
  
"I am not going in there. I don't want to know   
exactly what they're doing to make this much   
noise," snorted Ukyo.   
  
"Plum have pretty good idea," snorted the   
girl. Her Japanese was getting worse as the night   
drug on.   
  
"I've lived in dorms before, so I'm familiar   
with it, and this is the worst I've ever heard   
it," snarled Ukyo.   
  
"You hit Plum on head now yes? Maybe get some   
sleep?" muttered the girl as she looked at Ukyo.   
  
"You sure?" asked the chef.   
  
Plum nodded wearily.   
  
"Okay," said Ukyo as she bopped the girl just   
hard enough to send her out.   
  
"Great, at least it's just me now," she   
muttered as she continued to stare at the wall.   
One of the pictures that were hanging on the wall   
fell to the ground as the wall continued to shake.   
  
"Damn you Ranma! Now I have one more   
humiliation to endure because of you!" she   
snarled. She fell back onto the bed and put a   
pillow over her face. "Sugar, you're starting to   
sound like Ryoga; and you're talking to yourself!"   
  
Finally, the pillow's muffling of the noise,   
coupled with her extreme exhaustion finally sent   
her into her dreams.   
  
+++++++++++++++++   
  
TBC...   
  
Next Time: Amazons, and the Hot Springs Demon! 


	76. Insertion 76

Insertion   
  
Part 76   
  
Chinese Connections!   
  
++++++++++++   
  
Ryoga Hibiki was having a bad day; his life in general had sucked recently. Unfortunately, this wasn't something he could blame Ranma for. Well, not technically anyway. Almost all of the women were in a foul mood, and he was beat up yet again. Fortunately, Usagi had saved him from death at the hands of her parents.   
  
He had been hoping to sneak out of the room early, before the adults woke up, but found himself staring right at Yohiko as he walked out of the room. The woman had cracked her knuckles and frowned at him. Running proved fruitless as Carrot stepped out of the room as well. He was somewhat sympathetic, but wasn't about to get in his lover's way.   
  
She had caught him easily and started to pound him with in an inch of his life. Usagi had come out, and the woman had yelled at her. A few moments later, Plum and Ukyo came out of their room. Neither of them was in a good mood either, and he wasn't sure why.   
  
To make a long story short, the Musk would have to rebuild that hallway. In the end, Usagi had come to his rescue. She shifted the blame to Ukyo and Plum. The woman reluctantly accepted the explanation, but kept giving him dirty looks.   
  
The two girls somehow thought he had conspired against them in something that he couldn't figure out. His life was hell again.   
  
Naturally, Ukyo had been somewhat amused when she'd discovered his relations with Usagi after her mother told everyone within earshot about it in her angry ranting. Still, everyone was leaving him alone now, and that suited him fine.   
  
They were now walking through the forest again, with Herb in their party now. Carrot was scouting ahead of them a short distance away. He wished he could as well. Everyone around him was female, and not one of them was very friendly at the moment. Usagi was avoiding him, Yohiko was giving him nasty looks, Plum and Ukyo were plotting revenge for supposedly tricking them into that room, and Herb was generally disgusted with her situation in general. He was tied to a line that Plum was holding and following at the rear.   
  
"Why are you a girl anyway?" asked Yohiko as she turned to look at Herb.   
  
"I didn't bother changing when we left," replied the girl irritably. "I've found that outside my home, I can rarely keep my male form for long."   
  
"Well, I suppose it is a curse," replied Yohiko with a small shrug.   
  
Ryoga didn't like the sound of that one bit. He kept quiet though and continued to follow.   
  
"How much farther is it?" asked Usagi as she glanced back at him for a moment.   
  
"Not very," replied Plum. "A few more miles at most."   
  
"I can see it," said Carrot as they caught up with him. He was standing on a hilltop looking into a valley just below them. He pointed and they all noticed several small plumes of smoke rising into the air. The village was still hidden by the terrain, but it wasn't very far at all. "We should make it within an hour or two if we keep this pace.   
  
"Can we just fly?" asked Usagi.   
  
"I don't think it would be a good idea for you to use those wings of yours right now," said Herb. "Especially given our current situation. They may know of what's going on already. They would have found out before us if something happened."   
  
"He's right, it's better to walk," agreed Yohiko.   
  
"Man," grumbled the girl as she hung her head.   
  
"We should be careful, I don't want to end up like Ranma did when he came here," said Ryoga as he narrowed his eyes.   
  
"You and me both," agreed Carrot.   
  
"We have it worse than you do," commented Herb lazily.   
  
"Oh really? How many Amazon wives do you have in your village?" snorted Carrot.   
  
"None, they don't make good wives," replied Herb with a small snort.   
  
"I'd take being female over that any day," said the boy as he looked at the village again.   
  
"Shampoo wasn't that bad," muttered Ryoga.   
  
"No? Wait until we get closer and you see how men are treated around here," said Carrot as he smirked at the boy.   
  
The group started forward again and walked towards the village.   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
Herb stood in front of them, staring at the two young girls in front of them. "They're telling us to stop," she translated.   
  
"I know, I speak Chinese," said Carrot calmly.   
  
"You do?" said Usagi in shock. She looked at the girls in confusion. They were wearing light armor, and had spears in their grasps. Neither one of them looked particularly clean.   
  
"Yes, I know Mandarin as well," agreed Yohiko.   
  
"That's a big help," said Ryoga with a small sigh.   
  
"It makes things easier," agreed Ukyo.   
  
"You never said anything," said Usagi as she looked at her mother for a moment.   
  
"I never needed too," replied Yohiko.   
  
"Yggdrasil is a wonderful thing sometimes," commented Carrot.   
  
"What?" asked Herb in confusion.   
  
"Inside joke," said Carrot as he jerked his thumb at Yohiko.   
  
"Oh," replied the king with a small sigh.   
  
"You! You're trespassing!" said one of the girls as she stepped forward and pointed her spear at Carrot. She was still speaking Mandarin, and the three Japanese teens in the group had no idea what was going on.   
  
"I've got business here," replied Carrot calmly. "Where is Elder Cologne?"   
  
The girl frowned at this and stepped back. "What do you want with her?"   
  
"Do you have any idea who it is you're speaking too?" snarled Herb angrily.   
  
"Please don't tell me you're going to tell them you're a king when you look like that," said Carrot as he turned to face her. He sighed and turned back towards the girls. "Tell her that some old friends from Japan have come to see her with distressing news."   
  
"What news?" snapped the girl. She had backed off somewhat though.   
  
"Don't say it," grumbled Yohiko.   
  
"Now that, is a secret," replied Carrot calmly.   
  
"Why should I?" replied the girl indignantly.   
  
"This could take a while," said Plum with a small sigh to Ryoga, Ukyo, and Usagi.   
  
"What's going on?" asked Usagi. "She looks mad."   
  
"She's being...difficult," said Plum as she frowned.   
  
"What should we do?" asked Ryoga.   
  
"Maybe we should be difficult," growled Ukyo as she fingered one of her throwing spatulas for a moment.   
  
"Do you want to attack them?" snorted the girl as she turned her gaze on him. "Remember what happens if you beat them."   
  
"Not really," said the lost boy with a nervous swallow.   
  
Ukyo reluctantly relented and put her hand back down to her side.   
  
The adults were quickly growing annoyed with the guards, but had so far restrained from any physical confrontation.   
  
The girl smiled at Carrot and pointed at him. "If you want to get by, you'll have to beat me!"   
  
"Right, like I'm that stupid. I'm not here to play 'trap the man' with you little girl. I've got important news that will endanger your entire tribe if you spend all day playing around with me."   
  
"Just tell her and be done with it!" snapped Herb.   
  
"No," said Carrot as he turned to glare at the two women. "I don't like her attitude. If she wants to fight, fine. I'll just kill her and we'll be on our way. I doubt Cologne will be very angry with us when we tell her what this is about."   
  
"You're probably right about that," agreed Herb honestly.   
  
This caught the two girls by surprise. "What?"   
  
"Enough, stop teasing them," said an amused sounding voice from the bushes.   
  
"I was wondering how long it would take you to show your face old bat," said Carrot cheerfully.   
  
"How dare you!?" snarled one of the two girls as she stepped forward.   
  
"Stop! Leave them be! They are too dangerous for the likes of you," snapped Cologne as she hopped out in front of them and eyed them both coldly. The old woman switched to Japanese and faced the group with a smile on her face. "So tell me, what brings you and the King of the Musk here?"   
  
"Jusendo, and Mount Phoenix," replied Yohiko as she stared at the woman seriously.   
  
"So, it's that time is it?" said Cologne with a small sigh.   
  
"Yeah, we've come to beat up Saffron," said Carrot cheerfully. "Isn't that nice?"   
  
"You'll be killed," responded Cologne.   
  
"Maybe," replied Carrot with a small smirk.   
  
"You know something though, don't you boy?" asked Cologne.   
  
"How did you know we were here?" asked Yohiko as she interrupted the pair.   
  
"A man came and told us of you," said Cologne. "A friend of yours? He was a powerful sorcerer. Scared the council half to death when he appeared in the middle of our weekly meeting. I imagine many of them would have gotten themselves killed if he hadn't managed to get our attention so quickly."   
  
"Told you about Jusendo?" asked Carrot.   
  
"Yes, among other things," replied the old woman with a small shrug.   
  
"So you already know then," said Carrot as he shook his head and sighed. "That idiot Xellos."   
  
"Yes, that is the name he gave us," replied Cologne. "Who is he? What is his relationship to you? Many of my sisters are still quite upset. A male in the council chambers is unheard of."   
  
"Xellos? He's, not exactly human," said Carrot in Mandarin.   
  
"What?" asked Usagi as she looked up at her parents. "What's this about Uncle Xellos?" It was the only word she had understood in what her father had just said.   
  
"She doesn't know?" queried Cologne in her native tongue.   
  
"No," replied Carrot calmly.   
  
"I see. Come, we'll talk in the village," said Cologne as she motioned for them to follow.   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
Ryoga sat on the dusty floor with Usagi and Plum just outside the room where the adults were talking. They were in Cologne's home and it was starting to get dark.   
  
"I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy," muttered Ryoga dumbly.   
  
"What's with him?" asked Usagi.   
  
"I dunno," replied Plum.   
  
Ukyo looked at them from the far corner and said nothing. She had a pretty good idea what he was upset about, but remained distanced from them. she turned her head away and leaned against the wall.   
  
Ryoga looked at them for a moment and shook his head. "Ranma, even you wouldn't deserve this place! I don't see how Mousse could stand it!" His respect for the blind martial artist had risen enormously. Everywhere he turned, he had seen the men of the village. They were doing things that were considered women's work by Japanese standards. Not that it was all that bad, but some of the other things he'd seen disturbed him. There was a whorehouse with male prostitutes. Slaves pulling carts, following women who ruled over them with fists, as nothing but property, cattle.   
  
Outwardly it didn't appear all that bad. However, someone as experienced as he was in the art, and as familiar with depression as he was. The signs were all around him. Men were nursing injuries that were neglected and ignored, the eyes of dead men staring at him from all around him. Many of them were once fighters like himself. They moved like broken men, but also men trained to fight. There were a few well-treated men as well, but it was also easy to see that most of them were kept in line by force.   
  
"Usagi," he said softly.   
  
"Yes?" she asked as she turned to look at him.   
  
"Promise me, no matter what happens, you won't let me get lost in this place."   
  
The girl blinked in surprise and looked at Plum for a moment. "Um, sure. I promise."   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
"This place disgusts me," said Carrot as he stood staring out a window at the village.   
  
"Hmmm," said Cologne calmly as she sipped at her tea. "This Xellos, tell me about him?"   
  
"He's a monster," said Yohiko calmly. "An old acquaintance of ours. He shouldn't be trusted."   
  
"Oh?" asked Cologne as she arched her eyebrow. "He told us to trust what you had to say."   
  
"He's got his own agenda. He's a strange one, he won't lie to you, but he won't tell you everything either," said Carrot. "He's actually not all that bad as monster's go."   
  
"He was strong, but a monster?" snorted Cologne.   
  
"We're here to help stop a Phoenix God, is a Monster that much of a stretch?" replied Yohiko. She was sitting across from Herb at the table on either side of Cologne.   
  
"We don't have time for this," snorted the King irritably.   
  
"We have more than you think, I doubt if they've even made it back yet," said Carrot calmly.   
  
"What makes you say that?" asked Yohiko.   
  
"Because, I just felt them pass by about two miles north of us. I wonder what took them so long. They flew here." Carrot was looking off towards the north at a wall.   
  
"You can feel them?" asked Cologne.   
  
"Yes," said Carrot as he smirked at her. "I can do a lot of things. I'd explain more, but we don't really have time. Like she said." He nodded at Herb and smirked.   
  
The girl growled slightly, but let it pass. "We should hurry."   
  
"It's late. You'll stay for the evening," said Cologne. "We have much to discuss."   
  
"Sending an army to fight Saffron would be useless," said Carrot calmly. "We're more interested in passing through your lands than asking for help."   
  
Cologne frowned at this but nodded. "I understand. However, it is late, and they won't do anything until tomorrow. They can't see well in the dark. If they haven't made it back yet, they will land until morning. Even if they do, they will not start their plans until daylight."   
  
"I don't like this place," said Carrot as he frowned at the window again.   
  
"Making you uncomfortable?" asked Yohiko with a small chuckle.   
  
"I am uneasy as well," agreed Herb.   
  
"You are safe with me," said Cologne.   
  
"I'm not worried about my safety," replied Carrot as he looked at her again. "I'm more worried one of your women will do something stupid and get herself killed."   
  
Cologne arched her eyebrow at this and sighed. "It's not all that bad. Our men are not..."   
  
"Don't try to justify this with me Cologne," said Carrot coldly. "I know a broken spirit when I see one, and I've seen dozens just walking to your home."   
  
"Hmmm, it is our way to remain strong," she replied with a calm ease about her.   
  
"Yes," responded Carrot coldly. "It's mine to remain free."   
  
"What are you worried about?" asked Cologne as she looked at Yohiko for a moment. She paused suddenly. "Something is different."   
  
"We're stuck like this," said Yohiko with a small nod. "We aren't sure why just yet."   
  
Cologne's face turned into a small grin and she chuckled. "Well, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. It's probably best if I say nothing."   
  
"You know something?" asked Carrot as he turned to look at her.   
  
"I do, but as I said. It is not the time for such things," replied the woman as she stared at him for a moment. "Your auras are different. Perhaps there is more to this technique of yours than you're letting on?"   
  
"That's our business," said Carrot as he turned away from the window.   
  
"So, we will remain here for the evening then?" asked Herb.   
  
"Not much choice," said Yohiko with a small nod.   
  
"It is early yet, there will be a meeting in a short time to discuss this. Until then, I offer you my home."   
  
"Thanks," said Carrot with a small sigh.   
  
"Yes," agreed Yohiko.   
  
"You have my gratitude," agreed Herb.   
  
"Where is Shampoo?" asked Carrot as he smirked at her. "They'd never admit it, but I think Ukyo and Ryoga might like to see her again. Mousse as well."   
  
Cologne looked up at him for a moment. "I suppose they would."   
  
"Yes, it would give the children something to do besides sit around while we talk," agreed Yohiko with a small sigh.   
  
"I suppose you're right," agreed Cologne. "I'll have them summoned and let them show the children around a bit."   
  
"Right," said Carrot with a small shrug.   
  
+++++++++++   
  
Ryoga looked up and frowned as a pair of familiar faces walked into the room.   
  
Ukyo had sat up at their entrance and frowned slightly. She had no real interest in either of them, but she knew both Mousse and Shampoo.   
  
The nearly blind martial artist had a look of euphoric happiness on his face as he followed Shampoo. "To think, the elders sent me with Shampoo! Could it be that they have finally acknowledged my love for her?"   
  
"Stupid Mousse! Shampoo bring you because you know pig boy and spatula girl too!" snapped the Amazon as she turned to stare at them. She didn't look particularly pleased to be there, but not upset either.   
  
"What are you doing here?" asked Ukyo coldly.   
  
"Pig boy?" said Usagi as she turned towards her cousin.   
  
"It's...nothing," muttered Ryoga lamely.   
  
Plum smiled at the girl and bowed as she stood up in greeting. "It is a pleasure, Honored Customer! I am Plum."   
  
"Who this is?" asked Shampoo as she blinked at the two unfamiliar faces.   
  
"Miss Yohiko's daughter, and the daughter of the Guide from Jusenkyo," said Ukyo as she stood up as well. "I take it they want you to show us around or something?"   
  
"Shampoo told to give tour," replied the girl with a small nod. "Keep safe from other villagers, no worries."   
  
"I have been told to assist her as well," agreed Mousse. "I wish I could say I was glad to see you again, but our pasts are not the kind one wishes to remember."   
  
Ryoga nodded. "I'd rather sit here and be bored," he snorted irritably. "I've got no desire to wander around this place."   
  
"Well I don't want to wait on the adults to finish all day," snorted Usagi. "Anything is better than sitting in this room. I'll bet they're planning on staying the night."   
  
Ryoga stared at her a moment and cursed under his breath. Ukyo appeared to have the same mindset. Plum was indifferent. He had to go, rather than risk being by himself. "All right. You'd better not lose me though."   
  
Usagi shrugged and grabbed his arm. "Come on, don't be such a whiner."   
  
"Shampoo show market and training ground, not much else to see," said the Amazon with a small shrug.   
  
"Let's get this over with," grumbled Ukyo.   
  
The group walked out of the home and into the dusty street.   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
"So, we're here," said Yohiko as she snorted at Carrot.   
  
"It wasn't what I expected," replied the man. They were sitting in the room the Amazon's had given them and waiting patiently. Soon someone would come to summon them. As it was, Herb was speaking with the elders. "Last time I saw this place was a tournament, some sort of festival. It wasn't this bad."   
  
"Hmmmm," agreed Yohiko. "Most of the villages around here don't care for them, but there isn't much that can be done."   
  
"You lived in this area?" asked Carrot as he turned to look at her for a moment. He had forgotten that once she had been native to this region.   
  
"No, I was further to the South, we knew about them though. Go a little farther out and no one will know what you're talking about if you ask them about this place."   
  
"Maybe we should visit the place when this is over?" asked Carrot with a small shrug.   
  
"Why? Everyone I knew died over a thousand years ago," replied Yohiko with a small shrug. "If it's even still there at all that is."   
  
"Good point," said Carrot with a small shrug. "Still, I don't like this set up. I think these women are up to something."   
  
"Working with the enemy?" asked Yohiko.   
  
"No, I doubt it. Cologne's not that stupid," replied the man calmly as he sat down on the small cot-like bed. "This is something else."   
  
"Life here wouldn't be that bad for me, but even I'm not cruel enough to put you on them," said the woman with a small snort as she looked out the tiny window.   
  
"I'd kill them within a month, or die trying," said Carrot cheerfully. "Not a bad deal considering."   
  
"Talking like that is bound to get us into trouble," said Yohiko as she turned to stare at him for a moment. "You've been wagging your tongue a bit too much for my comfort around here."   
  
"Maybe you're right," said Carrot a little thoughtfully. "I should tone it down a bit around here."   
  
There was a knock at the door and a young girl walked into the room and bowed. "Elder Cologne will see you now, leave your male here."   
  
Carrot chuckled at this. "Her male? Jeez this place is backwards."   
  
Yohiko growled at the comment and started walking behind the girl. Once they were out in the hall, she spoke up. "I suggest that you put the word around not to bother him child. He's very dangerous to your kind, and he doesn't care much for your village."   
  
"Ha! You don't know the strength of my..."   
  
"I know it very well child. That man defeated King Herb and his Queen alone, with his bare hands."   
  
The girl fell silent. "I see...why are you here?"   
  
"If the elders want you to know, they will tell you. We are not staying long, and we will leave in the morning."   
  
+++++++++++   
  
Cologne sat in a small chamber and smiled as Yohiko walked into the room. "Spreading rumors again?"   
  
"Carrot is edgy, that makes him very dangerous," replied Yohiko.   
  
"Carrot?" asked the woman. "Ah, I see. Could he not be a woman as well if he chose?"   
  
"Our daughter doesn't know about the curses," replied the woman calmly.   
  
Cologne shook her head and sighed. "I see."   
  
"That explains a lot," said Herb. "Not why there are two of you though."   
  
"We discovered a technique to split ourselves into separate bodies. Something went wrong recently, and we haven't figured out what happened yet."   
  
Herb snorted in surprise. "A technique?"   
  
"Yes, a technique. It only lasted a few hours at first, but we've been stuck like this for a few days. There is another, but he was captured by the enemy. Brainwashed into serving them."   
  
"Yes, I recall you mentioning that there were three of you," said Cologne.   
  
"It's not important right now. He is the least of our worries," said Yohiko.   
  
"Herb, leave us," said Cologne.   
  
The man nodded his head and left the room.   
  
"I thought we were going to discuss some sort of plan?" said Yohiko.   
  
"The Amazons can do little to help you," said the old woman with a small sigh. "Old women like myself, and Shampoo are our strongest warriors."   
  
"Don't you mean Mousse?" said Yohiko calmly.   
  
"Mousse is skilled, but is not considered a warrior," replied the old woman carefully.   
  
"Well trained for someone in this village, especially a male," replied Yohiko as she narrowed her eyes at the woman.   
  
"Indeed, Mousse's father had hoped his son would escape, where he could not. Unfortunately, the boy fell in love, and ruined his plans."   
  
"Heh, you won't be able to string him along forever. Sooner or later, Shampoo will find someone. You'll lose him, or her husband I think."   
  
"It is a delicate situation," agreed Cologne. "Still, the boy is within the laws so far. We can do little to stop him."   
  
"I doubt that," said Yohiko. "He's been hounding Shampoo since I met him."   
  
"You're smarter than I'd hoped you were. Still, Mousse has uses to us, when he does not, we'll be rid of him."   
  
"I see," said the woman with a small nod.   
  
"I was going to return to Japan to speak with you, but you've come here. Very convenient for me."   
  
Yohiko blinked at this statement. "What for?"   
  
"We want you to join us. You show all the qualities of a great Amazon. Your intelligence and strength are great, and you would easily become a part of the council. Your skills as a teacher did not escape our notice either."   
  
Yohiko frowned slightly. "You want me to join you?"   
  
"Yes, we could use a woman like you in the village. I am working on updating our culture a bit. Modern life impressed me more than I had thought it would."   
  
"What? Running water?" snorted Yohiko roughly. "Wow, I'm impressed."   
  
"Among other things," said Cologne cheerfully. "There are a lot of improvements we can make without disrupting our society. Plumbing is one I think will easily become accepted. As well as a small electrical plant for a few other things."   
  
"Well, I'm sorry to say that I must decline. I have a family to think about after all."   
  
"Your daughter is already here, and she would become greatly respected."   
  
"I don't agree with your way of life, I'd be disruptive more than helpful," replied Yohiko calmly.   
  
"Oh?" asked Cologne carefully. "Your man seems to be well under your control. I don't see a problem."   
  
"Carrot is hardly under my control," replied Yohiko with another snort. "And he isn't my man, just the father of my children. We do not get along well."   
  
"Herb tells me differently," replied Cologne with a small shrug.   
  
"Herb confuses passion with love," said the woman sharply. "Carrot has his own agenda in this, and I'm not sure what it is."   
  
"So, I was right all along. You are separate," replied Cologne with a smirk forming on her face.   
  
Yohiko frowned at this. "Not exactly."   
  
"Three minds, one body," said Carrot as he walked into the room and chuckled. "Well, five minds technically."   
  
Cologne gasped as she stared at him. "What are you doing here?"   
  
"Spying on you. I figured you were up to something," replied Carrot with a shrug. "Didn't expect this though."   
  
The old woman narrowed her eyes at the man and snorted. "I suppose there's no harm. It seems I'm not going to persuade her differently at this time."   
  
"Or ever. We're schizophrenic, the multiform technique allowed us to split up our personalities and take a break from each other for a little while. Getting stuck like this was unexpected though," said Carrot as he leaned against the doorway. "In any case, I understand you aren't going to be much help after all."   
  
"We can do little against the warriors of Mount Phoenix. Their ability to fly would prevent us from even holding them back. They'd just fly over any opposition we'd set against you. Plus, we are not foolish enough to believe we can beat them."   
  
"You might have been useful as a distraction, but otherwise I hadn't expected much else," replied Carrot with a small shrug.   
  
Yohiko blinked and turned her head. "Is that Ryoga?"   
  
"What?" said the boy dumbly.   
  
"I felt something," said Yohiko with a frown on her face. "Oh shit."   
  
"What is this?" asked Cologne as she turned her head.   
  
"Hell," grumbled Carrot as he left the room and took off, Yohiko was right behind him.   
  
++++++++++++++   
  
"Is training ground," said Shampoo as she pointed at a large open patch of dirt. There were several girls of different ages working on various wooden poles and training dummies. There wasn't a class going on at the moment though. The group moved through and looked around at the display the training girls were giving.   
  
Several of the older girls paused as the group walked through. They eyed both Ukyo and Ryoga for a moment.   
  
Finally, one of the larger girls walked up to the group. She was a little overweight, but the huge pair of maces she held in her grip told them that she was very strong. She said something to them and they all paused.   
  
"It's a formal challenge," said Mousse. He responded in Mandarin and the girl's face fell. She growled and snorted in disgust as she looked them over again.   
  
"You! Male! Fight me!"   
  
"What?" asked Ryoga as he blinked at her.   
  
"Not you! Him!" snapped the girl as she pointed at Ukyo.   
  
"Great," grumbled the girl as she stepped back. "Look hon, I'm not..."   
  
"Not turning down Amazon challenge," said Plum.   
  
Shampoo chuckled and said something in Mandarin to the girl. She blinked and dropped her pointing finger to her side. A huge blush crossed her face and she growled angrily. "Fine! This one then!"   
  
Usagi pulled Ryoga's arm a little tighter and frowned. "He's taken."   
  
"What?" said the boy as he looked at her.   
  
"Well, Akari right?" she whispered at him.   
  
"Oh," said the lost boy as his face flooded with relief.   
  
"Not good idea," commented Shampoo.   
  
"You're challenging her right," said Mousse.   
  
"What?" said Usagi as she blinked at him.   
  
"A counter challenge," replied the boy with a shrug. "You just made sure we can't help you."   
  
"You're supposed to be stopping this sort of thing!" cried the girl as she glared at them.   
  
"If kept mouth shut, would have," responded Shampoo with a shrug.   
  
Usagi turned to look at the large girl and frowned. "So? I have to fight her?"   
  
"No! She'll get the kiss of death!" cried Ryoga as he put himself in front of her.   
  
"Only if win," said Shampoo. "Doesn't have to beat pig boy to have as husband if win either."   
  
"You're screwed," said Plum as she looked up at the boy.   
  
"Kiss of death?" asked Usagi.   
  
The Amazon girl cracked her knuckles and chuckled as she glared at the skinny pink-haired girl. "Break."   
  
Shampoo held up her hand for a moment causing the girl to pause. She frowned and backed off for a moment. It was obvious Shampoo wasn't going to stop this. "Is promise to hunt to ends of earth and kill. If outsider defeat Amazon warrior, and not male, then must be given."   
  
"What? A death match?" cried Usagi in shock.   
  
"Not exactly," muttered Ryoga nervously.   
  
"I can take care of this," said Ukyo firmly. "I never liked the Amazon's much anyway. After I take care of Ranma, the Musk will be after me anyway."   
  
"No," said Ukyo as she steeled herself. "I know I can win, that's not the problem. I don't want to kill her though."   
  
"Weak girl not beat Lo Xian," replied Shampoo.   
  
"Don't bet on that," muttered Ryoga under his breath.   
  
"Stupid! Fight now! No waiting!" snapped Lo Xian irritably.   
  
Shampoo shrugged and stepped aside.   
  
"Wait!" cried Usagi.   
  
The Chinese girl jumped forward with her mace extended in a strike.   
  
Everyone quickly backed away as Usagi reacted without thinking. She was covered in a black substance that deflected the blow. It slowly slid across her body, changing colors as it moved. After a second, she was dressed in a familiar fuku with dozens of long ribbons floating in the air and holding the unfortunate Amazon in the air above her. "Stop it right now!" screamed Usagi angrily.   
  
Lo Xian was tossed aside and landed against one of the practice poles, snapping it in two.   
  
Usagi growled and faced her again, ready for another attack. "Still want to fight?"   
  
"Aiya!" cried Shampoo in shock.   
  
"What is this?" muttered Mousse dumbly.   
  
"Calm down!" cried Ryoga as he stepped between the pair.   
  
Lo Xian stood up and stared with her jaw hanging down. She took a step back, and then turned around in a full sprint away from the scene.   
  
"Why not just tell Shampoo you do that?"   
  
Ukyo and Plum both pat the girl on her back. "Good job."   
  
"Yes, you did very well!" agreed Plum.   
  
"What the hell is going on?" cried Carrot as he dropped out of the sky and folded his wings behind his back.   
  
"Oh, hi daddy," muttered Usagi sheepishly.   
  
"Stupid Amazon laws," muttered Ukyo irritably.   
  
"Is not stupid!" cried Shampoo.   
  
"What the hell?" muttered Yohiko as she walked up from her own landing just behind Carrot.   
  
"What the hell were you going to do with that?" snapped Carrot as he looked at Ryoga for a moment.   
  
"Huh?"   
  
"I felt that Shishi houkoudan across the village!" snorted the man irritably.   
  
"I'm sorry, I got scared," replied the boy sheepishly.   
  
"I thought you two were here to stop this sort of thing!" cried Yohiko as she glared at the Amazon teens.   
  
"It was a technicality, Usagi challenged her challenge. We couldn't do anything after that," said Mousse with a shrug.   
  
"It was an accident!" cried Usagi as she looked at her parent's glares.   
  
"That doesn't surprise me, I think their entire law system is written around trapping men," said Carrot with a small snort. He turned around and noticed that there were Amazons looking at them all over the place. Most of them were not looking very friendly.   
  
"Where the hell is Herb anyway?" snorted Yohiko as she ignored them.   
  
"Right here," said the Musk King. He was male again and scowled at them all. "It's getting late, we should get some sleep." He walked up with Cologne and sighed. "This is all that stands between the world and total destruction."   
  
Cologne was silent. She hadn't been expecting her guests to sprout wings and nearly kill one of her young warriors. She was expecting the girl would get smacked around a bit, and she'd have to intervene and debunk the marriage claims. This was much more than she had expected though.   
  
"What is this?"   
  
"Family secret," said Carrot as his wings melted into his back.   
  
"Ryoga?" she said as she narrowed her eyes at him.   
  
"Immediate family," corrected Carrot.   
  
"I see," said Cologne as she nodded. "It would be wise for you to spend the rest of the night indoors, and then be on your way tomorrow."   
  
"Yes, We've got to get to Mount Phoenix," agreed Yohiko with a small snort.   
  
"Come then," said Cologne as she motioned for them to follow.   
  
"Right," said Carrot as he nodded and walked after her.   
  
"Dope," grumbled Yohiko.   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
TBC...   
  
Next Time: The Hot Springs Devil Strikes! 


	77. Insertion 77

Insertion   
  
Part 77   
  
The Hot Springs Devil!   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
Mount Phoenix   
  
"You've retrieved the map?" asked   
the aged looking birdman who stood   
before Kiima, Dan, and her two wards.   
  
"Yes," replied Kiima.   
  
Dan was standing behind them with   
his arms crossed, while the other three   
bowed deeply in front of the throne. It   
was covered by silken veils that hid the   
emperor from view.   
  
"It reveals the hidden source of the   
springs?" asked the old man.   
  
"As you can see," replied Kiima as   
she held the page up to him. "We shall   
fly to the indicated area immediately.   
Soon, the cursed springs will be no more   
than a memory."   
  
"Good, good," said the old man.   
  
"But before you leave Captain Kiima.   
His highness grants you an audience. No   
doubt he will wish to praise you for   
your success."   
  
Kiima blinked in surprise at this   
announcement.   
  
"Lord Saffron will address us?" said   
Koruma.   
  
"But, he's not here," said Dan as he   
looked at them all for a moment.   
  
Kiima finally noticed his posture   
and blushed. "Why aren't you bowing   
fool?!"   
  
"Bowing to what?" said Dan as he   
looked at her.   
  
"Lord Saffron! Please forgive him,   
he..."   
  
Dan snorted and jumped over her   
head, landing beside the throne. He   
pulled on the rope opening the shades   
before anyone could react. "Look, not   
here. See?"   
  
Everyone blinked as they found   
themselves staring at an odd looking   
statue. It was a clown with a drum in   
his lap.   
  
"Forgive me, liege, but...I never   
imagined that the heir to the throne of   
Phoenix Mountain... would look exactly   
like one of those statues that you find   
outside a restaurant," said Koruma   
dumbly.   
  
"This is one of those statues that   
you find outside a restaurant," said   
Kiima as she stared at it.   
  
"AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHH! His highness   
has run off again!" cried the old man.   
  
"So, should we go to this place on   
the map...or..." said Dan as he looked   
at Kiima for a moment.   
  
"No fool! We have to find Lord   
Saffron!" growled the woman.   
  
"Oh," said Dan with a small shrug.   
"Okay."   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
"Are we there yet?" grumbled Usagi.   
  
"Bweeee!" cried Ryoga from the top   
of her head.   
  
She sighed and looked at her   
parents. "Are you sure this is my   
cousin?"   
  
"Yes dear," said Yohiko with a small   
sigh.   
  
"But...it's a pig," said the girl in   
irritation as she plucked the animal off   
the top of her head and held it at arms   
length.   
  
"Yeah? So? I know a guy who turns   
into a duck," said Carrot with a small   
shrug.   
  
"Oh," grumbled Usagi as she put   
Ryoga back onto her head.   
  
The animal snorted and clung on   
again.   
  
"Are you sure?" repeated Usagi.   
  
"How long is she going to be like   
this?" asked Plum as she looked at Ukyo.   
  
"Well, I'm used to this sort of   
thing. Ryoga's curse is new to me   
though," said the chef with a small   
shrug.   
  
"Still, Curses of Jusenkyo very   
tragic," said the girl.   
  
"Well, I'm not so sure the pig   
doesn't deserve it," responded Ukyo with   
another shrug.   
  
Ryoga squealed at her angrily.   
  
"We're getting close, it's just past   
that seventh mountain!" said Plum as she   
pointed in the right direction.   
  
"Good," said Yohiko.   
  
Ryoga squealed excitedly on top of   
his cousin's head. "Ouch! Quit it!"   
cried the girl.   
  
"Hey, a hot spring," said Carrot as   
he smiled to himself. "Maybe we should   
stop. Ryoga won't be much good to us as   
he is now."   
  
"All right!" cried Usagi happily.   
  
Carrot and Yohiko smirked at each   
other as the youths rushed off towards   
the entrance.   
  
Herb landed beside them and looked   
at them both. "Hey, there's a hot spring   
up ahead... Oh."   
  
"The point of scouting ahead, is to   
tell us before we get there," said   
Carrot.   
  
"I'm not used to this role,"   
grumbled Herb as she blushed slightly.   
  
"The kids are too green for that   
kind of work," said Yohiko. "Carrot and   
I did it earlier, and it's your turn."   
  
Plum was standing in the middle of   
the road, looking at a large crack in   
the ground. "Uh oh," said the girl with   
a slight frown.   
  
"What?" asked Carrot as he walked up   
next to her.   
  
"Big crack in ground is never a good   
sign," replied the girl as she looked up   
at him.   
  
"Oh yes. I forgot to say, the   
springs appear to have been attacked,"   
said Herb.   
  
"Great, he sucks at this too, we   
might as well have sent Usagi," grumbled   
Yohiko.   
  
"Well, we'd best go get the kids.   
Come on Herb," said Carrot as he pulled   
the girl along behind him.   
  
"Unhand me! My legs work fine!"   
snapped Herb irritably.   
  
"Fine, fine. Let's just go. Those   
idiot girls probably took Ryoga with   
them," said the boy with a small sigh.   
  
"I'll try to get him to you before   
he passes out from blood loss," muttered   
Yohiko as she sighed and started   
walking.   
  
Plum found herself standing alone as   
the group separated. She turned her head   
and saw a footlocker on the side of the   
road. It shifted, and a man fell out   
onto the ground looking rather beaten.   
  
"Aiya!" She rushed over to his side.   
"What happened here Mr. Employee-type   
person?"   
  
"D-devil! The Hot Springs Devil   
attacked!" muttered the man as he passed   
out.   
  
"Hot Springs Devil? What in the...?"   
muttered the girl to herself.   
  
+++++++++++   
  
"Ahhhhh," was the collective sigh   
from the group of girls as they sat in   
the water.   
  
Yohiko walked up to Usagi and pulled   
the pig off of her head. He was clinging   
to her for dear life, and wasn't moving.   
"You forgot your cousin," she said with   
a small smirk.   
  
"What? Ryoga you pervert!" screamed   
Ukyo as she covered herself up suddenly.   
  
"The poor jerk is out cold, guess we   
were too much for him to handle," said   
Yohiko cheerfully.   
  
Plum walked up nervously and poked   
her fingers together. "Um, it's not safe   
here."   
  
Usagi and Ukyo looked around for a   
moment and blinked.   
  
"You know, she might be right,"   
commented Usagi.   
  
Several women were floating around   
in the water out cold.   
  
"Yeah, I guess so," agreed Ukyo.   
  
Yohiko shrugged and unceremoniously   
tossed Ryoga over her shoulder. He   
sailed over the wall and into the men's   
side. "Don't worry about it kid. Hop   
in," she said to Plum as she started   
removing the girl's clothes along with   
her own.   
  
The little girl blushed and sat down   
in the water. "Shouldn't we be ready for   
an attack?"   
  
"Nah, let the guys worry about it,"   
said the woman as she winked at her.   
"Besides, how long do you think a   
pervert would last with this group?"   
  
"She's got a point," said Ukyo   
cheerfully.   
  
"Oh, okay," said Plum.   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
"Wonder how long until we're   
attacked?" asked Carrot as Ryoga came up   
from under the water and gasped.   
  
"I...saw..." muttered the lost boy   
with his eyes wide.   
  
"Yeah, I'm sure you'll treasure the   
memory always," grumbled Carrot.   
  
"Tell me about it," said Herb as he   
moved over to Ryoga's side.   
  
"Oh, forget about it. It was just   
Ukyo," said Carrot as he rolled his   
eyes.   
  
"Yes, but I had no idea those   
bindings she wore...were that tight!"   
said Ryoga as he looked at Carrot with   
tears in his eyes.   
  
"Found a new love?" snorted Carrot.   
  
"I doubt if they can compare to my   
wife," said Herb with a serious looking   
nod. "Still, I am curious."   
  
"What wife?" snapped Ryoga as he was   
shaken out of his stupor.   
  
"Don't start that again," grumbled   
Carrot.   
  
"If you want to see them so badly,   
go take a look. They're just over the   
wall," said Carrot as he pointed it out   
to Herb.   
  
"Do you think they'd mind?" asked   
Herb with a blush on his face.   
  
"Of course they would. The danger   
element is what makes it fun," said   
Carrot cheerfully.   
  
"You sound like that old man!"   
snapped Ryoga.   
  
"I wasn't the one singing the   
praises of Ukyo Kuonji's breasts a   
minute ago," snorted the man as he   
closed his eyes and sat back against a   
rock.   
  
"I was not! I was just surprised   
that's all!" cried the boy defensively.   
"And I don't love her!"   
  
"Wonder if Akari is that stacked?"   
muttered Carrot to himself.   
  
"Hey!" snapped Ryoga.   
  
"What? You don't wonder?" replied   
the man as he arched his eyebrow at the   
boy.   
  
"That's not the point! Don't talk   
about my girlfriend that way!" snapped   
Ryoga.   
  
"You know...Yohiko married into the   
Hibiki clan as I recall. That would mean   
Usagi, isn't really your cousin," said   
Carrot as he looked thoughtful for a   
moment.   
  
"I...what?" Ryoga stared at him for   
a moment.   
  
"Enough of this. I must know!" cried   
Herb as he was suddenly overcome with   
chargin. He waded over to the wall with   
a determined frown on his face and   
started to scale it.   
  
"Sheesh, and Yohiko calls me a   
pervert," muttered Carrot to himself.   
  
"Hey! Usagi is over there!" cried   
Ryoga.   
  
"Do you wish to join me then?" asked   
Herb as he stared at Ryoga for a moment.   
  
"I...No! Stop that you pervert!"   
  
"What is this word? I keep hearing   
it? What does pervert mean?" asked Herb.   
"My queen calls me that all the time. It   
puzzles me."   
  
Ryoga blinked at him again. "What?"   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
"What's all that shouting?" muttered   
Plum.   
  
"The idiots don't realize we can   
hear them, that's all," said Yohiko with   
a small frown.   
  
Usagi was blushing and staring at   
the wall, while Ukyo had a few spatulas   
ready to lob at anyone who dared peer   
over the wall.   
  
"I don't believe this!" cried Ukyo   
angrily.   
  
"Hey. What's that?" asked Plum as   
she stared at the water.   
  
"Huh?" replied the other women as   
they turned towards what she was   
pointing at.   
  
+++++++++++++++   
  
"Lord Saffron! Where are you?"   
thought Kiima as she flew along the   
ground with her three companions. "He   
shouldn't have gone below! Not in his   
current state!"   
  
"What are you on about?" grumbled   
Dan as he frowned at her.   
  
"Our lord is missing!" she snapped.   
  
"Don't get mad at me, I never even   
met the guy. Calm down, I'm sure he'll   
be back before us."   
  
"I hope you're right," said Koruma.   
  
"Lord Saffron could be in danger   
though!" cried Masara.   
  
"I doubt it," muttered Dan   
irritably.   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
The girl's side was staring at a   
huge shadow in the water. "What the?"   
grumbled Yohiko. "What is that?" She   
peered at the shadow for a moment and a   
metallic sounding ring filled the air.   
  
"Something is happening!" cried   
Ukyo.   
  
The water around the blasted upward,   
and a few of the rocks in the spring   
suddenly exploded around them. They all   
dodged around the falling stones.   
  
Plum was clinging to Usagi when it   
all settled down, and they were all   
looking at a huge red thing shrouded in   
the steam. "Aiya! What this is?"   
  
"It's huge!" cried Ukyo as she threw   
several spatulas at it.   
  
The thing unceremoniously hissed at   
them and deflated into little more than   
a spot on the water.   
  
Yohiko walked up to it and frowned.   
"It's... a pool toy."   
  
She turned around suddenly as a ring   
flew out of the air towards her. "What?"   
she managed to catch it between her   
hands and was thrown back by the force   
of its motion. She was pushed halfway   
across the springs and slammed into a   
boulder. It shattered under the force of   
her impact and the ring continued to fly   
away.   
  
"Mom!" cried Usagi.   
  
"Miss Yohiko!" called the others.   
  
"What the?" muttered the woman as   
she shook her head.   
  
The ring continued it's path into   
the air, and stopped at the top of a   
staff that poked out from behind the   
rocks nearby.   
  
"Who?" muttered Usagi dumbly.   
  
A small boy appeared before them, he   
had black hair with orange highlights.   
His clothes were unusual, expensive   
looking silk garments with a cape, and a   
plate of armor over his chest. He held   
an odd looking staff in his hand with a   
ring on the top of it.   
  
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Fools! Those who   
dare try and use these hot springs   
without my expressly given consent, are   
not long for this world!"   
  
"What the?" grumbled Yohiko.   
  
The girls were all staring at him,   
looking rather dumbstruck at the haughty   
looking child.   
  
Finally, Usagi spoke up.   
"EEEEEEEEEKKKKK! A PERVERT!"   
  
The rest of the girls, Yohiko   
included, promptly screamed and dove a   
little deeper into the water. A moment   
later, Usagi and Yohiko stood up,   
dressed in bathing suits.   
  
"I wish I had one of those,"   
grumbled Ukyo.   
  
Plum nodded in agreement, her face   
completely red. "That jerk! He same age!   
What doing thing like this?"   
  
"Good question," grumbled Ukyo.   
  
"There's that word again," commented   
Herb as he peered over the wall.   
  
"We heard screaming!" called Ryoga   
from beside him.   
  
Carrot was wisely absent.   
  
Huge boulders were ripped up from   
the springs, and flung towards anything   
male.   
  
The boy laughed at this as the ring   
flew from the top of his staff and   
shattered the stone. Ryoga and Herb were   
sent back behind the wall, with boulders   
in their faces. "Fool! You underestimate   
the power of the Kinjakan!"   
  
"Is Hot Springs Devil!" cried Plum   
in shock.   
  
The boy fell face first onto the   
ground as Yohiko planted her fist into   
the back of his head. She had come up   
behind him after throwing the boulder.   
  
"So this is him huh?" muttered   
Yohiko.   
  
"Yes, apparently he's been trashing   
the area for the past two or three   
days," said Plum as she finished   
dressing herself with Ukyo.   
  
Carrot walked up behind them and   
picked up the boy's staff. "Bothersome   
little runt isn't he?"   
  
"What are you doing over here?!"   
cried Ukyo angrily.   
  
"Oh shut up. I waited until you were   
all dressed," replied the man with a   
casual snort. "Besides, all of you are   
too young to interest me anyway, and   
I've seen her naked before." He jerked   
his thumb at Yohiko.   
  
The woman growled and blushed at   
this, but didn't press it. "Who is this   
little bastard?"   
  
Carrot looked over at the wall for a   
moment. "The Hot Springs Devil."   
  
"I know that!" snarled Yohiko.   
  
Carrot thought about it for a moment   
and sighed. "Never heard of him before."   
  
"You know something, I'm not stupid,   
Carrot," replied the woman.   
  
"Maybe I do, but I've got my own   
reasons for not saying anything," he   
responded coolly.   
  
"Right," grumbled Yohiko irritably.   
  
"Kill me! I would rather die than   
endure this humiliation!" snarled the   
boy as he struggled against the ropes   
they had used to bind him.   
  
"Okay," said Carrot as he started   
towards him.   
  
"He's just a kid!" cried Usagi.   
  
"What?" muttered the boy as he   
looked up at them.   
  
"He asked for it though," said the   
man as he stared at the dumbfound boy.   
  
"You! I'll get you for this!"   
snarled the boy.   
  
"Not if you're dead you won't," said   
Carrot.   
  
"We don't have time for this Carrot,   
quit screwing around," said Yohiko.   
  
"Remember that you told me that   
later," he responded. His face wasn't   
visible to them and they couldn't read   
anything from his voice.   
  
"Whatever, can we go now? We need to   
get to Mount Phoenix," said Yohiko.   
"We've wasted too much time as it is."   
  
"Wait a second! You're going to   
Mount Phoenix?" said the boy.   
  
Carrot smirked. "What of it?"   
  
"If we use the Kinjakan, I can get   
us there by this evening," said the boy   
calmly.   
  
"It will take two more days," said   
Plum as she looked up at Yohiko.   
  
"I think we should take his way,"   
said Usagi.   
  
"Come on, let's go collect the   
boys," said Yohiko.   
  
"Do we have to?" grumbled Ukyo.   
  
"Yes, we'll probably need them,"   
said Plum.   
  
+++++++++++++++   
  
The boy rode atop his staff, the   
ring was moving along the ground and he   
was going at an incredible rate of   
speed.   
  
"Whoa. He's fast," said Usagi as she   
struggled to keep up.   
  
"You're just slacking off, that's   
all," said Carrot as he carried Plum on   
his shoulders.   
  
Ryoga was being dragged along the   
ground by Herb. "Slow down you jerk!"   
  
"You're not hurt, quit complaining,"   
snorted the Dragon-man as he glanced   
back at him.   
  
"Damn you! I'll get you for this   
Herb!" cried the lost boy angrily as he   
was hit in the face by another rock.   
Herb was correct though, he wasn't even   
feeling it.   
  
"Hey! I can see it! It's Phoenix   
Mountain!" cried Plum.   
  
"Finally," grumbled Ukyo as Yohiko   
dropped her wrist. She had been pulling   
her along as well.   
  
The boy smirked as he stopped next   
to a doorway on the mountainside. "This   
is the entrance to the inner halls."   
  
"Yeah, thanks kid. You've been a big   
help. I'll see you later," said Carrot.   
  
"I'm surprised you were able to keep   
up," admitted Saffron as he looked at   
the Kinjakan for a moment.   
  
"Bye Mr. Devil, you weren't so bad   
after all," said Usagi.   
  
"The brat bothers me," grumbled Herb   
as he glanced back at the boy.   
  
"We shouldn't trust him," agreed   
Yohiko.   
  
"You're right, he's going to show us   
the way," said Carrot.   
  
"What?" muttered the boy dumbly.   
  
"Come on kid, we're not stupid   
enough to leave you out here alone,"   
said Carrot with a chuckle.   
  
The boy growled at this and stepped   
back. "I won't."   
  
Carrot leaned his head in next to   
the boy. "Come on Saffron, lead the way   
to the map, or I'll tell the Musk King   
here who you are. Think you can take him   
now?"   
  
The boy's eyes went wide and he   
gasped. "You...knew?"   
  
"I'm looking for someone, and I'll   
bet I'll find him when I find that map,"   
said Carrot quietly. "We've got a score   
to settle. I'll worry about you later."   
  
Saffron growled and nodded slowly.   
  
Yohiko blinked and stared at Carrot.   
"What did you tell him?"   
  
The rest of the group was waiting   
for an answer as well.   
  
"I threatened to tell his parents   
what he was doing at those springs if he   
didn't take us where we wanted to go.   
The little runt is a Phoenix native."   
  
Saffron looked back at Carrot for a   
moment and growled. "You'd better keep   
quiet about this."   
  
"Lead the way then, and no tricks,"   
said the man as he smirked at him.   
  
Everyone took that as proof of what   
they had been told. Yohiko was still a   
bit skeptical though.   
  
"I trust you about as much as I   
trust Xellos," she grumbled.   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
"Hot springs you say?" asked the old   
man as he stood in Lord Saffron's   
bedchambers. They were preparing for the   
boy's return.   
  
"Yes, I think this Hot Springs Devil   
the landlings are talking about is him,"   
said Dan with a small nod.   
  
"I'm forced to agree," said Kiima   
with a small nod.   
  
"Well, Kiima did well in picking you   
up," said the old man cheerfully.   
  
"Who says she picked me?" replied   
Dan casually.   
  
Kiima looked at him for a moment and   
frowned. "Still, if he is instinctively   
seeking out Hot Springs. It could only   
mean one thing."   
  
"Yes, the transformation is at   
hand," agreed the old man. "We must get   
control of the source of Jusenkyo now."   
  
"That's good to know," said a   
familiar voice from behind them.   
  
The trio turned around to face the   
doorway. "What?"   
  
"Hey Dan, I've come for my map,"   
said Carrot as he stood at the head of   
the group. They were standing in the   
doorway glaring at them. A trail of   
fallen guards in their wake. The   
entrance to Saffron's bedchamber was a   
long bridge that stretched across a two-   
thousand-foot drop.   
  
"It is comforting to know that I am   
not too late," said Herb as he crossed   
his arms and chuckled.   
  
"That was enjoyable," said Saffron   
as he glanced down at one of the fallen   
guards. He'd almost started giving   
orders to kill the others, but they'd   
started beating on his men rather   
easily. He'd decided to join in, rather   
than risk discovery just yet. "Too bad.   
Kiima, destroy them."   
  
"What?" said Herb as he spun around   
to stare at the boy.   
  
"Yes my Lord!" screamed the woman as   
she charged.   
  
"Heh," said Carrot as he stepped   
back.   
  
"Not so fast," said Dan as he   
appeared in front of him.   
  
"Not yet Dan," replied Carrot   
coolly. "I'm saving you for later. How   
about that map?"   
  
Dan chuckled and tossed a rolled up   
scroll from inside his shirt at the man.   
"Here."   
  
"What are you doing?" cried Kiima.   
  
"Relax, that's just a copy. We still   
have the real one," he whispered to her   
carefully.   
  
It was obvious that Carrot had heard   
him, but the others were occupied by a   
new wave of guards.   
  
"So, I can destroy Saffron easily   
now," said Herb with a cold smile on his   
lips.   
  
"Arrogant landling," snarled Kiima.   
  
"Really Kiima, insulting a King that   
way," said Carrot.   
  
"Hello Herb," said Dan as he turned   
to face the man.   
  
"It's Lord Herb!" cried the old man   
in shock. "No! It's too soon!"   
  
"Thousand Wings of the Seabird   
attack!" cried Kiima in shock as she   
jumped back away from the man.   
  
Herb dodged easily around the   
strikes and chuckled. "Die!" He raised   
his hand, and a bolt of power shot   
towards Saffron. The boy's eyes went   
wide with fear.   
  
Dan appeared in front of him with   
his wings spread wide. He snarled and   
backhanded the ball of power away. "Not   
so fast!"   
  
Carrot stood by and did nothing. He   
chuckled and watched as Dan scooped up   
the boy and tossed him to Kiima.   
  
"Get to Jusendo, I'll hold them   
off," he snarled.   
  
The woman nodded, and jumped off the   
bridge and into the air.   
  
"No!" snarled Herb as he started to   
give chase. A strong blow to his chest   
sent him sprawling back into the others.   
  
  
Ukyo managed to catch him and   
staggered back slightly. The guards were   
now all defeated and they turned to look   
at Dan for a moment as he floated just   
above them on the bridge.   
  
"Think you can take all of us Dan?"   
asked Yohiko.   
  
"Ah, the things I do for love,"   
replied the man as he chuckled. He   
reached into his shirt and pulled out a   
small remote.   
  
"What the?" muttered Carrot as he   
uncrossed his arms. "Everybody jump!   
Now!"   
  
The bridge exploded in a huge ball   
of flames as Dan pressed the button on   
the small remote. The explosive charges   
he'd set up went off all at once,   
shattering it completely.   
  
"What have you done!?" cried the old   
man in shock.   
  
"I'm not strong enough to fight them   
all, take all the men you can, and get   
ready for them at Jusendo. We've got to   
hurry." He dove down after the debris of   
the bridge and chuckled at what he   
found.   
  
Carrot, Usagi, and Yohiko were   
carrying Plum, Ryoga, and Ukyo. Herb was   
descending under his own power, but he   
couldn't hold himself up much longer. He   
was now following after them in a   
controlled fall.   
  
"Come to finish us off?" snarled   
Yohiko as she clutched Ukyo a little   
tighter.   
  
"Please," snorted Dan in disgust.   
"I'll be waiting for you at Jusendo   
Carrot, don't disappoint me."   
  
"Count on it," said Carrot coldly.   
"Come on, we're wasting time by staying   
here." He dove towards the ground and   
was followed by the others.   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
TBC...   
  
Next Time: Jusendo! 


	78. Insertion 78

Insertion   
  
Part 78   
  
Jusendo   
  
+++++++++   
  
Carrot stood with his companions   
with his arms crossed in front of his   
chest and a smirk on his face. "Well,   
there it is." They were hiding behind a   
large set of boulders, looking up at the   
mountain in front of them.   
  
"Jusendo," growled Herb as he   
lowered his head slightly. "Saffron will   
be inside."   
  
"Yes, and so will Dan," agreed   
Carrot.   
  
"Why would he do such a terrible   
thing? I thought he was your friend,"   
said Usagi as she looked at her parents   
for a moment.   
  
"Dan was hardly a friend, but in any   
case, he's doing this over a woman,"   
replied Carrot.   
  
"I thought you said something about   
brainwashing eggs," snorted Yohiko   
irritably.   
  
"I did, but if you remember, Dan has   
a safeguard against something like that.   
He's on his own, and Kiima doesn't   
control him," replied Carrot calmly.   
  
"Are you sure?" asked Plum in   
confusion.   
  
"Yeah, I don't think he'd be acting   
the way he was if he'd been caught by   
one of those eggs," said Carrot.   
  
"He's dangerous," said Yohiko as she   
turned to look at the others for a   
moment. Focusing more on Usagi than   
anyone else.   
  
"He won't hurt her, or us. Not yet   
anyway," said Carrot. "He's mine, and   
he's waiting for me. I doubt if he'll   
seriously try to stop us, he wants this   
fight as bad as I do."   
  
"Waiting on you?" asked Herb.   
  
Carrot nodded. "That doesn't mean   
he's not dangerous, possibly more than   
Saffron even. I'm sure I can win, but   
he's got some nasty surprises waiting   
for us I'm sure."   
  
"He's been hanging around you too   
long," said Yohiko with a rough snort.   
  
"You're absolutely right," said   
Xellos as he appeared next to them.   
  
"Hey Pop," said Phibrizzo   
cheerfully.   
  
"I was starting to wonder when you   
two would show up," commented Carrot as   
he turned to face the pair.   
  
"You again?" asked Ukyo.   
  
Ryoga frowned, but didn't move from   
his place behind Plum.   
  
"Yes, us again," said Xellos   
cheerfully. "In any case, they're   
waiting on you inside. It won't be easy   
to get where you're going."   
  
"I know, Dan is smarter than I   
usually give him credit for, plus I'm   
not sure how he operates on his own.   
I've got a pretty good feeling that   
there won't be much of Jusendo left   
after we're through with it." Carrot   
scowled and turned to face the others.   
"He's mine, don't try to fight him. You   
worry about getting me in there, I'll   
handle Dan and Saffron."   
  
Yohiko frowned at this. "Both of   
them?"   
  
"Fool, you'll get yourself killed!"   
snapped Herb.   
  
"Maybe so," agreed Carrot as he   
nodded in agreement.   
  
Yohiko frowned at this and stared at   
him. "That's the whole idea isn't it?"   
  
"What? Dying?" said Carrot with a   
small chuckle. "Don't be absurd. I   
already know how to beat Saffron. Dan is   
too much for anyone but me to handle.   
I'm your only choice."   
  
"What do you mean?" snapped Herb   
angrily. "Defeating Saffron on your own?   
Don't be absurd!"   
  
"Actually, I agree with him. He's   
the only one who should face Saffron.   
Dan however...is another matter   
entirely." Xellos turned to face Carrot   
again and chuckled. "If you fight Dan,   
you won't be in any condition for   
Saffron. The same goes for if you take   
on the God first. Either way, if you try   
to do everything, you'll die. Face it,   
you can't protect them this time   
Carrot."   
  
The man stared at Xellos and scowled   
angrily. His jaw went hard and he   
growled irritably.   
  
"Protect us?" asked Yohiko as she   
stared at Xellos for a moment.   
  
"Yes, protect you. Especially you,   
Miss Yohiko," replied Phibrizzo as he   
smirked at her.   
  
"Heh. I wonder how much he knows?"   
replied Xellos calmly.   
  
"She can take care of herself,"   
snapped Carrot as he turned away   
angrily.   
  
"Yes she can, but that's not what   
you're worried about is it?" asked   
Xellos as his maddening grin challenged   
Carrot's angry frown.   
  
"Shut your hole Xellos," growled the   
man.   
  
"What is he talking about?" said   
Usagi in confusion. "Dad?"   
  
"It's nothing," grumbled Carrot as   
he turned away.   
  
Yohiko was standing in silence   
staring at Carrot with an unreadable   
expression on her face. Finally she   
snorted and turned away. "I don't need   
your help. I can take any one of you!   
You know that!"   
  
Carrot didn't look at her and   
growled under his breath. "It's not you   
I'm worried about Yohiko, it's them."   
  
"We knew what we were getting into   
when we came here," said Herb firmly. "I   
for one do not appreciate being treated   
as a weak fool."   
  
"Think what you want, Saffron is   
mine," said Carrot as he returned Herb's   
glare. "You can have him, but only if we   
find him before he transforms.   
Understood?" His voice was commanding   
and firm.   
  
Herb frowned at this and grit his   
teeth in irritation. "You..."   
  
"Give me your word, or I'll make   
sure you can't get in my way Herb. If   
he's transformed, you back off and let   
me handle it."   
  
It was a clear-cut threat. Herb   
looked at Ryoga and Ukyo, both of them   
were in shock and appeared to back him   
up rather than Carrot. "It is my duty to   
face him."   
  
"Even if it means you'd have to   
leave your Queen in charge of your   
people? Do you really trust Ranma that   
much?" asked Xellos calmly as he stepped   
between them.   
  
"He is my mate!" snarled Herb in   
defiance.   
  
"She is inexperienced as a ruler,   
and her temper will get the best of her.   
Do you really think she will obey you if   
you die? Or will she try to avenge your   
death, possibly dragging her people to   
their doom along with her?" said   
Phibrizzo coolly as he smirked at Herb   
and stood beside Xellos. "She'll follow   
her heart, and that is exactly what it   
will tell her to do."   
  
Herb stood firmly glaring at them.   
"Very well. You have my word." He bowed   
his head and turned away.   
  
Ukyo was silent and stood back with   
Ryoga and Plum. None of the teens knew   
what was happening. Usagi was next to   
her mother and didn't know what to think   
or do.   
  
"Good, don't forget it," said Carrot   
as he stood up and stepped out into the   
open. "Xellos, are you just here to play   
referee, or are you going to be useful   
for once?"   
  
Plum rushed over and grabbed the leg   
of Carrot's pants. "We don't know which   
entrance it is! We could be killed!"   
  
"I know that, but Xellos knows the   
right entrance," said Carrot as he   
turned his gaze towards the pair of   
Mazoku.   
  
"Very well, I suppose I can help   
this time," said Xellos with a small   
sigh. "Don't expect much more from me   
though."   
  
"Right," said Carrot with a smug   
looking grin on his face. "Now, to the   
plan."   
  
"What plan?" asked Yohiko irritably.   
  
"What? Charge in and beat them up,   
right?" asked Usagi dumbly.   
  
"No, you're going to handle Kiima   
Usagi. Don't kill her though, Dan won't   
be any easier to deal with if we piss   
him off that way. Just keep her out of   
the way."   
  
"Me?" asked Yohiko with a frown on   
her face.   
  
"You and Herb are both going to keep   
Dan busy while I deal with Saffron,"   
replied Carrot coolly.   
  
"What about us?" snorted Ukyo   
irritably.   
  
"You and Ryoga are going to take   
care of any guards we find on the way,   
you're here to clear the way. Stay out   
of the big fights, they're beyond your   
power levels."   
  
"What am I doing?" muttered Plum.   
  
"You're going home, when we find   
your father, we'll send him after you.   
You'll just get in the way at this   
point. We can't waste time protecting   
you. Sorry."   
  
Plum actually looked relieved.   
"Okay, come back to Jusenkyo when   
finished then."   
  
"Don't worry kid, we won't leave you   
hanging," said Ryoga cheerfully.   
  
"Why should we do what you tell us   
too?" snorted Yohiko.   
  
"Because it's a good plan actually,"   
replied Xellos with a small shrug.   
  
"Who asked you!?" snapped the woman   
angrily.   
  
"Saffron is mine if he's not   
transformed," said Herb coldly. "Don't   
forget that."   
  
"Fine, have it your way," replied   
Carrot. "In any case, no matter what   
happens, Ryoga stays with Ukyo. Keep him   
from getting lost. He won't do us any   
good if he wanders off in the fight."   
  
The chef nodded firmly and turned to   
glare at the boy irritably.   
  
"I have to fight the bird lady?"   
muttered Usagi fearfully.   
  
"She's no match for you if you   
remember your training," replied Carrot   
calmly. "Besides, I just want you to   
make sure she stays out of the way more   
than anything else. Don't forget, you   
can't let her die. Dan will not be   
pleased if she's dead, and I'm not sure   
if any of us can survive that maniac if   
he becomes suicidal."   
  
"You underestimate my power,"   
growled Herb.   
  
"Whatever," growled Yohiko.   
  
"Enough of this!" growled Herb.   
  
"Stop bickering and shut up. We   
don't have time for arguments," said   
Carrot.   
  
"I can handle Dan on my own if I   
need too! I don't need his help!" said   
Yohiko irritably.   
  
"Come on, let's just go," growled   
Carrot as he started walking towards the   
entrance. "Which one is it anyway?"   
  
Xellos chuckled and merely pointed   
at a door with the words 'Employees   
Only' written on it.   
  
"Oh. Right," said Carrot with a   
small shrug.   
  
+++++++++++   
  
The caverns and passageways of   
Jusendo were quiet, and empty. Darkness   
surrounded them, and the sound of   
dripping water could occasionally be   
heard as the group entered the mountain   
through the doorway.   
  
Herb frowned slightly and closed his   
eyes with his palm held in front of him.   
"I shall light our way." A ball of   
energy appeared in his hand and the room   
lit up. "Come."   
  
"Stop showing off," said Carrot as   
he smacked the man in the back of his   
head as he passed by. He turned on a   
flashlight he'd pulled from his backpack   
and pulled something off of the bottom,   
turning it into a small electric   
lantern.   
  
"You didn't tell me you had one of   
those," grumbled Herb irritably as he   
followed and dissipated the ki ball.   
  
"Sure is quiet," commented Usagi.   
  
"Yeah, too quiet," agreed Carrot as   
he narrowed his eyes and led the group   
through the tunnel.   
  
After several minutes of wandering   
in silence, the group came upon a deep   
cavern. It extended in either direction,   
but above and below them. Various   
tunnels and passageways were visible   
through holes in the wall, along with   
several natural bridges.   
  
"There's no one here," commented   
Carrot irritably as he looked up and   
down. "We should have run into someone   
by now. Something is wrong."   
  
"Perhaps they are all in the central   
chamber?" muttered Herb out loud.   
  
"No, they would have guards   
patrolling, something. This isn't   
something they want interrupted,"   
replied Carrot with a frown on his face.   
"This isn't right. I've got a bad   
feeling about this."   
  
"You said it," agreed Ryoga. Ukyo   
tugged on his arm and prevented him from   
stepping off the side of the natural   
bridge they were walking across.   
  
"Well, we can only go forward," said   
Yohiko with a small shrug. Carrot was   
bothering her, she knew about his past   
life. He should know what they should   
expect in this place. He looked nervous   
and confused, that bothered her more   
than anything else.   
  
Finally, the tunnel ended. They   
walked into a room and everyone but   
Carrot looked on in awe at the statues   
that loomed in the center of the room   
over a pool. A dragon and a phoenix,   
both with their mouths opened. The two   
great statues were joined at the base,   
forming a single pipe near the bottom of   
the cavern.   
  
"This is it," said Carrot. "They   
should be here."   
  
"We are here," said a familiar   
voice.   
  
The group looked up at the ceiling   
and gasped. Hanging upside-down on the   
ceiling above them were no less than a   
hundred of the birdmen. All of them had   
automatic weapons in their hands pointed   
down at them.   
  
"Hello Carrot," said Dan. He was in   
the center of the group and his wings   
spread wide as he flipped off with his   
comrades. They floated down around them,   
keeping the weapons trained on them.   
  
"I should have expected something   
like this from you," said Carrot with a   
small sigh.   
  
"Yeah, you should have," agreed Dan   
casually as he chuckled to himself.   
  
"What the hell?" cried Ryoga.   
  
"Damn," growled Herb as he realized   
there was no way even he could survive   
such an onslaught. He relaxed his stance   
and stood upright. "It seems you have   
us."   
  
"Excellent," chuckled Kiima as she   
appeared out of the group and walked up   
next to Dan.   
  
"Really, they should know better   
than to bring their fists to a   
gunfight," commented Dan.   
  
Masara and Koruma stood beside their   
Captain, both holding their firearms   
lazily and carelessly.   
  
"Kill them," said Kiima.   
  
"No, I've got a better idea," said   
Dan.   
  
The woman looked at him in shock.   
  
"If they start firing their weapons   
now, they'll kill their comrades,"   
commented Carrot. "You've got us   
surrounded."   
  
"He's right," said Dan. "However, I   
want him, and we can give Herb to   
Saffron as a gift after his   
transformation is complete. A fitting   
way to start his rule, by killing the   
Musk King himself."   
  
"You're right," said Kiima with a   
sly looking grin on her face. "We'll   
detain them for now."   
  
Dan smirked at her and looked at   
Carrot. "He stays here. Him and the   
little girl." He pointed to Usagi and   
then smirked with an evil looking grin.   
  
"Why?"   
  
"I've got some personal business to   
settle with this one," said Dan coldly.   
  
"Very well. Do not let them escape,"   
said the woman with a slightly angry   
tone to her voice.   
  
"Escape is not his plan," said Dan   
as he smirked at Carrot.   
  
The man nodded and grabbed Usagi's   
shoulder. He pulled her up to his side   
and stepped over beside his   
doppelganger. Kiima started ordering her   
troops to move the others away.   
  
"Well, you managed to take me by   
surprise. I'm impressed Dan," said   
Carrot as he smirked at his enemy   
coolly.   
  
"I figured you would be, I'm   
surprised you wouldn't think I'd raid a   
nearby military base for weapons."   
  
"Seems a bit risky," commented   
Carrot. "Loose many men?"   
  
"Not one, it was just a supply   
building. I doubt if the Chinese   
Government even realizes these weapons   
are gone yet."   
  
"What's going on?" asked Usagi   
nervously.   
  
"I'm taking you to Saffron, you'll   
join him in his rebirth, and Carrot will   
face me in combat," said Dan with a cold   
looking frown on his face suddenly.   
  
"You're making stupid villain   
mistakes, but you're doing it on purpose   
aren't you?" said Carrot.   
  
"Eh?"   
  
"Saving someone for the enjoyment of   
some super being, taking prisoners   
rather than killing us when you have the   
advantage, telling me about your plot,   
that sort of thing."   
  
"That easy to read am I?" chuckled   
Dan. "I've got no interest in Saffron,   
and I'm perfectly happy with Kiima. I   
doubt that will change after you beat   
him. Still, I want to settle our score,   
and I think this is as good a place as   
any to do it."   
  
"The bad guy always loses," replied   
Carrot.   
  
"Who says I'm bad?" asked Dan. "I'm   
helping you."   
  
"You call this help?" snarled Usagi.   
  
"Yes, those guns won't kill either   
of us," said Carrot with a smirk on hi   
face. "Ryoga, Herb, and Ukyo are a   
different story. He's conveniently   
getting them out of our hair. Very   
thoughtful."   
  
"Thanks," said Dan with another   
chuckle. "In any case, Yohiko doesn't   
need to be getting in our way either.   
She might do something stupid, like stop   
us before it's over, just to save her   
own hide."   
  
Carrot nodded.   
  
"What are you talking about?"   
grumbled Usagi.   
  
"It's nothing," replied Carrot.   
  
"We're here," said Dan as he pointed   
to the pool in front of them. It was   
empty still, but Saffron was standing in   
the center of it with a smirk on his   
face.   
  
"What's going on?" grumbled Usagi.   
  
"You're being fed to Saffron, as   
nourishment for his transformation,"   
replied Dan as he stared down at her.   
"Don't worry, it only hurts for the   
first hour or so."   
  
"WHAT!!" cried the girl in shock.   
  
"You know I can't let you do this   
Dan," replied Carrot calmly.   
  
"I'm counting on it," chuckled Dan   
quietly. "Up top, the staff is on the   
dragon's head. You know what to do.   
Don't let me down."   
  
"Don't worry about that, you and   
Kiima make sure you raise him to be a   
little better behaved next time,"   
replied Carrot as he strolled out into a   
ring of guards.   
  
"So, this one?" said Saffron as he   
looked at the frightened girl who was   
being led to him. "She should do fine."   
  
"Wait for my signal," said Carrot to   
his daughter as she was pulled from his   
side. The girl's power dropped a bit and   
her clothing stopped it's subtle   
shifting.   
  
+++++++++++++++   
  
"Where are they taking us?" asked   
Ukyo as she glared at the men   
surrounding her. Most of them had their   
weapons sitting lazily at their sides.   
Unfortunately, if they moved to attack,   
the others would react before they could   
take them all down. It was a no win   
situation.   
  
Ten guards were moving them through   
a passageway towards where they would   
probably be held.   
  
"Deeper into the mountain," said   
Yohiko with a sort of lazy calm in her   
tone. She didn't seem very worried.   
"What bothers me more, is that Carrot is   
alone with Dan, and my daughter."   
  
"Why does that bother you?" asked   
Herb as he watched his captors   
cautiously. A few of them were rather   
lax, but there was enough of them alert   
that it kept him restrained.   
  
"You don't know Carrot like I do,"   
said Yohiko. "He and Dan have been at   
each other's throats for as long as I've   
known them. They won't restrain from   
fighting long."   
  
"Where does that leave us?" asked   
Ryoga.   
  
"On our own," said Yohiko as she   
spun around and snagged one of the   
weapons. The cavern exploded with   
flashes of light and sound as she fired.   
  
After several seconds of confusion,   
there was silence.   
  
"You killed them!" cried Ryoga as he   
staggered to his feet. Yohiko was   
standing in the middle of the only   
remaining clean spot on the floor for as   
far as the light let them see. A lantern   
lay on the ground, half covered in a red   
splatter. Her wings were opened, and   
wrapped around the trio protectively   
behind her. She snorted and brushed a   
few bits of metal off her chest and   
pulled the weapon upright.   
  
"You're damn right I did," she   
replied coldly. "Come on, grab one of   
those rifles."   
  
"What?" said Herb dumbly.   
  
"This isn't a martial arts fight,"   
she replied as she shoved one into his   
chest. Ukyo was looking at hers in   
confusion, she didn't need to be   
prompted to pick one up though.   
  
Ryoga growled angrily. "I can't use   
this."   
  
"Take it, or you'll die. Follow my   
lead, and do as I say and we'll make it   
out of here. We've got to find a way out   
of here."   
  
"What about Carrot and Usagi?" said   
Ukyo as she frowned at the woman.   
  
"They're like me, these weapons   
won't hurt them," replied Yohiko calmly.   
"Stay close to me, I should be able to   
protect you from bullets if I have too."   
  
"What kind of martial artist..."   
grumbled Ryoga as he looked at the   
weapon dumbly.   
  
"One who's just found himself in the   
middle of a war zone. Cock this back,   
point and shoot. Make sure your safety   
is off, like this, pull this down and   
load another clip like this." The woman   
demonstrated the simple operation of the   
weapons to them and frowned. "We're   
going outside for now. I think Dan and   
Carrot will join us shortly."   
  
"What? Dan is still..."   
  
"I know that, but neither of them is   
stupid enough to fight inside here.   
They'll bring the whole place down on   
top of them, and not even one of us can   
survive that."   
  
Herb frowned and nodded. "How did   
you know how too..."   
  
"Dan is an old training partner of   
mine, this is his preferred way of   
fighting," said the woman as she hefted   
her weapon onto her shoulder and started   
walking.   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
Hot water poured around Saffron from   
the Phoenix tap. He grinned and spread   
his arms wide. Fibers started to form   
around his body slowly and surround him.   
Unfortunately, Usagi was tied up at his   
feet. "You'll fuel my transformation   
girl. Soon I'll be complete!"   
  
Kiima stood just outside the water   
with Dan at her side. Carrot watched   
calmly for a long moment. The bird   
people were backing away.   
  
"Usagi, now," he said firmly as he   
grabbed one of the passing men by his   
shoulder. The birdman's eyes went wide   
with shock.   
  
Dan turned to look at him and did   
nothing as the unfortunate man flew   
though the air and slammed into Saffron.   
The boy growled angrily as the man   
started to struggle against the fibers   
that snagged him. He didn't move though,   
and allowed it to happen. "Fine, I'll   
just destroy you later then."   
  
The boy gasped in shock and was   
thrown into the water on his back. Usagi   
jumped to her feet, tearing free of the   
rope that bound her as her clothing   
suddenly became a mass of sharp spikes.   
She rolled away as the fiber reached for   
her and engulfed the unfortunate   
servant.   
  
"No!" screamed Kiima as she started   
to move forward. Masara and Koruma were   
in too much shock to speak, after a   
moment they shook out of their stupor   
and turned their weapons on Carrot.   
  
"No," said Dan as he knocked them   
away with a casual swat of his wings.   
The pair fell on their backs, firing   
blindly into the air as the screams of   
the trapped man started to grow quieter   
as the shell began to harden around   
Saffron's body.   
  
Usagi was standing at the edge of   
the pool staring at it in horrified   
shock. "What? What just happened?"   
  
Carrot chuckled. "Saffron has   
started his rebirth, now that all the   
Phoenix people have left, I can wait for   
him to hatch."   
  
"What?" said his daughter in shock.   
  
Kiima was staring at him with her   
jaw hanging down. "What is the meaning   
of this?"   
  
"Heh. That fool Saffron, he doesn't   
realize who he's dealing with," replied   
Carrot calmly.   
  
Dan merely stood in silence.   
  
"What's going on?" cried Masara.   
"Captain! We have to leave!" The room   
was already uncomfortably hot. "We'll be   
burnt if we stay!"   
  
Koruma pulled on his shoulder and   
forced him out of the cavern.   
  
"Usagi, are you all right?" asked   
Carrot.   
  
"What the hell took you so long?!"   
cried the girl angrily. "I thought that   
thing was gonna..."   
  
"I wouldn't have let that happen,"   
said Dan calmly.   
  
Kiima hissed angrily and stared at   
Dan. "You tricked me!"   
  
"Come on honey, don't be angry,"   
said the man as he frowned at her. "As   
much as I like you, I'm not going to   
feed my friend's daughter to the Phoenix   
King."   
  
"What?" said Usagi dumbly.   
  
She backed away slowly and stared at   
them. "What is going on here?"   
  
"I'm going to fight Saffron," said   
Carrot as he stared at her. "Just not   
till he's finished. He's far to weak to   
face me now."   
  
Dan chuckled at this and smirked.   
"Be my guest."   
  
"You're a fool then, Saffron will   
destroy you!" snarled Kiima. She was   
starting to sweat, and Usagi was looking   
uncomfortable as well.   
  
"We have to get you out of here   
Kiima. We'll talk about this later,"   
said Dan as he started to pull on her   
arm. "He's stupid enough to just stand   
there."   
  
"He'll be killed!" growled the   
woman.   
  
"Take Usagi with you," replied   
Carrot as he continued to stare at the   
egg. His wings were now spread wide   
behind his back and he had a cold   
looking smirk on his face. "I'm sure the   
others have escaped by now."   
  
"I wouldn't doubt it," agreed Dan.   
  
"What's going on?" asked Usagi as   
she stared at the adults in confusion.   
  
"That's what I'd like to know!"   
cried Kiima angrily as she slapped Dan.   
  
"I'm going to fight Saffron, we   
already told you," said Carrot calmly.   
  
"You don't stand a chance against   
him!" snarled Kiima.   
  
"Then what are you worried about?"   
replied Carrot. "Go on, get out of here.   
I'll be fine."   
  
"Yeah, right," said Dan with a   
chuckle. He grabbed Usagi's arm roughly   
and pulled her.   
  
"Leggo!" cried the girl as her   
costume started to form again.   
  
"Go with him, he won't hurt you,"   
said Carrot as he continued to stare at   
the egg.   
  
"But..." started the girl.   
  
"You have a lot of explaining to   
do!" snarled Kiima as she pulled on   
Dan's ear and started to drag him off.   
  
"Ouch! Hey!" said the man as he was   
pulled into the caverns.   
  
Carrot smirked as the egg started to   
glow. He looked up at the dragon statue   
and then back at the egg and jumped into   
the air. Almost casually he landed on   
the dragon tap and stared at the staff   
in front of him for a long moment.   
Reaching out he took it in his hand,   
despite the heat from the pool below it   
was cold to the touch, and a comforting   
wave of cold power surged over his body.   
"Heh. I've got the Gekkaja. Now all I   
have to do is wait."   
  
+++++++++++   
  
"Where the hell are we?" oddly   
enough, it wasn't Ryoga uttering his   
trademark phrase. Yohiko glanced around   
the hallway in frustration as she turned   
another corner with the well-armed group   
of martial artists. Oddly enough, they   
had met with no opposition thus far.   
  
"It's that pit!" cried Ryoga as he   
looked down below. Yohiko snorted as she   
did the same and stared into the abyss.   
  
"We're going the right way then,   
come on. We're going to jump down," she   
turned to look at Herb and nodded at   
him.   
  
The dragon man shook his head. "We   
have to go back and stop Saffron."   
  
"It's too late," replied Yohiko as   
she pointed up.   
  
The group gave a collective gasp as   
they noticed the birdmen flying above   
them. They started pouring out of the   
mountain's caverns, all moving up and   
away from the scene.   
  
"Shit!" cried Ukyo as she aimed her   
weapon.   
  
Yohiko put up her hand and stopped   
her. "No. They aren't bothering with   
us." She frowned and watched them ignore   
the group in favor of escaping with   
their lives. Turning slowly, she noticed   
a red glow starting to form in the   
hallway behind them. "We should follow   
their example, but I doubt if Herb will   
make it up there with his powers   
carrying one of you."   
  
Ryoga and Ukyo stared at each other   
for a moment. "What about Usagi?"   
  
"Carrot's taking care of that, I   
doubt if she'll be hurt," said the woman   
as she stared at Herb again. "We have to   
leave, there's no choice. We failed to   
stop Saffron's transformation. It's too   
late."   
  
The Dragon man hung his head and   
growled. "Fine, we'll see what we can do   
from outside."   
  
"Right," agreed Yohiko. "Be ready to   
fight, our objective is to escape this   
mountain. There may be some resistance   
outside still." She cocked her weapon   
and started forward.   
  
"She's scary with that thing,"   
commented Ryoga nervously.   
  
"Actually, I'd prefer a sidearm,"   
replied Yohiko as she turned to look at   
him and paused her forward motion. "I'm   
used to firing one, this is pretty new   
to me."   
  
"Yes, but it's definitely more   
effective against a group."   
  
Yohiko gasped and turned around   
fluidly, aiming her weapon ahead of her.   
  
Dan was standing with Kiima and   
Usagi. "Hello."   
  
"You!" growled Ukyo.   
  
"Don't bother," snorted Dan. "That   
weapon isn't strong enough to hurt me."   
  
Kiima looked at him for a moment and   
frowned. "We should kill them." She   
leveled her own weapon at the group. He   
stopped her by shoving the barrel down.   
"Don't bother, it's not time for that   
just yet."   
  
"What? You'll do as I say!" snapped   
the woman angrily.   
  
"You don't control me, and you never   
did," replied Dan calmly. "I chose to go   
with you Kiima, I like you. Still, this   
group is more trouble than it's worth.   
Saffron will deal with them after he   
fights Carrot, if he manages to survive   
at all."   
  
Kiima whirled around and pointed the   
gun at his chest, her eyes wide with   
shock. "What? That's impossible you   
were..."   
  
"Was I?" he asked her with a smug   
looking grin on his face. "Come on,   
don't be that way..." His smirk turned   
somewhat gentle and he chuckled. "You   
know I'll help you."   
  
The woman's face contorted, conflict   
clear in her mind. "I..."   
  
"Saffron and Carrot is out of my   
hands, isn't that right Xellos?"   
  
The mage appeared out of the fiery   
depths of the cavern. It was growing   
uncomfortably warm now. "Yes Dan, I   
would have stopped you if you'd tried to   
kill him just yet. There's more riding   
on this than you realize."   
  
"I doubt that, you've got plans for   
her. I've figured that much out," he   
replied as he motioned his weapon   
towards Yohiko. "What it is, I don't   
know just yet."   
  
"No, not her. She's involved in it.   
We want the twins that are gestating   
inside her belly. Quite important   
really. More than any of you realize. I   
think Carrot knows though, but probably   
because it was his idea to begin with."   
  
"Twins?" gasped Yohiko in shock. She   
dropped the weapon to the ground and   
stared at him.   
  
"Yes, You and Carrot have conceived   
a new life, two of them in fact. You'll   
understand what I mean soon enough, but   
not just yet."   
  
The woman stared at him for a long   
moment and then looked down at her   
belly. "I'm...going to be a mother? A   
real mother?"   
  
"Hey!" cried Usagi irritably.   
  
"Yes, in a manner of speaking,"   
replied Xellos calmly.   
  
"What does that mean?" she snarled   
hatefully at him.   
  
"You should leave now, it's time,"   
said the Mazoku as he looked up at the   
ceiling for a moment. "Oh, what the   
heck? Why not?" he said as he waved his   
hand. The group was standing in the   
forest outside the mountain within the   
blink of an eye.   
  
"Xellos! Answer me!" snarled Yohiko   
as she whirled around angrily. The   
monster was gone. "Damn you!"   
  
"I'm gonna have, brothers, or   
sisters?" asked Usagi dumbly as she   
stared at her mother for a moment.   
  
The woman punched a nearby tree, and   
it fell to the ground after being   
uprooted by the force of the blow.   
  
Kiima stared at her for a moment   
with her jaw hanging down. "What?"   
  
"Put that away," said Dan as he took   
the weapon from her grip and tossed it   
into the forest. "We've got other   
concerns."   
  
Usagi looked up at him and frowned.   
"What do you mean?"   
  
"That," said Ukyo as she pointed to   
the summit of the mountain. Flames were   
erupting from the top of the mountain,   
and the sky was becoming dark with ashes   
and smoke.   
  
"What the?" muttered Dan as he   
stared at it. "What's going on?"   
  
"It's Saffron's transformation,"   
replied Kiima. "In about an hour, he   
will emerge, the Phoenix King has arisen   
again."   
  
"Daddy!" cried Usagi fearfully.   
  
"He's fine," replied Yohiko.   
  
"No one can survive that!" snapped   
Kiima. "Our master is reborn, and we   
rule all!"   
  
Herb growled and stared at her   
angrily. He was outmatched and he knew   
it. "All hope is gone. I must prepare to   
die."   
  
"I doubt that," said Yohiko calmly.   
"Carrot knows what he's doing."   
  
"I wouldn't be so sure of that,"   
replied Dan calmly as he looked away   
from the woman. He stared at the   
mountaintop and scowled. He remembered   
what Saffron's rebirth was like in the   
manga story, and this was nothing like   
it. He had always assumed that Saffron's   
form was completed, but he didn't have   
control of his power. It even said that   
in the story, now, he wasn't so sure.   
"There's no Super Saiyan transformation   
to help him this time either."   
  
"What are you talking about?" asked   
Kiima.   
  
"Nothing, it looks like we're going   
to win. It's a shame, I wanted to fight   
him myself."   
  
The woman blinked at him and turned   
away. "Come on, we'll deal with these   
weaklings later."   
  
"Right," agreed Dan as he smirked at   
the others. "I'll see you around."   
  
Yohiko scowled at them and turned   
her back. She looked at her companions   
and sighed. "We'd best find a place to   
lay low until this is over. Carrot's on   
his own, we won't be able to help him.   
None of you is strong enough, and I have   
more than me to think about now."   
  
Ryoga nodded in agreement. "If he's   
not dead already." He looked up at the   
mountain and scowled. "Good luck."   
  
++++++++++++++   
  
Fire, a torrent of flames surrounded   
him. He stood firmly against it, the   
Gekkaja firmly in his grasp as he stared   
at the glowing egg. It protected him   
from the heat, but it was growing   
uncomfortable. Without his clothing to   
protect him, he'd have been nothing but   
ash, and he knew it. "Something's not   
right." It was something of an   
understatement.   
  
He opened his wings, it was all he   
really needed to do. The heat carried   
him up and through the new hole in the   
ceiling of the cavern. Within a few   
seconds he was floating high above Mt.   
Phoenix and staring down the glowing   
crater below him. The updraft was more   
than enough to hold him there. "What the   
hell did I do?"   
  
"What's wrong? I thought you said   
you knew what you were doing?" said   
Ranma angrily.   
  
"I thought I did. Without us, you   
would have fought Saffron's incomplete   
form. I always assumed the   
transformation was almost completed, and   
only lacked a little. It even said   
something along those lines. This is way   
different than I thought it'd be."   
  
"So now what?" cried Ranma   
irritably. "What the hell did you do   
Carrot?"   
  
"I just fucked up majorly Ranma, and   
now we've got to deal with it," replied   
the voice with a small sigh. "This isn't   
going to be as easy as I thought it   
would."   
  
The mountain below them exploded,   
two gigantic wings of flame burst   
through the solid rock, and sent showers   
of stones in every direction.   
  
"No shit," replied Ranma coolly.   
  
"So, ready for a real fight Ranma?"   
said Carrot with a smirk forming on his   
face.   
  
"You sound like you're enjoying   
this," replied Ranma irritably.   
  
"Well, we're the devil after all,   
now we get to fight a real god," said   
Carrot as he chuckled a little. "I say   
we kick his ass."   
  
"He just blew up a mountain by   
waking up," replied Ranma.   
  
"So? He's a little cranky?" quipped   
Carrot. "Let's hope he's not a morning   
person."   
  
"Right," grumbled Ranma.   
  
"Get ready, it's coming," warned   
Carrot as he steeled himself.   
  
A huge bird-like cry echoed through   
the valley. Saffron's gigantic fiery   
wings flapped once and a huge flaming   
bird rose from the center of the   
mountain. It had a five hundred-foot   
wingspan, and was easily as long. The   
bird seemed to be completely made out of   
flames as it rose into the air and moved   
up beside them.   
  
Ranma and Carrot growled as   
something became clear in the center of   
the fire. A man was seemingly sleeping   
inside the thing, his own wings folded   
on his back and his hands in a   
meditative position in front of his   
chest. Slowly, he started to smile and   
opened his eyes. "Hello."   
  
"Don't demons usually lose?"   
grumbled Ranma.   
  
"Yeah, but oddly enough, we have   
right on our side this time," replied   
Carrot. He nodded at Saffron with his   
smirk never leaving his face. "It's   
about time you woke up. Did you have a   
nice nap?"   
  
"I like you," said Saffron as the   
bird was sucked into his body in a few   
seconds time. He opened his own wings   
and stared at the figure floating in   
front of him. "It's a shame I have to   
kill you."   
  
"Well, I wish I could say the same,   
but I'm going to enjoy tearing you   
apart."   
  
"Even if you could, it wouldn't   
really hurt me," said Saffron with a   
small chuckle.   
  
"Don't be so sure of that bird boy,   
it might not kill you, but it'll   
definitely hurt," replied Carrot.   
  
"So you realize that I cannot be   
destroyed?" said Saffron. "Why bother   
fighting? It's futile."   
  
"Killed? No, you can't be killed,   
but I can turn you back into that brat   
again if I work at it enough."   
  
"Maybe so, but you do know what   
happened to the last one who did that?   
I'm still here, and he has been dead for   
some time."   
  
"You're confident," replied Carrot   
with a small chuckle.   
  
"You're weak," responded Saffron.   
  
"Humph, I'm a lot of bad things,   
weak isn't one of them," snorted Carrot   
as he finally started to show annoyance.   
"Still, I'm sure we'll have loads of fun   
blowing up the area around here before   
you figure that out."   
  
"Sounds like fun, shall we start?"   
said Saffron as he pointed his finger at   
his opposition.   
  
Carrot took up a fighting stance and   
smirked. "Sure thing."   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
"They're going to fight?" muttered   
Usagi dumbly. "No! Daddy!"   
  
"That idiot! He'll be incinerated!"   
snarled Herb.   
  
"What's he holding?" grumbled Kiima.   
  
"The Gekkaja," replied Dan casually.   
"Carrot probably knows what it is."   
  
"What?" gasped the woman as she   
stared at him.   
  
"My father's staff?" said Herb in   
shock.   
  
"What the heck is that thing?"   
grumbled Ukyo.   
  
"I'm not sure," admitted Yohiko.   
  
"It's the counter to the Kinjakan, a   
cold weapon," replied Dan. "He can use   
it to protect himself from Saffron's   
power."   
  
"Only to a limited extent," said   
Kiima. "It's power alone isn't enough.   
He could have used it to survive that   
inferno in the mountain though. It   
explains how he's still around."   
  
Dan merely chuckled and looked back   
up at the sky again. "This should be   
very interesting at any rate."   
  
++++++++++++++   
  
The Musk Village...   
  
Ranma Saotome stood looking out over   
his village with a scowl on his face.   
His eyes moved over to the horizon and a   
shiver ran down his spine. "Something is   
wrong."   
  
A black cloud formed in the sky in   
the distance. His frown deepened and he   
turned to look at the village again.   
"Herb...I..." Finally, he hung his head   
and simply stood there. "Come back all   
right, ya stupid jerk."   
  
+++++++++++   
  
Carrot laughed, it was cold and   
cruel sounding. He floated in the air   
staring at his opponent fearlessly.   
"You're nothing but a bird that's caught   
himself on fire. I'll show you what real   
power is!"   
  
Saffron snorted in disgust. "I   
didn't come here to trade insults with   
you."   
  
"Oh?" The man blinked and looked his   
opponent up and down. Saffron was still   
clothed surprisingly enough. He was   
wearing the same clothes he'd   
transformed in, but they hung off of his   
body in rags. His frame was lithe, with   
very little muscle definition. His hair   
had grown longer, and his features   
sharpened, otherwise he looked much as   
he did as a child. With the exception of   
the huge wings that protruded from his   
back, and the claw like hands that now   
replaced his more human like appendages.   
"Well, what did you come here for then?"   
Carrot actually looked somewhat   
surprised.   
  
"I came here to kill you," replied   
Saffron.   
  
"Why?" said Carrot as he blinked   
again.   
  
"What?" said Saffron as he stared at   
the man.   
  
"I mean, I haven't really done   
anything to you," replied Carrot with a   
small shrug.   
  
"You!" snarled Saffron angrily. "You   
humiliated me at the hot springs."   
  
"Yeah, but we had fun beating up all   
those people," countered Carrot.   
  
"Those were my people!" snapped the   
godling irritably.   
  
"So?" retorted Carrot.   
  
"I see your point," muttered Saffron   
as he seemed to think about it.   
  
"Okay, but we should still fight,"   
replied Carrot cheerfully.   
  
"What? You just said..."   
  
"I said you didn't have any reason   
to attack me, I have plenty to attack   
you!" replied Carrot.   
  
"What do you mean?"   
  
"You're going to take over the   
world!"   
  
"So?" snapped Saffron.   
  
"Oh, right...good point..." agreed   
Carrot as he mulled over that for a   
moment. "What the hell!" he finally said   
as he shot forward and punched at the   
godling. "It'll be fun beating each   
other to death!"   
  
"Ha! You can't lay a finger on me!"   
snarled Saffron as his aura blasted to   
life around him again. This time forming   
a huge ball of fire to protect himself   
from the assault.   
  
Carrot held the staff in his hands   
forward. The half-moon shaped edge on   
the top pointed forward. It was much   
simpler in design than the Kinjakan.   
  
Saffron's eyes went wide as he tried   
to twist out of the way as it penetrated   
his aura. Carrot shifted at the last   
moment and hooked his fist across the   
god's jaw. Saffron was thrown back   
several feet by the force of the blow   
and righted himself.   
  
"Damn you! That hurt!" snarled the   
birdman angrily.   
  
"That was just a tap!" countered   
Carrot as he smirked at Saffron and   
backed away from him. "You can't take a   
hit it seems, all that soft living is   
working against you!"   
  
"I'll show you who can't take a   
hit!" screamed Saffron in rage. A huge   
ball of fire formed in his hands and he   
blasted it forward.   
  
Carrot twisted in mid air, but it   
wasn't enough. The fireball exploded   
across his back and he screamed in pain   
as it burned around him. He faltered in   
flight, falling for a few hundred feet   
before he caught himself. "Damn. That   
sucked," he muttered to himself   
painfully as he slowly turned to face   
the god again. "I think I'm in more   
trouble than I thought. I won't be able   
to take many of those." He twirled the   
Gekkaja around in his palm and pointed   
it at Saffron in an offensive posture.   
"We're gonna have to take him down   
fast."   
  
"Who are you talking to?" snorted   
Saffron.   
  
Carrot ignored him and cupped his   
palms together at his side. "No one,   
Kamehameha!"   
  
"Pathetic!" snarled Saffron as his   
shield of flames held strong against the   
attack. "You're too weak to beat me!"   
  
"Who said that was supposed to   
hurt?" said Carrot from behind him.   
  
Saffron gasped as he tried to turn.   
It was too late though, and a sharp pain   
exploded across his back. He felt   
himself tumbling to the ground below.   
"Damn!"   
  
Carrot chuckled, his opponent had   
been so preoccupied by his chi blast,   
that he hadn't even taken it into   
account that he had gone elsewhere. He   
had used the blade on the Gekkaja to   
slice off his wings. "He's powerful, but   
an idiot. No tactics at all, We can use   
that."   
  
Saffron growled as he landed on the   
ground and created a crater. The blow   
shattered his entire body, and he stared   
up at Ranma. He couldn't even scream at   
the moment despite the fact that his   
body was completely broken. He felt the   
bones reforming, and his wings coming   
back. "I'll burn him to dust! Along with   
anything else that gets in the way!"   
  
"Ranma, remember what I told you   
about?" said Carrot as he glared down at   
the fallen god.   
  
"Really tight, a Hiryuu Shoten Ha   
that will penetrate him?" asked the   
other voice.   
  
"Right, we've got to be fast. He'll   
regenerate if we take too much time." He   
readied himself and drew his arm back.   
  
Saffron was slowly rising to his   
feet when he felt something in the air   
above him. "What?" His eyes stared up   
and his jaw fell open. The super   
compressed tornado ripped through his   
chest and he screamed in agony. The fire   
around him burned brighter and he fell   
to his knees. "Damn!"   
  
"Got him!" screamed Carrot in   
triumph. The dust cleared on the ground   
below and Saffron was simply kneeling on   
the ground clutching what was left of   
his chest. His face was contorted in   
pain as he tried to breathe without his   
lungs. "He's still there?"   
  
Saffron glared up at him, the hole   
in his body closing visibly. He tried to   
speak, but no words escaped his lips.   
Finally, he roared in anger and pain,   
ripping his wings off of his back.   
Rearing his arms back he threw them at   
Carrot.   
  
The martial artist dropped like a   
rock, his wings folding in front of him.   
"Damn!" The impact of the razor sharp   
weapons slammed into them and they   
slammed into the ground a moment later.   
Slowly, the black cocoon opened up,   
revealing a heavily breathing Carrot.   
  
Saffron was able to speak again and   
he narrowed his eyes at his opponent.   
"You're as strong as you said you'd be.   
I'm impressed." His eyes were serious,   
and he scowled hatefully at the man.   
  
"You're stronger than I'd thought   
too. I was certain that attack would   
destroy you."   
  
"If I had less control, it might   
have," replied Saffron coolly.   
  
"What the hell are we gonna do now?"   
said Carrot to himself as he stared at   
the ground for a moment. Saffron was   
still too badly injured to attack, but   
the shield of flames was enough to keep   
them back. The Gekkaja was starting to   
grow warm in his grip, telling him that   
it might not be a good idea to charge   
into it and rely on the staff to protect   
them. "We're in a shit load of trouble   
Ranma."   
  
"I've got an idea."   
  
Carrot blinked and simply nodded.   
"It's your show."   
  
Saffron narrowed his eyes as his   
opponent's face changed suddenly. "You   
can't reach me, and I'm too hurt to   
attack just yet. It seems we have a   
stalemate at the moment. I will recover   
quickly though." His chest was almost   
healed as he said this. "Then, your life   
will end."   
  
"Jusendo is a spring Saffron," said   
Carrot calmly as he lifted the staff in   
his hand over his head. "I'm betting I   
know your real weakness. Not the cold,   
but an environment where fire cannot   
survive!"   
  
"What are you doing?" growled   
Saffron hatefully. The man was walking   
with his eyes just behind where he was   
standing.   
  
"Bakusai Tenketsu!" screamed Carrot   
as he slammed the staff into the ground.   
He jumped back away from the explosion   
and smirked. A huge column of water   
exploded from the ground. "Found it on   
my first try!" cried Ranma as he   
smirked. He put out his hands and they   
started to glow. A shield of power   
formed over the water and Saffron's eyes   
went wide.   
  
The water was redirected and blasted   
into the flaming barrier. It hissed   
angrily and Saffron tried to move, he   
couldn't move around very fast, and   
Ranma adjusted to keep it on him,   
stepping slightly around the hole.   
  
Finally, the water broke through.   
Saffron screamed as his body was   
assaulted by the water. It was boiling   
hot, but it was enough. He put up his   
arms in defense and snarled angrily as   
best he could through the torrent.   
  
He never saw Ranma dive into the   
water, holding the Gekkaja tightly in   
his grip. All he saw was the fist appear   
out of the water as the force of the   
geyser shot a blurry figure into him. It   
passed through the hole in his chest, or   
rather the small-unhealed portion.   
  
Saffron's back exploded in a shower   
of gore, the winds of the Hiryuu Shoten   
Ha tearing through his back as if it   
wasn't there. The last thing the god   
remembered seeing was the smirk on the   
boy's face as he was shot back by the   
force of his own attack, overpowering   
the force of the geyser. Just before   
Carrot flew into the source of the   
torrent of water, the shield redirecting   
it dissipated, allowing it to shoot   
straight up again. "Hiryuu Shoten Ha   
revised! Expanding horizontal wave!"   
  
The god screamed as the tight winds   
slowly moved outward, tearing his body   
to shreds as it did so, literally eating   
it's way inside out. Pieces of him flew   
in every direction, finally tossing his   
limbs and head away as they no longer   
had anything to hold them together.   
  
Carrot and Ranma jumped forward into   
the geyser once again. They clung to the   
Gekkaja and used its power, creating a   
tower of ice that loomed in the valley.   
  
From within the winds of the attack   
a light formed, and finally, it   
exploded. A huge sphere of flame shot in   
every direction, consuming hundreds of   
meters of land before it stopped and   
dissipated to nothing. When it was over,   
there was nothing but a small child   
lying in the middle of the battlefield.   
The child, and Carrot.   
  
Slowly, the man rose to his feet and   
groaned. "Ranma, that really sucked.   
Don't ever do that again."   
  
"Hey, we're alive aren't we?"   
responded the voice through his pain.   
"What the? What's that?"   
  
"Saffron, we won," replied Carrot as   
he walked over and lifted the baby into   
his arms. It was crying softly, but   
stopped once it had contact with   
someone. He tossed the Gekkaja aside   
carelessly and chuckled. "So, it's   
over."   
  
"What have you done?" cried a   
feminine voice from behind them.   
  
Carrot turned and smirked as Kiima   
landed behind him. "I beat him, you can   
have him back now."   
  
She fell to her knees and stared at   
Carrot in horror. "You...touched him!   
Fool!"   
  
This caused Ranma to blink. "Huh?"   
  
"He's bonded to you now!" replied   
the woman as she glared at him   
hatefully.   
  
Carrot looked down at the laughing   
child and blinked. "What?"   
  
"Without you, Saffron will die,"   
said Kiima as she stared at him with a   
saddened look forming on her face.   
  
"What?" growled Dan as he stared at   
her.   
  
"We can't...kill him," said Kiima as   
she stared at him.   
  
"You can't?" said Carrot cheerfully.   
  
"The hell I can't!" cried Dan   
angrily.   
  
"That's enough," said Xellos as he   
appeared in front of Carrot and smirked.   
"You're not going to have your big fight   
now I'm afraid."   
  
"It's over?" asked Ryoga.   
  
"Finally!" agreed Usagi as she   
jumped up and down. Ryoga turned away   
from the display and blushed.   
  
"You pervert, that's your cousin,"   
said Ukyo as she bopped him on the back   
of his head.   
  
"She isn't!" snapped Ryoga angrily.   
"..." He stopped and looked at Yohiko   
for a moment. "Well, she is, but we   
aren't really related..."   
  
"Huh?" said the Usagi as she looked   
at him.   
  
"It's nothing. We should go back,   
Akari is probably worried..." he   
muttered to himself as he turned away   
from her.   
  
"Um. Okay," said the girl as she   
looked at her mother.   
  
Yohiko smiled lovingly at her lover   
as she walked up to Carrot and promptly   
kicked him square in the balls.   
  
The man keeled over, but managed to   
hold on to the child in his arms.   
  
"You asshole!" snarled the woman   
angrily. "I'm pregnant!"   
  
"Oro?" said Carrot as he stared at   
her dumbly.   
  
"I'll kill you!" she screamed.   
  
"No! He cannot die!" cried Kiima.   
  
Dan grabbed her arm and shook his   
head. "Just let it be."   
  
Xellos smirked at her and turned his   
head slowly. He turned his back to her   
and chuckled. "I'm sorry Yohiko, but I'm   
afraid it's out of my hands."   
  
"What?" said the woman as she turned   
to stare at him.   
  
"You won't see me again after this,"   
said the mage calmly as he looked at   
her. "Phibrizzo, it's time."   
  
"Right," said the boy as he appeared   
at Yohiko's side. He lashed out at her   
and a purple ball of power slammed into   
her body. She screamed in pain and fell   
forward, clutching her belly in agony.   
Blood began to seep through her fingers   
and she simply lay face first on the   
ground, in too much shock to even   
scream.   
  
Xellos had his hand open, with his   
palm facing up. A small blue ball of   
power could be seen in his hand and he   
frowned. "I'm sorry, you won't be able   
to have any children here. In time, you   
will understand why." He faded away and   
Phibrizzo did the same, holding a small   
red energy ball in his own hand.   
  
No one moved, all of them in too   
much shock to do anything. They simply   
stared at the scene in shock. Finally,   
Dan rushed forward. "No! What the hell   
did they do to her?"   
  
Carrot merely stared at her, his   
entire body was numb and his jaw hung   
open. "What the?" He wasn't sure what he   
was feeling at the moment. Finally, he   
clutched Saffron to his chest and fell   
to his knees.   
  
"Mother!" cried Usagi, it barely   
registered with him as he stared at the   
woman on the ground. Slowly she looked   
up at him, hatred clear in her eyes as   
she glared at him.   
  
"You...I know it was you! It had to   
be you," she said coldly. Within a   
minute's time, she was on her feet,   
tears flowing from her eyes. "Damn you."   
  
Carrot couldn't think of anything to   
say. She was probably right, however   
indirectly she meant it. He simply   
nodded his head and stood up as well. He   
looked her up and down and frowned   
again. She wasn't hurt. Whatever they   
had done to her, it was already gone.   
The only sign she was ever injured was   
the tear in the front of her dress along   
the belly, and the bloodstains that   
matted the cloth and her hands.   
  
Finally, he stood up and started   
walking.   
  
"Wait!" called Herb as he rushed   
after him. "Saffron!"   
  
"Sorry Herb, I can't let you hurt   
him. I'm certainly not going to let   
these bastards corrupt him again," he   
turned to look at the Phoenix people and   
scowled at them. "You'll have your god   
back one day."   
  
"No!" screamed Kiima.   
  
"What are you doing?" cried Usagi.   
  
"Take care of your mother kid, she's   
going to need it," said Carrot as he   
vanished from sight.   
  
"Damn," grumbled Dan as he leveled a   
stare at the place where the man had   
disappeared. He knew it would be   
pointless to follow him. Convincing   
Kiima of that might take a little time,   
but he had all the time in the world.   
  
It was over.   
  
++++++++++++++   
  
Xellos kneeled before L-sama and   
held the small energy ball in his hand   
up towards his master.   
  
"You can take off that guise now   
Jadeite, you don't need it," said the   
supreme being as he chuckled to himself.   
It was obvious that some of him didn't   
completely agree with what he had been   
sent to do though.   
  
"What do you mean?" asked the man as   
his true form appeared again.   
  
"You don't have to pretend to be a   
Mazoku anymore. Phibrizzo has   
Shabranigdo in hell, and now Seiphied   
will join the heavens. The first of   
their kind."   
  
"The gods will not like having their   
jobs taken over," replied Jadeite calmly   
as he nodded and peered at the fetus in   
his palm for a moment. It was almost   
reptilian.   
  
"I'm simply going to remove them of   
their obligations to this world. It will   
take some time, the children have to   
grow, and become what they need to be   
for that to happen. They will remain in   
their stations in the new world, and the   
one I am about to recreate."   
  
Jadeite nodded at this and looked at   
Seiphied again. "I see."   
  
"I do wish she'd quit complaining   
though," grumbled L-sama. "You rotten   
bitch! This is what you get for making   
us sleep with a man!" It was almost as   
if he didn't realize he'd said that out   
loud. "Who the hell cares if it was   
funny! You got what you deserved!   
Besides, it's not like you don't get to   
raise them. It's just that you had to   
wait a while first..."   
  
"I shall deliver him," said Jadeite   
with a small sigh. He turned away. L-   
sama was in the process of beating   
himself up again as he closed the door   
behind him.   
  
+++++++++++++++   
  
L-sama sighed as he finally managed   
to calm himself down. It had taken the   
better part of three days to do it. Now   
he could concentrate on other things.   
The world he had created would move on   
as it had. The parts of them living   
there would probably enjoy the rest of   
their stay there. Well, most of them at   
any rate. Now however, it was time to   
put a stop to their procrastination. It   
was time to fix the screw ups that had   
started the mess they called eternal   
life. Not that it would effect them   
much, but they would feel better after   
getting it done.   
  
Another copy of them was lying on   
the table in front of them, just off to   
the pool that showed scenes of the   
Universe to them.   
  
"All right, let's get this right   
this time," said Carrot cheerfully.   
  
"I bet you had all that planned from   
the beginning!" snarled Xianfu   
irritably.   
  
"Let's not get into that," muttered   
Carrot as he narrowed his eyes and   
sighed. "In any case, we're not all   
going back this time."   
  
"Huh?" said Ranma dumbly.   
  
"We're going back to fix things   
dolt, we need to have us pretty much the   
same as we were before," grumbled   
Carrot. "The bitch stays here."   
  
"But, won't all the knowledge we've   
picked up..." started Pissant.   
  
"You stay out of this!" snapped Dan   
angrily. "I see your point Carrot. She   
should stay here this time."   
  
"Dolts," grumbled Xianfu irritably.   
"I don't want to go! After what you   
pulled the last time, you couldn't drag   
me!"   
  
"Okay, then it's settled!" said   
Carrot cheerfully.   
  
"What about Pissant? Can he stay   
behind too?" asked Dan hopefully.   
  
"Yeah!" agreed Ranma.   
  
"I thought you guys weren't going to   
change anything," said Xianfu as she   
narrowed their eyes. "That was the whole   
point of me not coming."   
  
"Um...he was annoying too though,"   
said Carrot.   
  
"I wanna see Usagi!" said the   
irritating voice firmly.   
  
"Look you weenie, we've got   
enough..."   
  
"I'm going and that's final! You   
guy's can't stop me anymore!" snapped   
the voice irritably.   
  
"Yeah, but we have to kill people,   
and blow stuff up!" said Dan in a   
somewhat patronizing tone.   
  
"Who the hell do you think is gonna   
stop you from blowing up too much?"   
retorted the voice. "We're supposed to   
be saving the planet, not messing it up   
again!"   
  
Dan sighed, Ranma's eye was   
twitching, consequently so was everyone   
else's, and Carrot threw their arms into   
the air. "All right, fine."   
  
"Wheee!" cried Pissant in triumph.   
  
"Can we just get this over with?"   
grumbled Ranma.   
  
"I guess so," replied Carrot.   
  
++++++++++++++++   
  
Ranma Saotome was lying dead in an   
alley. A large hole was burned into his   
chest and he was now simply lying in the   
middle of a drying pool of his own   
blood.   
  
Without warning, his eyes snapped   
open and he gingerly touched his   
forehead as he groaned in pain. "We did   
it?"   
  
Slowly, he rose to his feet and   
staggered. His hand went to his chest   
and he fingered the hole in his shirt,   
only to find unbroken skin.   
  
A smile formed, it was not a   
pleasant sight to anyone who might have   
witnessed the resurrection. It was a   
smile that promised pain. "We did it."   
  
"Go on Carrot, say it," said Dan   
with an evil sounding chuckle.   
  
A light burst to life around their   
body, and their hair changed into a   
golden sheen. Ranma hovered above the   
ground and stared at his fist as he   
closed it in front of his face. "At   
last, I am the Prince of all Saiyans   
once again!"   
  
Laughter echoed through the streets   
in the night.   
  
+++++++++++++   
  
TBC...   
  
Well, here we go! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA! 


	79. Insertion 79

Insertion  
  
Part 79  
  
Reborn at last!  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
There was only darkness around them, the golden sheen of their aura reflected off the bricks that surrounded them in the alleyway. Nothing but pure power that drifted off their skin like a flame. Silence reigned in the night and they relaxed, their aura dying brought them back into the darkness once again. Without a word they walked out into the street, their body practically aching with a forgotten power. The street was empty and silent, no pedestrians, cars, or even streetlights for blocks. The moon hung overhead and light the treetops in the park in front of them, giving the pavement a shadowy web of light patches. Not so much as a gentle breeze disturbed the tranquility of the scene as they glanced around.  
  
"Hey, it's quiet," commented Carrot out loud.  
  
"And dark," agreed Pissant.  
  
"Thank you Captain Obvious, and Observant Boy," replied Dan irritably.  
  
"Now what?" asked Ranma as he looked down at himself for a moment and blinked. Their clothes were tattered and worn, and a small hole was burned through the front of it. "Man, this shirt has a hole in it."  
  
"So fix it," said Dan.  
  
"I'm trying, it's not working," muttered Ranma as he concentrated on the task. "Stupid shirt! Work damn it!"  
  
"We're wearing regular clothes now. We don't have that symbiote anymore," replied Carrot calmly.   
  
"What? You mean we gotta wear regular clothes?" asked Ranma in disgust.  
  
"Yeah," said Carrot with a small sigh. "I guess we got spoiled huh?"  
  
"That sucks," commented Dan.  
  
"Yeah, there's one more thing you should know about..." said Carrot.  
  
"What's that?" asked Ranma.  
  
A light rain fell from the sky, drenching them instantly. The familiar sensation of the Jusenkyo curse swept over their body and the body actually managed to give a collective blink.  
  
"NO FREAKING WAY!" cried Ranma in horror.  
  
"This could get annoying," said Dan without much emotion in the statement.  
  
"Xianfu!" said Pissant cheerfully as he smiled at their reflection in a small puddle.  
  
"Yup, that's her," said Carrot as he stared at it and shrugged.   
  
"What happened? I thought we could control this!" cried Ranma.  
  
"No, actually we were never cured. I just started using our clothes to...disguise it," said Carrot sheepishly. "After a while, it just became a reflex for all of us."  
  
"Great, no clothes, no cure," grumbled Dan. "Oh well. I feel like ice cream."  
  
"Hey! What about that evil us?" cried Ranma.  
  
"What about him?" said Carrot. "We've got plenty of time for that later. I'm hungry too."  
  
"Well, kinda," agreed Ranma as he looked at their stomach. "I guess we should eat something."  
  
"Wonder how long we've been gone?" asked Dan.  
  
"Couldn't have been too long, we're in pretty good shape," said Carrot with a small shrug.  
  
"Yeah, it's not like we'd bring us back as a rotting corpse," said Pissant cheerfully.   
  
"..." was the collective response from the others.  
  
"Okay, maybe we would, but someone would have found us if we'd been here that long," amended the now nervous sounding Pissant.  
  
"He's got a point," agreed Carrot. "We'd have woken up in the ground, or a coroners office if we'd been gone that long."  
  
"Hey, I think I know where we are," said Dan as he turned their head to look at a familiar statue. It was an iron lion statue. "We should go this way. Remember that place with the ice cream challenge that we never managed to get around too?"  
  
"Eat your own weight in ice cream, and it's all free?" asked Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"Yeah, that one," said Carrot.  
  
"We weigh a lot," muttered Pissant nervously.  
  
"Come on, what's eight-hundred pounds of ice-cream to us? I bet this body hasn't eaten all day," said Carrot as he started in the right direction.  
  
"Will they be open at this time of night?" said Pissant dumbly.  
  
"It's only eight o'clock. I think we made it darker than normal back there for dramatic purposes," said Dan with a small shrug.  
  
"Oh," said Pissant dumbly.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"That little witch!" growled the storeowner as he stared at the photo on the wall of his business. "I'm glad I limited that offer to only once in a lifetime. Who could have known such a person existed? She ate four times her own weight in ice cream! It shouldn't be possible!" Tears flooded his eyes as he glared at the cheery sunnyness that is Usagi Tsukino's face. A plaque proudly proclaiming that she had done the impossible rested on the wall.   
  
At first he'd been euphoric about the girl. She had proven that his challenge could be met, and that could lead to other customers trying to do the same. Then, the impossible happened...she actually reached double her own body weight. "No big deal, I'll just break even! It'll be great publicity!" Then, the horrifying little troll kept going, eating deeper and deeper into his profits. Finally, with the last spoonful, she destroyed it.  
  
Now his ice-cream shop held a place in the Guinness book of world records. He had immortalized the little monster for all time. Or so he thought.  
  
A jingling noise filled the air as the door opened. A lone figure walked into the small shop, eyeing the sign that hung in the window proclaiming his challenge. With each step the change in her pockets jingled, her pigtail bobbed up and down behind her head as she narrowed her eyes and stopped cold in a bow legged stance. "I hear you issued a challenge stranger."  
  
The ice-cream shop owner turned and looked up at the clock. It was a half-hour until closing time. He rubbed his bald spot and pulled up his gut as he turned to face her, unconsciously mimicking her stance. "Yes."  
  
He wasn't sure how, but he could swear he heard a whistling music in the air at that very moment for the briefest of seconds.  
  
"I aim to collect," she said as she jerked her thumb towards her smirking mug. "Name's Ranma Saotome."  
  
"I am Jiro, only one has ever succeeded," he warned as his grin started to form again. At last, a chance at redemption. "What is that thing over your head?"  
  
"What thing?" Said the redhead as she glanced around the room. Ranma arched her eyebrow as she noticed the photo of Usagi on the wall and turned her attention back towards the man. "I'm game."  
  
The ice-cream vendor smirked and stepped back, revealing a set of scales. "First, ya gotta weigh in. No one can help you either. If one other person eats so much as a spoonful, ya gotta pay."  
  
Ranma nodded and walked up to the scales. They groaned under the weight and she smirked at the man's hanging jaw.   
  
"What the?" he said as he looked at the readout. "Seven hundred and sixty five pounds?"  
  
"Start scoopin," said Ranma as she stepped off the scales and smirked at him.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
A half-hour later, a broken man cried out in anguish. His scream echoed through the night sky. A new world record had been achieved yet again, taking a spot right above Usagi Tsukino's name. She hadn't managed to eat four times her own weight, only double. Still, it was more than enough to break the man and his business completely.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Elsewhere...  
  
Ranma Saotome smirked as he looked out over the city, his city. Soon everything would belong to him, and him alone. "It's not time to start just yet," he said to himself as he turned away from the edge of the looming tower of iron and glass. High atop Tokyo Tower he looked up at the sky as plans began to form inside his shadowy mind. "Soon, it will begin."  
  
"You!" cried a familiar voice from the darkness.  
  
Slowly he turned and narrowed his eyes at the figure that stood before him. "Pluto, how nice to see you," he replied calmly as he smirked at her suddenly.  
  
"What have you done?" she snapped angrily.  
  
"What indeed?" he replied calmly, a cylinder of metal appearing in his hand.  
  
"Crystal Tokyo is gone, shattered completely from the stream of time. It shouldn't be possible!" she snarled hatefully. "It is impossible!"  
  
"Is it?" he asked her coolly, not moving from where he was standing. His power was slowly building up though. "I hadn't realized that."  
  
"No one, not even you, can completely destroy a path! Something else is at work here Genaku. You're just a catalyst!"  
  
"Maybe so, but soon this world will be gone, and you with it," he replied calmly.  
  
"What?" said Pluto as her frowned deepened.  
  
"Really Pluto, you don't honestly think that you're strong enough to kill me? Do you?" he asked as he flicked the switch on the side of his blade calmly. "I'm getting such wonderful ideas though, Hotaru, she'll be the first."  
  
"You keep your hands off her!" screamed Pluto angrily as her cool demeanor started to break down.  
  
"What? Don't be foolish, I'm simply planning on freeing her," said Ranma as he chuckled. "Then we'll start. First Japan, then all Asia, finally, the world. Soon it will all be mine. The best part is, there isn't a thing you can do to stop me, isn't that right mother?"  
  
"What?" muttered Pluto in horror as she stepped back.  
  
Standing before her, was the most hated enemy of the senshi. Queen Beryl was smiling at her as she looked her son up and down with a snort of approval. "Yes, we will rule the world."  
  
"Bah, why rule, when it would be so much more fun to destroy it?" replied the boy casually as he readied his light saber and chuckled.  
  
"Destroy them, both of them," said Beryl as she looked at her son.  
  
"If she could be turned, she would become a powerful ally," said Ranma with a sudden tensing in his voice.  
  
"Can it be done?" asked Beryl.  
  
"She will join us, or die," said Ranma coldly as he looked at Pluto.  
  
The woman was staring at him with her jaw slacked in horror. "What?"  
  
"Thought I didn't know?" replied the boy as he started to stalk forward.   
  
"You know nothing!" snapped the woman as she lifted the time staff up. "Tsuki! We are leaving!" she called out suddenly as she jumped back.  
  
Ranma's eyes went wild as he activated the other blade on the double-edged light weapon. With a grunt of effort he tossed it through the air and towards Pluto as she vanished into the porthole. Tsuki emerged from where she had been hiding in the shadows and was forced to turn aside as the older senshi vanished in front of her eyes. She blinked when she noticed the hunk of metal that clattered to the ground at her feet. "What?" She gasped when she realized what it was.  
  
It was the bottom of the Time Staff.  
  
"No!" she looked up and jumped to her feet, the porthole gone and her mistress with it. A low humming sound filled the air and she spun around to find a circle of red energy moving towards her at an amazing rate of speed. She screamed and ducked low, avoiding the blow within a hair's width.  
  
Ranma caught the blade and shut it off completely, staring at the girl with a confident smirk.  
  
"She isn't so strong," commented Nodoka.  
  
"You can't compare her to Chibi Usa mother," snorted the boy calmly. "She has uses."  
  
Tsuki was in trouble and she knew it. "Son of a bitch. You won't get away with this!"  
  
"Who's going to stop me? You?" snorted Ranma as he flicked his wrist.  
  
Tsuki looked down in confusion at the small metal object at her feet. "What?"  
  
"We're going to play a little game Tsuki, if you manage to survive, you might learn something," he said as he readied himself. "I'll take it from here mother."  
  
Beryl frowned at this, but complied, vanishing into a porthole of her own.  
  
"The Force is with you young Senshi, but you are not a Jedi yet," said Ranma coldly as he stood against the backdrop of the city. The wind blowing his clothing violently around his body.  
  
"What the hell are you babbling about?" said the girl as she stepped forward and picked up the weapon from the ground. She felt confident, eager to engage her enemy. Almost in answer to his words, the lightsaber in her hands came to life, emitting a green glow.  
  
Tsuki lunged forward, but Ranma repelled the blow easily. Again the girl rushed forward, her strikes seeming to test the waters now as she carefully poked at her opponent's sword.  
  
"He hasn't used that transformation trick of his yet, I've still got a chance..." she thought as she readied herself and frowned. "I've got to end this fast! If he does it, I'm done for!"  
  
Ranma smirked at her, amusement clear in his eyes.   
  
They attacked each other, Ranma playing with her easily despite a surprising skill with the weapon. He hacked and slashed at her, but she blocked every strike. It was easy to tell he was enjoying this immensely.  
  
"You have learned much, young one."  
  
Whether it was fate, or just coincidence, Tsuki responded. "You'll find I'm full of surprises!"  
  
Ranma made two quick moves, hooking her sword out of her hands. It rolled across the ground towards the edge of the roof of the observation deck. She cursed as she jumped back as the boy lashed out at her feet. She rolled across the ground and looked up, just in time to see Ranma descending on her like a bird of prey. With a quick motion, she avoided his landing. She stood upright shakily and kept her vision on him steadily.  
  
"Your destiny lies with me Tsuki, Setsuna knew this to be true!"  
  
"No!" screamed the girl angrily.  
  
Behind her, a trap door leading into a maintenance shaft in the tower opened up behind her. All the while, Ranma continued to move forward, edging her towards the hole. Finally, she stumbled back as she stepped into the open hole and tumbled down into the shaft.  
  
"All too easy, perhaps you are not as strong as I had thought," replied the boy calmly as he looked down into the hole.  
  
Tsuki was clinging to the rung of a ladder just below him. She glared up at him and grit her teeth in anger. "Damn, I've got too..." Her eyes flashed and she appeared to vanish as she slowed down time enough for her to rush up and move past the man. She noticed his eyes tracked her across her path and he moved fast enough to keep facing her the entire time.  
  
"Impressive, most impressive."  
  
Tsuki rolled across the ground and came up with the discarded lightsaber. She ignited it and faced off against him again. They two blades slammed into one another, sending a crackling noise across the open roof.  
  
"Setsuna has taught you well. You have controlled your fear. Now, release your anger! Only your hatred will destroy me!"  
  
Tsuki took up a more cautious position now. She controlled her anger and glared at the boy in confusion. She knew he was playing with her, but he was also up to something, and she couldn't quite figure out what it was. "Damn." She moved forward defensively, closing up quickly and using jabbing strikes to keep him occupied.   
  
The boy was being pushed back and he narrowed his eyes at her.  
  
Tsuki pressed forward, growing more and more aggressive, but still not quite reaching the level she had been at in the beginning. Her moves were controlled and more cautious. Finally, Ranma reached the edge of the tower and stepped back to avoid a strike. He tumbled over the side and she noticed his face contort with anger as he vanished from sight into the darkness of the street below.  
  
It had taken everything she had to reach this point, and she collapsed against the edge of the building. She stared down into the city below and frowned. There was no way it could be this easy, and she knew it. She deactivated her sword and looked back at the trap door she had fallen in once again. With a frown, she stood up and started towards it.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Within a minute's time, she found herself standing in the observation deck of the landmark. Glass windows surrounded the central tower an all sides, looking out over the city below in a spectacular fashion. She frowned as she strolled forward and glanced around. There was nothing disturbed, no sign that he had come inside.  
  
That is, until he appeared before him with a smirk on his face.   
  
Tsuki's weapon came to life and she charged forward with it held high over her head. He blocked it casually and smirked at her as he stared her in the eyes. One of the display cases shattered behind her, one of the objects inside flew through the air towards her. It was a small model of the tower designed to show how it was built. The girl turned and hacked it in half, only to be struck hard by the fire extinguisher that followed it from the other side.  
  
She was forced to take another hit from a smaller display as Ranma hacked at her with his sword, she was forced to counter as the boy hacked at her while being bombarded on all sides by small objects from around the room.  
  
Finally the window behind her shattered outward as one of the objects glanced off her shoulder and flew though the glass.  
  
Tsuki frowned as the telekinetic attack stopped suddenly and she staggered to her feet with the light saber held ready. She was panting and leaning over slightly with one arm clutching her shoulder in pain. One of her eyes were closed and she glared at him hatefully.  
  
The boy charged forward, hacking down with his sword with immense force. She was sprawled out across the ground and the boy pointed his blade at her neck, mere inches away.   
  
"You are beaten. It is useless to resist. Don't let yourself be destroyed, as Obi-Wan did!"  
  
"Who?" muttered the girl painfully as she stared at him in confusion.  
  
"It's nothing," muttered the boy as he blushed after his slip up.  
  
The girl answered by rolling sideways and thrusting her sword at Ranma so viciously that she nicked him on the shoulder.   
  
Ranma growled in pain and anger, but didn't appear to be effected by the blow. His sword slashes were much more violent and a lot faster now as he hacked and slashed at her in a rage. She was backed towards the open window and gasped as he spun her blade around his own and hacked it in half just above her thumb. She stared at it in horror for a moment and glanced back at the window. It was the only place left to go.   
  
Tsuki steeled herself and frowned at the man in defiance.  
  
"There is no escape. Don't make me destroy you. Tsuki, you do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict, and bring order to the galaxy!"  
  
"I'll never join you!" screamed the girl as tears started to flow down her face.  
  
"If only you knew the power of the Dark Side! Setsuna, never told you what happened to your father!"  
  
"My father? He was a great man! A general!" screamed the girl angrily. "He saved the entire kingdom many times! He..."  
  
"Was someone Setsuna hates so much, that she won't even allow you to call her 'mother'," interrupted the boy calmly.  
  
"That's not true! It's a title...I'm in training..."  
  
"Fool, don't you realize? I, am your father," said Ranma with a deadly finality in his voice.  
  
"NOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOO! IT'S NOT TRUE! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" screamed the girl as she staggered through the broken glass, closer to the edge of the window.  
  
"You don't even get it do you? You did it yourself. You see, when you sent me back in time, a time when your father was sterile. You gave the Moon Kingdom access to a genetic code identical to the man who should have been your father. They had almost broken the sterility that held his genes in check...but why bother finishing, when you already have a complete set that matches it exactly?"  
  
Tsuki went pale as she stopped backing away and stared at him. Her jaw was hanging down and she wavered for a moment. Her knees very nearly gave out on her and she gasped. "No. It's...not true...it can't be..."  
  
"Search your feelings, you know it to be true!" said Ranma calmly.  
  
"NOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" cried the girl in anguish as she clutched her head and fell to her knees completely. She ignored the glass that cut into her legs and simply stared forward in horror.  
  
"We can even destroy Beryl if you like. It'll be fun! Join me, and we can rule the Galaxy as Father and Daughter!"  
  
Tsuki staggered to her feet, her face an ashen white as she backed away from him again.  
  
He smiled at her and reached out with his hand. "Come with me. It is the only way."  
  
"I've got a better one. We've done this scene too many times already anyway," said a voice from behind her. "It's beating a dead horse to do it now. Right kid?"  
  
Tsuki turned around and saw Ranma Saotome floating in the air just outside the window with his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his face. She turned and blinked, looking at the other Ranma in confusion for a moment before turning back towards the one outside. With a small shrug, she passed out cold.  
  
Dark Ranma was glaring at his counterpart in shocked awe. "Impossible! I killed you!"  
  
"Yeah, it kind of sucked," said Ranma calmly as he floated into the room.   
  
"What the? How did you survive?"  
  
"I didn't," said Ranma as his smirk widened and he landed on the glass with a small crunching sound. "Would you believe King Kai's place is real? It's a bitch of a walk though."  
  
Dark Ranma roared in rage as the lightsaber came to life in his hands. Ranma chuckled and his golden aura flared to life around him. With a casual flick of his wrist he stopped the blade cold with his finger and backed away from his opponent with an ease that made his fight with Tsuki seem like child's play.  
  
"Are you finished yet?" asked Ranma calmly as he narrowed his eyes at the boy.  
  
"Damn you! You're injured, and you're no stronger than you were before!" His own aura of gold power flashed to life around him and Ranma smirked.  
  
"Think so, I've got a new trick I think you're going to like," said Ranma calmly.  
  
Dark Ranma stepped back slowly with his eyes growing wide. "What?"  
  
"Heh, what's this thing old man?" said a familiar voice from behind him.   
  
Chibi Usa was floating behind Super Ranma and poking at the small ring that floated just over his head.  
  
"Huh? What thing?" said Ranma in confusion as he looked up. The object shifted and stayed just over his head, keeping out of his line of sight. "I don't see anything."  
  
"It's about time you showed up!" snapped Dark Ranma irritably at the little girl.   
  
"I thought you could handle him," snorted Chibi Usa irritably. "Guess I was wrong old man."  
  
"Bah! Don't be stupid! He's my equal in power! I thought you said you came back to make sure I could handle him fool!?" snorted the Evil Ranma angrily. "Do your job! Don't forget who's existence is riding on this brat!"  
  
"Equal?" snorted Ranma with a small chuckle as he looked back and fourth at the pair. Finally he noticed his reflection in one of the intact windows and blinked. "Hey...what the heck is that thing?"  
  
The trio turned to see the good Ranma poking at the tiny ring of light that floated over his head in confusion. It made a slight twang as he touched it, as if it was some sort of super tightly wound metal. "Neat!"  
  
"Enough of this! Destroy him!" snarled Evil Ranma.  
  
Ranma smirked as the pair began to power up in front of him again, both of them undergoing the complete first level transformation. "Oh yeah, I was gonna show you a new trick!" He smiled to himself and spread his legs while moving his arms into an offensive stance. "Don't blink now!" He winked at the pair and suddenly his aura jumped.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
"So? What's this trick? Ranmot?" asked Dan with a rough sounding snort.  
  
"Ranma is fine Dan, and the trick is, you're going to help us this time," replied the fused pair in amusement.  
  
"Huh?" said Dan dumbly.  
  
"You heard me," said Ranma calmly. "Come on loser, you can do it."  
  
Dan mentally shrugged his shoulders and stared forward. "Okay. What do I do?"  
  
"Pay attention, I'm gonna walk you through this," said Ranma with a slight chuckle.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Evil Ranma and Chibi Usa stared with their jaws hanging down in shock.   
  
"Impossible! They've reached the second level in only eight hours?" cried Dark Ranma in shock.  
  
"Second level?" said Chibi Usa as she narrowed her eyes at her father. "What second level? You never told me about any second level."  
  
"And give away my trump card in case you decided to turn on me? I think not," snorted Dark Ranma irritably. "You're strong enough as you are, and the both of us can take him.  
  
Ranma was simply watching them both, his body now almost double it's original size. His hair had grown outward and upward yet again, and his pigtail now reached the small of his back. He smirked at the pair and clenched his fists. "I'm betting you two idiots are thinking you might have a chance to take me now. Boy, you're really stupid."  
  
Chibi Usa growled as the golden figure backed out of the window and began to float out above the city in the sky.  
  
The two Super Saiyans glanced at one another and then followed outside. "What are we going to do?" growled Chibi Usa angrily. "He's not bluffing, he's stronger than the both of us put together. Surely you can feel that!"  
  
"Heh, I've got that covered," said Evil Ranma. "I was going to save this for the Hibiki boy. It's the first place I went after I escaped that prison of a body. Just in case I happened to meet someone who might be strong enough to be a threat to me."  
  
"Keep your hands off him," growled the little girl irritably.  
  
"You'll understand soon enough," said Evil Ranma as he chuckled. "Keep him distracted, I've only got one shot at this."  
  
Chibi Usa nodded grimly and stared up at the Second Level Super Saiyan nervously. "You should have said something about this."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Tsuki groaned painfully as she staggered awake and found herself lying in a pile of broken glass. She shook her head and slowly rose to her feet. Slowly, she moved towards one of the windows and blinked in surprise.  
  
"Oh shit. It wasn't a dream! There's two of them!" cried the girl in shocked horror.   
  
Her mother was going to have an aneurysm when she found out about this. She sighed and hung her head in horror. "What am I going to do?" She stared out the window, unable to take her eyes off the opposing trio. "...and how much of what he said is true?" It was an idea she didn't like one bit, but something deep inside her was telling her it was indeed the truth. That was something she definitely didn't want to deal with on any level.  
  
"Mistress Pluto...Mother...why didn't you tell me? Why?" she said as tears started to blur her vision.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Setsuna stared through the gates of time with a calm expression on her face. The broken staff rested in her palm, and she was powerless to do anything until it was fixed. Without it's power, she could not create a porthole to the Earth.  
  
Now she could do nothing but watch. She stood in silence, something deep inside her chest aching as she stared at her daughter's new revelations. "Tsuki, I'm sorry...but..." She trailed off. "It was for the best, surely you understand that?" A single tear fell down her cheek as she looked at her daughter's image for a long moment.   
  
She knew the girl would have survived the fall, and that her determination to destroy the evil would only be strengthened by that moment. She also knew that Genaku McTome could bend the flow of time around him at will. Creating new paths, and now apparently, shattering old ones.   
  
Her eyes slowly turned to lock onto the pair of him facing off in the sky over Tokyo within the image. Once again, he'd done the impossible, once again, he'd managed to prove himself against everything that should be. This time, he took all of the hope she had in her heart with her. He'd shown his true colors at last, and now he would bring the world into darkness. There was nothing she could do to stop it.  
  
The only thing she could do now is pray. Pray that one of them would destroy the other. It was the only hope she had left.  
  
She turned her eyes towards her daughter's image. There she saw the hope still alive, still free. "Perhaps, she will be ready sooner than I had thought?" She looked at the broken staff in her hands and frowned. "Soon indeed, but not just yet." She pried herself away from the image. It would do her no good to watch the battle unfold, unable to do anything. She had to fix the staff, and now that she knew her daughter was alive, she could set her concentration to the task completely. The staff had to be repaired, then she could do a bit more than just watch.  
  
"I pray for your safety, good luck child," she said as she turned her head to look at her daughter one last time.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
NEXT TIME: The secret attack!!! 


	80. Insertion 80

Insertion  
  
Part 80  
  
The Secret Technique!  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma smirked as he looked at the pair opposing him and flexed his arms experimentally. His cobalt blue eyes stared the shining golden auras that surrounded them down coolly as he simply floated there and watched them.   
  
"What should we do?" growled Chibi-Usa as she eyed him for a moment.  
  
"That body is new to him, we have the advantage," replied her father calmly. Dark Ranma growled and looked at his daughter. "You know you're stronger than me right now. You distract him. I've got something up my sleeve I bet even he isn't expecting." He turned his eyes on the Level Two Super Saiyan and frowned deeply.  
  
"Are you going to talk about this all night? I've got places to be," taunted Ranma casually as he wiped his thumb against the side of his nose.  
  
"Don't try to kill him, you'll die if you do," replied Dark Ranma calmly as he nodded at the little girl.  
  
Chibi-Usa frowned at this and slowly floated forward.  
  
"What? Only one of you?" said Ranma with a sort of dismissive tone to his voice. "I was hoping for a real challenge, both of you at once."  
  
"Not even you could take us both," growled the little girl irritably.  
  
"Which makes me wonder why both of you aren't coming to fight," replied Ranma as his smirk fell away. He glared at his dark side and then flicked his eyes back to the little girl as she moved up in front of him in a mid air combat stance.  
  
"Heh, you forget that I am from the future, I know the outcome of this battle already."  
  
"Then why were you so surprised to see me?" said Ranma as his smirk returned again.  
  
Chibi-Usa grit her teeth and growled in anger. She had no answer for that and he knew it.  
  
"I saw the future child, I was there. I killed the both of you already, and now I've come back to set things right," he said calmly as he moved into a combat stance. "I've been gone longer than the two of you idiots realize."  
  
Chibi-Usa gasped and stared at him. "What?"  
  
Dark Ranma stopped his slow circular motion around the battle and stared at them. "That's not..." His shocked look fell and he glared at the boy in front of them in a growing fear and anger. "That explains the transformation!" his mind screamed back at him.   
  
"He's bluffing," growled Chibi-Usa irritably.  
  
"Come on now, show us the real you. Dark Lady wasn't it?" said Ranma with his smirk growing to a full-blown grin. "You don't have to pretend to be a little girl anymore you know."  
  
That got her attention and she started to back off.  
  
"Don't," growled Dark Ranma angrily.  
  
She looked at him and noticed he had something gripped in his hand. Her scowl returned and she glared at him. She had to fight him now, this would be the only chance they got to beat him. She knew he wasn't going to let the both of them escape, and she couldn't run off on her own. If he managed to beat her father, she'd simply blink out of existence. She was stuck and she knew it. "Damn."  
  
"Trying to decide if you should run? You can, but all I have to do to get rid of you is kill him," said Ranma as he noticed the indecision on her face. He had her trapped here and knew it.  
  
Without another word Chibi-Usa lunged forward suddenly, lashing out at him with her tiny legs and arms as fast and hard as she could. Ranma danced around her strikes, but kept a close eye on the evil him as well. He kept turning the battle so that he was facing him at all times.  
  
Chibi Usa couldn't do a thing about it the way she was going at it, and a hard right hook that looked almost casual sent her flying through the air and almost through one of the metal beams that made up Tokyo Tower. She crawled out of the impact crater painfully and shook her head. "Damn it."  
  
"This isn't working," growled Dark Ranma as he looked at his daughter irritably. His eyes flicked back and fourth between the pair. Ranma was watching him still, but not doing anything. He simply floated with his arms crossed in front of his chest and a superior smirk on his face.  
  
"Care to try your luck? You can't escape you know, I won't let you run away."  
  
He growled and floated back a bit.  
  
There was an explosion of pink light as Chibi-Usa roared forward and lashed out at him with a kick.   
  
Ranma blinked in surprise as he realized that the leg was much too long to be a child's and he turned to look at his opponent again. The woman growling at him in anger was still wearing the same clothes, but they fit much tighter now. Her black leotard now only went to her forearms and knees, it was quite a sight to behold really. Absently she reached inside her shirt and pulled out the torn child's bra from the front of her, now very low, neckline. "Bastard."  
  
"Well, I must say I disapprove of that outfit young lady," said Ranma as he smirked at her calmly and backed away a few feet.   
  
"I'm going to destroy you!" she snapped angrily as her hair flared out a little more. Her power rose a little as well, but she still wasn't a match for him. It was little more than an angry strength that would fade as soon as she calmed a bit.  
  
"Best not to let her figure the rest out," commented Ranma to himself. The woman before him blinked, not quite understanding what he had said.  
  
This time it was Ranma who took the offensive. Chibi-Usa screamed as she tried desperately to block and parry as much as she could, but Ranma was absolutely relentless as he pounded her. Her face contorted with repeated blows and her body jerked about as her arms finally failed her, leaving her wide open. Ranma frowned as he cupped his hands at his side while she was stunned and concentrated his power into a single point.  
  
"No!" snarled Dark Ranma, more out of fear of taking the other him on alone than actual concern. He started to move forward before he noticed something the other him didn't. His daughter had a smirk on her face as Ranma powered up his attack.  
  
"Kame..."  
  
Dark Ranma's face turned into a smile as he continued to move forward and put his arm in front of his face.  
  
"SOLAR FLARE!"  
  
Ranma screamed in pain as the woman set off the attack at point blank range, blinding him instantly. He felt something slam into his side as well, but he barely felt it. That was when he realized that his arm was restrained. "What the..." Anything more was cut off as he felt a hand over his mouth. He struggled slightly, still dazed by Chibi-Usa's attack, not realizing why someone was pinching his nose and covering his mouth at the same time.  
  
That was when he swallowed and realized that there had been something in his mouth. In an instant he was released and he fell to the ground, impacting with a mighty smash that buckled the concrete. Slowly, he staggered out of the crater and groaned in pain, putting his hand up to his forehead. "What the hell was that?"   
  
"I don't know!" growled Dan in shock.  
  
"What happened?" muttered Ranma.  
  
Carrot blinked. "Um, guys...why aren't we fused?"  
  
"Feeling a little disoriented?" said a familiar voice in amusement.  
  
Their vision was back now and they blinked as they looked up to see both Chibi-Usa and Dark Ranma floating over them with smirks on their faces.  
  
"What did you do?" growled Ranma angrily as he glared at the pair in defiance. Inside him there was a struggle going on. They couldn't transform again, something was definitely wrong.  
  
"Having a little trouble with something? I wasn't sure if it would have the same effect it had on Goku in Dragon Ball. I must say, I'm rather pleased with the results," said his dark counterpart with an evil chuckle.  
  
Carrot realized that the pair looming over them looked rather intimidating, more so than they should have. "We're really screwed up! What the hell happened to us?"  
  
"I don't know, but that ass is really enjoying this," growled Dan angrily.  
  
"I had planned on using that on Ryoga. I got the idea about an hour after I killed you, it wasn't as difficult to find as I thought it would be. Truth be told, I stumbled onto it in only a few hours. I had planned on giving my daughter a little present, a toy of her very owned to keep her occupied. She's grown rather fond of the lost boy."  
  
The woman standing over them blushed slightly at this but still smirked malevolently at them. "Really father, you shouldn't have."  
  
"Thought he might keep you out of my hair for a while actually," replied Dark Ranma calmly. "In any case, I don't see subduing him being any more difficult now. You'll just have to keep a tighter leash on him."  
  
"He is rather adorable though," said Chibi-Usa as she frowned down at the still fumbling Ranma. The boy had managed to stagger to his feet and seemed to realize that there was something wrong with his clothes.  
  
"What should we do with him?" asked Dark Ranma.  
  
"I don't like adorable things," snarled Chibi-Usa.  
  
"All right, we should put him out of his misery. It's a shame, he doesn't quite seem to have realized what has happened to him yet." Dark Ranma chuckled in amusement and turned his eyes back down towards Ranma. They both landed on either side of them, and immediately the boy realized something was wrong.  
  
"Magic mushrooms my dear boy. You remember, eat them and you become the same age as their length? Ring any bells?"  
  
Ranma's eyes went wide as he looked at himself, he was standing in the nude now, having dislodged himself from this clothes after realizing that was what was keeping him from standing. He simply stared down at himself for a moment and then turned his eyes back up at the pair leering down at him with their hands pointed at him menacingly. He was about six years old. "Fuck."  
  
"Such language! Can we spank him now father?"  
  
"Of course, I'd keep him around as well, but he's too dangerous to keep as a pet," said Dark Ranma as he narrowed his eyes. Twin balls of power formed in their hands and the young boy tensed himself.   
  
"Spank this! Solar Flare!" He mimicked the same move used against him moments before, and to his great relief it worked. The evil pair staggered back, blasting their chi balls in random directions before clinging to their eyes in pain.  
  
Ranma didn't waste a moment, he flew into the air, relieved that that particular trick still worked and moved away from the scene at top speed. "Damn it!"  
  
"Now what?" growled Ranma angrily.  
  
"We've got to find help!" said Carrot angrily.   
  
"What about those mushrooms?" said Dan hopefully.  
  
"Hey! We can't fly around naked like this! We need clothes!" cried Pissant prissily.  
  
"Alive first, clothes later!" snapped Carrot angrily as the irritating voice tried to redirect their flight. Luckily he didn't have enough control to do more than make them slow down very slightly. "We need to find that damn forest! There should be more mushrooms there!"  
  
"Are you sure?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Positive!" said Carrot as he flew high into the air over Japan.   
  
"How are we going to find this place?" asked Ranma.  
  
Carrot was about to answer when they stopped suddenly when they noticed something below them.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
The boy landed on the ground and simply stared with his jaw hanging down. Tears came to his eyes, but he fought them back bravely and simply made a small whimpering noise.   
  
"Is this...?" asked Ranma quietly.  
  
"I think so," said Dan with a surprising calm.  
  
"Damn, I should have known he'd done something like this. He explained too much to us before," growled Carrot angrily.  
  
In front of them was a huge burned out crater. All that remained of the forest that had once contained the magical mushrooms. A small broken looking tourist shack was a few feet away from them. A large sign with the words "As seen in the 'Cursed Tourist Attractions of Asia' magazine!"   
  
"What do we do now?" asked Ranma as he looked down at their body again.   
  
Carrot moved over to the shack and glanced around. It didn't take very long for them to find the dead body of the man who ran the shack. They took his shirt and put it on. It was dusty, but largely undamaged. His head had been burned off, which made it a little easier to do really.   
  
They stood in silence for a moment while tying a rope around their waist and glanced around.   
  
Carrot was the first to speak. "We need to leave, it won't take them long to come looking for us here."  
  
The others agreed silently and they flew off into the air again, staying low to the ground as they vanished into the streets of Japan.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"What now?" asked Pissant as they stood on top of a small building in the suburbs of Tokyo.  
  
"We've got to find a way back to normal, but we've also got to warn our friends about him before it's too late. How do we get to them though? He'll be watching for us."  
  
Dan said nothing as he looked out over the streets. "We've got to train then. We already know how to do this stuff right? It shouldn't take near as long this time."  
  
"There's no 'Room of Time and Space' here," said Carrot irritably. "We don't have time for this. Plus, we've got to figure something out."  
  
"I've got an idea," said Dan.  
  
"What?" muttered Carrot in confusion.  
  
"Don't say it," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"Fine, what is it? Spit it out?"  
  
"We can't go to Akane and the four morons. They won't be much help, and we'll have a hell of a time convincing them of this with the other us running around. That's the first place they'd expect us anyway."  
  
Ranma nodded their head. "What about..."  
  
"Nerima is out too, we spend too much time around there, but there is one group we tend to avoid. They're probably the strongest group of people we know, but they just lack training."  
  
"We aren't going to do anything about that, we don't have time," said Dan irritably.  
  
"I know, but they're our best chance," said Carrot calmly.   
  
"What can we do though?" asked Ranma. "We know those stupid chicks can't protect us!"  
  
"You're right. They can't, it won't take long for the other us to come looking for us there either," agreed Dan.  
  
"That's why we aren't hanging around. We've got allies, elsewhere also. Akane and the generals are relatively safe at the moment I think. He didn't really start for a few more years."  
  
"He knows about us Carrot, that makes him more dangerous, and unpredictable," said Dan with a low growl in his tone.  
  
"True, but he also needs the resources they can provide him for a time. We also aren't sure how he got his hands on the fleet yet. That may be what he needs our General friends for."  
  
"The fleet? Hey, that's right! They were using the old Silver Millenium Starships! How did they get them? They were sealed away, a long way away too! It'd take months for them to make it all the way back here!"  
  
"There's our window then," said Carrot with a smirk on his face. "We've got six months, give or take, depending on whether or not he's summoned them already or not."  
  
"How do you know?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"We're connected the most, remember?" growled Carrot irritably.  
  
"Oh. Right," said Ranma sheepishly.  
  
"So? What are we going to do?"  
  
"We're getting the hell out of here, and we're taking some friends with us," said Carrot calmly. "We've got to work fast, we don't have much time."  
  
They landed in front of a small house in the suburbs and stared up at the window in the moonlight. The light was still on.  
  
"Well Dan, what's this plan?" asked Carrot.  
  
"All right, here goes..." said Dan.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Usagi Tsukino was brushing her hair in front of the small mirror on her wall. She was sitting in a small chair and humming cheerfully to herself as she prepared to go to sleep. She really enjoyed sleeping, it was one of her favorite pastimes, that and eating, especially if it was something sweet, and if it was sweet and cute...she'd just have to die and go to heaven then!  
  
Her somewhat ditzy train of thought was derailed as her eyes fell on a pair of photos stuck into the side of her mirror. One was of the man she had thought was her destiny, her true love. The other was of the man who she now knew to be her future. There was little doubt in her mind of that now. Mamoru Chiba, and Ranma Saotome.  
  
She blinked when there was a small tap at her window and turned to see Luna sleeping soundly at the foot of her bed. The tap came again, and she noticed the cat's ear twitching.  
  
"Huh? What on earth..." She stood up and jumped back when the tapping sound came again. It was quick, as if something tiny was striking the glass.  
  
"What is that?" said Luna as she sat up and looked around. She appeared to be wide-awake now.   
  
"I'm not sure," said Usagi dumbly.  
  
A huge rock, about a foot in diameter crashed through the window, followed by a young sounding voice that cried out at her angrily. "You stupid old bat! Open the damn window!"  
  
Usagi and Luna managed to pry themselves off the wall after jumping away in fright. Gingerly stepping around the glass, the pair slowly peered outside at the figure that had yelled at them.  
  
It was a tiny boy of about six years old. He had unruly black hair tied back into a ponytail, and was currently hefting another huge rock over his head to lob at her room.  
  
"Eep!" cried the girl as she ducked away, narrowly avoiding having her head knocked off. "Who are you!? What do you want?!"   
  
Luna simply stared at this, unable to speak.  
  
"Huh? Oh, it's open now!" said the boy cheerfully as he jumped onto the roof from the ground.  
  
Luna and Usagi skittered across the floor and both became stuck against the wall again as the little boy climbed into the room and grunted as he looked around. The glass at his feet crunched under him and he didn't seem to notice or care.  
  
"Who are you?" said Usagi dumbly.  
  
"My name is Trunks, and I've come from the future," said the boy as he stared at her seriously with his pale blue eyes. "I'm your son."  
  
Usagi passed out cold, and Luna simply gaped. "Another one?"  
  
The boy chuckled humorlessly and stared the pair down. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to call the Senshi together. We don't have much time, he's going to track me down soon."  
  
The cat blinked at this and said nothing.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"Okay Usagi, this tears it," growled Makoto irritably as she stumbled into the room and glared at the blonde girl sitting sheepishly around her irritated friends.  
  
Rei glowered at her the most, even though she didn't really have to do any more than wake up. They were using the Hino Temple for this meeting, and none of them looked pleased to be there. Makoto was the last arrival.  
  
"Why did you call a meeting at this hour? I had just gone to bed!" cried Minako angrily.  
  
"I didn't!" cried Usagi as she looked at Luna.  
  
The cat simply stared at them all, not saying a word. Her face was serious and she nodded as Artemis hopped off Minako's lap to look at her in confusion. "I'm afraid this boy has called us together. He say's it's very important."  
  
"It's not like you to be this trusting Luna," said the boy calmly.  
  
"If you were one of the enemy, you'd have tried to kill Sailor Moon away from the others," replied the animal calmly.  
  
"Unless I didn't know who anyone else was, then I'd wait and call you together before I tried anything," he replied calmly.  
  
The animal's jaw dropped and she stared at him. "What?"  
  
"Lucky for you, I'm not the enemy," said the boy as he shook his head. "We are going to have to leave immediately, the real enemy has been watching you for some time. It won't take them long to realize that you're not in bed anymore."  
  
"What?!" was the collective response to this.  
  
"Who the hell are you kid?" said Makoto as she looked at the boy. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"  
  
"This child!? He's the one who's making me lose my beauty sleep?!" cried Minako.  
  
"SILENCE!" cried the boy sharply. "I'm going to tell you a story, it's a story you're not going to like one bit. You're going to listen, because it involves all of you."  
  
"You little brat! How dare you speak to me like that?!" snapped Rei.  
  
"Because I'm your prince, and I'll speak to you any way I like!" snapped the boy.  
  
"Prince? What planet is this kid from?" said Rei hotly.  
  
"The Moon," said the boy calmly. "About twenty years in the future. I am Usagi Tsukino's son. My name is Trunks."  
  
That got them all quiet. Usagi almost passed out again, but the others simply looked at each other.  
  
"Another kid? You woke us up for another kid?" said Minako. "This could have waited!"  
  
"Shut up! I've come back to stop Chibi-Usa, and Ranma Saotome from destroying our world!"  
  
Once again, complete silence.  
  
"Ranma Saotome isn't the man you think he is, he's a monster! He's killed all of you but Usagi. His bitch of a daughter, Chibi-Usa, or Black Lady as she's more commonly called, was sent back in time to make sure things went the way they were supposed to."  
  
"Wait, I thought Ranma was supposed to marry her," said Ami quietly.  
  
"That's what he wants you to think, at least for now," said Trunks coldly. "Usagi Tsukino is the wife of Mamoru Chiba. Chibi-Usa is the only reason she's still alive. She's had her eyes removed and was raped and beaten repeatedly to ensure that Black Lady would be born."  
  
"But...you're not his son?" said Minako dumbly.  
  
Trunks glared at her with such a hateful stare that she froze and didn't utter another word. "Don't you dare ever suggest that to me again."  
  
"He doesn't seem that bad..." muttered Usagi.  
  
"He's been spying on you, and he's summoned the fleet out of its seal. It'll take a few months for it to arrive. After that, he'll destroy everything and take over the planet. He's actually in league with those Youma you've been fighting."  
  
"That's crazy! He killed that one, and saved us!" snapped Rei. She blinked when she realized just who she was defending.  
  
"Takibi was an internal power struggle. He was in Ranma's way, he wanted to destroy you all now, but Ranma had plans, and didn't want to be revealed just yet. You see, he still had to make sure his daughter was born. After that, he brutally raped and murdered the rest of you. Didn't you think it was a bit odd that Beryl's generals suddenly switched sides? They just did it out of the blue one day. No reason at all, and all four of them are suddenly against Beryl? What are you, stupid?"  
  
This caused another long silence in the room.  
  
"I never liked him," grumbled Rei.  
  
"What are we going to do!?" cried Minako in shock.  
  
"This...it all makes sense!" muttered Ami under her breath.  
  
"It does...doesn't it?" agreed Artemis with a slight quiver of fear. "We almost fell for it!"  
  
"Distrusting twits," thought Carrot to himself merrily. It was extremely difficult to keep a straight face through all of this.  
  
"What are we going to do?" repeated Minako.  
  
"Run," said Trunks calmly.  
  
"What?!" cried Makoto.  
  
"We've got no choice. He's too powerful to fight head on, he'd slaughter all of you, and I'm not strong enough to fight him myself."  
  
"Of course you're not! You're just a boy!" said Luna with a scandalized gasp.  
  
Trunks's eye twitched and he said nothing.   
  
"Where will we go though?" muttered Usagi fearfully as she glanced around.  
  
"Jurai," said Trunks calmly.  
  
"What?" said Luna.  
  
"There is a Juraian Prince on this planet now, and a ship that can take us there," said the boy calmly.   
  
"The Juraians! They were powerful allies!" gasped Luna.  
  
"Yes, and they can be again," agreed Trunks with a short nod. "We must move quickly though. It won't take much time for them to figure this out and find me. They already know I'm here, and they're trying to hunt me down and kill me. Once those starships make it here, it's all over for the planet. There will be no hope, and everything will be destroyed."  
  
"Where is this place?" asked Luna.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Pluto was pulling at her hair in frustration. She stared into the Gates of Time and pounded her fist against the side of it. "No! You idiots! Don't follow him! He's leading you away!"  
  
She slumped down to her knees, powerless to do anything. Behind her, in a tank of liquid that slowly repaired the damage to the Time Staff, the key like staff floated silently. It would be a day before she could retrieve it and travel to the Earth to do anything about it.  
  
Setsuna was powerless. She couldn't even contact her daughter to instruct her to stop them. The girl was walking through the streets of Tokyo towards the small apartment they had rented there. She had no idea what was going on, and didn't care to think about it.  
  
Setsuna winced at the look her daughter had on her face. Horror, rage, fear, anger. She was suffering under the weight of the revelation the boy had given her during the battle. There was nothing she could do about that at the moment either.   
  
Sailor Pluto, for all that she had accomplished in her lifetime, all her training, wisdom, and power. She was completely helpless at the moment. She simply leaned against the Gates of Time and sobbed.  
  
"What has he done?"  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
To say that Tenchi Masaki was surprised to find five young girls standing in his yard in the middle of the night would be a bit of an understatement.  
  
Ryoko and Ayeka didn't look too pleased with the development either. Luckily, the young Trunks stood between the two groups and stared them down with his most serious face.  
  
"What's all this about? It's a bit late to be coming to a temple for prayer isn't it?"  
  
"My name is Trunks and I'm from the future. Yosho, First Prince of Jurai, we need your help."  
  
The man stared at him for a long moment before he spoke. "Eh?"  
  
"Well, so much for that secret," said Ryoko with a lazy stretch.  
  
"I'm afraid it's not that easy. You see, in the future, all of you have been banished from this planet by an unspeakable evil! An evil that we cannot hope to stop even now!"  
  
"Who the heck are you kid?" said Ryoko as she stared down at the boy in annoyance.   
  
"Ryoko please! You might frighten him!" hissed Ayeka.  
  
"What? If he's scared of anyone it'd be you prune face!"  
  
Trunks stood between them with a frustrated frown. "This might take longer than I'd thought."  
  
"That's enough!" snapped Yosho as he glared at the girls. "We have guests. Now, tell me what this is about."  
  
The boy started his tale of woe once again.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"What?! That's crazy!" said Ryoko as she snorted and dismissed the story immediately.  
  
"These girls are hardly..."  
  
Trunks got a flat annoyed frown on his face as he looked over his shoulder. "Transform, don't ask why, just do it."  
  
The girls all looked at each other nervously and then back at the boy again.  
  
"Oh what is it? I already told them who you were. It's not like you're giving anything away you nimrods!"  
  
"Colorful isn't he?" muttered Ayeka with a slight blush on her face.  
  
"Errr..." muttered Tenchi in embarrassment. "Look, you really shouldn't talk that way. It isn't nice for kids to say things like that you know."  
  
Trunks wanted to rip someone's head off he was so frustrated. "Damn it! We don't have time to sit around like this! We've got to escape to Jurai before it's too late!"  
  
"Hey, I ain't going nowhere," muttered Ryoko.  
  
"I..." started Yosho.  
  
Trunks finally grit his teeth and sighed. "Son of a bitch! What is with you idiots. Are you all just being dense, or is it just some lemming like desire to die?"  
  
"Well, you have to admit this is a bit of a stretch," said Ami nervously. It was obvious she wasn't used to that kind of language from a boy his age. "Even for us."  
  
"I'd listen to him if I were you," said another familiar voice from the shadows.  
  
Trunks turned and frowned at the bushes around the clearing they were standing in. "Urd."  
  
The woman walked out of the shadows with both of her sisters standing at either side of them. Skuld looked somewhat nervous as she stared at the little boy in front of them.  
  
"Who are you?" growled Ryoko as she moved into a defensive stance.  
  
"She is Urd, Goddess of the Past, and those are her two sisters, Skuld and Belldandy," said Tsunami as she stepped out from the house and looked around at everyone gathered there. "If those three are backing this boy's story, I highly suggest you pay attention."  
  
Trunks blinked and looked around at the goddesses for a moment. Last he remembered about them, they were all trying to kill him still. Well, everyone but Tsunami that is.  
  
"Oh yeah, the boss..." said Trunks to himself as he thought about it. "Um, yeah! What they said!" he agreed with Tsunami. He halfway expected Nephrite or Jadeite to show up as the Mazoku again. Thankfully they didn't though, and Yosho was suddenly being very agreeable.  
  
"I see. With this kind of support, we have no choice but to believe him."  
  
Trunks nodded as the group gasped.  
  
"This is crazy!" snapped Ryoko.  
  
"What's crazy is staying here," said Ranma coolly. The Goddesses said nothing and merely stood around looking at everyone.  
  
"I cannot return to Jurai," said Yosho.  
  
"Then stay here," said Trunks. "If we fail, you'll only be banished."  
  
"You will need me, if only to deal with the Emperor," said Yosho with a heavy sigh. He was about to take off his aged disguise when Trunks spoke up.  
  
"I suggest you enjoy that while you can."   
  
The man blinked and nodded with a cheerful smile on his face. "I see. Very well then."  
  
"So, we're leaving?" muttered Tenchi.  
  
"Interesting," said yet another familiar voice.  
  
Washuu was peering at the Senshi, making them all look nervous.  
  
"Are you coming along as well?" asked Trunks as he turned to look at her.  
  
The redhead turned to smile at him. "I don't see why not. After all, another adventure in space might be fun for once. I doubt if I'll need anyone rescuing me this trip."  
  
Trunks blinked and smiled at her a little. "She knows," he thought to himself. "Of course she does. What was I thinking?" he muttered with a sigh.  
  
"What was that?" asked Yosho.  
  
"Nothing. We should get going soon," said the boy calmly. He checked his watch and smirked. "Hey, it's been so long, I'd almost forgotten."  
  
"What's that?" asked Tenchi.  
  
"We'll meet you in orbit, take Ryo Ohki and wait. I've got one more pick up to make."  
  
"What's going on here?" muttered Usagi as she walked forward.  
  
"The Juraians are going to help us," said Trunks.  
  
"Who were all those people?!" snapped Rei angrily.  
  
"You mean the Goddesses?" replied Trunks.  
  
"What? That's crazy!" snapped Makoto.  
  
"What do you mean? Where do you think all your powers come from?" said Trunks as he started walking.  
  
The girls looked at one another and said nothing.  
  
"He's got a point," said Minako with a shrug as she started after him.  
  
No one else had any idea what to say, and quickly followed after her.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"What is this?" said Usagi as she stared at the ship. "...something I've seen before!" she muttered mysteriously.  
  
"What a piece of junk!" cried Rei.  
  
Usagi felt a slight twinge of irritation at this, but she wasn't sure why.  
  
"It's the Mikon Taka," said Trunks calmly. "This is Ranma's ship. The same one he used to rescue Usagi back in the Silver Millenium."  
  
Everyone stared at him blankly.  
  
"It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs!"  
  
More blank stares answered him. "I've outrun Imperial starships, not the local bulk cruisers mind you. I'm talking about the big Corellian ships now. She's fast enough for you."  
  
Once again, no one said anything.  
  
"Huh? I thought you said he was evil!?" said Minako.  
  
"He is, he had to do it so his other daughter, Ryoko, could be born. Luckily, she doesn't side with him. She was banished with Prince Tenchi, sent away from the planet."  
  
Silence reigned once again as everyone looked at the ship. Finally, Ami spoke up. "Are you sure that's safe?"  
  
"What a piece of junk!" repeated Rei. "There's no way I'm getting on that thing!"  
  
Trunks sighed and seemed to conveniently forget that he was supposed to be from the future. "She'll make point five past light speed. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts. I've made a lot of special modifications myself, but we're a little rushed, so if you'll just get on board, we'll get out of here."  
  
No one seemed to notice and they all climbed on board.   
  
"This is fun!" cheered Pissant.  
  
"It still amazes me how few people here have seen that movie," said Carrot as he walked on after Minako.  
  
"Who's going to fly this thing anyway?" muttered Usagi from inside.  
  
"Me," said Trunks cheerfully.  
  
There was the sound of footsteps rushing for the door as it closed them all in with the boy. "Oh quit complaining," said Trunks as he hopped into the pilot's seat and blinked. He couldn't see over the dash. "Shit."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki Tendo frowned as she looked around in the darkness. It was early still, and her meeting with sailor senshi girl wasn't for another hour. Still, she wanted to get a pretty good idea about the surroundings in case something went wrong. She doubted it though. Nervously she checked her watch again and sighed. "Damn. I'm too edgy."  
  
Having a space ship land almost on top of you is not the best way to start a meeting. Nabiki Tendo simply stared up in awe as the huge disk like ship floated noisily through the air. It took a moment for her to realize that it was descending.  
  
"Crap."  
  
She bolted away as fast as her legs could carry her, the park was empty otherwise. Even though, it was rather hard to miss something like that happening in the middle of Tokyo. Her eyes were wide as she managed to scurry behind a large statue and press her back against it.  
  
"Nabiki Tendo, please step on board. Especially if you'd like to be rid of Ranma Saotome," said a voice that sounded like it was coming from loudspeakers.  
  
"Huh?" She peered around the corner of the statue and blinked. "What the?"  
  
The ship was just sitting there, with the ramp down. Slowly she staggered around the statue and simply stared. "Wow."  
  
"Nabiki Tendo, this is your meeting. Would you please be kind enough to step on board," said the voice again. She realized that the ship had some sort of speaker system on it that she couldn't see. Slowly she staggered forward and peered into the ship.  
  
"If you do not board immediately, Ranma Saotome, along with a group of men in black suits are going to appear. They will kill you, and destroy this ship. Needless to say, I will not wait for you if that happens. Please board now."  
  
That seemed to snap her out of it. She stepped forward onto the ramp and walked up it.  
  
"NOOO!" screamed a familiar voice. Nabiki turned and blinked as Akane rushed up from behind with an odd weapon in her hand. She gasped as the door closed her inside the ship, it was too late to run now.   
  
"Akane!" she cried as she tried anyway. A lurching sensation toppled her over and she was sprawled out across the ground.  
  
Five young girls were looking at her from a small table in the corner. They blinked and stared at each other for a long moment, not saying anything at all.  
  
"Hey, you might want to strap in back there," said a young voice that Nabiki recognized as the same voice that had ordered her to board the ship. "It'll get a bit bumpy in a minute."  
  
She blinked and looked into the cockpit as she staggered to her feet and froze.  
  
"Excuse me? Are you all right dear?" said a small black cat as it passed her and looked her up and down.  
  
There was a little boy at the controls, he had a gold ring floating over his head, and a pair of thick books under his rear as he worked the controls. Not knowing what else to do, her eyes rolled into her head and she passed out cold.  
  
"She took that rather well," commented Luna.  
  
"I wonder who she is?" said Artemis as he walked up to the girl and peered at her face.  
  
In the cockpit Trunks smiled to himself as the window slowly faded into a sea of stars. "Man, that was more fun than I'd thought...maybe we should go pick up Hanna too?"  
  
"We don't really have time," grumbled Dan.  
  
"I don't think he'd be very happy to see us," muttered Ranma.  
  
"Right, it's settled then!" said Carrot cheerfully. He turned the ship back into the atmosphere over the North American continent.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
George Lucas was having a nice day. It was quiet, and people were already forgetting about Episode One. Anticipation for the upcoming release of his next movie, Star Wars: Episode Two was already high. He sighed in contentment and relaxed a bit. Surely a name like 'Attack of the Clones' would pique everyone's interest. It couldn't possibly sound lame like the marketing people had told him. It fit the movie so well!  
  
Of course, his thoughtful session of self-congratulations was broken by a loud rumbling noise just outside his home. He staggered to his feet and stared at the bright blue light that shined through his windows. His jaw hung rather slack as he looked outside. Sitting in his lawn, on the dew covered morning grass, was the Mikon Taka. "My ship..." he muttered to himself dumbly.  
  
A small boy jumped out of the open hatch and waved at him cheerfully. He was shortly followed by another familiar figure. A blonde girl with her hair tied into two long pigtails. "What the?"  
  
The boy actually rose off the ground and flew up to his window. Without thinking, he opened it and leaned out. "Hey George! We're goin for a ride!" said the little boy as he pulled him out the window.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Back inside the starship, the Senshi all moved around uncomfortably as the man stared at them in horror. He backed away from them edgily, moving closer to Usagi. She was the only one he didn't seem fearful of.  
  
"Who is this old guy?" muttered Makoto in confusion.  
  
"I'm not sure," said Minako nervously.  
  
"I've gone to hell!" muttered George as he stared at the girls.  
  
"Um... I think I know who this guy is... but I'm not sure," said Makoto.  
  
"Really? Who?" asked Minako.  
  
"George Lucas, the famous movie director," said Makoto.  
  
Everyone looked at the man, and Minako was the first to greet him. "Really!? Can I be in your next movie!?"  
  
"ANYTHING! PLEASE DON'T FREEZE ME AGAIN!" cried George fearfully.  
  
The Senshi all froze and stared at him in confusion as he clutched Usagi's shoulder and tried to crawl into her lap.   
  
Up in the cockpit, Trunks was smiling to himself and talking about how much fun he was having at the moment. He had no idea how amusing his little act would be.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Akane stared at the scene in shock, slowly lowering her weapon as the starship blasted away into the sky. "Nabiki!" she whispered to herself in shock. "No!"  
  
Within a half-second's time, Nephrite and Kunzite were beside her. "What happened?" asked Nephrite.  
  
"A ship came and picked her up!" said Akane as she turned to glare at them. "Why wasn't I told of this?"  
  
"Ship?" said Nephrite in confusion. "There wasn't supposed to be any ship."  
  
Kunzite frowned as Ranma appeared with Chibi-Usa at his side. "What happened here? Where is Nabiki?"  
  
"We aren't sure what happened yet," said Nephrite as he nodded in acknowledgement at his arrival. "Someone came and picked her up in some sort of starship."  
  
Ranma scowled at this, but said nothing.  
  
"What can we do?" gasped Akane.  
  
"Nothing at the moment," said Ranma. "My ship has been stolen, The Masaki shrine is abandoned, and I've discovered the third Youma Lord."  
  
Everyone looked at him in surprise.  
  
"Why weren't we told about this?" said Kunzite angrily.  
  
"Because it just happened over the past few hours. Where do you think I've been all evening?"  
  
"Another Youma Lord?" muttered Akane irritably.  
  
"Yes, this one looks like a small boy, about six or so. He's very dangerous," growled Ranma as he looked up at the sky for a moment. "Spore, we're leaving." He whirled around and stalked off. Akane and the two men simply watched him for a moment with frowns on their faces.  
  
"He's acting weird," grumbled Kunzite.  
  
"Well, you heard him, he's had a bad day," replied Nephrite with a small shrug.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Urd sighed as she walked down the street with her two sisters. "I don't get him at all."  
  
"Well, you know what they say...L-sama works in mysterious ways," replied Belldandy cheerfully.  
  
"I kind of miss Father," grumbled Skuld.  
  
"The new guy isn't so bad, he bothers us less than Father did. Plus, he treats his wife well," replied Urd with a small shrug. "We didn't exactly get off on the right foot though...not when I met him anyway."  
  
Belldandy chuckled at this. "He likes you Urd. I'm not sure why, but he does. Auntie Hotaru is nice as well. I'm sure everything will turn out fine."  
  
"Yeah, but he's so... informal," grumbled Urd with a slightly confused looking frown on her face. "It kind of creeps me out."  
  
Skuld had frozen in her tracks and was now staring at something nearby. Her face slowly broke into a smile and she squealed in pure euphoric joy.   
  
"Huh?" said Skuld as she turned to look at what the young Goddess had found. "Oh man."  
  
Sitting proudly in the window of a small shop was a sign. "Eat your own weight in ice cream, and it's all free!" Oddly enough, the store was still open. A rather pathetic looking man was sitting just outside with his head in his hands. He looked somewhat downtrodden, but lightened up when he saw the little girl approaching him. "Hello!"  
  
"Is that sign true!?" cried Skuld as she grabbed him by his collar.  
  
"There's no way it could possibly happen twice in one day!" thought the man with a somewhat evil grin on his face. The child in front of him looked absolutely scrawny. There was just no way she could eat that much. "Yeah, it is."  
  
"Come on! We've got to get started!" cried Skuld as she pulled him inside the building.  
  
"Oh my!" muttered Belldandy as she watched the scene.  
  
"Well, I guess there's no point in hanging around here," muttered Urd as she continued to walk away.  
  
Belldandy fretted nervously, but didn't argue. They weren't very far from home now anyway.  
  
An hour later, yet another angered and broken cry echoed through the streets of Tokyo. Jiro's Ice Cream's challenge had fallen once again.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Yet Another Space Adventure!! 


	81. Insertion 81

Insertion  
  
Part 81  
  
Another Daring Rescue!  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks rolled into the sky from the North American continent and started for the sky. His face was serious and the girls behind him squealed fearfully from the maneuver. "Pipe down," he grumbled under his breath.  
  
"Don't do that!" cried Minako as she clutched her chest and glared at the boy driving the ship angrily.  
  
"Whatever..." the boy paused as if he had just remembered something. "Aw crap!"  
  
"What is it?" grumbled Minako irritably.  
  
"I almost forgot about Hotaru!" he snapped as he spun the ship around on its axis, not bothering to slow down their forward momentum. Everyone in the ship jerked violently as he blasted towards Japan again.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma growled as he stared at the screen in front of him.  
  
"It's gone again," muttered Jadeite as he looked up at his boss with a frown of his own. "They apparently know how to use the cloaking device."  
  
"I know," growled Ranma irritably. The Senshi had all vanished, and his counterpart was now buzzing around the planet. "What is he doing?" he growled under his breath angrily as he tried to figure out what the other him was doing. He was coming up blank, everything he'd thought of so far was wrong. It was as if he was chasing someone besides himself, and that shouldn't be possible.   
  
He narrowed his eyes and sighed, maybe the spore was having better luck. He couldn't contact her from here to find out. There was too much going on, and his friends were becoming suspicious already.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Trunks floated over the ground and looked around coolly at his surroundings. "Hotaru, where are you?" he called as he landed in the middle of the yard.  
  
The man who emerged from the home blinked and stared at the little boy for a moment in confusion. "Hello. Who are you?"  
  
"My name is Trunks, I'm looking for Hotaru. Something important has come up," replied the boy calmly as he looked the man up and down.  
  
"Daddy, who is..." the little girl's voice trailed off as she noticed the young child standing in her yard. "Who is this?"  
  
"I'm not sure, you don't know him?" said her father in confusion. He had trouble remembering things lately, and his assistant had mysteriously disappeared. He was growing worried, but Hotaru usually managed to calm him down a bit.  
  
The girl had to hide a smirk as she glanced at him for a moment. He had no idea that his precious little girl had gotten rid of his 'new assistant' a few days after she had shown up. Not that anyone would ever find out about it, her body was nothing more than a few dispersed molecules floating around the home now. Mistress Nine had pitched a fit after they removed the dark presence from their father's mind quite easily. It hadn't gotten a very good hold on him at that time, so it wasn't difficult.  
  
Forgetting about it for the moment, she turned towards the boy and frowned. "Can I help you?"  
  
"I need to speak with you...alone," said the boy quietly.  
  
Hotaru's father blushed slightly, misunderstanding the little boy's intentions. He leaned in to his daughter and whispered. "Be gentle with him dear," as he started back towards the home.  
  
Hotaru glared at him irritably, not quite sure what he meant by that. She turned and frowned at the little boy for a moment and snorted. "What?"  
  
"I thought you might show up here."  
  
Both children whirled around and gasped. Chibi-Usa was standing on the roof, glaring down at the boy with an amused smirk on her face.  
  
"Damn," growled Trunks as he stepped back cautiously.  
  
"What's going on here?" snorted Hotaru as she looked up at Chibi-Usa calmly.  
  
"Just a pest I need to squash," said the girl as she stared down at the boy. "He's more than he seems Hotaru, you should be careful."  
  
"Who are you to talk!?" snapped Trunks.  
  
"Who is he?" said Hotaru carefully.  
  
"A Youma Lord, he's the newest one. Quite deceptive isn't he?" said Chibi-Usa as she turned her head and looked at Hotaru. "He's been sneaking around here lately, watching you."  
  
Hotaru frowned at this. The power was indeed familiar, his energy signal was something she recognized, but couldn't put her finger on. She'd have noticed someone like him snooping around though. "I see."  
  
"Oh shit," muttered Trunks fearfully as both girls turned towards him. "Think genius!"  
  
"What should we do with him?" asked Hotaru calmly.   
  
"He has to be destroyed," said Chibi-Usa firmly.  
  
Hotaru smirked at her. "I don't think so. I recognize my sensei's energy, it's changed slightly, but it is very distinctive."  
  
The pink haired girl spun on her heels and glared at Hotaru as the golden energy field formed around her. "What?!"  
  
"I'm detecting multiple energy sources from him, he is like me. There is no other being on this planet like us," said Hotaru. "All of these energy sources are familiar to me."  
  
Chibi-Usa smirked as she powered up. "I was hoping you'd make this a little easier. Even together you're no match for me."  
  
Hotaru frowned at this. "You forget that I am the bringer of silence? I could destroy you with a thought!"  
  
"So?" snapped Chibi-Usa. "I'm better than you are as an adult Hotaru, you're nothing to me now."  
  
"Not bothering to hide it anymore?" snorted Trunks as he frowned at Chibi-Usa.  
  
"Why?" replied the girl with a shrug. "Soon we'll rule this planet, and it's already to late to stop us now."  
  
Trunks snorted and put up his fists. "Hotaru! Move!"  
  
It was too late though, in a flash of pink light, Chibi-Usa had grown to her adult body again. Her leg slammed into the little girl's face before she could react and sent her sprawling across the grass in the yard.  
  
"What's going on here?!" cried the girl's father as he rushed out of the home. He noticed the woman standing over the fallen Hotaru and gasped. "What? Who are you!? What are you doing here?!"  
  
Chibi-Usa smirked as she leveled her gaze on him. "Get out of my way worm." She raised her palm and blasted the man out of existence. He screamed for half a second before the energy engulfed him and vaporized most of the home.  
  
Hotaru sat up, her eyes wide with shock. "NOOOOOOOO!" Without thinking, her aura blasted to life and she charged forward with all her strength.  
  
Chibi-Usa chuckled and swat the girl aside with a simple backhand. "Pathetic. You're no match for me little girl. You won't be for many years to come either, even then, I'm still the better of us."  
  
Hotaru sobbed as she climbed out of the crater her impact had created in the ground.   
  
Trunks backed away from Chibi-Usa slowly. He felt powerless, and her transformation made her very powerful. "I've got to do something!"  
  
"What can you do? You can't even transform anymore boy," snarled Chibi-Usa as she slowly stalked forward. "I'm going to enjoy killing you. There won't be any escape this time!"  
  
The boy frowned at her, the woman's aura was huge and the sheer power of it was driving him back. "Damn...I can't even get close to her!"  
  
"Silence Glaive Surprise!" cried Hotaru as she recovered again. It was immediately clear that Hotaru wasn't in control anymore. Saturn's icy cold expression was now the only thing on the little girl's face and the super transformation had faded away.  
  
Chibi-Usa seemed to vanish from sight, appearing behind Saturn. She slammed her fist into the back of the girl's skull, sending her slumping to the ground. "Your body is too weak for this Saturn. Maybe Mistress Nine would like a chance to try as well?"  
  
That got Trunks's attention. "I can't let that happen!" He cupped his hands and sent a blast at Chibi-Usa. It was easily dodged and his face exploded in pain as she appeared in front of him and kicked him aside. He landed near to where Hotaru was lying and barely managed to stand up again.  
  
"Heh," said Hotaru as she slowly rose up from the ground. Her features were twisted, evil clear on her face as she stared at Chibi-Usa for a moment. "I'll destroy you."  
  
"Wait! You're not strong enough in that body!" said Trunks as he frowned at the girl. "Even with the power boost! You can't do it without the others anyway!"  
  
"Those pathetic excuse for fighters just didn't know how to use real power," snarled Nine as she frowned at him.  
  
Chibi-Usa was watching the scene in amusement.  
  
"No! Damn it! We couldn't stop it! That's not Hotaru anymore!" snapped Ranma angrily.  
  
"Mistress Nine," growled Carrot as he remembered exactly what she had become in the future. "We've got to do something! It might not be too late!"  
  
Carrot suddenly had an idea. "Wait!" called Trunks. "I've got a way!"  
  
"Eh?" muttered Nine as she stared at him. She glanced back at Chibi-Usa, who was simply waiting, and frowned again.  
  
"You know you're outmatched! I've got a way to beat her, but we have to do exactly like I say, or it won't work!"  
  
"What are you planing?" muttered Chibi-Usa in amusement as she watched the pair for a moment. She was far superior to the both of them in power.  
  
"You do realize how stupid we're going to look doing this, especially if it doesn't work," said Dan.  
  
"You got a better idea? We've barely got enough power to fly away if it doesn't work. We're dead anyway right now," snapped Carrot.  
  
"What good is this going to do us?" snapped Ranma irritably.  
  
"We can't transform, but she still is," replied Carrot.  
  
"I'm more interested in why the hell you memorized this," said Dan flatly.  
  
"Well?" snorted Nine irritably. "What is this plan you have?"  
  
"Do exactly as I do, and concentrate. It might not work, but I'm hoping that you're close enough that it does," said Trunks as he frowned at her. "I know it looks stupid, but concentrate on me. If we screw this up, it'll make us weaker instead of stronger! You've got to do it right the first time!"  
  
"What do you mean?" said Nine angrily, she followed his example though and moved into a ready position.  
  
Chibi-Usa blinked as the pair stood next to one another and started too...dance. "What the?"  
  
It was a relatively quick affair, taking only a few moments really. In the end, they leaned sideways towards one another and touched their fingers together.  
  
Chibi-Usa blinked as a blinding flash of light formed and gasped. Standing in front of her was a single child she didn't recognize. "What the? Who the hell are you?!"  
  
The child was muscular, with a confident smirk on her face. She had red hair tied into a braid, and purple eyes. A monkey-like tail waved behind her as she chuckled and checked her clothes. It was a senshi uniform like Saturn's. "I'm Trutaru." Her voice sounded like two little girls speaking at once.  
  
"What the hell is this?" gasped Chibi-Usa dumbly.  
  
"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you. Too bad I've got to kill you anyway," replied Trutaru with a smirk on her face. She flexed her arms and screamed as her power blasted outward. In an instant her eyes were sky blue, and her hair was a golden sheen. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"  
  
Chibi-Usa snorted in disgust. "Even your combined power is no match for me."  
  
"Let's find out then!" snarled the little girl as she charged forward and slammed her fist into Chibi-Usa's gut.  
  
The effect was devastating. Chibi-Usa lurched forward with her eyes wide with shock. She snarled angrily and jumped up into the sky holding her belly. "What the? What kind of trick is this?!"  
  
"Like I'd tell you," snorted Turtaru in amusement. "Come on, let's get started!"  
  
"Damn you! I'll..." snarled Chibi-Usa as she blasted forward with her aura flaring wildly. She attacked relentlessly, but the child was too fast.   
  
"Ha! Not bad for an old lady!" snapped the child. "I almost felt that one! Oooh, soo close!" The taunts enraged Chibi-Usa and she stopped long enough to glare at the child.   
  
"You're...toying with me?!" she seemed to realize it all at once.   
  
"For an old lady, you sure are fast," replied the girl as she thumbed her nose absently and smirked again. "Come on, we're just gettin started!"  
  
Chibi-Usa smirked as she glanced over her shoulder. "Yes, we are."  
  
Turtaru frowned suddenly as she seemed to realize something all at once. "Thought you might bring your friend along? The evil Ranma? I can take the both of you no problem! Ha!"  
  
Tutaru lurched forward suddenly and clutched her stomach. "Uh oh." She grit her teeth and growled angrily. "No time...gotta go! I'll get you later bitch!" With that, she vanished from sight.  
  
"What?" snapped Chibi-Usa in shock. She whirled around in search of the child and growled angrily.  
  
Ranma appeared in front of her and scowled. "What are you doing in that form?"  
  
"He was here," she snapped back at him. "He came for Hotaru, I thought he might..."  
  
"You destroyed him?" asked Ranma calmly.  
  
"No, he did something with Hotaru, they...merged," replied Dark Lady angrily. "I don't understand it..."  
  
Ranma's face fell slightly. "The fusion dance? What the..."   
  
"What dance?" said Chibi-Usa irritably.  
  
"You failed me again," he said as he turned to glare at her. "However, we'll be ready when we see them again." He chuckled and turned away from her. "Change back, the others are coming. We're going to tell them that Mistress Nine has been released from inside Hotaru, and that our old friend has been enslaved by it. That makes her our enemy as well."  
  
Chibi-Usa growled at this, but nodded. Her form shrank into a tiny child's body and she glanced down at the home. Hotaru should have been enslaved, it was what was supposed to happen. Now something had changed, and she didn't like it one bit.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
"Whoa, that was cool," muttered Dan dumbly.  
  
The fusion of Ranma, Carrot, and Mistress Nine growled angrily. "Are they awake yet?" he snapped irritably.  
  
"What happened?" muttered Hotaru's voice sheepishly.  
  
"Good," said the fusion with a slight sigh.   
  
"What did you do to us?" asked Saturn calmly. There was a slight edge to her voice though.  
  
"The fusion dance is only temporary," replied the fusion's voices. It was odd to hear it speak, and the unfused portion of them were slightly bothered by it. "I was holding it together as best I could. Mistress Nine would have taken over if I hadn't tricked her into doing it. She could have sealed you both away while you were out."  
  
There was a flash of bright light, and suddenly they were standing on top of a rooftop looking at one another calmly. They seemed winded, but were somewhat relaxed.   
  
Hotaru was the first to speak. "Ranma...is that you?"  
  
"Yeah," said the little boy sheepishly. "It's a long story, and we've got a long trip ahead of us Hotaru. We should get going, I'll tell you about it on the way to the ship. You can't tell anyone else about it though."  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
They arrived a short time later, just as Trunks finished his story. "You've got to call me Trunks now, it's very important."  
  
Saturn nodded and glanced at the ship for a moment. "This is it? A YT-1300?"  
  
"It'll get us to Jurai safely, that's all we need at the moment," replied Trunks with a shrug. "It's sort of a hot rod though, a lot of modifications. Doesn't look like much, but she's got it where it counts."  
  
Hotaru nodded and smiled slightly. "Thank you for coming after me Ranma."  
  
"Yeah, whatever," said the boy with a shrug. "We're gonna need you, and I'd rather not have to kill you when I get back."  
  
"Right," said the girl with a small snort. She stepped onto the ship and glanced around.   
  
The senshi were staring at her silently. She nodded to them and took a seat. "Hello."  
  
"Um...who are you?" said Usagi as she looked at the girl's clothes.  
  
"She's the Senshi of Saturn," replied Trunks as he glanced back at them from the cockpit. "Sit down and shut up, you can get to know each other after we're off the planet."  
  
The Senshi blinked and looked at one another while Saturn ignored them.   
  
"Saturn?" gasped Luna nervously as she backed away from the little girl with a frightened expression on her face.  
  
George peeked out of the closet where he was hiding and noticed the new girl. She turned to look at him and he gave a frightened squeak before closing the door again.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"What took you so long?" snarled Ryoko angrily.  
  
"I had to make a few pick ups," replied Trunks calmly as he smirked at her. "Everyone is here though, we can leave."  
  
"Hold it right there!" cried a voice that interrupted the communication between the two ships.  
  
"Huh?" said Trunks dumbly.  
  
"I've caught you red handed!" said Mihoshi as she appeared on the screen and smiled proudly.  
  
"Hey! Get away from those controls!" cried Ryoko's voice from behind her.  
  
"I'm sorry Ryoko, but I've got a job to do now, it's my duty to perform my...um...duty."  
  
"Caught us what? Going on vacation?" replied Trunks as he blinked.  
  
"You're under arrest for grand-theft starship! Please power down your ship and prepare to be boarded!"  
  
Trunks frowned at this and growled under his breath. "What the hell? This is my ship you ditz!" He jumped up and down excitedly. "Besides, even if I did steal it, I stole it from a Most Wanted Criminal anyway."  
  
"That's no excuse!" snapped Mihoshi. "Even criminals must obey the law!"  
  
"What?" said Minako as she stared at the screen. The girls had all been attracted to the cockpit by the commotion.  
  
"Who are you to talk?" snapped Rei angrily.  
  
"Just send her your vehicle registration," said Washuu as she interrupted the transmission for a moment.  
  
Trunks shrugged and immediately did so. "Okay, here you go."  
  
The group on Ryo-Ohki all stared at the picture in front of them. The young boy was sticking his tongue out at them and pulling his eyelid down on his photo ID that was on the corner of the vehicle registration form.  
  
Mihoshi blinked at this and sighed. "Oh, please forgive the inconvenience then sir."  
  
"Get the heck out of the way!" snapped Ryoko as she shoved the woman aside and moved in front of the controls. "So. We're going to Jurai then?"  
  
"That's right," said Trunks calmly as his normal image reappeared. "Washuu, I need to talk with you later on a secure channel."  
  
The woman arched her eyebrow at this and nodded. "All right."  
  
"I'm sending you our course, can Ryo Ohki keep point five all the way?"  
  
"What?" asked Ryoko dumbly.  
  
"Yes, it shouldn't be a problem," answered Washuu for her.  
  
"This is so exciting!" said Mihoshi cheerfully.  
  
"Hmmm..." agreed Yosho with a slight frown.   
  
"Adventure, excitement, bah! A Jedi craves not these things!" said Trunks.  
  
Tenchi sighed and looked out at the stars. "I guess I'll finally be able to see this place, huh Grandpa?"  
  
"Indeed Tenchi. Jurai is a beautiful place, but like all planets, it has it's problems. Stay sharp, and keep close to me boy."  
  
Tenchi nodded at this and Ayeka looked somewhat annoyed. She remained silent though and kept her eyes on Ryoko. No one but Trunks seemed to notice this and he shut down the communication after sparing her a quick glance.  
  
He sat back in his chair and frowned. The books under his rear were uncomfortable, but that wasn't the only reason he was brooding.  
  
"Something wrong sensei?" asked Hotaru.  
  
"Ayeka. She's up to something," replied Trunks calmly.  
  
"Does it concern us?" asked Hotaru.  
  
"I don't think she's planning on betraying us, no," said the boy with a small chuckle.   
  
"I think it has something to do with Ryoko, and that boy Tenchi," he answered calmly. "I'm afraid I can't let her do anything too stupid though. She is my daughter after all."  
  
Hotaru nodded and glanced back at the table where the senshi were all chatting. George was still in the closet hiding from them all. Minako was the only one away from the group, and she was trying to persuade him to come out, so she could ask him about being in his next movie.  
  
"In any case, we've got a long trip ahead of us. I doubt if it'll be very eventful though. We should be fine."  
  
"An uneventful trip? With you? I've never been on one," commented Hotaru lazily. "Last time I went anywhere with you, I ended up getting in trouble for eating the hearts of my enemies as I recall."  
  
"Well, I really shouldn't have...but you seemed so enthusiastic about it..." said the boy sheepishly. He suddenly became very serious. "How's Hotaru holding out?"  
  
Saturn frowned at this and sighed. "She hasn't spoken in a while."  
  
Trunks nodded at this and turned back towards the stars.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Jurai," growled Ranma under his breath. He was looking at the course transmission that he had intercepted and scowled angrily. "They're running to Jurai. Why though?" He snorted and stood up to look out the window. "What does he know that I don't?" With a small frown he looked out at the stars.   
  
In all honestly, simply going to a remote area of the planet would have put the younger him, and anyone he wanted to bring along with him, out of his reach for the moment. Africa would have worked nicely. Still, something was up for him to run off the planet. "There's something else going on that I don't know about."  
  
Chibi-Usa smirked as she walked into the room. "You have no idea father."  
  
Ranma turned and his frown deepened at what he saw. "What are you doing here? It's dangerous. I don't want to be discovered just yet Tochi."  
  
"I was told you might be interested in what I have to say," said the stunning blonde woman who was standing beside his daughter. Her grin almost went inhumanly wide, but she calmed a bit before her fangs were revealed.   
  
"Oh?" asked Ranma cautiously.  
  
"Beryl is a fool, you and I both know it. Myself and the others have other plans," she said as she leaned onto his desk rather seductively.  
  
Chibi-Usa rolled her eyes and left the room as the woman leaned towards her father and smirked.  
  
He calmly sat down in his chair right in front of her face and leaned in so that his nose was almost touching hers. "I'm listening."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
TBC... 


	82. Insertion 82

Insertion  
  
Part 82  
  
Voyage Through the Stars!  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki Tendo stood next to a small porthole. She wasn't sure what to make of what was going on, she simply stared out into the endless sea of stars. "What's happening?" she muttered to herself quietly.  
  
"They're pretty aren't they?" asked a quiet voice from behind her.  
  
She turned to look at the girl standing behind her. She was younger than her by about two years, and had long blonde hair pulled into a pair of long pigtails. Without saying a word, she nodded.  
  
"I never thought I'd be doing this again," said the girl somewhat wistfully.  
  
"Again?" said Nabiki with a slight surprise showing on her face.  
  
"Yes, I did it once, a long time ago," replied the girl as she sat down and sighed. "I don't remember most of it, George was with us too. I know that much. He was different then though. I'm not sure how I know that."  
  
Nabiki was confused, but she didn't say anything. There were more pressing matters to attend too. Like why she was here for example. She hadn't asked, and no one else had said anything about it. She knew one thing though, they were after Ranma, and he had become very powerful on Earth. She had already known that though, which was why she had planned to try and convince the senshi to help her get rid of him.   
  
That was another thing that had bothered her, no one spoke of the meeting too her at all. She was just sort of there, in the background so far. It had been two days since they left Earth, and the Senshi kept to themselves, allowing her to brood. It was quite boring really.  
  
She did notice that one of them didn't seem to stay with the group. The youngest one, Saturn, or Hotaru as Trunks called her. The girl was silent and had a somewhat stern look on her face most of the time. She had the icy mask she had tried her whole life to perfect down cold. It was somewhat disorienting on someone so young really.   
  
Then there were the two talking cats. Luna appeared to be the most vocal; she spoke with the Senshi pretty regularly. Artemis, the white one, he kept silent and seemed somewhat laid back. Both of the animals avoided Hotaru, which wasn't very easy in the cramped quarters of the starship.   
  
George Lucas was still hiding in the closet. He was probably the oldest one there, but everyone was speaking to him as if he was a child, trying to get him to come out. Minako mostly, although Makoto seemed somewhat interested as well. Usagi was the only one he allowed to enter the closet, and she had done so several times to get supplies out for them, food and toiletries. Nabiki was starting to wonder about him, he hadn't even emerged to use the bathroom.  
  
Their jailer, or rescuer, depending on how you looked at things, was busy in the cockpit most of the time. He was conversing with the other ship that trailed just behind them. She had caught a few glimpses of him speaking to a redhead on a small screen in the cockpit area. He wasn't being secretive about it, but he did tend to get irritated when anyone came up to the front of the ship. Especially Usagi, he seemed fearful the girl might break something. She recalled him tossing the blonde out and muttering something along the lines of "Thank me, it's not Mihoshi," under his breath.  
  
The statement had confused her slightly, but since the start of the voyage she was content to observe to figure out what was going on for herself for the moment.   
  
Usagi spoke up again looking her up and down after watching the stars sail by outside the window for a moment. "Who are you? Why are you here?"  
  
"What?" asked Nabiki as she glanced at the girl. She'd put a little more force into it than she had intended and blushed when the girl looked away.  
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. I mean, I know why we're all here, but none of us know you," said the girl gently.  
  
"I'm not sure why I'm here," replied Nabiki calmly.  
  
"Because I think we can trust her, and I can't leave her with Ranma," replied Trunks as he walked into the hallway and noticed them speaking.  
  
"What?" said Nabiki as she looked at him.  
  
"You were supposed to meet with Sailor Mercury, until now, the senshi were working with him. They didn't know what kind of man he was. It was a set up."  
  
Usagi blushed slightly at this. "How did you..."  
  
"I know a lot of things," said Trunks calmly. "I'm from the future. I'm hoping I can change what I do know."  
  
"Was it that bad?" muttered Usagi with a slightly uncomfortable frown.  
  
"It was worse than you think," replied Trunks quietly. "Even if we fail, maybe it won't be quite as bad. I've changed things already."  
  
Nabiki looked at him and sighed. "What do I have to do with any of this?"  
  
"Nothing directly. You were blackmailed into servitude, and then murdered because you became too ambitious. However, I think that you haven't started down that path yet."  
  
Nabiki turned her head away. "I'm well on my way."  
  
"Only because of Mitsuki Tanaka," replied Trunks coolly.  
  
Nabiki froze. "What? What would you know about..."  
  
"Everything," replied the boy with a sort of icy calm about him. "I know about the blackmail. I know a lot of things Nabiki; not all of them are pleasant. You don't want to know what became of Akane. She came out on top in the end, but what she will face in the future if he has his way, is nothing compared to what happened to you."  
  
"Akane?" muttered Nabiki in horror. "What happens to Akane?"  
  
"I'm not sure I should tell you," replied the boy calmly. "It hasn't happened yet. So for now, it doesn't matter."  
  
Luna walked up to them and sat down in the middle of the group. "We shouldn't trust you."  
  
"You've got no choice now," he replied simply.   
  
Usagi frowned at the moon cat, but said nothing.   
  
Nabiki simply stared out into the stars for a moment. "Why me? Why not Akane?"  
  
"I couldn't get to her, I'd like to have her here, but he was expecting me to save her I think."  
  
"Why?" asked Nabiki as she narrowed her eyes at him.  
  
The boy said nothing and turned away from them. "I can't say just yet, you'll figure it out when this is over."  
  
"He's hiding something," said Luna.  
  
Usagi looked down at her and nodded. "What is it though?"  
  
"Maybe I can get some answers, if he'll let me," said the cat as she walked after him.  
  
Nabiki frowned and said nothing as she was left alone again. She was starting to think George had the right idea by hiding in that closet.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"I've almost finished, but you won't be able to use it until we get to Jurai," said Washuu as she looked at Trunks and smirked.   
  
"Well, I appreciate it Washuu. I only hope it's enough," replied the boy with a slightly frustrated frown.  
  
"It isn't an easy project," said the woman with a small shrug.   
  
"Just the same," he said as he nodded at her.  
  
"Well, I've got to get back to work, I'm just glad I've got something to do," she replied as she cut off the transmission.  
  
Trunks snorted and turned to find Luna sitting there staring at him. "Yes?"  
  
"I want to see this future of yours," she said calmly.  
  
"Do you?" he replied with a slight smirk.   
  
"Yes," she answered with the same calm. "I have a way."  
  
Trunks frowned slightly as he gauged her for a moment. "I think I know what you're talking about. Will you show the others?"  
  
"If I think they need to see it, yes," replied the animal calmly.  
  
"Mindscan is it?" he asked her as he shifted in his chair and looked out at the stars again.  
  
"That's right," she replied with a slightly surprised frown.  
  
"I know the senshi in the future," he replied to her unasked question. "You're not going to like this. I'll show you what I think you need to see if you really want it though."  
  
Luna nodded. "We can do this now if you'd like."  
  
"Let's just get this over with," replied the boy as he chuckled slightly.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Hotaru was staring at the girls on the opposite side of the room. She appeared to be staring as she sat in a small chair opposite the table where the girls were playing cards. To them it looked like she was glaring. The truth of the matter was, she was damned uncomfortable.   
  
She wasn't sure what to make of what had happened to her, but she had a pretty good idea about what had happened. Whatever the fusion thing her master had done to her was, it had changed her.   
  
Saturn was in control; she had been since the incident at her home. Mistress Nine was surprisingly quiet, and Hotaru hadn't said a word. It was too quiet.  
  
"Hotaru," prodded Saturn, and received no answer. "Damn."  
  
"She will not speak," replied Nine coolly. It sounded somewhat indifferent, but there was something else there as well. Saturn wasn't sure if it was amusement, or if she was actually feeling something for the girl.  
  
"We're not as strong without her," said Saturn calmly. "We need her."  
  
"I know," said Nine with the same calm.   
  
Saturn felt a frown forming on her face. "So that's what's bothering you."  
  
"What of it?" snapped Nine irritably.  
  
"Neither of us is fit to comfort her, she lost her father," said Saturn with a small sigh. "I wish I could..."  
  
"Wishes do nothing for us now," snapped Nine irritably.   
  
"You're not helping the situation," replied Saturn coolly. "I only hope she is strong enough to pull through this. There is little else we can do."  
  
"What of the one you call Master? He doesn't even seem to notice this problem," snorted Nine.  
  
"And you are too cruel to care, I am jaded by death, she is an innocent."  
  
"Innocence disgusts me," replied Nine with a disdainful snort.  
  
"Her state does nothing to help you Nine," said Saturn.  
  
"On the contrary, now I only have you in the way to my domination," snarled the evil voice coldly. "I hope she rots away in the back of her own mind. You'll join her soon enough."  
  
"I think not, I'll destroy all of us first," replied Saturn. There wasn't any anger of malice in the statement; it was simply a fact.  
  
"Even you cannot be on guard all the time," replied Nine coldly.  
  
They looked up to find Usagi peering at them curiously. "Are you all right?"  
  
Hotaru looked at her for a moment and frowned. "No. I'm sitting on my tail."  
  
Usagi blinked at this and was simply confused. "Huh?"  
  
"It's very uncomfortable, I suppose I'll have to get used to it though."  
  
"Tail?" said Usagi as she blinked again.  
  
"Yes, I have a tail," said Saturn with a slightly irritated frown.  
  
"Ranma has a tail," said the girl as she thought about it. She was still leaning towards Hotaru with her face almost touching hers.   
  
"I am aware of that," replied Hotaru with a small sigh. She wasn't exactly sure when she first noticed it really. It was just sort of there. Most likely a by-product of the fusion dance they had performed.  
  
"That's...weird," said Usagi. "I think something else is bothering you though."  
  
Saturn's eyes narrowed, but she noticed something else. They were growing wet; she could feel the tears forming in her eyes.  
  
"Are you all right? Do you want to talk about it?" said Usagi with a very worried looking frown. "Sometimes that helps."  
  
Nine and Saturn were both taken by surprise as they burst into tears and grabbed Usagi by the neck firmly. "DADDDYYYY!"  
  
Usagi looked shocked, but quickly knelt down and held the girl as she cried. "Shhhhh. It's all right." She gently pat her back. It was easy to tell that she wasn't sure what was wrong still, but she had enough sense to remain quiet while the girl bawled on her shoulder. The other senshi were all staring at her, and she found she didn't care at all.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"What's going on?" asked Makoto as she stood up and started towards the scene in front of them.  
  
Ami stood up with her and gasped. "I'm not sure. The poor girl!"  
  
Minako frowned at the scene with as much worry as the other. "Maybe she's homesick?"  
  
Rei stepped between them and went over by Usagi and touched Hotaru on her back gently. "This is much more than that."  
  
The girls seemed to understand all at once and tried their best to comfort the girl.  
  
The closet door opened slightly and George peered out into the cabin for a moment. Rei turned to look at him for a second and it quickly shut. With a disgusted sigh she turned away and went back to the girl crying in Usagi's arms.  
  
It was then that Luna emerged from the cabin. If she could have paled, she would have been completely white. Quietly she sat down to look at the senshi and simply stared.   
  
Ami was the first to notice this. "Luna, is something wrong?"  
  
Hotaru had drifted off to sleep in Usagi's arms at this point and sniffled quietly in her sleep. "Luna?"  
  
The cat stared up at them. Images of Usagi with her eyes gone, the senshi's daughters' slaughter at the hands of a huge dragon like monster, and the evil beings that Chibi-Usa and Ranma Saotome became. Akane Tendo and her story of rape and servitude to a lunatic in a mask, the man's eventual murder at her hands. The destroyed cities. He hadn't given her the complete story, but picked the best memories to get his point across. Luna was thankful for that.  
  
She stood up again and stared at them all. "Whatever he says to you, whatever he asks you to do. Listen, do it. Don't question, just do it." She walked away shakily and curled up under the table. She was very disturbed and it showed. Her hair was standing on end and her ears were pressed back against her head.   
  
Artemis jumped down next to her and poked his nose towards her cautiously. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Just...leave me alone," said Luna quietly.  
  
Artemis backed away slowly, giving somewhat hurt glances at her as he left.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Tenchi Masaki was bored. It was a pretty common feeling on the voyage so far. They simply stared out at the stars for the most part, Ryoko tried to keep him interested as usual, but even she was somewhat subdued. Ayeka was oddly silent; she appeared to be pensive. Sasami spent most of her time with Ryo Ohki's control crystals playing games, and his grandfather spent most of the day meditating. He had joined the old man for a time, but it quickly grew old.  
  
He was worried, about many things. There was a new evil on Earth, and this was his first trip to the Juraian homeworld.   
  
"Tenchi," said his grandfather as he opened his eyes and looked at the boy from where he was sitting nearby.   
  
"Yes?" he asked in a somewhat distracted manner.  
  
"You are worried?"  
  
"Yes," he replied simply. "He didn't seem like that bad of a guy."  
  
"Hmmm, he is a very cunning adversary. I wouldn't worry too much, I doubt if you'll have to face him personally," replied Yosho calmly.  
  
Tenchi frowned at this; it was pretty likely in his mind that he'd end up fighting him after everyone else got beaten. It always happened that way to him it seemed. He sighed and shook his head in slight disgust. "I hope you're right."  
  
"I am more concerned with Jurai, the Emperor is cunning, he is a very shrewd man. You should be prepared to meet him again. Come and meditate with me, we must be ready to face anything once we reach Jurai."  
  
Tenchi sighed and took one last glance out at the sea of stars. With a sort of resigned shrug he walked over and sat next to his grandfather.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Nearby, Ryoko was standing at the controls of the ship with Ayeka. "Something about that kid bothers me," she blurted out suddenly.   
  
"I beg your pardon?" muttered Ayeka in confusion. She blinked and looked at Ryoko for a second. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him to me."  
  
"You would overlook it. He just doesn't seem right for a kid his age," replied Ryoko as she snorted at the princess.  
  
"Well, he is a bit crude..." muttered Ayeka under her breath.  
  
"No. That's not it, there's something else," said Ryoko as she grit her teeth. "He reminds me of Washuu a little."  
  
Ayeka couldn't see the connection in that, Washuu was in her lab at the moment, but she had seen the pair talking when the redhead emerged from her personal space. "Well, they do get along well."  
  
"Too well, it's almost as if she knows him from somewhere," muttered Ryoko uncomfortably.  
  
"Who knows?" said Ayeka with a small shrug. She brushed it off and turned away.  
  
"What's this Trunks up too?" grumbled Ryoko to herself.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks smirked as he walked into the back and sat down at the table with the Senshi. "What's up?" He was cheerful and grinned at them all.   
  
The girls were somewhat unnerved by this, it wasn't a very nice looking smile.   
  
"What do you want?" snapped Rei.  
  
"Nothing, I'm just plotting," he said cheerfully.  
  
"Plotting what?" asked Minako with a small frown of her own.  
  
"It's a secret, you'll find out when we get to Jurai," said the boy cheerfully. "I've got Washuu working on a few things for me. It won't really start until we get there."  
  
"Who is Washuu?" asked Usagi.  
  
"That woman I've been talking too on the other ship. She's a scientist," replied the boy as he smirked at them all. "We've been bouncing ideas off one another for a while now about what to do about this mess."  
  
"What have you figured out so far?" asked Rei with a sort of disdainful tone.  
  
"Boy, you're sure irritable," grumbled Trunks as he stared at her.  
  
"What?! You little!!" growled the girl as she stood up and glared at him.  
  
"Stop it. I've got a headache," muttered Hotaru as she stood up from her seat opposite them at the table. She had stopped crying a few minutes before after waking up, and seemed to be in control again.  
  
Everyone looked at her and Trunks blinked. "Hey, that's new," said the boy as his eyes fell to her waist.  
  
Hotaru blushed and sat back down again after realizing that the back of her skirt was hiked up because her tail was wrapped around her waist. It helped a bit, but it was still bothering her.  
  
Trunks walked up behind her and pushed her back onto her feet and peered at her for a moment.  
  
"What do you think you're doing you little pervert!?" snapped Makoto. The rest of the girls got pretty much the same look on their faces. Hotaru said nothing and looked back at him over her shoulder with a small frown.   
  
He ignored them and looked up at Hotaru. "You need to cut a hole in your shorts for your tail. That's why it's been bothering you." He promptly dropped his pants and turned around to show them his boxers. "See, the elastic around the waist is pinching it." He pulled on the back of her shorts lightly to show her and she nodded.   
  
The senshi were all staring at him, not sure what to say or do.  
  
"Don't touch that you little pervert!" snapped Rei.  
  
"What?" said Trunks dumbly as he looked at her. "What the heck are you talking about?"  
  
"You can't grab a girl's shorts like that!" cried Minako.  
  
"Oh...why?" said Trunks obliviously as he continued to stare at them.  
  
The girls all looked at one another, none of them was quite sure what to say. Even Luna looked irritated with him from her position under the bench. She remained silent though and turned her head away.  
  
Trunks shrugged and motioned for Hotaru to follow him. "C'mon. I think we've got some scissors in the closet. If not, I'm sure I can dig up a box cutter or something."  
  
He opened the door and a loud scream pierced the air suddenly.  
  
George was cowering in the corner away from him. Trunks blinked and stared at him for a moment. "You're still in here?"  
  
"He hasn't come out," said Hotaru.  
  
"Get away! Demons!" cried the man rather pathetically.  
  
"Not even to go to the bathroom?" said Trunks in confusion.  
  
Hotaru shook her head and shrugged.   
  
"George, we gotta talk about this," said Trunks as he crossed his arms and glared at the man.  
  
"You've come to torture me again! The demons on this ship!"  
  
"Demons? You loser! I've been up for three days flying this thing! It's time you took a turn at the controls!" snapped Trunks with a disgusted sounding snort. "I haven't been able to nod off for more than an hour!"  
  
George blinked at this and stared at him. "Fly?"  
  
"Why else would I bring a weenie like you? Jeez Hanna, you sure did turn into a real wuss."  
  
"I can't fly!" cried George.  
  
"What? Sure you can, you probably know this ship better than I do," muttered Ranma as he frowned at the man. "I tried to fix it up best I could, but I'm sure you'd have done better. Had to be careful though, there's a lot of stuff I didn't recognize from the repair manual."  
  
"Of course not! I added all sorts of things to improve defense and efficiency!" snapped George hatefully. "Go away!"  
  
"Really?" said Trunks. "There's some stuff Washuu did too, but I wasn't sure which was which."  
  
George blinked at this and stared at him. "Washuu?"  
  
"Yeah, you remember her, the redhead?" said Trunks cheerfully.  
  
"The one armed demon?!" cried George fearfully.  
  
"Naw, the other one," said the boy with a smirk on his face. "Ya know, her."  
  
The man shrank behind some boxes as the boy walked over and took a pair of scissors off one of the shelves. He handed them to Hotaru and the girl looked at them for a moment before removing her shorts right there in front of them. She didn't seem to care either way and went about her business.   
  
"Washuu...I remember her now..." muttered George as he peered around the boxes.   
  
"Yeah, come on and quit being a jerk. The princess is worried about you."  
  
"Princess?" muttered the man in confusion. "She's here too!!! On no! We'll die for sure this time!"  
  
Trunks snorted. "What? You jerk, we are not! She's supposed to be with us this time!"  
  
"What about the queen?" muttered the man fearfully.  
  
"Jeez, she's only been dead for about ten-thousand years George," said Trunks as he rolled his eyes.   
  
"She...has?" muttered the man as he seemed to get a little braver.  
  
"Well, yeah. When was the last time you heard about the Moon Kingdom?"  
  
George stood up and blinked at him. "Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes, George," said Trunks with a small sigh.   
  
"Okay," said the man as he looked at him and blinked.  
  
Hotaru handed back the scissors and snorted. "I'm done now."  
  
"Oh, great," said Trunks cheerfully as he put them back. They started walking towards the door and Carrot turned towards George. "You coming? I need some sleep, so you need to take a shift at the controls."  
  
The man nodded slowly. He looked down at himself and his face contorted into disgust. "I need to change first."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Five minutes later, he came out of the closet and looked around. All of the girls were looking at him oddly. He snorted disdainfully and walked towards the cockpit. "All right, I'm here," he snorted irritably.  
  
Trunks turned around and his eyes went wide. "What the...?"  
  
George was standing there in his old spandex outfit from the Silver Millenium. He had an eye-patch over his left eye and a smirk on his face. He had his old blaster slung on his hip again, only it fit rather tightly and didn't really hang the way it was supposed to anymore. The whole effect was rather revolting really, a bearded man with a potbelly wearing clothes cut for an attractive woman in her late twenties. "What is it?"  
  
"It's nothing. Are you feeling all right George?" said Trunks uncomfortably.  
  
"I'm fine," he said a little sharply as he sat down at the controls as the boy jumped out of the way for him.   
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"We're coming up on Jurai," said Ryoko as her image appeared on the screen. "What the hell?"  
  
"Roger that," said George as he looked at her for a moment and frowned. "What is it?"  
  
"N-nothing..." said Ryoko a little dumbly as she cut off the communication quickly.  
  
"So, we're here?" said Trunks as he walked up into the cockpit and smirked at the green jewel of a planet that hung in the stars in front of them. It steadily grew larger and quickly filled the screen as their speed fell a little more. The security checkpoints were stationed around the planet and George maneuvered them close to one of them for clearance.  
  
"We have you on our screen now, please identify yourself," said a male voice over the Comm system.  
  
"Mikon Taka requesting deactivation of the deflector shield," said George calmly.  
  
"Mikon Taka, please transmit your registration for shield passage," said the voice.  
  
"Transmission commencing," said George calmly as he flipped a few switches.  
  
"Mikon Taka, what is your cargo and destination?" asked the voice.  
  
"Escorting Prince Yosho, Lord Tenchi, and Princess Ayeka from the planet Earth," said Trunks before George could reply.  
  
Ayeka's face appeared on the screen. "It's all right commander, they are with us."  
  
"Y-yes Princess," replied the man a little nervously.  
  
Trunks smirked, because of Ayeka, they could pass all sorts of checkpoints. Yosho might have gotten them through, but only if he'd dropped his disguise as well. "This is going to take less time than I thought."  
  
"We have alerted the palace of your return, please use your docking bay," said the officer sharply. "Welcome home princess."  
  
"Thank you," said Ayeka as she vanished.  
  
"Follow her," said Trunks to George.  
  
"Another Princess?" muttered the man fearfully.  
  
"We're her escort, George, calm down," said Trunks as he rolled his eyes.  
  
"Are you sure we didn't kidnap her?" said the man nervously.   
  
"Yes, George," replied Trunks with a sigh.   
  
+++++++++++  
  
They all stepped off the ranch and stared in awe at the planet they were standing on. Even Trunks was impressed.  
  
"Wow! It's so pretty!" cried Usagi out loud.  
  
"Yes," said Ayeka with a sort of fond smile on her face.  
  
All around them they could see giant trees. The entire surface of the planet was green. They were standing on an elevated platform that was made out of a sort of cross between metal and wood. There was a doorway behind them that led into the interior of a large three that loomed over all the others. It was the royal palace.  
  
"Well, it's nice to speak face to face again," said Trunks as he smirked at Washuu.  
  
"Yes, I've finished that project you were talking about. I hope it's what you wanted," she said cheerfully.  
  
"Thank you, I'll start on that tomorrow," said Trunks cheerfully.   
  
"I'll need to speak with you about that," said Washuu as she nodded. "There are some things you need to know."  
  
"Hmmm. How difficult will it be to gain materials here?" asked Ranma as he glanced at her again. "Not very. Juraians don't use these materials much, they have their trees. Training should be no problem either. They shouldn't be very expensive either, not here anyway."  
  
"We should talk to Ayeka about that," said Trunks with a short nod.  
  
"I don't see any reason why she wouldn't help us," said Washuu with a small shrug.  
  
"Yeah, I'd thought of that," said the boy cheerfully as he smiled at her.  
  
"Good, we're all set then, it's the best we can do," said Washuu cheerfully.  
  
By this time, a group of men armed with wooden poles and wearing Juraian battle armor walked up to them. "Welcome home princess," said the lead man as he bowed to her.  
  
"Yes, thank you. If you please, arrest that woman," said the girl as she pointed at Ryoko.  
  
The men all looked up at her and then at Ryoko.  
  
"What?" said Ryoko sharply.  
  
"Ayeka!" cried Tenchi.  
  
"Please Lord Tenchi, allow me to handle this," said the girl with a malicious smile. "She's a criminal, and now she's within our grasp. It was foolish to come here, she should have realized that."  
  
"You traitorous little bitch!" snapped Ryoko angrily as she started to back away. The men had surrounded her and she started to power up. "Grrrr..."  
  
"Ryoko!" snapped Trunks coldly. "Don't!"  
  
She glared at him and paused long enough for them to put a shield around her. "Damn it!"  
  
"Ayeka! Stop this!" cried Tenchi.  
  
"I think, that you should release her right now," said a rather youthful sounding voice from within their group.  
  
"What's going on?!" cried Usagi fearfully. She and the other inner senshi had grouped together tightly. They were ready for a fight, but hadn't transformed yet.  
  
"Is it a trap?" asked Makoto.  
  
"No," replied Hotaru calmly. She seemed undaunted by any of this. "Not for us at any rate, and it's about to fail."  
  
The Jurians were all staring at Yosho, who was no longer an old man. He had a smirk on his face as he walked past Ayeka and frowned at her. "I thought better of you than this."  
  
The girl's jaw was hanging down, shock was clear on her features. "Y-Yosho?"  
  
The man nodded slowly.  
  
"Y-you're not..."  
  
"Jurai's power is strong in me Ayeka, one day I will look as you knew me. However, that time has not come yet. I did not wish for Tenchi to come here, but we had no choice. His life could have been extended by hundreds of years by just setting foot on this planet."  
  
"What?" said the girl as she gasped in shock.  
  
"Tsunami may have already done that too him, but there is little I can do about that," replied the man as he shook his head. "Ayeka, know this. When this is over, I will return to my home. There is nothing you, or your father can do to stop that."  
  
The guards were standing around Ryoko, the field still containing her. Yosho walked up to her and smirked. "You're going to behave yourself."  
  
"I always thought you were a little spry for an old man," replied Ryoko with a smirk of her own.  
  
"Hmmm. Indeed," he agreed calmly. "Release her at once."  
  
The guards did as they were instructed and backed away.  
  
"You will not attempt this again Ayeka," said the man as he looked at the girl again coldly. "Is that understood? Ryoko has served her term, she is free."  
  
"Yosho?" muttered the girl quietly as she started to step forward but halted herself.  
  
Trunks smirked at her maliciously as he walked by. "Heh, things not going as planned?"  
  
She turned her gaze towards him and frowned. "What?"  
  
"It's nothing. I'm surprised at you princess, you should have realized that your brother wouldn't have allowed that, and as soon as Tenchi recovers, I'm sure he'll be upset with you as well. Ryoko will probably try to turn it against you, but she'll over do it, and he'll end up forgiving you I think."  
  
As if on cue, Ryoko flew over to the shocked Tenchi's side. He was staring at his grandfather in a sort of numb awe. "Tenchi! Did you see what she tried to do to me! She's so mean! How can you ever trust such a conniving little brat!?"  
  
The boy shook her off lightly as he stepped forward and stared at his grandfather's back. "Grandpa?"  
  
"Eh? Oh, that's right. You didn't know did you," he replied sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.  
  
"What's going on here Grandpa?" asked Tenchi as he stepped back away from him.  
  
"There is much you do not understand Tenchi, for now, simply forget about it. In time, answers will come on their own."  
  
"I suppose you'll have to go speak with the Emperor?" asked Trunks as he stepped towards him.  
  
"Yes, I'm afraid so," said Yosho.   
  
"Well, I'll stay here. I've got no interest in that. Take the Senshi with you, they'll need to meet him. If we win, the Moon Kingdom should return soon, it will be good for them to develop relationships now."  
  
"Hmmmm," said Yosho with a slight nod. "That would seem wise."  
  
"At any rate, Hotaru and I have things to do," said Trunks as he smirked at the girl. She glanced at him with a slightly surprised frown. "Come with me please, we've got training to do."  
  
Hotaru followed after him without question.  
  
Washuu smirked and went after them.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Deep space...  
  
"How much longer?" asked Dark Ranma as he frowned at the figure hidden in the shadows of the small space pod. "A few more days. I will arrive at their defensive shield."  
  
"Good, you know what to do when you arrive. We can't allow them to grow strong enough to return. The fleet will be arriving in three months."  
  
"Understood," replied the shadowy figure with an evil looking grin forming on his face. "And Jurai?"  
  
"Do what you want with it," said Dark Ranma with a smirk. "We'll be waiting for your return."  
  
"Heh, good," said the evil shadow. "This should be fun."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"Well?" asked Trunks as he glanced at Washuu.  
  
"It's what you asked for, a folded space with a different time set," replied Washuu. "One day, one year," she replied. "It's the most I could squeeze it."  
  
"Excellent," said Trunks cheerfully.  
  
"This is the living area," she said as showed them a diagram of the area. "Outside here you'll find what's basically a void. It has everything you'll need to survive. There's a year's worth of food in there. Took the Juraians about an hour to load it all up.  
  
Hotaru was looking at him in confusion. "Gravity is currently set at one-hundred times that of Earth. You can adjust it as needed," she said as she turned to face them.   
  
"Great," said Trunks as his grin widened. "Anything else I should know about?"  
  
"It'll work four times," she said calmly. "I couldn't do more than that with what I had to work with. I could make it more stable, but not at the moment. It automatically shuts down after one year, returning you to normal space and time. However, we can't contact each other during the time it's active. You're stuck there for one year once you go in."  
  
"Right," said Trunks as he frowned at this. "No leaving early, and if we're in there and something happens, tough right?"  
  
"Basically," said Washuu as she nodded.  
  
"Hotaru and I will go first, then I'll take Ryoko, after that, then the Senshi will use it with the three of us with Nabiki as well."  
  
"The Senshi? That girl who came with us?" said Hotaru in confusion.  
  
"Not for the kind of training you're thinking about, you'll see in about two years. It's best to just not worry about it at the moment."  
  
"It'll take a few months at least before we can get to that point," said Washuu. "Even then, I'm going to have to make another one of these chambers to accommodate."  
  
"I know, I was just rounding," said Trunks with a small shrug.  
  
"Another room like this will give us a little more room in a real pinch though," commented Trunks.  
  
"The specifications will be different for this room, we can't use it that way really."  
  
"Oh, I get you," said Trunks cheerfully. He turned towards Hotaru and smirked. "Well, shall we?"  
  
The girl nodded and stepped into the room after him as Washuu opened the door for them. "I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
"See ya next year," said Trunks.  
  
The door closed and Washuu turned away with a smug looking grin on her face. "Time to get started then!"  
  
"Miao!" said Ryo Ohki.  
  
"Oh, back to normal are you?" said Washuu cheerfully.  
  
"Miao!" insisted the cabbit.  
  
"Oh, I'm sure they won't mind," said Washuu cheerfully as she waved her hand at the animal.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Mihoshi blinked as she sat up and glanced around. "Where am I? Oh dear." She had been sleeping on the ground a moment ago, and was now staring at the huge white nothing that spread out before her. "I must be dreaming again!" she said cheerfully to herself. Oddly enough, the nothing dream was the one he had the most. It was pretty boring really. Whenever she tried to meditate, the same thing happened to her, she was somewhat used to it.  
  
"What the?" said a voice from behind her.  
  
She turned to see two people standing there staring at her. "Um, hi. Why are you in my dream?"  
  
Hotaru sighed.  
  
Trunks clutched his head in frustration. "It's too late to leave now!"   
  
"What should we do with her?" asked Hotaru with a sort of disdainful frown.  
  
"There's nothing we can do short of killing her," grumbled Trunks. "We should ignore her."  
  
Hotaru nodded and Mihoshi just looked confused.  
  
Trunks silently vowed revenge against Washuu. An entire year with Mihoshi, she would pay dearly for this!  
  
"What are we going to do for the next year?" asked Hotaru.  
  
Trunks ignored Mihoshi's random babbling as she cheerfully went on about how glad she was that she wasn't alone. "We're going to become Super Saiyans, and this time, we're going to do it right."  
  
"Right?" said Hotaru as she frowned at him.  
  
The boy nodded and turned away from her. "It's best we get started. We've got a lot of work to do."  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Attack on Jurai! 


	83. Insertion 83

Insertion  
  
Part 83  
  
A year, and a day.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Trunks, as he had dubbed himself,  
was slowly coming to a horrifying  
realization. Something far worse than  
even he had imagined had taken place. He  
was trapped in a room with Mihoshi, for  
an entire year. He thought he was taking  
it rather well.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"  
  
"Are you finished yet?" grumbled  
Hotaru as she frowned at her 'master'.  
"We should be training."  
  
"Really? Why?" asked the bubbly  
blonde girl cheerfully as she smiled at  
her two companions.  
  
"You're not supposed to be here,"  
said Hotaru as she frowned at her for a  
moment and turned back towards Trunks  
again. "I suppose you'll just have to  
wait over there." She pointed at the  
living area and sighed. "We have work to  
do."  
  
Mihoshi shrugged at this and looked  
at Trunks. "Is he going to be all right?  
It sure is heavy in here though."  
  
Trunks stopped screaming and looked  
at her for a moment. "Wait a minute!" He  
jumped to his feet and ran over to a  
small control pad that was on one of the  
walls in the living area. "A hundred  
times..." He blinked and looked over at  
Mihoshi for a moment and scowled. "What  
the hell?"  
  
"What? Is something wrong?" said the  
blonde with a somewhat frightened  
looking frown. "I didn't break anything  
did I?"  
  
"No, but...this room is set at a  
hundred times the gravity of Earth,"  
said the boy as he walked over to her  
and stopped. Looking her up and down he  
poked her leg. "How is she standing?"  
  
"A hundred times?" said Hotaru as  
she looked down at herself. "Are you  
sure?"  
  
"Yeah," replied Trunks calmly.  
"We're...well...come to think of it, I  
don't feel that heavy." He looked back  
at the pad again and sighed. "Oh, it's  
not turned on." He flicked the switch  
and immediately fell face first on the  
ground. Hotaru did much the same, but  
her fall was a little more controlled.  
  
"Damn it!" she growled as she  
struggled to rise to her feet. With a  
grunt of effort she managed to squat,  
and noticed Trunks doing the same.  
  
Mihoshi was standing there looking  
at them. "Are you two all right?"  
  
Trunks and Hotaru blinked and stared  
at her as she walked over to the boy and  
leaned down to look him in the eyes.  
  
"Okay, now this is getting weird,"  
he said as he turned towards Hotaru and  
grimaced.  
  
"You could have killed her," growled  
Hotaru.  
  
"What do you think I was trying to  
do?" he snorted irritably. "Well, maybe  
I was just hoping to keep her in once  
place for a while when we trained, but  
still."  
  
Mihoshi was currently looking at a  
scale off in the corner. She was  
standing on it and peering down at the  
readout. "Waaaaahhh! I've gotten fat!"  
  
"I don't believe this!" said Trunks  
in shock.  
  
"You said we should ignore her,"  
said Hotaru calmly. "We've got our own  
problems to worry about. She transformed  
and Trunks glared at her.  
  
"No, stop it right now," he snapped.  
"We aren't going to do it that way.  
  
Hotaru had managed to straighten up  
and stared at him in confusion as she  
powered down and found herself leaning  
forward again in a low squat. "What do  
you mean?"  
  
"We're going to transform like  
proper Saiyans," said Trunks with a low  
growling in his voice.  
  
Mihoshi stood upright and blinked.  
"What?"  
  
"Proper? What's wrong with doing it  
this way?" said Hotaru as she  
transformed again.  
  
"I think we'll get more power, if we  
do it right," said Trunks calmly. "Even  
if we don't, we'll be stronger because  
of our training, and I think it'll lift  
some of the limits doing it the right  
way. Like being able to keep the  
transformation for extended periods of  
time."  
  
Hotaru nodded at this and powered  
down again. "How do we do it?"  
  
Mihoshi walked between them and  
stared at them both. She was oddly  
silent.  
  
"What do you want? We're busy!"  
snapped Trunks.  
  
The woman immediately burst into  
tears and grabbed them both around their  
necks. "WAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! I was so  
alone!"  
  
Trunks and Hotaru gasped in complete  
and total shock as the woman's hair  
suddenly went jet black.  
  
"No fucking way," said Trunks in a  
short of harsh whisper.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"What is this place?" muttered Usagi  
as she glanced around at her  
surroundings nervously. For the inside  
of a tree, it looked awfully high tech.  
The walls appeared to be metal until you  
got a very close look at them.  
  
"Wow," muttered Ami with a little  
awe in her voice.  
  
"Who is that guy? He's cute," said  
Minako as she eyed Yosho.  
  
Makoto's head snapped around at her  
and she sighed. "I dunno, but he reminds  
me of my old sempai."  
  
"Sure he does," grumbled Rei as she  
moved between them. "Where did that old  
man go?"  
  
"Who cares!" gasped Minako as she  
moved up to the man's side and grabbed  
his arm. "Hi! I'm Minako!"  
  
"I know," said the man with a  
slightly amused chuckle.  
  
"Who are you? Are you a friend of  
Tenchi's? He seems to know you," said  
Makoto as she took up the position on  
his other side.  
  
Yosho wasn't sure what to make of  
this. "I suppose you could say that."  
  
"Grandpa really!" said Tenchi as he  
noticed the girls.  
  
"Now Tenchi, I'm not as old as you  
thought I was," replied Yosho  
cheerfully. He smiled at the two young  
girls on his arms and continued to lead  
them through the halls. "It's been some  
time since I've seen this place. Perhaps  
I could give you a tour later, I know  
these halls very well."  
  
The boy turned his head away and  
looked very uncomfortable.  
  
"What do you think you two are  
doing?" snapped Ayeka as she took notice  
of the situation.  
  
"Er...trying to get a date?" replied  
Minako as she stared at the girl.  
  
"Get your hands off my brother!" she  
snapped as she shooed her away  
irritably.  
  
Yosho chuckled and took the girl's  
arm. "Now Ayeka. These are our guests,  
we should treat them as such."  
  
"What? Really brother!" snapped  
Ayeka. "You're old enough to be their  
great grandfather many times over!"  
  
"Right, and you're not old enough to  
be Tenchi's grandma?" snorted Ryoko as  
she stuck her head in and leered at the  
princess.  
  
"Who are you too talk you old bat!"  
snapped Ayeka in retort. She had a heavy  
blush on her face now though.  
  
"Well, we're almost there," said  
Yosho as he glanced up at the towering  
ceiling of the great hall that led to  
the throne. To his surprise, the Emperor  
was standing in the hall waiting for  
them.  
  
"You've got a lot of nerve coming  
here Yosho," he said coldly.  
  
The man stood upright and frowned at  
him. "I have come, because of a great  
need."  
  
"I'm sure you'll tell me all about  
it," commented the Emperor with a slight  
sneer. "However, it isn't the time for  
such things yet. Please, introduce me to  
these...people."  
  
"Very well, this is Usagi, daughter  
of Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom,  
reborn on Earth once again, these girls  
are her protectors. They are the Senshi,  
reborn once again."  
  
"Moon Kingdom?" snorted the man.  
"There had better be more to this than  
these girls Yosho."  
  
"I'm afraid there is," replied Yosho  
calmly. "A great evil has descended upon  
Earth."  
  
"What nonsense," snorted the Emperor  
as he started to turn away.  
  
Luna jumped forward, Usagi almost  
cried out to her, but stopped suddenly  
when she spoke.  
  
"It is not nonsense! I have seen  
this evil with my own eyes, and I wish I  
had never done so!"  
  
The Emperor of Jurai simply stood  
there with his jaw hanging down as he  
stared down at Luna. After several  
moments, he finally spoke. "A...Moon  
Cat?" His eyes slowly moved to the group  
of girls standing nervously around the  
small creature. "So...it's true is it?  
Serenity succeeded. We had long ago  
given up hope of that."  
  
The senshi all looked at one another  
and then back at the huge man who was  
now looming over them. "I'm not going to  
lie and say I'm glad to see you, but  
that colony was pretty much a failure  
anyway. Most of the inhabitants don't  
even remember their roots to this  
planet." He turned away from them and  
sighed deeply. "We will speak of this  
later, Yosho, you will take them to the  
guest quarters, and get a room for  
yourself there as well. We will speak of  
this tomorrow. I'm sure you're all  
tired."  
  
Yosho nodded and turned towards the  
group. "Well, that went better than I  
thought it would."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Trunks growled as he stared at  
Mihoshi in more than pure irritation.  
This was positively impossible. "You  
don't know how to fight?"  
  
"Fight? Well, I took self defense  
when I joined the Galaxy Police of  
course, but I..."  
  
"How then?" muttered Hotaru as she  
stared at the woman's blonde hair. She  
had transformed again and was smiling at  
them cheerfully. It was almost as if she  
was having a tea party. Well, that was  
pretty much what they were doing  
actually.  
  
"I'm not sure, when I was little, I  
found out my mom and dad died. I got  
really sad, and I changed somehow.  
Auntie said I looked really pretty with  
blonde hair, so I stayed that way."  
  
"Auntie?" said Trunks in confusion.  
  
"Yeah, she died a long time ago. We  
got some sort of message one day, the  
place we were from blew up. I found out  
later that Class A criminal Frieza had  
destroyed it. So I vowed I would become  
the best Galaxy Police detective ever,  
and bring him to justice!"  
  
"Well, Frieza is dead," said Trunks  
with a slight smirk on his face. "He  
died trying to destroy Earth."  
  
"Really?" said Mihoshi dumbly.  
  
"Yeah, it was a while back  
actually," said Trunks as he scratched  
his chin.  
  
"It was only about three weeks ago,"  
said Hotaru as she glanced at him for a  
moment. "I've been meaning to ask you.  
What is that ridiculous thing on the top  
of your head?"  
  
Trunks blinked and looked up at his  
halo. Well, he tried to, but it moved  
out of his line of sight with the top of  
his head. "It's a halo, I got it when I  
came back from the dead. It's  
irritating, but it doesn't seem to get  
in the way or anything."  
  
"Dead?" said Hotaru as she stared at  
him for a moment.  
  
"Yeah, that was one messy episode,  
I'll tell you about it later, but only  
after we end this mess we're in now."  
  
"Right," said Hotaru with a small  
sigh.  
  
"What happened to your tail?" asked  
Trunks as he looked towards Mihoshi  
again. She looked slightly confused, but  
snapped out of it.  
  
"Oh! That! Auntie had it removed,  
that's all," she said as she waved her  
hand.  
  
"Great, so now what?" asked Hotaru.  
  
"Now, we train," said Trunks with a  
small shrug. He glanced at Mihoshi and  
sighed. "You stay here. I'm afraid I  
don't have the time or patience to try  
and train you too." That was an  
understatement if he'd ever uttered one.  
  
"She might be able to help us," said  
Hotaru as she glanced at him.  
  
"Hotaru, you don't know Mihoshi very  
well, and trust me when I say, you don't  
want to even imagine what that would be  
like," replied the boy as he stood up  
and started to walk towards the void.  
  
Mihoshi watched Hotaru follow with a  
cheerful smile on her face. This was  
turning out to be such a nice dream.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
George was standing on the Mikon Taka's  
roof, going over some minor repairs. He  
was still dressed in his spandex, and  
supervising several Juraian technicians.  
  
  
Some of them wondered why they were  
bothering with something this old,  
others were wondering how the hell  
someone managed to get an unlicensed  
phase repulsor cannon onto such an old  
ship, a few of them even wondered how  
someone managed to rig the drive system  
to travel at over light speed travel.  
Every one of them was trying their best  
not to think about why the man was  
wearing a tight fitting female spandex  
uniform from about ten thousand years  
ago.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"The pain of loss, you can use it to  
fuel the transformation," said Trunks as  
he looked at his student calmly and  
circled around her as she stared into  
the void.  
  
"Pain of loss?" she muttered as she  
stared at the ground.  
  
Trunks merely nodded and frowned.  
"It's difficult for me. I can't think of  
anything I've lost that will be enough.  
You however...you've got something you  
can use. Something fresh in your mind."  
  
The girl's face contorted slightly  
and she gasped. "No...please..."  
  
"You must," he replied  
emotionlessly.  
  
"I...I can't," muttered the voice  
that obviously belonged to Hotaru.  
  
"Do you want revenge?" he asked her  
coldly.  
  
"Yes." The reply was instantaneous.  
  
"Then you must transform, Chibi-Usa  
is stronger than the both of us, even  
with our transformations. We've got to  
match her, and go beyond that. This is  
the only way."  
  
"I'm...not ready," said Saturn's  
steely calm as she clenched her fist  
against her chest and frowned.  
  
Trunks nodded at this, he trusted  
her judgement. "All right, but we've  
still got a lot of work to do." He  
charged at her and attacked.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
A few days later, Mihoshi watched  
the pair battle from the safety of the  
living area of the room. She sighed and  
looked around in confusion. "This sure  
is a long dream."  
  
She sat for almost an hour on the  
steps that led into the void, staring  
aimlessly. There weren't even any clouds  
to look for pictures in, or any chores  
to do. Well, there was dinner, but that  
would have to wait a few more hours.  
Oddly enough, it still got dark at  
night, even in the nothingness.  
  
Finally, after hours of  
contemplation, she figured out exactly  
what was wrong. "I'm cold." She stood up  
and looked at the two specks in the  
distance. Occasionally, a flash of light  
could be seen, but they mostly ignored  
her. She was starting to get lonely  
really, but they did listen to how her  
day went at dinner. She'd tell them  
about how she cleaned, and cooked, and  
daydreamed as they ate. Their grunts of  
irritation seen as agreement as she  
rambled  
  
Abruptly her bubble headed train of  
thought stopped again and she remembered  
that she was cold. "Hmmm. Do we have any  
extra blankets, or a heater or  
something?" she muttered as she glanced  
around. Finally her eyes fell on  
something in the wall, next to the  
strange door she couldn't open. "Hey! A  
thermostat!"  
  
Immediately she walked over and  
started to press buttons. "Let's see,  
how do I work this thing?" The readout  
changed suddenly, adding an extra zero  
to the digital one hundred. "No, that'll  
be too hot..." she muttered. Before she  
could try to correct her mistake, she  
slammed onto the ground.  
  
"Ouchie!"  
  
Two tiny cursing voices could be  
heard in the distance.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Master. Let's kill her," said  
Hotaru as she struggled to push herself  
off the ground.  
  
"If we do, Tenchi might be upset,  
we're probably going to need his help,"  
grunted Trunks in the same position.  
Their clothes were torn and scorch marks  
could be seen along the ground, the only  
indication that there was a level plain  
that separated the sky from the ground.  
  
"I can't take this!" growled Hotaru  
irritably.  
  
"Screw it! When we make it back,  
she's dead!" growled Trunks as his head  
hit the ground again.  
  
"Thank you master!" cried Hotaru.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
A week later...  
  
"Huff, huff...We made it!" cried  
Trunks triumphantly as he stumbled onto  
the stairs of the living area and fell  
face first onto the ground.  
  
"Food!" cried Hotaru with tears in  
her eyes.  
  
"Oh! There you are!" cried Mihoshi  
as she cheerfully bounced over to where  
they were and squatted down beside them.  
"I don't know why, but everything got  
really heavy the other day. It's been  
very hard to clean up around here!  
Sorry, but your dinner got cold, it's in  
the refrigerator if you want it. I kept  
trying to turn up that thermostat, but I  
think it's broken. It's not any warmer."  
  
Trunks's eyes wandered over to the  
readout on the wall and he almost  
choked. "FIVE THOUSAND! YOU'VE GOT THE  
GRAVITY UP TO FIVE THOUSAND! YOU  
BUBBLEHEADED IDIOT! THAT'S NOT A  
THERMOSTAT!"  
  
"Huh? It isn't?" said the blonde  
obliviously. She appeared to be moving  
about without much trouble.  
  
"I'd kill her now, but I'm  
starving," grumbled Hotaru.  
  
"Right, food first, killing later,"  
muttered Trunks as he struggled to his  
feet and walked over to the  
refrigerator.  
  
After that, they immediately fell  
asleep. Thus saving Mihoshi from a  
rather painful death.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Trunks glared into the mirror that  
night and frowned. "You warped my halo!"  
he muttered as he glanced irritably back  
at Mihoshi. She was sleeping, and his  
golden ring was now looked somewhat like  
a golden 'U' from the side. He had just  
woken up, and they were moving around  
without too much trouble now. Mihoshi  
had gradually turned the gravity up over  
the course of the week. He had forbid  
her to touch it again, but the damage  
was already done. It was the maximum  
setting anyway. "Now we have to keep it  
like this," he grumbled irritably as he  
tried to pick up a glass of tea, only to  
have the liquid promptly fall through  
the bottom of the glass and into his  
lap. "I hate her, I hate her so much,"  
he muttered to himself as he sat there  
and stared at the wet spot on his lap  
for a moment. They had to be careful  
even pouring liquids now. Hotaru had  
found that out the other day. She had  
tried to pour herself a cup of tea, only  
to have it break not only the bottom of  
the cup, but also the table and a good  
portion of the floor.  
  
Naturally, he'd played it off as  
good training, but it still got on his  
nerves. The woman was downright  
insufferable. The only think keeping her  
alive was the fact that he wasn't sure  
how the Juraians would react to him  
killing her. He really didn't need to  
fight his way off the planet. One screw  
up like that was enough.  
  
"What else can go wrong?"  
  
Mihoshi walked up to him with a  
cheerful smile on her face as she sat  
down at the table. "I didn't feel like  
cooking tonight, I hope you understand."  
She looked somewhat sleepy and had just  
returned from doing something. He hadn't  
even seen her get up in his musings.  
  
He stared at the boxes sitting in  
front of them and blinked. "What's  
this."  
  
"I ordered a Pizza," she said  
cheerfully.  
  
"We don't have a phone," said Trunks  
as he turned to look at her.  
  
"Oh, I know. This is carry out,"  
said the blonde cheerfully.  
  
His eyes turned to look at the  
impossible. The boxes sitting on the  
table. "What the fuck? That's  
impossible!"  
  
"What do you mean?" said Mihoshi  
dumbly. "It's kind of funny, but Washuu  
said the same thing when I saw her."  
  
Trunks hit his head on the table. It  
went right through it, and it was rather  
painful. "I'm not even going to ask how  
you did this."  
  
"Silly, I just went to that little  
place outside the palace. Ayeka told me  
about it. They make good Pizza she  
said," replied the blonde as she smiled  
at him.  
  
"Washuu huh?" said Trunks as he  
stared at her.  
  
"Yes, she was angry, but she's  
always like that. I think she was in her  
lab, but I'm not sure..."  
  
Trunks sighed and opened the box.  
Sure enough, there was a steaming hot  
pie sitting inside. "Whatever."  
  
"Where is Hotaru?" asked Mihoshi as  
she glanced around.  
  
"Huh? Oh, she went off by herself  
for a little while," said the boy as he  
took a slice and started eating. "She'll  
be back in a while."  
  
"I'd hate for her food to get cold,"  
said Mihoshi with a worried looking  
frown.  
  
"I guess, I'll go get her in a  
minute," said the boy with a shrug. His  
face scrunched up slightly and he looked  
at Mihoshi. "You got any relatives named  
Hibiki?"  
  
"No. Why?" asked Mihoshi after a  
moment of thought.  
  
"It's nothing," said Trunks as he  
brushed it off.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Hotaru glared into the nothing, her  
heart racing as she strained against her  
feelings and the pent up rage inside her  
heart. "I feel it!" screamed the  
youngest voice in her mind in triumph.  
"Almost..."  
  
Nine and Saturn were silent,  
allowing the young girl to come into the  
power as best they could. They were  
currently feeling the changes that were  
struggling to come forward in their  
body. "Almost..."  
  
"What is this power?" muttered Nine  
in a sort of awed whisper.  
  
"Quiet," snapped Saturn. It was  
almost an aside, and obviously she  
hadn't been paying attention. Hotaru had  
her complete attention.  
  
The golden power formed around them,  
changes coming faster and faster. They  
could feel their hair rising away from  
their scalp slowly. It flashed with gold  
for a moment as they struggled to keep  
the power from escaping their grasp yet  
again.  
  
Hotaru screamed, a final surge of  
effort, the last of her mental strength  
pulling at the new power. All then knew  
after that, was an explosion of light.  
  
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"  
  
Gasping they stared down at  
themselves. Their body was noticeably  
bulkier, more-so than their previous  
transformation had done to them. "I feel  
it, it is different," muttered Hotaru to  
herself as she stared down at their  
body. They were a Super Saiyan.  
  
"Such power!" muttered Mistress Nine  
in awe. "It's mine..."  
  
"Don't get ahead of yourself," said  
Saturn coldly.  
  
"No...it's..." Hotaru lost it, the  
power faded and she grit her teeth in  
frustration. "It's gone."  
  
They turned their heads and noticed  
something. Trunks was standing a short  
distance away, clapping his hands. "Well  
done."  
  
"M-master," said the girl as she  
blushed slightly. "I didn't see you."  
  
"I'm just glad I didn't miss that,"  
said Trunks with a small shrug.  
  
"I couldn't hold it," grumbled the  
girl as she frowned again.  
"It's...difficult."  
  
"I know, we'll work on it some more  
later. Hopefully, I'll be able to figure  
out how you did it a little better by  
observing," he said with a small sigh.  
  
Hotaru nodded at this and turned her  
head away. She had always respected him,  
but somehow he seemed to have lost some  
of it somehow. She wasn't sure why, or  
how. For some reason, Hotaru didn't care  
if he approved or not. It was almost  
resentment, but not quite that bad.  
  
"Come on, Mihoshi had pizza for us,"  
said Trunks as he smirked at her for a  
moment. He could see it. She was  
confused, angry, and something was gone  
in her eyes now. "You hate me?"  
  
Hotaru blinked. "What? No master,  
I..."  
  
"I see," he said with a chuckle.  
"Hotaru, I'm sorry I made you do that.  
Maybe one day you'll forgive me, maybe  
not."  
  
"What? What is it?" said the girl as  
she looked at him.  
  
"Maybe it's that I'm younger than  
you now? Maybe it's being stuck in a  
room with me for a year? Or maybe, it's  
that I forced you to use your father's  
death to gain the power you have now?"  
He noticed her flinch slightly on the  
last one and his smirk fell. "That's it  
is it?"  
  
The girl flashed a glare at him and  
he sighed. "I'm sorry Hotaru, but we  
have to be ready." He turned away and  
started walking back.  
  
"Pizza?" muttered the girl to  
herself as she forced the thoughts out  
of her head.  
  
"Yeah. Don't ask," said Trunks as he  
glanced back at her again.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Two weeks later...  
  
It was amazing, the feeling he had  
just had was beyond anything he'd ever  
experienced. Well, not really. Becoming  
the ruler of the Universe will jade you  
a little. It was still more than he was  
expecting. The power faded just as  
quickly as it had come and he fell to  
his knees. Gasping for breath he took  
Hotaru's extended arm and allowed her to  
help him to his feet. "I've got it."  
He'd just had his first real Super  
Saiyan transformation. "Man, what a  
rush."  
  
"Isn't it though?" asked Hotaru with  
a somewhat playful tone. She'd changed  
quite a bit over the past two weeks. She  
hadn't heard the word 'master' since the  
day she had transformed. It seemed she  
believed herself to be the superior one  
here, or at least on equal footing.  
  
Trunks smirked at this as he stared  
her down for a moment, challenging her  
gaze coolly. "I'll have to correct that  
after I get the hang of this."  
  
"What?" said the girl as she blinked  
at him.  
  
"It's nothing, just thinking out  
loud," he replied as he glanced away.  
"It's about time to eat. We should get  
back."  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Mihoshi wasn't a terrible cook, but  
she wasn't a good one either.  
Occasionally, she would disappear for a  
minute or two and come back with take  
out of one sort or another. Neither  
Trunks nor Hotaru questioned this,  
although they did try to find a way to  
seal her out while she was gone. Any  
attempts were unsuccessful, and she  
always returned. Neither of them had  
ever seen her come or go. It was damned  
irritating. The pair were fearful that  
they'd have to eat her cooking all the  
time if they told her that it was  
impossible to escape the room.  
  
If she got it in her head that she  
really was trapped, she might lose the  
odd ability to leave. Trunks was in  
favor of the theory of a reality bending  
stupidity field. Hotaru was thinking  
more along the lines of dumb luck along  
with a teleportation ability. In any  
case, neither said anything to Mihoshi.  
After all, she might get stuck outside  
if someone on that end explained it to  
her. It was an off chance, but the pair  
was hoping.  
  
As it was, things remained pretty  
much the same. They were nearing the  
halfway mark on their training, and the  
year would be over.  
  
"We need to start practicing in the  
air again," said Trunks as he glanced at  
Hotaru. "We've got the transformation  
down now."  
  
Hotaru nodded, secure in the  
knowledge that she had it down a week  
earlier. "So I get to kick your butt in  
the air now?"  
  
Trunks smirked at this. "You can  
try, I'm going to stop holding back  
now."  
  
Hotaru's smile flickered for the  
faintest of moments. Trunks pretended  
not to notice as best he could. His grin  
widened a bit despite his efforts.  
  
"Fly?" asked Mihoshi.  
  
"Yeah, fly," said Trunks lazily.  
  
"You have a ship?" she muttered in  
confusion as she glanced around.  
  
"No, we don't need a ship to fly,"  
said Hotaru with a slightly irritated  
frown.  
  
"Um, an anti-gravity pack?"  
  
"No?"  
  
"Really bouncy shoes?" asked  
Mihoshi.  
  
"No. We take our energy, and push  
ourselves into the air," said Trunks.  
  
"Really? That seems hard," said  
Mihoshi with a small frown.  
  
"Not really. We just take it, make  
it into a little ball like this," said  
Trunks as he smiled and formed a chi  
ball into his hand. "But instead of  
doing it in our hands, we do it in  
here." He pointed at his stomach and  
grinned. "Then you just will it to move  
you. Pretty simple really."  
  
"Oh," said the woman obliviously.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks was supremely annoyed, not  
because Hotaru was actually doing better  
than he'd thought. He was still beating  
her rather soundly. This irritated her,  
but it was slight. Not by the fact that  
it was hard to tell how far from the  
ground they were. They had several  
landing accidents because of this.  
Certainly not by the fact that it was  
difficult for either of them to hold the  
transformation for more than about two  
hours. They still had almost four years  
worth of training to go through still if  
they needed it that badly. No, Trunks  
was annoyed, by Mihoshi.  
  
"Wheeeeeeeeeee!" cried the blonde as  
she twisted between himself and Hotaru  
cheerfully. She was fluttering around  
like a sparrow, flapping her arms in a  
ridiculous manner and giggling as she  
flew around the room.  
  
The most annoying thing of all, was  
the fact that he'd told her how to do  
it, and he'd told her how to do it not  
even an hour ago.  
  
"Damn."  
  
"You just had to open your damn  
mouth didn't you?" growled Hotaru  
irritably as she glared at him.  
  
"I didn't think she'd really figure  
it out all right?!" he snapped angrily.  
  
"Hee hee! This is so much fun!"  
cried Mihoshi as she flipped around them  
cheerfully.  
  
"Stop that!" cried Hotaru as the  
woman spun circles around her and  
twisted higher and higher into the air.  
  
"Don't you think this is great? It's  
the best dream ever!" cried Mihoshi as  
she maneuvered up beside them and  
continued to flap her arms.  
  
"You don't have to do that!" snapped  
Trunks as he grabbed the offending  
appendages and held them down firmly.  
  
"Oh? Really? Good, I was getting  
tired," said Mihoshi cheerfully.  
  
Hotaru slammed her foot right into  
his jaw and growled at him. "Idiot! Why  
did you tell her that?"  
  
"This sucks more and more, every  
day," growled Trunks from the ground.  
  
Mihoshi giggled at the scene and  
merrily went about flying around them  
like an annoying fly. Hotaru started to  
try her best to play flyswatter, but the  
woman was irritatingly hard to hit with  
her random fluttering. "Hold still damn  
you! Just die!" cried the enraged girl.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Three Months Later...  
  
"What's this?" muttered Hotaru as  
she glared at the machine in front of  
her.  
  
"Practice," said Trunks as he turned  
it on.  
  
"It's a video game," said Hotaru.  
  
"I know, we have to practice  
dancing," said Trunks calmly as he  
stepped back from the machine and  
sighed. "If we screw up the fusion  
dance, it makes us weaker instead of  
stronger. We have to make sure we're in  
perfect harmony when we do it. It was  
blind luck that we got it right last  
time."  
  
The machine cheerfully barked at  
them, startling Hotaru slightly. "Are  
you ready! It's time to dance!"  
  
"We should get this over with,"  
grumbled Trunks as he sighed and started  
messing around with the menus. He  
pointed to the pad that extended from  
the bottom of the machine and Hotaru  
nodded and stepped up onto it with him.  
  
With a sick looking grimace, Trunks  
pushed started the game.  
  
"Ai-yai-yai, I'm your little  
butterfly, red, black, and green, like  
the colors in the sky..."  
  
Hotaru blinked and looked at him.  
  
"Yeah, I know, but I couldn't think  
of a better idea," he said with a small  
shrug.  
  
"Dance Dance Revolution?" muttered  
the girl as she read the title out loud.  
  
"Come on, I wanna get this over  
with," said Trunks with a small sigh.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Mihoshi was addicted, it was all  
they could do to keep her away from the  
damn machine. Hotaru had tried to  
destroy it, but it merely got stuck on  
one song.  
  
The bubbly blonde had become  
protective of the game now, she wouldn't  
let them near it. She was surprisingly  
successful in steering any attempts to  
destroy it away. Thus, "I'm a Little  
Butterfly, now echoed through eternity  
of the room."  
  
"Damn," growled Hotaru as she glared  
at the machine in the distance.  
  
"Damn that woman and her stupid dumb  
luck!" growled Trunks angrily at her  
side. They had tried everything, even  
blasting it from a distance with huge  
chi blasts. Everything had been  
deflected, repelled, or otherwise  
thwarted by nothing more than sheer  
stupid luck.  
  
Once a sudden growth of ice had  
stopped it. Hotaru and Trunks had spent  
the better part of an hour trying to  
fight their way through it without  
becoming encased. Another time, a flash  
flood had saved the now raged and barely  
operable machine, washing away the  
ground based chi attack and sending it  
into a portion of the living area. Yet  
another attempt at merely using brute  
force had actually been thwarted by  
Mihoshi. The woman actually managed to  
grab them both in a pleading hug, a hug  
that took them an hour and a half to  
break free from.  
  
"This is stupid!" snapped Hotaru.  
  
"I know, but we've tried everything  
else," growled Trunks.  
  
"Fine, ready?"  
  
"Not even Mihoshi can stop us if  
we're fused!" agreed Trunks.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Um, who are you?" muttered Mihoshi  
as she stared at the red-haired child in  
front of her.  
  
The child was unfortunately about  
four feet wide, with pudgy cheeks and no  
neck. "Shut up."  
  
"Are you lost little girl...well, I  
suppose you're not really little then  
are you? Can I help you find your mommy?  
There aren't a lot of people here, so it  
shouldn't be too hard."  
  
"Shut up." growled Fat Turtaru.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"Wow grandma, you must really be  
hungry. I mean, you're all skin and  
bones!" said Mihoshi as she spoon fed  
the old woman sitting in front of her.  
  
"Slt urp," said the skinny, flimsy  
looking old Turtaru through her spoonful  
of force fed applesauce.  
  
"You shouldn't be wandering around  
like this! I'm sure your family is  
worried about you! Of course, I said the  
same thing to that little girl who  
stopped by earlier today. I hope she's  
all right! I mean, I told her 'don't you  
wander off now!' and she just up and  
disappeared on me! I do hope she made it  
home all right. I mean..."  
  
Old Turtaru growled hatefully at the  
woman and tried her best to block out  
the song that still echoed across the  
empty space in the room. She twitched  
slightly, her neck going into an  
unexplainable spasm.  
  
"Oh, you like this song too? It's my  
favorite! There were a lot of other  
one's too, but this one is the best.  
It's too bad it only plays this one now,  
I'm not sure why..."  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"It's over, I'm finished, I'm just  
going to lay here and die," said Trunks  
as he looked at Hotaru. The both of them  
were merely lying on their backs,  
listening to the music drift across the  
void. "She's...defeated us."  
  
"I can't concentrate! We can't fuse  
while that racket is..." muttered Hotaru  
lamely. "Beaten by that woman...I'll  
never live this down!"  
  
"If you don't tell, I won't," said  
Trunks weakly. "Who am I kidding? We're  
going to die here!"  
  
There was a loud crash, followed by  
an explosion, and then...silence.  
  
"What?" muttered Trunks as he sat  
upright suddenly. "What was that?"  
  
Hotaru cocked her head on the  
ground, not daring to move. She was  
hoping in vain that she had somehow gone  
deaf. Then she realized that she'd heard  
Trunks speaking to her.  
"It's...stopped?"  
  
Mihoshi's high pitched voice started  
wailing in sorrow.  
  
"It's the most beautiful sound I've  
ever heard!" cried Trunks in triumph.  
  
Mihoshi walked by them a short time  
later, carrying her beloved game in her  
arms like a child. "It...it's...it's  
broken! WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"  
  
The seemingly indestructible  
machine, had finally succumbed to the  
intense gravity of the room, and  
Mihoshi's bodyweight as she played yet  
another game on the machine. She had  
somehow put her foot right through it,  
and destroyed the power source. At long  
last, the nightmare was over.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Trutaru sweat as she lowered her  
hands and stared at the wall of ice that  
had now completely shattered away into  
thousands of broken and melting shards.  
  
"We've got it," she said with a grin  
of triumph on her face as she clenched  
her fist and smirked. "At last."  
  
In an instant, the transformation  
ended. Hotaru and Trunks stood next to  
one another and gasped for a moment as  
they readjusted to their own bodies.  
  
"Still only half an hour," muttered  
Hotaru.  
  
"I don't think there's a way to  
extend it," said Trunks as he nodded at  
her.  
  
"So, what now?" said the girl as she  
stood upright and frowned. "Wanna spar  
again?"  
  
"I would, but..." Trunks smirked at  
her and stared forward. "Our time is up.  
We need to get ready to go back."  
  
The girl turned to look at him and  
smiled slightly. "It's over?"  
  
"It'll be one year, in about an hour  
and half," said Trunks with a small nod.  
  
  
"I lost track of time around the  
time..."  
  
"Don't say it! We will never speak  
of that horrible machine again," said  
Trunks curtly.  
  
Hotaru nodded in agreement.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Mihoshi sighed and looked around at  
her surroundings. "You know, this is the  
longest dream I've ever had."  
  
The door that she'd never been able  
to unlock suddenly opened behind her and  
she blinked. "Hey..." Curiosity set in  
and she stood up and walked over to it.  
"I wonder where this goes?"  
  
"Outside, we're leaving," said  
Trunks calmly as he stepped up behind  
her and put his foot in the doorway  
before she could close it behind her. It  
nearly broke his foot and he cursed  
under his breath after it happened, but  
it was preferable to staying in the room  
for another year.  
  
"That was close," muttered Hotaru as  
she stepped outside.  
  
Trunks was the last to leave, he  
stepped out and glanced around. They  
were standing on the launch pad again,  
with the Mikon Taka looming overhead.  
George was standing on top, ordering  
around workers in his tights.  
  
"Come on! We haven't got all day!"  
he cried irritably as he started welding  
something on the roof.  
  
"I'm surprise they have parts for  
this sort of thing here," commented  
Trunks as he noticed the workers.  
  
"Well, they don't use space trees to  
travel around on planet," said Washuu as  
she walked up next to them.  
  
Trunks whirled around and grabbed  
her collar roughly, pulling her up to  
face him. He growled angrily and stared  
her dead in the eyes. "YOU!"  
  
"What's the problem?" muttered  
Washuu nervously.  
  
"You did this!"  
  
"What do you mean?" muttered Washuu  
as she smiled at him, the sweat on her  
brow was not a good sign in her favor.  
  
"Washuu, you owe me more than you'll  
ever know," he growled angrily.  
  
"Owe you? What do you mean owe you?  
She got out! I still haven't figured out  
how she was able to break into my own  
time chamber! I should have  
increased..." Washuu realized that she  
had said exactly the wrong thing. "I  
mean, we haven't seen her all day. We  
were getting worried!"  
  
"I just spent an entire year, locked  
in a room with Mihoshi," said Trunks  
angrily as he touched her nose against  
his own. "Now, if you ever do anything  
like that to me again. I will kill you."  
  
The redhead nodded very slowly. "I  
umm..."  
  
"Don't say anything!" he snapped at  
her as he dropped her to the ground.  
"Just don't speak! You owe me Washuu,  
you owe me big. Just remember that."  
  
She nodded sheepishly and backed  
away slightly as Hotaru walked by and  
gave her the evil eye.  
  
"Heh. Oops," she said as she stood  
up and dusted herself off.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Trunks was drunk. It was a great  
feeling to be free at last, finally out  
and away from the horrors of the time  
chamber. He was feeling quite satisfied  
with himself and downed another pint of  
Juraian Beer. He thought it was rather  
odd that the entire planet only had one  
label, but it wasn't a bad label either.  
  
  
Idly he reached out with his hand,  
and another bottle floated into his  
grasp. He burped casually and flicked  
the cap off with his thumb in a quick  
motion. It flipped into the air and  
landed in a glass with several others.  
Oddly enough, he had a rather large area  
of clearance around him.  
  
He looked around and noticed several  
of the Juraians were watching him rather  
closely. His clothes were rather ragged,  
but he had good money, and as far as he  
knew, there was now drinking laws on the  
planet. Something to do with the alcohol  
having non addictive qualities due to  
the 'Water of Life' or something. It was  
a memory of Genaku's from the Silver  
Millenium anyway.  
  
Hotaru had gone off on her own,  
looking for peace and quiet. They would  
spend a day outside the chamber, and  
then return with Ryoko with them. This  
time, the blonde terror would not be  
with them.  
  
As it was, they had a lot of work to  
do once they entered. Ryoko would have  
to be taught how to access her power as  
well. She had at least started, but  
didn't quite have a handle on it yet.  
  
Then came the part he was dreading  
the most. Training with the Senshi,  
luckily he had something different in  
mind for them. That was still in the  
planning stages anyway. Washuu said it  
would be at least three days before they  
were ready for that anyway.  
  
He grinned to himself as he  
staggered to his feet, not noticing the  
cloaked figures following close behind  
him.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"What do you think?" asked one of  
the men who followed behind Trunks with  
his hood pulled down over his head.  
  
One of the others nodded slowly,  
pulling his own hood back to reveal a  
rather young looking man with short cut  
hair. "We must inform the master."  
  
"Perhaps it would be best to just  
bring him to the master," said the  
third member of the group. He pulled his  
hood away to reveal dark skin and a bald  
head. "He just fell asleep in the  
street."  
  
The others nodded in agreement and  
shuffled over to where Trunks was lying  
on the ground.  
  
++++++++++=  
  
He woke up several minutes later  
after being shoved onto his feet rather  
gently. His finger was sore and there  
was some muttering going on around him.  
Something to do with 'Midi-chlorians' or  
something like that. "Wha? Where?"  
  
"Ahhh, this is the one? Seeks  
training he does?" said an irritatingly  
familiar voice.  
  
"Yoda?" muttered Trunks as his  
vision cleared slightly.  
  
"Yes," said the tiny green man in  
front of him. He was wrinkled and old,  
with long ears.  
  
"What the hell is this? Where am I?"  
he muttered.  
  
"Tested he shall be," said Yoda with  
a grave muttering noise following the  
statement.  
  
Trunks realized that he was in some  
sort of room, surrounded by men in dark  
shadowy cloaks and hoods. All of them  
had their hoods off and were sitting in  
a rather relaxed manner. Behind them a  
large panoramic window revealed the  
surface of Jurai.  
  
"I thought the Jedi council was on  
Coruscant."  
  
"Hmmm, lucky you are, that  
vacationing at summer home we are," said  
Yoda gravely.  
  
"Whatever," muttered Trunks in  
annoyance. This was starting to become a  
major buzz-kill.  
  
"Begin the trials we shall," said  
Yoda.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Hotaru poked her head into Ryoko's  
room and frowned. The woman was pouting  
angrily, and muttering something about  
'sharing rooms is inappropriate my ass',  
and 'Tenchi wouldn't mind if I...'. All  
at once Ryoko noticed her and scowled  
openly. "What?"  
  
"Have you seen Trunks around lately?  
I can't find him," she said with a  
little amusement in her tone.  
  
"What the heck do I care about that  
brat for? Go find your boyfriend  
yourself," she snapped irritably as she  
phased through one of the walls.  
  
Hotaru clicked her tongue and shook  
her head. "I'll have to remember that  
one when it's time to train you Ryoko."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"How feel you?"  
  
"Huh? I dunno, about ninety-eight  
degrees, soft, smooth texture, kinda  
oily," said Trunks as he rubbed on his  
arm for a moment.  
  
"Oily?" said Yoda in a sort of  
muttering fashion. It was as if he  
understood some greater meaning in that  
statement.  
  
"Yeah, I kinda need a bath," said  
Trunks with a small shrug.  
  
"Hmmm..." said Yoda as he peered at  
the boy.  
  
The boy peered right back, his eyes  
slightly bloodshot. He almost fell as he  
leaned forward to peer the old alien  
right in the eyes and staggered for a  
moment before regaining his footing and  
continuing to stare.  
  
"Hmmm. I sense much beer in this  
one," said Yoda wisely.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
A short time later...  
  
"Cup," said Trunks as he rolled his  
eyes.  
  
The bald man was looking at some  
sort of electronic screen that randomly  
flashed pictures. It would stop, and  
Trunks would have to tell him what it  
was. He had gotten them all right up to  
this point. It was unnerving all of  
those present a little.  
  
The man shifted in his seat and  
looked at the boy uncomfortably. "This  
one?"  
  
"I dunno, you moved," replied  
Trunks.  
  
"I moved?" said the man as he stared  
at the boy in confusion.  
  
"Yeah, I can't see the reflection of  
the screen in the window behind you  
anymore," replied the boy with a shrug.  
"What did you think I was doing?" He  
stared at the man.  
  
"I ummm..." he coughed into his hand  
and shifted in his seat again.  
  
"Oh, it's a speeder! Are we done  
now?" said Trunks cheerfully. "I'm gonna  
have a mega-hangover later. I kinda  
wanna get to bed before it starts."  
  
"The boy is gifted," said the bald  
man to Yoda.  
  
"Hmmm. Indeed," said Yoda. "Clouded  
his future is though..."  
  
"So what?" grumbled Trunks  
indignantly.  
  
"So, can he be trained?" asked one  
of the other jedi.  
  
"Trained? By you losers?" said  
Trunks as he looked around. He burst  
into laughter and started rolling on the  
floor.  
  
The jedi were absolutely perplexed.  
  
"Hmmm?" said Yoda as his ears perked  
up.  
  
"Jeez, what kind of jerk do you  
think I am? I go back in time and kill  
some idiot in oversized armor with a  
magic crystal, and you dolts start some  
sort of fan club. You expect me to join?  
Ha! I've got more power in my pinky than  
the whole lot of you combined!"  
  
One of the jedi jumped out of his  
seat. "What? He speaks of..."  
  
"Yes, the legend," said Yoda  
ominously. "Mocks us he does."  
  
"What are you gonna do about it?"  
snorted Trunks as a small opening in his  
arm appeared. A thin metal rod appeared  
in his grasp and he frowned at the men  
surrounding him. "I'll kick your ass old  
man!"  
  
The jedi were on their feet with  
their weapons drawn in an instant. No  
one had ignited their blades yet though.  
  
"Jedi, how pathetic," snorted Trunks  
as he glanced around.  
  
"A Sith?!" cried the young Jedi who  
had helped bring him.  
  
"Don't be stupid. I wouldn't waste  
my time with one of those losers  
either," snorted Trunks indignantly.  
  
"The Force is strong with this one  
master, be cautious," said the young  
jedi to Yoda.  
  
"Hmmm, see that I can," said the old  
man carefully.  
  
"Bah, the force my ass," snorted  
Trunks. "I'm no jedi, and I never will  
be. I'm a Saiyan Warrior, the strongest  
in the Universe! You're not even a warm  
up!"  
  
The Jedi gasped, blades came to life  
all around Trunks, but he stood calmly  
as if nothing had happened.  
  
Yoda held up a clawed hand and  
narrowed his eyes at the boy. "Speaks  
the truth he does."  
  
"About what?" said the bald one with  
a hint of panic in his voice.  
  
"Stronger than all of us he is not,  
but a Saiyan he is," replied Yoda  
coolly. "Many years it has been, since  
one of your kind have I seen."  
  
"Yeah, we had a little problem a  
while back, but we got better. Besides,  
I'm not an ordinary Saiyan. I'm a Super  
Saiyan, you can't see my real power old  
man. At least, not yet."  
  
Yoda narrowed his eyes at some of  
the angrier looking Jedi. "A lie, that  
was not. From this one, no deceit do I  
sense."  
  
"He could be blocking it out," said  
the bald Jedi.  
  
"Come and find out," challenged  
Trunks playfully. He beckoned with his  
hand and waited. No one took his  
challenge. Finally, he slumped down and  
sat on the floor. "Man, you old farts  
are no fun at all. You're just standing  
there."  
  
"I am wondering, who you are?" said  
Yoda calmly.  
  
"I wasn't expecting the bloody Jedi  
Inquisition," grumbled Trunks.  
  
"Nobody expects the Jedi  
Inquisition!" snapped the young jedi.  
  
"Hmmm, I sense anger," commented  
Yoda. "The Dark Side has two chief  
weapons, fear leads to anger, anger  
leads to...The Dark Side has three chief  
weapons, fear leads to anger, anger  
leads to hate, hate leads to...the dark  
side has four, four chief weapons, fear  
leads to anger, anger leads to hate,  
hate leads to suffering!" said Yoda  
wisely.  
  
"Yeah, great. Can I go now? I mean,  
it's obvious you guys don't want to  
fight and all...this is pretty boring,"  
commented Trunks.  
  
"One more question do I have," said  
Yoda calmly.  
  
"What is it old man?" snorted  
Trunks.  
  
"I am wondering, why you are here?"  
said the old Jedi calmly.  
  
"Hmmm? I'm going to save the Earth  
of course, but first I gotta train a  
little, and I'm afraid none of you old  
geezers would do me any good in that.  
I'm just too far beyond you."  
  
"Arrogant he is," commented Yoda. He  
frowned suddenly and looked thoughtful.  
"Five, five chief weapons of the Dark  
Side! Arrogance leads to..."  
  
"Oh shut up," snorted the bald jedi  
irritably.  
  
Yoda looked slightly miffed for a  
moment before becoming serious. Once he  
was sure Trunks was out of earshot he  
sighed heavily. "So, he is indeed the  
one."  
  
"It would seem that way," said the  
bald jedi with a short nod.  
  
"What should we do?" asked one of  
the jedi sitting near the end of the  
room.  
  
"Nothing...but watch closely we  
should," said Yoda calmly.  
  
"Is he as powerful as he claims?"  
asked the young jedi.  
  
"Indeed," said Yoda with a short  
nod. "Explains much it does, on why so  
much about Valdis was found, nothing  
about the founder."  
  
"If he's a Saiyan..." said one of  
the angrier looking Jedi.  
  
"A Saiyan he is, but more than that  
he is also," said Yoda. "Smart he is,  
dangerous, but not evil." He nodded to  
himself and sighed again.  
  
"What should we do?" insisted the  
young jedi.  
  
"Nothing, can we do," said Yoda with  
a small shrug. He pulled out a small  
pipe and lit it before relaxing  
slightly. With a small sigh he exhaled  
some of the smoke and closed his eyes.  
"His own destiny he must find, clouded  
his future is..."  
  
The bald jedi nodded. "Only because  
he controls his destiny more than most."  
  
Yoda opened his eyes and chuckled,  
it was a wheezing sort of sound. "Ooh!  
Saw that to did you? Yes, dangerous he  
is, but also...hope he represents, to  
himself, and others."  
  
The young jedi looked frustrated at  
this, but turned to look at the hallway  
where Trunks had gone. "I don't  
understand master."  
  
"Perhaps, one day, you will," said  
the bald jedi calmly.  
  
"I bet you don't either," snorted  
the young jedi in irritation.  
  
The bald jedi frowned at him. "I  
do."  
  
"Oh yeah? Explain it then!" snorted  
the young jedi.  
  
"You must find your own answers,"  
replied the bald man with a small smirk  
on his face.  
  
"You're only saying that cause you  
don't know," snorted the young jedi.  
  
The man's smirk fell again and he  
shook his head. The young jedi snorted  
and walked out of the room calmly with a  
smirk of his own this time.  
  
"Right he was," said Yoda quietly.  
  
"Nobody asked you," growled the bald  
man.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
TBC....  
  
Next Time: Ryoko's training! 


	84. Insertion 84

Insertion  
  
Part 84  
  
Attack on Jurai!  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks smirked as he held Ryoko by  
her neck in a headlock and pulled her  
behind him forcibly.  
  
"You little runt!" cried the  
irritated woman as she was dragged along  
with Tenchi following behind her with a  
frown on his face.  
  
"Ryoko!" muttered the boy  
uncomfortably.  
  
"She'll be fine, we've got to show  
her how to use her power so she can kick  
her old man's ass when we get back  
though," said Trunks cheerfully as he  
continued on his way.  
  
A Juraian guard followed behind  
Tenchi, none of them looked quite sure  
what to do. "Lord Tenchi, should we..."  
  
Trunks smirked at them for a moment,  
pausing long enough for Ryoko to beat on  
his head a few times. "If you don't want  
them to get hurt, I wouldn't suggest  
that Tenchi," he replied calmly. "You've  
already seen what a Super Saiyan can do.  
Imagine what one with enough training to  
use all that power might be able to do  
to these men. The transformation Ryoko  
used against Kagato is nothing compared  
to what I can do myself either."  
  
The boy went slightly pale and  
looked at the guards. "It's fine, she'll  
only be gone a day anyway."  
  
Trunks smirked as the door opened in  
front of him. He smirked as the woman  
tried to phase out of his grasp, or  
teleport away desperately. Her power had  
been sealed away, as he had requested  
though. Washuu still hadn't undone the  
'declawing' as Trunks had affectionately  
dubbed it. "Well, come on then."  
  
Hotaru was waiting just inside and  
turned as he pulled the woman in. Trunks  
blinked for a moment and cocked his  
head. "Hey, I just realized that there's  
only three of us."  
  
"What of it?" muttered Hotaru  
irritably.  
  
Trunks shrugged and reached back  
with his arm just outside the door.  
Panicked cries arose from those just  
outside as he tossed Tenchi Masaki on  
the ground and closed the door in their  
faces. "There, now we've all got a  
sparing partner."  
  
Tenchi blinked and looked up at the  
boy dumbly from his back. "Wha?"  
  
"Tenchi?" muttered Ryoko. She had  
calmed considerably when she noticed the  
boy sitting rather dumbly on the ground  
in front of her. She tried to crane her  
neck from under Trunks's elbow. It was  
quite uncomfortable for her, but she had  
managed.  
  
"Yeah, we're gonna need someone  
pretty close to your power level for you  
to train with," replied Trunks  
cheerfully.  
  
"Close to her power level?" said  
Tenchi dumbly. He stared at Trunks for a  
moment, apparently he had no illusions  
about how good his skills were in  
comparison to Ryoko's.  
  
"You're the one who beat Kagato  
aren't you?" snorted Trunks.  
  
Tenchi blushed slightly and turned  
his head away. "Well...I..."  
  
"That Juraian power of yours isn't  
anything to scoff at. Although I admit  
you're a little under powered as far as  
Hotaru and I are concerned. At least we  
aren't stuck with that horrible demon  
this time."  
  
"Demon!?" cried Tenchi in panic.  
  
"Relax, she's still outside," said  
Hotaru with a rough snort.  
  
"Yeah, I don't think she'll bother  
us," agreed Trunks. "I sent her on a  
little errand for us, should take her  
all day on that end!" He smiled  
cheerfully and released Ryoko's head.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
"Are you sure? They said they really  
wanted to have some for dinner  
tonight..." Mihoshi looked like she was  
about to cry, and the Jurian shopkeeper  
was panicking.  
  
"I'm sure! I've never heard of it!  
Honest! Are you sure you're saying it  
right? We've got a lot of food with  
weird names here..."  
  
"Yes I'm sure! Okonomiyaki! You've  
got to have some! It says you've got  
every food in the entire galaxy here,  
and I've been looking for hours!"  
  
"I don't think there is such a  
thing," grumbled the man as he turned  
away on another fruitless search of the  
store. He knew there was no such food,  
or rather, he thought he knew. Trunks  
had asked Washuu before sending her off  
to find it. Earth was the only place in  
the galaxy that you could find the food.  
  
"I promise, that I, Detective First  
Class Mihoshi, shall find you an  
Okonomiyaki for dinner tonight!" cried  
Mihoshi as her eyes burned with  
determination. She just had to find a  
store on Jurai, or one of the nearby  
moons that sold it...  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
"I am so out of here," grumbled the  
Ryoko as she headed for the door.  
  
"You sure about that?" said Trunks  
playfully. "I mean, a day in here, last  
a whole year. A whole year alone with  
Tenchi doesn't sound that bad does it?"  
  
Ryoko froze and slowly turned to  
look at the boy. "What?"  
  
Tenchi struggled to his feet,  
realizing that he was having difficulty  
with it. "Hey, what the...?"  
  
"Oh, that," said Trunks cheerfully  
as he waved his arm around. "This is the  
room of Time and Space! In here, a day  
lasts a whole year, temperatures  
fluctuate wildly, and I can control the  
gravity. The default setting is two  
times that of Earth. That's what you're  
feeling right now."  
  
The boy blinked as he felt his arms  
hang down at his sides like they were  
weighted down. His whole body felt  
somewhat sluggish. He wasn't having much  
trouble moving around though, due to his  
grandfather's training.  
  
Ryoko snorted in disgust and turned  
away. "Big deal," she muttered  
irritably.  
  
"Oh, the fun's just started. We'll  
be increasing the gravity a little each  
day, starting tomorrow. For today, you  
can relax and get used to this place."  
He smiled at them all and flexed his  
arms. "Hotaru and I spent all day in  
here the other day. We're going off for  
a while; you two behave yourselves.  
We've got to spar a bit, and get used to  
the new gravity level. It's a bit low  
for us."  
  
Hotaru narrowed her eyes and nodded.  
She floated off the ground and flew off  
into the vast nothing. Trunks followed  
behind her with a rather cheerful  
looking grin on her face.  
  
Tenchi looked over at Ryoko  
nervously. "So...now what?"  
  
The woman blinked and suddenly  
realized her situation. "Tenchi...we're  
all alone..." She skipped over to his  
side and smiled at him. "I'm sure we can  
think of something..."  
  
"Ryoko!" cried the boy with a huge  
blush on his face. "Come on, stop it!  
This is serious! I can't spend an entire  
year in here with you!"  
  
"Why not?" said Ryoko with a small  
pout on her face.  
  
"Because! Grandpa is going to talk  
with the Emperor about those Senshi  
today!"  
  
"I'm sure he can handle it," said  
Ryoko with a little seriousness in her  
tone.  
  
"I told him I'd come along,"  
grumbled the boy with a small sigh.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Hotaru frowned as she punched at  
Trunks and dodged a kick meant for her  
head with practiced ease. The boy seemed  
to be only half paying attention to her,  
which irritated her slightly, while at  
the same time, humbled her a bit more  
about where she stood in comparison to  
him.  
  
"Why did you bring that boy along?"  
she said as she flew back and stared at  
him for a moment.  
  
"Huh?" said Trunks as he blinked at  
her. "Oh, you mean Tenchi?"  
  
"Yes," said Hotaru as she powered  
down and floated opposite him.  
  
"I think he needs the training for  
one, his grandfather is an excellent  
teacher, but we can show him a whole new  
level of his own power. He'll be forced  
to use it in order to survive this  
place. Five thousand times the Earth's  
gravity is no small thing to a Jurian."  
  
"So, you're doing this for his  
benefit?" she muttered under her breath.  
  
"And my own, he'll be more useful if  
he can fight well," said Trunks with a  
slight agreeing nod. "Plus, I also did  
it to placate Ryoko a bit. Tenchi will  
help keep her in line once he falls in  
with our training. Plus, I want her to  
get a bit closer to him. She wants it  
pretty badly, and this is a good way to  
do it."  
  
"Any other reasons?"  
  
"He'll appreciate it, and he'll  
respect me as his sensei. That's a good  
start towards a relationship with Jurai,  
especially if he takes up his place as  
Emperor one day. If not, it never hurts  
to have another friend you can count  
on."  
  
This caught Hotaru by surprise and  
she stared at him for a moment. "So,  
you're building a relationship?"  
  
"Possibly political, possibly just a  
friend, either way, I can't lose." He  
smirked at her and turned his head  
towards the living area. "Plus, my  
daughter really has her heart set on  
him. I want to give her an open chance,  
she won't have much time to fool around,  
despite what she's thinking I'm sure.  
However, training with someone the way  
they will, will build a relationship  
that even Ayeka can't compete with."  
  
"Playing matchmaker? That doesn't  
seem like you," said Hotaru with a small  
sigh.  
  
"I agree, but call it sentiment if  
you like," he replied with a small  
shrug. "She'll respect his skill more  
after this as well. She won't feel the  
need to protect him as much as she seems  
to now. Kagato seems to slip her mind,  
but an entire year of training along  
side him will probably change that."  
  
"What of Ryoko's transformation?"  
said Hotaru carefully.  
  
"Pardon?" said Trunks as he looked  
at her. Her tail was swishing about  
behind her somewhat violently.  
  
"Ah, saw through me that quickly did  
you?" he chuckled. "Yes, I'd like to see  
if the effect is the same. I doubt if  
it'd affect Tenchi though, just a hunch  
on my part."  
  
"We'll have to raise her power  
levels first," said Hotaru. "It won't  
work as she is now, if what you told me  
is true."  
  
"I know. We'll work on getting her  
near your power, and then try the fusion  
dance. Maybe it will change her, maybe  
not. I'm not sure. She's got my DNA in  
her, so there's a good chance she'll  
change like you did."  
  
"Three of us, as able and true Super  
Saiyans will catch them by surprise,"  
said Hotaru with a small chuckle.  
  
"That's my plan," said Trunks as he  
smirked at her. "Ready to start again?"  
  
"Anytime," said Hotaru as she  
grinned back.  
  
"Never expected you to answer that  
Nine," replied Trunks casually.  
  
The woman's eyes narrowed slightly  
as her smirk changed to a frown. "I'm  
not strong enough to destroy you yet,  
boy. However, I think you're actually  
planning on changing that."  
  
"You'll never catch up to me,"  
snorted Trunks. "Hotaru's Super Saiyan  
transformation makes you all stronger,  
but you still lack the spirit or will to  
beat me, and you'll never get them as  
you are now."  
  
Nine snorted in disgust and glared  
at him. "We'll see," she replied  
snidely. "Hotaru's soul darkens a bit  
more every day. Soon she'll be mine, and  
Saturn won't be able to stop us."  
  
This caught Trunks off guard a  
little and he narrowed his eyes at her.  
"Vengeance?"  
  
"Perhaps. She doesn't respect you as  
she used to boy. I had thought she had  
her heart set on you at one point."  
  
"Maybe she did, and it doesn't  
concern me much now. I've got more  
important things to worry about, and so  
do you three. I doubt if Hotaru will  
fall enough for you to take over though.  
You're dreaming if you think she's like  
that."  
  
"And you're fooling yourself to  
think otherwise," replied Nine  
hatefully.  
  
"That's enough," replied one of  
Hotaru's other personalities. Trunks  
couldn't tell which it was. There was a  
slight anger in her eyes, and he  
couldn't tell if it was directed at him  
or Mistress Nine.  
  
Trunks sighed and relaxed his  
stance. "You'd best be careful Hotaru.  
She may be right, Chibi-Usa isn't worth  
it. Believe me, she's definitely not  
worth it."  
  
"I'll decide that," growled Hotaru.  
  
"That transformation makes your body  
stronger Hotaru. It increases your  
power, but you must remember that  
Mistress Nine becomes just as strong.  
Don't think it will protect you from  
her, stay on guard."  
  
The seriousness in his tone caused  
the girl's anger to abate somewhat and  
she simply stared at him for a long  
moment.  
  
"He is right you know, not even I  
can fight you both off, if it comes to  
that. I would rather see us destroyed,  
and I have the power to do just that,"  
said Saturn calmly. "Tread carefully  
Hotaru."  
  
The girl's face seemed angry and  
confused at the same time, she wasn't  
sure what to say or do at that moment.  
"All right. I understand."  
  
"Revenge is nice Hotaru, but it  
won't fill the void he left behind. Even  
when she's gone, he won't be back. I'll  
help you destroy her, but don't think  
for a moment that it's worth losing  
yourself over." Trunks smiled at her  
gently and turned away. "Come on, we'd  
better go save Tenchi before my daughter  
rapes him or something."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"So, what do you want from me  
exactly?" muttered Azusa as he glared  
down at Yosho and frowned deeply.  
  
"Just a place to train for a few  
months. Ayeka has already seen to  
everything else we'll need while we're  
here," said the man as he stared up at  
his father in defiance.  
  
"You disappoint me Yosho," said  
Azusa with a small tired sigh.  
  
"Maybe I do, but the fact remains  
that my home is under siege. I cannot  
turn my back on it now. I will not  
remain, no matter what you say now. We  
can discuss that at a later time. This  
is not the time for such things."  
  
"I'll decide that while you're under  
my roof," growled Azusa coldly.  
  
"Should we be here?" whispered  
Makoto to Usagi nervously. The Senshi  
were all standing behind Yosho as he  
argued with his father.  
  
"I'm not sure, but I'm afraid to  
leave right now," replied the girl as  
she frowned at the pair in front of her.  
  
  
"I'm inclined to agree with Usagi,"  
said Ami as she looked at the pair for a  
moment. "We don't want to insult them.  
This isn't Japan, this might not be rude  
here."  
  
"Or it might be, and they just don't  
care," replied Rei as she watched the  
pair continue to battle verbally.  
  
"I saw what Ayeka has acquisitioned.  
Metal, enough to build a starship with.  
Very expensive and rare metal, along  
with several other questionable  
materials. Care to explain this Yosho?"  
  
"I'm not sure, perhaps she is  
building a ship?" replied Yosho calmly.  
"I didn't inquire."  
  
"It seems odd that she would do  
that," commented Azusa irritably. "Is  
she not happy with..."  
  
"I don't believe she is building it  
for herself," said Yosho calmly. "Queen  
Serenity's fleet has been unsealed  
according to a reliable source. It  
wasn't these girls who did it. They do  
not yet have the knowledge to do so. I  
believe that is why the boy brought us  
here."  
  
"What?!" said Usagi as she turned to  
stare at Yosho in shock.  
  
The man turned to look at her and  
frowned. "Washuu confirmed it after  
Trunks told her about it. She thought it  
would be a good idea to inform me. They  
are roughly three months away from your  
planet, according to your time."  
  
"The fleet?" muttered Ami as a  
distant memory began to form in her  
mind. "Oh! Oh no!" she fell to the  
ground clutching her head.  
  
"What's wrong?" cried Minako as she  
knelt down beside her friend.  
  
"That fleet..." muttered Ami in  
horror.  
  
Usagi stared at her blankly. "You  
mean...space ships?"  
  
"No Usagi. Warships," replied Ami as  
she struggled to her feet with Rei and  
Minako supporting her. "Warships with  
enough firepower to wipe all life off of  
the face of the planet. There wouldn't  
be any way to defend against it, not  
even we could stop it."  
  
This caused a moment of dead silence  
among the group.  
  
"I would not send my fleet against  
such a force, not to save a single  
planet. The loss of life would be too  
great, and we would not be able to stop  
them from destroying the planet anyway."  
Azusa was firm and cold in his words.  
  
Usagi nodded in understanding  
though. "I wouldn't ask you too."  
  
"Where is the boy?" said Azusa as he  
stared at Yosho for a moment.  
  
"Tenchi has been missing for some  
time now. I'm surprised at the boy, he's  
never acted like this before. Ryoko has  
not been seen for some time either, I  
suspect they are together." Yosho looked  
absolutely ashamed at his words and  
growled under his breath.  
  
Before the Emperor could gloat about  
it, Ayeka burst into the room with tears  
in her eyes. "Tenchi's been kidnapped!"  
  
Everyone turned to stare at her for  
a long moment as she simply stood there  
panting in the doorway. Her face was  
contorted with tears and worry.  
  
"What?" said Yosho as he blinked at  
her for a moment.  
  
"Tenchi, he's been taken away! By  
that horrible little boy!" cried the  
princess.  
  
Washuu walked in behind her calmly.  
"Now, now, it's not that bad."  
  
"Explain at once!" snapped Yosho  
before the Emperor could command the  
same thing. Azusa settled in his chair  
with a frustrated frown as he glared at  
the man for a moment.  
  
"Well, he'll only be gone for a  
day..." said Washuu as she backed away  
slightly. "It's not as bad as it seems."  
  
"That monster woman kidnapped my  
Tenchi!"  
  
Azusa perked his eyebrow at this,  
and the princess quieted down quite  
suddenly.  
  
"He sort of, went into the room I  
built for Trunks. They'll come back  
tomorrow some time. Around the same time  
they went in. It's not a big deal. I  
mean..." Washuu seemed to be skirting  
around something, most of them could  
tell this.  
  
"Well, go and get him!" snapped  
Ayeka angrily.  
  
"I kind of can't," said Washuu  
sheepishly. "Once the door is closed,  
you can't open it until the day is over.  
It's for the safety of the time field  
really. It would disrupt everything  
around it if we opened it now, and  
possibly cause some real damage."  
  
"So shut it down," said Rei calmly.  
She suddenly wished she hadn't spoken  
when everyone looked at her.  
  
"I can't," muttered Washuu. "I  
didn't have time to build anything more  
than the basic features. By the time I  
fixed a way to reopen the door without  
causing any damage, they'd be out  
anyway."  
  
"Why would this room, disrupt the  
'Time Field'?" said Azusa as he narrowed  
his eyes at the woman.  
  
"Because it was designed to make a  
day last an entire year," replied Washuu  
proudly. "It was really a rather  
ingenious invention actually. I wish I  
had thought of it myself! Trunks asked  
me to build it for him on the way here,  
it wasn't too difficult, but it was time  
consuming. I spent almost the whole trip  
on it..." She trailed off when she  
realized that no one looked very happy  
with her. "What's the problem? He'll  
only be gone a day."  
  
"An entire year with that monster  
woman!?" cried Ayeka in horror. She  
almost passed out from the sheer shock.  
  
"Tenchi..." muttered Yosho with a  
small sigh. "How did he end up...?"  
  
"I'm not entirely sure, someone must  
have closed the door before he left. He  
probably went to see Ryoko off or  
something," said Washuu with a small  
shrug. "Once the door is closed, there's  
no way in or out." She withered under  
the slightly irritated glares from Ayeka  
and the Emperor. Yosho seemed somewhat  
calm, and the Senshi didn't appear to  
care either way really. "I probably  
shouldn't mention the gravity settings,"  
she thought to herself with a little  
sweat forming on her brow.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Meanwhile, just outside the  
atmosphere of the planet...  
  
"So, this is Jurai," said the dark  
figure as his small round space-pod  
stopped in space. It opened up, and a  
tiny figure emerged from inside, barely  
visible against the light the huge  
planet reflected into space. It was just  
ahead of the defensive field that  
protected Jurai from attack. The shield  
would repel a large hostile fleet of  
ships, but a single ship with the right  
pilot could probably make it through.  
Unfortunately, he wasn't that good of a  
pilot. Fortunately, he didn't really  
need a ship.  
  
His tail whipped back and fourth  
violently as he smirked at the green  
surface of the sphere below him. His  
pale and purple skin twitching slightly  
as he narrowed his eyes at the jewel of  
a planet below. "Now is where I start  
having a little fun. Ranma Saotome is  
nothing but a little boy, and these  
Jurians sound like they might be strong  
enough to be a little fun almost. Heh,  
I'm going to enjoy this."  
  
His power flared and alarms started  
to sound inside the satellites that  
orbited the planet, keeping the field in  
place. Kooler chuckled as he raised his  
palm at the nearest one and formed a  
small black energy ball in his palm.  
"Let's get started, shall we?"  
  
The tiny black ball shot forward,  
slamming into the side of the satellite.  
It exploded in a spectacular ball of  
flames that flared just long enough for  
the oxygen inside the small machine to  
be eaten away. His eyes flicked sideways  
and he noticed a larger space station  
like base a short distance away. He  
smirked and flew towards it. "Ah, my  
first kill."  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Alarms sounded all around the  
building. Nabiki Tendo stood in the  
hallway watching men run around her  
towards the halls that lead outside the  
palace. "What's going on?" she muttered  
to herself as she strolled around.  
  
One of the men moved up to her side  
and was shortly joined by another. Both  
were wearing armor and had a pair of  
wooden poles in their grasp. "Miss, I'm  
afraid we're going to have to ask you to  
return to your quarters."  
  
"But...I'm supposed to wait here  
for..."  
  
"The meeting is about to end I'm  
afraid," said the other guard. "Some  
fool is attacking the planet. The  
Emperor is going to have to cut it  
short, it shouldn't take long, but for  
your own safety you need to be in your  
room. Your friends will join you  
shortly."  
  
"Attacking the planet?" muttered  
Nabiki in confusion.  
  
"Yes, it's been over seven hundred  
years since someone was fool enough to  
try something like this," said one of  
the guards with a light smirk. "Don't  
worry, there's a reason for that. They  
won't pose a problem."  
  
Nabiki found herself nodding as she  
started walking away. She frowned deeply  
as she strolled back towards the  
quarters they had been given and glanced  
around at the diminishing wave of  
soldiers that had seemed to fill the  
hall only moments before. After a  
moment, she realized that she was alone.  
The halls had been quite busy up till  
the time the alarm sounded, and now she  
was pretty much alone.  
  
A soldier ran by her with a panicked  
look on his face as he pulled his  
armored shoulder pads on as he rushed by  
her, obviously late. After a moment of  
walking towards her room, she shifted  
her direction and turned down another  
familiar hallway.  
  
She emerged from the palace and onto  
the launch pad where the Mikon Taka was  
sitting still. She sighed in relief and  
walked up to the ship. It was easy to  
distinguish the new parts on the ship  
with the old ones. Repairs had either  
been cut short by the attack, or they  
had already been completed. As she  
suspected, the ramp was down, and George  
was fiddling with something on the  
underside of the ship.  
  
"George," she called out to him as  
she walked up.  
  
The man turned to look at her and  
frowned. "Eh? Oh, it's you. What do you  
want?" He didn't seem upset with her and  
dusted off his hands on his spandex  
pants.  
  
Nabiki gave an involuntary shudder  
at his appearance and quickly pushed it  
aside for the moment. "Something is  
going on. Have you heard anything?"  
  
"Not really," replied the man with a  
small shrug. "We finished all the major  
repairs on the ship last night. I've  
been making a few adjustments to occupy  
my time though."  
  
"That's good to hear," said Nabiki  
as she glanced up at the hull above her  
head for a moment. "What kind of  
communications equipment do you have on  
this thing?"  
  
"Most of the standard stuff, plus a  
few extras. Why?" He smirked at her and  
snorted before she could answer. "You  
want to find out what's going on?"  
  
Nabiki smiled and nodded. "I've got  
a bad feeling about this. I heard  
someone is attacking the planet."  
  
"Jurai? What kind of idiot would  
attack Jurai?" said George dumbly.  
  
"That's what I'd like to find out,"  
said Nabiki.  
  
"It's probably already over,"  
snorted George as he motioned for her to  
follow.  
  
Nabiki nodded and walked onto the  
ship after him. "Maybe, but if it's  
really that stupid to attack this  
place...why would someone do it? Unless  
they knew that they could."  
  
George looked back at her and  
nodded. "Actually, I was thinking the  
same thing."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Azusa stood up from his throne,  
glaring down at the guard kneeling in  
front of him in a rage. "WHAT!?"  
  
"Someone is attacking the planet!"  
said the guard fearfully.  
  
"Impossible! What kind of idiots  
would do such a thing?" he snarled.  
  
"We don't know sir, we haven't  
gotten a visual confirmation yet!"  
replied the man.  
  
"Why not?!" snarled Azusa. "How can  
we not find a fleet of ships right under  
our noses!?"  
  
"It's not a fleet, Your Highness!  
It's a single person!" said the man as  
he glanced up at the emperor. "We've  
caught glimpses of him on our thermal  
radar, but no video confirmation for  
identification."  
  
Azusa went silent. "A single ship?"  
  
"No, a single man, Your Highness!"  
  
"You're telling me someone is  
attacking Jurai from space, with his  
bare hands?" said Azusa in disbelief.  
  
Yosho frowned deeply. "Who could do  
such a thing?"  
  
"Even Ryoko had to use Ryo-Ohki,"  
said Washuu with a small frown of her  
own.  
  
"This is preposterous! Impossible!"  
  
Usagi stepped forward and frowned.  
"You don't think...they came here  
because of us do you?"  
  
Yosho shook his head. "I doubt it.  
Jurai has many enemies."  
  
The guard kneeling before the emperor  
put his hand against his ear and gasped  
in horror. "Sir, the intruder has broken  
through the defense shield, he's heading  
towards the surface of the planet! Under  
his own power!"  
  
"Who could do such a thing?!"  
snapped Azusa angrily. An image appeared  
on the wall beside him and he went pale.  
"Kooler! It's...the damn Cold family!  
They've betrayed us?!"  
  
"Betrayed?" said Yosho with a small  
frown on his face.  
  
Azusa ignored him and stared at the  
screen in a rage. "Those back stabbing  
lizards! How dare they presume they can  
destroy us!"  
  
"What is that thing?" said Usagi in  
horror. A memory of her own tickled the  
back of her mind. It wasn't one from her  
past life either.  
  
"The Cold family are a group of  
mercenaries, the depopulate planets and  
sell them off as real estate. It's  
earned them a rather nasty reputation,  
and also made them some of the most  
wanted criminals in the galaxy," replied  
Yosho calmly. "Disgusting pirates, but  
very powerful warriors."  
  
"I'll put a stop to this," growled  
Azusa angrily. "Those idiots aren't  
stupid enough to try and oppose us. I  
don't see how this could have happened!"  
  
Yosho narrowed his eyes at the man  
for a moment and turned away. "I see."  
  
Azusa frowned at him and stormed by  
the group gathered in front of him  
through the doors of the throne room. "I  
doubt that Yosho."  
  
"Ashikara, the Jewel of the Juraian  
Empire. Second only to Jurai itself in  
beauty. I had often wondered, why such a  
planet with so much beauty, had no  
inhabitants. When I was a boy, we had a  
palace built there, so that the royal  
family could enjoy the summers there."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
muttered Usagi dumbly.  
  
"He wouldn't," muttered Washuu as  
she stared at Yosho.  
  
"There was a time, I would have  
agreed with you," said the man calmly as  
he turned to stare at her. "Now do you  
understand why I would not remain here?  
Why I had no wish for Tenchi to know of  
his true heritage? I admit, even I never  
truly suspected he was capable of this.  
Still, I often wondered."  
  
Rei seemed to be the first one to  
understand what they were talking about.  
"Oh...oh no..."  
  
"Come, we will go back to our rooms  
for now. The sooner we are away from  
this place, the better," said Yosho with  
a disgusted sounding snort.  
  
"Brother..." muttered Ayeka softly.  
It seemed she was truly hurt by his  
words, but she dared not say anything  
else to him as he walked by him.  
  
"You knew about this?" said Makoto  
as she walked up to the girl and stared  
at her with a barely disguised anger.  
  
"No. I had no idea, but..."  
  
"You suspected as well?" asked Ami  
with a small understanding nod.  
  
"Never anything like this," she said  
as she shook her head for a moment.  
"Relocation maybe, but the Cold family?  
Oh father, how could you?"  
  
"And relocation is any better?"  
grumbled Washuu under her breath as she  
walked away. The practice of relocation  
was expensive; inhabitants rarely did so  
on their own, and were often moved to a  
place where the atmosphere would sustain  
them. Little else was considered, such  
as food, or environments that  
complimented the species, or even the  
amount of space needed for the size of a  
population. After all, if they could  
breathe, what else did they need?  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks smiled as he floated past  
Ryoko's defenses easily. "Not bad."  
  
"You little punk! I'll make you pay  
for locking me up in this prison!" she  
snarled angrily as she continued to  
attack.  
  
"Heh, you're dreaming if you think  
you can even come close to beating me  
like that," snorted the boy as he caught  
her wrist and stopped her attack cold.  
She whirled around and connected with a  
kick. He made no move to stop her and  
smirked as the attack had no effect,  
aside from really hurting Ryoko.  
  
"Augh! Damn it!" she cried in anger.  
  
"Heh, transform, and you'll at least  
have the strength to hurt me. You've  
done it before, it shouldn't be that  
difficult for you now." Trunks frowned  
as he glared at her for a moment and  
noticed the frustration on her face.  
  
"Why should I bother? Once I get my  
gems back..."  
  
"You'll ignore those under powered  
rocks, because when I'm through, you  
won't need them," replied Trunks as his  
maddening grin widened suddenly. "Come  
on Ryoko, you can do it."  
  
"What good was it? Kagato still beat  
me!" she snarled.  
  
"You're still on about that? You  
couldn't use the power you'd gained  
fool! You were vastly superior to him in  
strength and power. I'm still not sure  
how he was able to match that speed  
though..." He looked thoughtful for a  
moment and noticed the woman was glaring  
at him.  
  
"How would you know anything about  
that?" she snarled.  
  
"I read about it," he lied.  
  
Ryoko growled at that and turned her  
head away. "Well, you read wrong. Kagato  
was very powerful."  
  
"Kagato had a base power of around  
fifteen hundred on his own, Shouja is  
what made him dangerous. Your first  
transformation was twenty five hundred  
easy." He blinked as she stared at him  
again. "In my future, Washuu developed a  
rating system for power levels based on  
a numerical ranking system. She used  
that battle as one of her test  
theories." Another lie, impossible to  
disprove or verify. This future thing  
was fun!  
  
"Was I really stronger?" she  
muttered under her breath.  
  
Trunks chuckled at this reaction and  
put up his fists. "Why don't you  
transform again and find out?"  
  
"Maybe I will then!" snarled Ryoko  
as she attacked again.  
  
Trunks frowned slightly from behind  
his fists as he reacted to her attack.  
"She's still not there yet! Damn."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Fire surrounded him, the pained  
screams of the dying floated in the air  
as he hovered above the burning surface  
of the planet. His arms were spread wide  
in an almost euphoric joy. "Ah, the  
feeling is so wonderful! So much to  
kill! So little time!"  
  
The burned wreckage of a Juraian  
cruiser slowly crumbled into the ground  
behind him, a huge cloud of smoke  
billowing into the sky as it crashed  
into an area of the city. Thousands  
would die in the resulting explosion.  
"Where are you!? I know you're here, I  
know you know I'm here! Come out and  
play little one! When I'm through with  
you, my fun can really begin!"  
  
"Kooler! Enough of this!" snarled an  
angry sounding voice just below him.  
  
The alien looked down at the man  
below him, a cold smirk forming on his  
face as he returned the intense glare  
with a cool and casual glance. "Oh, and  
who might you be?"  
  
"What are you doing fool? How dare  
you attack us?! I'll see you and your  
whole retched family destroyed for  
this!"  
  
"You must be the Emperor of Jurai!  
I'll admit, I'm impressed." Kooler  
chuckled as he floated down in front of  
the man.  
  
Azusa had his sword drawn, the blade  
of light hummed with power as he snarled  
at the thing in front of him angrily.  
"You! How dare you! Pathetic worm, you  
can't even begin to stand up to the  
power of Jurai!"  
  
Kooler snorted as he narrowed his  
eyes and returned the glare this time.  
"You? Beat me? I think not Juraian  
Emperor. I am the ultimate power in the  
universe. You're too reliant on this  
planet. Perhaps I should just destroy it  
and cut off your power source?"  
  
"Not even you have the power to do  
that," snorted Azusa in what appeared to  
be amusement.  
  
"Really?" snorted Kooler as his  
smirk widened. "I suppose I shouldn't be  
able to touch you either then? Hmmm. I  
wonder..." He formed a tiny pinprick of  
black light on his fingertip and looked  
at it for a moment. "Come Emperor of  
Jurai, let's test your power then."  
  
"You dare?" snarled Azusa angrily.  
"Very well! I'll destroy you!" He closed  
his eyes and began to focus his power on  
his blade. A visible shield of energy  
formed around his body as he prepared to  
attack.  
  
Kooler snorted and flicked his  
finger forward lightly. After a moment,  
nothing appeared to have happened.  
  
Azusa's face had turned into a mask  
of anger though, he snarled hatefully at  
the thing in front of him and a group of  
men started to swarm around them like  
bees. "Get back! All of you!" snarled  
Azusa as sweat began to form on is brow.  
He appeared to be white as a sheet now.  
A single line of blood formed on his  
cheek that started to run down his face.  
"Impossible!"  
  
"What's the matter? Not feeling so  
invincible anymore?" chuckled Kooler in  
amusement. "That shield of yours is  
impressive, I'll admit it. However, it's  
no match for my power." He glanced  
around. "The Juraian army? How nice of  
you to gather them all in one place for  
me! I'm so glad I don't have to hunt  
them all down." He reared back his head  
and started to laugh as he raised his  
palm over his head and formed a huge  
ball of darkness there.  
  
Azusa's eyes went wide and he gasped  
in horror. "No!"  
  
A huge explosion of dark energy  
could be seen from orbit, it engulfed a  
huge portion of the surface of the  
planet, leaving behind a large brown  
area of dirt and death.  
  
Kooler chuckled as he floated down  
towards the base of the crater. The  
palace could be seen in the distance,  
just outside the destruction. It went on  
as far as the eye could see in every  
other direction. Nothing stood now, no  
trees, no life, nothing.  
  
The alien paused as he stared down  
into the dust, and saw movement below  
him. He grinned and landed next to the  
broken and bleeding form of the Emperor.  
"Well, that certainly is impressive  
Emperor of Jurai."  
  
"Monster!" growled Azusa weakly as  
he rolled onto his back and stared at  
the thing hatefully.  
  
Kooler placed one of his feet on the  
man's chest and leaned in, pinning him  
to the ground. "I should really kill  
you. It would be rather stupid of me to  
let you live. However, I think I'll  
enjoy leaving you alone on a dead planet  
after I destroy everything!"  
  
"Why?" muttered Azusa. "We have  
always supported your family? Why have  
you betrayed us?"  
  
"Betrayed? I don't recall ever  
having an alliance with you Azusa. We  
were to disgusting and vile for such a  
relationship. Something to be used when  
it was convenient as I recall. Now,  
well, let's just say I've come to find  
someone. After I'm through with him,  
I'll worry about killing the rest of  
your pathetic planet."  
  
Azusa gasped for breath under the  
weight of the thing's foot. Kooler's  
grin widened as he narrowed his eyes at  
the man for a moment. "You don't even  
realize what's going on do you? It's  
pathetically simple, but just beyond  
your grasp."  
  
The Emperor growled angrily at this  
and turned his head aside. He had  
several broken bones, and couldn't even  
crawl away. To put it simply, he was  
helpless. "You won't destroy this  
planet, it will destroy you before that  
happens."  
  
"If you mean Tsunami, and I  
certainly hope you're referring to  
something more interesting, then you  
should know that I am more powerful than  
that pathetic starship could ever be  
offensively. The wings of the Light Hawk  
cannot protect the planet from something  
that is already on it."  
  
Azusa knew he was right, the Light  
Hawk wings could do little more than  
protect a single place for a short time.  
They were invulnerable, but took an  
enormous amount of power to call. Even  
if they used them offensively, Kooler  
was far too small and agile for there to  
be much hope of harming him with the  
blast.  
  
"We'll destroy the planet then, and  
take you with it," snarled Azusa  
angrily.  
  
"Even Frieza could survive the  
destruction of a planet, do you honestly  
think I couldn't as well? Stop simpering  
you pathetic wretch, you're beaten. Once  
I have what I want, I'll see about  
tormenting your people for a while  
before moving on. After all, there's  
nothing you can do to stop me."  
  
Kooler floated into the air, a  
confident smirk chiseled into his  
features as he floated off in search of  
his target. "Now, where is Ranma  
Saotome?"  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks glared forward with his  
student pushing herself to the limits,  
her hair still the same color as it was  
before, but now with slightly red roots.  
"Damn it!" cried Ryoko in frustration.  
  
"Remember that feeling! Ryoko,  
you're getting stronger, but you're not  
going to be able to keep up if you don't  
get this! Remember when you thought  
Tenchi died! You have to unlock the  
secret!" growled the boy as he landed  
and prepared for her next assault.  
  
Ryoko's eyes went wide as she hung  
in the air. "Tenchi...No! I don't want  
to remember that!" she growled  
defiantly.  
  
Trunks narrowed his eyes at her and  
felt something shift in the air. "Come  
on...you can do it!" he muttered to  
himself as he lowered his guard and  
started to move back.  
  
"I'll do it without that horrible  
memory! I'll never lose my Tenchi  
again!" she cried into the sky. Her eyes  
became a deep cobalt blue and she turned  
her gaze towards Trunks. She glared at  
him hatefully and snarled. "Never. I'll  
never let that happen again! Do you hear  
me?!"  
  
The boy smiled in reply, his aura  
flaring to life in an instant, changing  
his hair and blasting outward. "I hear  
you Ryoko, now...are you ready for some  
real training?"  
  
The woman blinked at this and stared  
at him. "What?" she muttered it somewhat  
dumbly.  
  
"Come on, now that this is over  
with, we can really get started," said  
Trunks as he put up his fists and  
floated towards her.  
  
Ryoko looked at her hands and  
gasped, a golden field of power seemed  
to surge across her skin, barely  
contained within her. "This is..."  
  
"Pay attention! We've got work to  
do!" snarled Trunks as he charged  
forward.  
  
Ryoko glanced up at him and shot  
forward like a bullet. "I'll show you!"  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
"What should we do?" asked Nabiki as  
she watched George as he stared at the  
communications panel on the dash of the  
Mikon Taka.  
  
"Run," replied the man calmly.  
  
"You know anything about this  
'Kooler'?" she inquired.  
  
"Yes, it's a faded memory, but the  
Cold family was around even in the  
Silver Millenium. They're nasty pirates,  
and we shouldn't be anywhere near them.  
He could destroy this whole planet  
pretty easily." He glanced at her and  
noticed her frown.  
  
"You know, Ranma used to watch a lot  
of Dragon Ball Z. This is unnerving,"  
she commented idly to herself. "We  
should go get the others."  
  
"It would be better to just leave,  
Kooler could get fed up and destroy this  
place any time he felt like it. The  
Juraians are already evacuating." He  
nodded towards another screen, thousands  
of small dots filled the image, showing  
the ships leaving planet.  
  
"Leave them behind?" she asked with  
a sort of thoughtful frown on her face.  
  
"I'm just giving you our options, I  
was never one for giving orders," he  
replied calmly.  
  
"I thought you were some big time  
movie producer," she snorted as she  
leveled a small glare at him.  
  
"This is nothing like making a  
movie," he replied calmly.  
  
Nabiki nodded and turned towards the  
exit. "We should go get the others." She  
didn't walk outside though and simply  
stared at the ramp.  
  
"They know about this, I'm sure," he  
replied calmly. "We'll wait as long as  
we can, if things get too hot, we'll  
take off."  
  
Nabiki glanced back at him and then  
to the door again. "I guess you're  
right." She turned back inside and sat  
down at the table to wait.  
  
Artemis jumped up onto the seat next  
to her and she jumped. "What are you  
doing here?" inquired the cat.  
  
"I could ask the same of you!" she  
snapped in shock.  
  
"I don't like Jurai. The nobles here  
have a nasty habit of keeping large,  
stupid, dog like pets," replied the  
animal calmly.  
  
Nabiki calmed somewhat and frowned  
at him. "You know what's going on?"  
  
The animal nodded. "I overheard."  
  
"I'm surprised you haven't run off  
after your friends," she said to him  
with a slight frown.  
  
"You're no better. Besides, I have  
faith in them," he said with a serious  
looking nod. "The Senshi are stronger  
than you think."  
  
Nabiki snorted at this. "From what  
I've heard, Ranma was handing them their  
behinds."  
  
Artemis shook his head and sighed.  
"I know, but they always came through.  
It's only a matter of time, and time is  
on our side."  
  
"Pluto?" asked Nabiki. She'd heard a  
lot of stories over the course of the  
voyage.  
  
"Yes. Although I didn't mean it  
quite that literally."  
  
The girl slumped down slightly and  
stared at the door. "I hope they come  
back soon, this is making me nervous."  
  
"I hope the same thing, Luna isn't  
fool enough to let them try and take on  
one of the Cold family," replied the  
cat. "Don't worry."  
  
Nabiki didn't feel that comforted by  
those words.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks chuckled as Ryoko blasted at  
him with a beam of power, he dove out of  
the way and spun around, tossing a small  
ball of ki at her that exploded on  
impact. Ryoko was ready for attack again  
after uncrossing her arms from the  
block.  
  
"Not bad kid," she snorted  
irritably.  
  
Trunks nodded and floated down  
towards the ground. "I could say the  
same of you, you're ready."  
  
"Ready? We can..." she glanced  
towards the doorway.  
  
"So, you realized something was  
going on outside did you?" he asked as  
his smirk fell slightly. "There isn't  
anything we can do until our time here  
is over. You'll just have to wait I'm  
afraid."  
  
"I thought you said..." she snapped.  
  
"You're ready for the next phase of  
your training, tomorrow, you'll go with  
Hotaru, and I'll take Tenchi for his own  
training. There's more to that  
transformation than you realize."  
  
Ryoko growled, but nodded. "What  
more can there be?"  
  
"Heh, you're only at the first  
level, I haven't even been using half my  
power up to this point Ryoko. You're  
about to break through, but there's  
something else we need you to learn. A  
trump card if you will." His eyes  
sparkled with a mischief that promised  
her pain.  
  
"I don't like that look," she  
replied irritably.  
  
"Heh, it won't hurt much, not this  
time," he snorted as he nodded towards  
the area where Hotaru and Tenchi were  
training. "In about a month, we'll start  
training together, it shouldn't take you  
long to learn this."  
  
That caught the woman by surprise  
and she frowned. "So what are we going  
to do?"  
  
"I guess we can go watch Tenchi  
train for a while. You haven't been able  
to spend much time groping him over the  
past few months."  
  
"Why you!" snarled Ryoko.  
  
"You'll keep quiet, and stay away  
from him until Hotaru is done with him,"  
said Trunks with a frown that told her  
of how serious he was. "Tenchi is  
training just as hard as you are, and I  
don't want you being stupid and trying  
to save him. Got me?"  
  
"Save him from what?" growled Ryoko.  
  
"Come on, follow me and you'll see,"  
he replied calmly.  
  
The pair flew at top speed for about  
five minutes and stopped suddenly. Ryoko  
frowned as she glanced around and saw  
two tiny specks below them. "Is that?"  
  
Trunks nodded and smirked. Ryoko's  
eyes were wide with something similar to  
shock. "What? What's this power? I knew  
it was here...but..."  
  
"Jurai has impressed me more than I  
had anticipated, Tenchi is coming along  
nicely," replied the boy as he nodded at  
her surprise. "He still won't beat  
myself or Hotaru, but he'll give you a  
run for your money."  
  
Ryoko nodded at this and started to  
float a little lower. Trunks watched her  
closely, but she stopped after coming to  
a comfortable distance and merely  
watched. He heard her growl at what she  
saw, but she still remained away from  
the battle below.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Haaaaaaaa!" cried Tenchi as he  
jumped into the air and shifted his  
weight to counter Hotaru's punch. The  
girl smirked as she flipped backwards  
and kicked him in his chest. The boy  
flew to the ground and something  
shimmered for a moment. He was dressed  
in his Juraian armor, but it was haggard  
and worn looking.  
  
"Not bad, but you're still not fast  
enough," she said calmly as she landed  
lightly and formed a ball of power in  
her hands. "You've got to be quicker on  
the release."  
  
Tenchi narrowed his eyes and stood  
up. "You're right."  
  
"You've been pretty agreeable since  
we came here boy," said Hotaru as she  
smirked at him.  
  
"You're not old enough to call me  
boy," he replied calmly.  
  
"I'm older than you think!" she  
snapped as she blasted him with the wave  
of power that had been forming in her  
palm.  
  
The boy stood calmly, in a relaxed  
position as the wave simply passed  
around him, leaving him unharmed. His  
face was calm, but firm. He was  
completely focused on his training, a  
sight those who knew him rarely saw. His  
grandfather was the only one besides  
Hotaru who knew this face intimately.  
"Good shot."  
  
"I thought so too," she replied with  
a small chuckle as the energy  
boomeranged around behind his back and  
slammed into him. He didn't react in  
time and was thrown across the ground in  
the explosion.  
  
"You're not paying attention," she  
chided calmly. Saturn's icy mask  
appeared to scold him, Hotaru seemed to  
actually be enjoying herself, and Nine  
was completely absent for the training.  
Trunks knew it was mostly because she  
thought of it as a waste of time, time  
they could be spending bettering  
themselves.  
  
"That's enough," said Trunks as he  
landed in between the pair.  
  
"Tenchi!" cried Ryoko as she flew  
into him, not bothering to power down.  
  
The boy spun around in a defensive  
stance, but relaxed before she dove onto  
his neck and hung from him. "Hello  
Ryoko," he said with a small sigh.  
  
"I wasn't expecting you today," said  
Hotaru as she smirked at Trunks for a  
moment.  
  
"I know, Ryoko's ready for the next  
level," replied Trunks calmly. He nodded  
at Tenchi and then glanced back at  
Hotaru.  
  
"He's doing better than we  
expected," she replied with a small  
chuckle. "The power is second nature to  
him now, I doubt he realizes it."  
Neither of the students heard this, as  
Tenchi was busily pushing off Ryoko's  
advances. He was doing surprisingly  
well, despite her newfound power. "The  
Wings of the Light Hawk are giving him a  
bit of trouble still. He's still got a  
rather short reaction time."  
  
Trunks nodded at this and looked him  
up and down. The boy was well muscled  
now, it was easy to see with his  
tattered armor. "Heh. Those two still  
think we're at five hundred?"  
  
"Neither of them suspect," replied  
Hotaru.  
  
"We're running out of room to move  
the gravity up. Another month and we'll  
be working at full power again."  
  
Hotaru nodded at this and looked  
over at Ryoko. "The dance?"  
  
"Yes, she's as far as she'll go as  
she is now. She's pushing on the second  
transformation. I'm worried her body  
won't be able to take it."  
  
"If she doesn't react the same?"  
inquired Hotaru.  
  
"She will," said Trunks without a  
hint of worry in his voice.  
  
"Are you certain?" asked Hotaru.  
  
"Yes, I checked on it," he said as  
he glanced at her.  
  
"Washuu?" asked Hotaru with a small  
amount of curiosity in her voice.  
  
"No, her aura matches yours closely.  
She's already started," he replied  
calmly. "I'm not sure why, but I've got  
an idea who had a hand in it."  
  
Hotaru assumed he meant Washuu and  
didn't press the matter any further.  
  
"So, three of our kind?" asked  
Hotaru.  
  
"Yes. Tenchi and the Juraians, I'm  
still working on that, but I don't think  
they should be there. This planet is  
going to need a lot of work after this  
training is over. I'm going to ask them  
to remain for a while."  
  
Hotaru frowned at this. "So. You  
noticed as well?"  
  
Trunks merely nodded.  
  
"You realize that you're depriving  
us of some very valuable and battle  
worthy allies," she said as she turned  
her head away.  
  
"This is personal, for the both of  
us," he said as he turned away and  
started to float in the air. "Come on,  
we should get back and eat."  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Yosho frowned as he strolled through  
the halls of the palace with a  
determined frown on his face.  
  
"No! You can't!" cried Ayeka as she  
followed after him with the senshi  
trailing behind her.  
  
"Ayeka, this is not the first time I  
have gone off in defense of this planet  
against such an evil," said Yosho.  
  
"Look what happened last time!" she  
snapped.  
  
"What? He found happiness?" said  
Usagi dumbly.  
  
"No! He vanished for hundreds of  
years!" snapped Ayeka. She quickly  
turned back to her brother. "Don't do  
this! Father is..."  
  
"Probably dead," replied Yosho  
calmly.  
  
"That means you're the Emperor now!  
You can't go..."  
  
"Ayeka!" snapped Yosho firmly as he  
turned to face her. "I have no desire to  
be the Emperor of an asteroid field. I  
will go and face Kooler, and you will  
take these girls and leave."  
  
"What?" said Rei as she stared at  
him.  
  
"No way! We're fighting too!" agreed  
Makoto.  
  
"Um...we are?" said Usagi as she  
stared at her friends for a moment.  
  
"Usagi, we can't just let this  
happen to these people," said Ami  
quietly.  
  
"No, your hearts are admirable, but  
you are not strong enough to help me. If  
you come, I will be forced to protect  
you. I cannot afford that." He turned  
away from them, trying his best not too  
look back.  
  
"No! You can't do this alone!" said  
Minako in horror.  
  
"That's enough!" snapped Luna  
suddenly. Everyone looked at her. "We  
have a mission of our own. Trunks can't  
help us at the moment, so we need to  
stay alive!""  
  
"Luna! How could you?!" cried Usagi.  
  
"No! I'm not about to let you run  
off to fight one of the Cold family!  
You'll be destroyed! The youma you've  
been fighting are nothing to one of  
those monsters!"  
  
This caused the girls to become  
silent.  
  
"She is right," agreed Yosho calmly.  
"I am sorry, but this is my planet, and  
my responsibility. I must fight." He  
turned and walked on alone.  
  
"Are we just going to stand here?"  
cried Makoto as Ayeka started to sob.  
The princess didn't attempt to follow  
anymore though.  
  
"Yes, we are," said Luna.  
  
"We should...go back to the ship,"  
said Ami numbly. It was clear that she  
was as upset as the rest of the senshi.  
  
"You're right!" agreed Usagi  
suddenly. "We'll get there much faster  
if we use the ship!"  
  
The girls started walking towards  
the dock. Luna skittered after them  
calling to them as best she could. "No!  
Don't! Come back here!"  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Um. What is this?" asked Ryoko as  
Hotaru stood in the final pose of the  
fusion dance.  
  
"This is our next mission," replied  
Saturn's icy cool demeanor.  
  
"Dance lessons? Is this some kind of  
joke?" muttered Ryoko angrily. She was  
about to fly away when Hotaru appeared  
in front of her.  
  
"No. This training looks stupid, I  
know that, but it will boost our power.  
It will make us almost twice as strong,  
possibly three times as much."  
  
"What? That's crazy!" snapped Ryoko.  
  
"It is the truth, I have experienced  
the fusion myself. It is no joke,"  
replied Hotaru calmly. "It works."  
  
"So? What do we need this power  
boost for?"  
  
"Ranma will also know of this technique,  
and Chibi-Usa is more than willing to  
accommodate him I'll wager," replied  
Hotaru calmly. "We will begin now."  
  
Ryoko growled irritably, but made no  
move to leave.  
  
The girl nodded at her student's  
compliance and spoke again. "We must  
learn this correctly. If we do not get  
it right, it will make us weaker instead  
of stronger. That is not acceptable."  
  
Ryoko blinked at this and stared at  
her. "Um...okay..."  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
"So, Tenchi, how ya been?" asked  
Trunks as he backhanded the boy in his  
face.  
  
"What?" muttered Tenchi as he  
staggered back and blinked.  
  
"How's it been going? Enjoying the  
training?" asked Trunks as he continued  
to attack, oblivious to his opponent's  
beating almost.  
  
"Fine I guess," muttered Tenchi  
after he took a blow to the gut. He  
hadn't summoned the Wings of the Light  
Hawk, as per Trunks's instructions.  
"What is this training anyway?"  
  
"This is banter class," said Trunks  
cheerfully as he shoved Tenchi face  
first into the ground.  
  
"Banter?" muttered the boy as he  
staggered to his feet and took a kick in  
his face.  
  
"Yes, you have to be able to have  
dramatic dialogue while getting the shit  
kicked out of you," said Trunks with a  
sagely nod. "It's very important. You've  
got to be able to create meaningful  
dialogue and shit talking in the midst  
of battle. It makes them more epic."  
  
"Okay," muttered the suitably beaten  
Tenchi with a slight slur in his voice.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Yosho frowned as he stood in the  
crater that remained of a portion of one  
of Jurai's major cities. "Kooler," he  
said icily as he stared the thing down.  
It was floating overhead and smirking at  
him.  
  
"Ah, you must be Yosho," said the  
thing calmly. "Welcome to hell."  
  
"Humph, I've come to destroy you  
monster," snorted the man as a sword  
came to life in his hands. The Tenchi-  
ken.  
  
"What? You think a mere key will be  
enough to defeat me?" snorted the thing  
in disgust. "Your power is nowhere near  
my own. You've come to join your Emperor  
in death."  
  
Azusa was lying on the ground  
nearby, crawling towards them with an  
angry looking frown on his face. His  
power was gone, and there was nothing he  
could do but stare hatefully on the  
ground. "Monster! I won't..."  
  
"You'll do nothing but watch me  
destroy everything," said Kooler in what  
appeared to be amusement for a moment.  
"Weak fools."  
  
"What do you want here?" asked  
Yosho.  
  
"Ranma Saotome," replied Kooler.  
  
"He is on Earth," said Yosho as he  
readied himself.  
  
"Oh? The boy didn't tell you did he?  
I wonder how he convinced you to come  
here? It's no concern of mine, I suppose  
you wouldn't really know. He's quite  
wily."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
snarled Yosho.  
  
"Maybe you'll figure it out if you  
live long enough," said Kooler calmly as  
he landed on the ground between the  
fallen Emperor and Yosho. "Somehow I  
doubt that. Tell me Azusa...should I  
kill him slowly? Make you watch him  
die?"  
  
Yosho growled and continued to wait  
for the attack. He had no illusions  
about attacking first. His only strategy  
was staying alive long enough to find an  
opening.  
  
"I think I will," said Kooler as his  
smile widened. He rushed forward, there  
was nothing Yosho could do to defend  
himself.  
  
The man was thrown into the air by  
the first blow. The attacks kept him  
suspended hundreds of feet above the  
ground, far to fast for him to defend  
himself against. He tried, fighting  
valiantly by swinging his sword despite  
the blows. His energy shield seemed  
completely useless.  
  
Yosho paused and landed on the  
ground with a dull thud. He rose to his  
feet and glared at the thing standing  
over him.  
  
"Still able to move? I'm impressed.  
This could be more fun than I had  
thought," said Kooler with a small  
chuckle.  
  
"My shield?" muttered Yosho as he  
realized that he had been using it.  
"He's going through it as if it wasn't  
there? No!" He glanced up again and  
allowed the shield to fail. "He's  
draining the power from it! How?"  
  
"Figured that out did you?" said  
Kooler as he narrowed his eyes. "No  
matter, not even you can fight the full  
power of your own planet Yosho!" Kooler  
raised his arms and a soft glow began to  
form around his body.  
  
Yosho gasped in horror as he saw the  
plant life in the distance become brown  
instantaneously. "What? This  
is...impossible!"  
  
"Heh. You're no match for me, give  
up and die now. I'm through playing with  
you, you're not amusing anymore," said  
Kooler with his smirk widening. "One  
blow, and you'll be gone forever!" A  
black ball of power formed on his finger  
and his eyes went wild.  
  
There was an explosion, and  
everything went white. Yosho collapsed  
on the ground as his strength gave out.  
"What happened?"  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Well, this is it," said Trunks as  
he smiled at the trio standing in front  
of him. "We're halfway done."  
  
Ryoko watched him irritably, her  
hair gold and the tail that hung from  
the back of her skirt now wagged  
irritably. "What is it this time you  
loon?" she snapped angrily.  
  
"Today, you're going to start  
training with Tenchi," replied Trunks.  
"Hotaru and I are going to train as  
well. This trip wasn't just for you  
two."  
  
Ryoko nodded and looked at Tenchi.  
"Tenchi! Isn't this great!? We get  
too..."  
  
"You get to train," interrupted  
Trunks. "I'll be watching you. If you  
aren't training, and seriously, I'll  
pair us up again. That means no holding  
back." His frown silenced Ryoko, and  
Tenchi looked slightly relieved. "What  
you do on your off time at night is your  
own business though," said the boy with  
a playful wink at Ryoko. "You're on the  
honor system, but don't think for a  
moment Hotaru and I don't know exactly  
what you're doing."  
  
Ryoko snorted and turned her head  
away from the pair. "Yes dad," she  
muttered in disgust.  
  
Trunks blinked at this and shook his  
head.  
  
"She knows?" whispered Hotaru.  
  
"She was being sarcastic," said  
Trunks in reply.  
  
"Oh," said the girl as she blinked  
at him and turned away. "Well, we should  
go."  
  
"Yeah," agreed Trunks as he moved  
after her.  
  
Ryoko turned to Tenchi and smiled.  
"So?"  
  
The boy blushed. "I guess we should  
get started."  
  
Ryoko nodded and sighed. "I wonder  
why they did this?"  
  
"I think it's so we can get some  
practice in, fighting different  
opponents then we're used too..."  
ventured Tenchi.  
  
Ryoko shrugged and jumped at him.  
"Who cares! You're mine!" She spread her  
arms wide and grinned devilishly.  
  
She blinked at the blade that  
appeared between herself and the boy.  
"Sorry Ryoko, but we're here to train,  
remember?"  
  
This caught her off guard and she  
faltered in mid air. Tenchi tensed his  
body and charged at her. "Get ready  
Ryoko!"  
  
"Tenchi?" muttered the woman in  
confusion as she backed away. Slowly,  
her face contorted into a grin. "We can  
play again! Just like when we first  
met!"  
  
"I might enjoy the game more this  
time," replied the boy with a slight  
confidence in his tone that she'd never  
heard before.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!"  
cried Kooler as he reeled from a shot  
from behind. "What the?" He spun and  
glared at the offender with a rage in  
his eyes.  
  
"A class criminal Kooler! You're  
under arrest!" cried Mihoshi as she  
leveled her firearm at the alien.  
  
"What the?" said Kooler dumbly.  
"She...?"  
  
"In the name of the Galaxy Police,  
and the Emperor of Jurai, I'm placing  
you under arrest! Please keep your hands  
in the air and..."  
  
"You little imp! How dare you attack  
me!?" snarled Kooler as he stared at her  
in shock. His eyes fell on the pistol in  
her grip and he frowned. "There's no way  
that should have hurt me this much!" His  
back was still slightly irritated by the  
shot.  
  
Mihoshi leveled the weapon on him  
and fired again. A huge beam of power  
shot from the nozzle and he shifted to  
avoid it easily. "That's not..." he  
muttered to himself.  
  
"Don't move!" snapped Mihoshi with a  
firm frown on her face. Beside her was a  
small take out box that lay at her feet.  
  
  
"I'll just destroy you!" snapped  
Kooler as he charged up another bolt of  
power and fired it at her. Mihoshi  
shrieked and jumped aside, the blast  
missed.  
  
"What?" muttered Kooler dumbly.  
Another shot took him in the side and he  
grunted in irritated pain. It was little  
more than an annoyance. He spun and  
found Mihoshi standing there with the  
weapon trained on him. "This is insane!"  
he snarled as he started firing blast  
after blast at her.  
  
Mihoshi seemed to always be just out  
of reach, and started to fly around him  
under her own power. Kooler thought  
nothing of it and continued his attack,  
becoming more and more frustrated in his  
attempts.  
  
"Hold still damn you!" he snarled as  
he blasted ball after ball of power at  
her, they always seemed just out of  
reach as she fluttered around.  
  
"There's no way she can be this fast  
with such a miniscule power level!"  
thought Kooler angrily as he continued  
his assault.  
  
Mihoshi was doing amazingly well  
against the creature, but blinked when  
she pulled the trigger on her weapon  
again. It gave a dry click and she  
paused long enough to look at it. "Uh  
oh."  
  
"What?" said Kooler as he stared at  
her for a moment in surprise. "Out of  
ammo?" He thought about it for a moment,  
it seemed impossible. Especially since  
she was using her own ki energy to fire  
the blast at him, and not the weapon.  
She wasn't nearly out of power yet.  
After a moment, he shrugged and charged  
another ball of energy to fling at her.  
  
Mihoshi continued to dodge, seeming  
more and more frightened with each shot.  
She fumbled around aimlessly, which only  
served to irritate Kooler more.  
  
Finally, one of the balls of power  
seemed to hit home. It exploded, leaving  
nothing more than a slightly cooked  
ozone smell in its wake. "Ha! Take that  
you irritating little insect!"  
  
"Whew! That was close!" said Mihoshi  
from directly behind him.  
  
"Impossible!" cried Kooler as he  
whirled around and stared at her in  
shock. "There's no way you're this  
fast!"  
  
"Fast?" muttered Mihoshi as she  
stared at him fearfully.  
  
"Take this then!" cried Kooler as he  
lunged for her, only to have her vanish  
from in front of his fist and appear  
behind him. The woman blinked and was  
still in the act of flinching.  
  
"So, you can teleport can you?" said  
Kooler with a small chuckle as he  
realized what was happening.  
  
"Um? I can? Can I?" said Mihoshi in  
genuine confusion.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
On the Mikon Taka Washuu was beating  
her head against the wall in  
frustration. "Of course! That explains  
it! Damn it! How could I be so stupid!"  
  
"Um... is something wrong with her?"  
asked Usagi.  
  
"Just let it be," said Nabiki. She  
was with the senshi in the lounge area  
of the ship, watching the battle on a  
small screen that hung from the ceiling  
just above the table. It was being  
broadcast by the Juraian news media,  
probably taken from satellites in orbit,  
giving that all the views were from  
above. Apparently they also had the  
technology to get speech from orbit as  
well. The idea of that made Nabiki  
somewhat uncomfortable.  
  
"Ready?" asked George as he walked  
back with them and frowned. "We're  
leaving. We should be in orbit within  
the hour."  
  
Usagi gave him an unreadable stare  
and nodded.  
  
"Maybe Mihoshi will die?" said  
Washuu as she stopped beating on her  
head and thought about that for a  
moment. She didn't seem very upset to  
anyone else, but it was hard to tell.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks, Tenchi, Hotaru, and Ryoko  
all smirked as they walked up to the  
door of the room. With an audible click,  
they simply looked on as it slowly  
opened up for them. "Well, it's time,"  
said Trunks as he stepped outside.  
  
The others followed after him, and  
they found themselves standing alone.  
The palace was dead, silence that was  
not even broken by a chirping bird.  
  
"It's too quiet," commented Ryoko.  
  
"Shall we go and see who our  
mysterious visitor is after he kills  
Mihoshi?" asked Trunks.  
  
"No, Trunks," said Hotaru with a  
small sigh.  
  
"Damn," grumbled the boy as he  
kicked a small stone off the edge of the  
platform. "Come on then, let's get  
going. Don't want to keep them waiting."  
  
"Looks like we don't have to worry  
about that anyway," said Hotaru as she  
stared off into the distance.  
  
Tenchi frowned at this, but nodded.  
"I feel it too."  
  
"Good, we should get going then,"  
commented Trunks as he floated into the  
sky. The others followed after him.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Mihoshi was in bad shape, Kooler was  
fast. It hadn't taken long for him to  
start figuring her out once he realized  
what was happening. Yosho was lying on  
the ground near to Azusa, both of them  
were down for the count. She didn't  
realize it, but her power was fading  
fast.  
  
"Trying to run away again?" said  
Kooler as he chuckled and caught her  
after she avoided another punch. She had  
teleported behind him, only to find a  
kick waiting for her. With a grunt of  
pain, her hair went black and she  
slammed into the ground. Tears flowed  
from her eyes, and she was beaten pretty  
badly now.  
  
"You...won't get away...with this,"  
she gasped painfully.  
  
"Who's going to stop me? You?"  
chuckled Kooler as he floated  
malevolently above her. "Just die this  
time." He started to charge another ball  
of power in his hands above his head. "I  
think I'll just be rid of the three of  
you. You've given me too much trouble to  
take any chances!"  
  
Once again, an explosion slammed him  
out of the attack. This time, it was  
large enough to send him flying through  
the air and into the ground nearby.  
  
Mihoshi's vision blurred for a  
moment. She squinted and managed to make  
out a ship floating overhead. A familiar  
voice floated over to where she was  
lying. "Hurry up! That won't keep him  
occupied for long! We've got to go!"  
  
"George?" she muttered painfully as  
she felt hands on her body, helping her  
to her feet.  
  
"Hurry!" said Usagi as she moved  
along side Makoto to carry her onto the  
waiting ship. It hadn't even landed, but  
merely hovered above the ground with the  
ramp down. Azusa and Yosho received the  
same treatment, being carried onto the  
ship by the Senshi.  
  
Once onboard, they door quickly  
closed and the ship blasted into the  
air.  
  
George chuckled to himself as he  
flew into the sea of stars above Jurai.  
"See, less than an hour." He tapped the  
clock on the control panel and smirked  
at Usagi.  
  
Nabiki heaved a heavy sigh of relief  
and slumped down. Her back was against  
the wall and she had been sweating  
bullets. "I'm surprised that worked."  
  
"Those missiles are powerful,"  
commented Washuu. "It's why they're  
illegal."  
  
George glanced back at her and  
laughed nervously. "Well, a girl has to  
protect herself from pirates right?"  
  
"Girl?" said Minako dumbly.  
  
"Sorry, I used to be one," muttered  
the man as he went red. "You know...last  
time."  
  
"Oh," said the girl as she pretended  
to understand.  
  
Washuu rolled her eyes at this, but  
said nothing. "We should go now."  
  
"What about Trunks and the others?"  
asked Usagi.  
  
"We can't leave Tenchi behind!"  
cried Ayeka fearfully.  
  
"Destroy it...the planet is dead  
anyway," muttered Azusa. "Maybe we'll  
take that bastard with it."  
  
Yosho was recovering a little as  
well. "There may be nothing else we can  
do..." He looked angry and frustrated.  
No one could tell if it was because of  
his failure, or the destruction of the  
planet.  
  
"No, we should wait first," said  
Washuu.  
  
"Who are you to..." started Azusa.  
  
The woman's glare silenced any  
further protests. She continued  
uninterrupted. "Tenchi, Trunks, and  
Hotaru are all fine. They just emerged  
from the room."  
  
"Great! We'll just go back and pick  
them up!" said Usagi cheerfully.  
  
"I'm afraid that's not possible. We  
won't be able to do that again. Kooler  
will destroy us before we get the  
chance, we only caught him off guard,"  
said Washuu.  
  
"But, he'll never get to the palace  
before us!" cried Ami.  
  
"True, but they aren't at the  
palace. They just landed right in front  
of Kooler's location. They're going to  
fight him," said Washuu with a small  
sigh. "There's nothing we can do for  
them but pray."  
  
"No! Tenchi and that monster!?"  
cried Ayeka right before she passed out  
cold.  
  
"She took that rather well,"  
commented Artemis.  
  
Luna promptly thwacked him with her  
paw.  
  
"What's that?" asked Minako as she  
looked at the box in Usagi's lap.  
  
"I dunno, it was on the ground where  
we found Mihoshi," replied the girl with  
a small shrug. She opened it and  
blinked. "Hey. This looks like  
Okonomiyaki!"  
  
"What? That's impossible..." said  
Washuu as she walked over and stared  
into the box. "Never mind. I forgot who  
I was talking about here." She glanced  
over at the sleeping woman. Her hair was  
still black and she looked rather  
peaceful really. "Let's just watch this.  
I'm sure none of you want to miss it."  
  
With that, everyone's attention  
turned to the small screen that hung  
from the ceiling.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Kooler growled as he stared at the  
sky, briefly considering going after  
those who had dared attack him. He  
paused though when something caught his  
eye. On top of a rather large stone,  
looking down on him, was a small boy of  
about eight years old.  
  
"Ah. You must be Kooler."  
  
"Ranma Saotome?" said Kooler as he  
smiled and waged his tail in irritation.  
  
  
"My name is Trunks...and you're  
about to find out what it's like to  
fight a real Super Saiyan, and I don't  
mean Ranma." The boy smirked at the  
expression the alien gave him.  
  
"Somehow, I doubt that," replied  
Kooler as he glanced around. He was  
surrounded. "Well, this looks  
interesting. None of you can match my  
power though."  
  
Trunks chuckled at this. "You ain't  
seen our real power yet."  
  
"What the hell is this thing?" said  
Ryoko.  
  
"I'm not sure," said Hotaru as she  
narrowed her eyes at it.  
  
"This is it?" asked Tenchi as he  
glared at the monster that would do such  
a horrible thing.  
  
"Yeah, this is Kooler," snorted  
Trunks. "Never expected to see your ass  
again," he commented at the thing.  
  
"That, is not Kooler," replied  
Hotaru before the thing answered. "He  
was my opponent, and this thing's power  
is completely different. I'd say it's  
more likely that he's..."  
  
The thing gave a small chuckle, and  
its skin seemed to liquefy, melting away  
until its body was reformed into  
something else. "Yes, I am Ekitai." It  
spoke as the body reformed into a new  
figure. He was skinny, a gangly looking  
man with spiky blue hair that went  
straight up into the air. It was tied up  
by a thick blue bandanna, and his skin  
was pale and his eyes a bright,  
unnatural looking blue. He chuckled at  
them and eyed them all for a moment. His  
clothing was nothing but a pair of dark  
blue kung-fu pants and a light blue  
vest. "Well, I've found what I'm looking  
for at any rate. We're going to play a  
game, and the prize is this planet."  
  
Trunks frowned at this and growled.  
"Youma Lord..."  
  
"He is strong," commented Hotaru.  
  
"You're going down buster!" snarled  
Ryoko.  
  
Tenchi merely nodded in silent  
agreement.  
  
"I think we'll just kill you and be  
done with it," said Trunks calmly.  
  
"Why bother with that?" snorted the  
Youma with a small shrug. "This'll be  
more fun. You see, I discovered this  
wonderful thing you call manga. I've  
grown rather obsessed. Saiyans huh?" He  
chuckled as he got a dark look in his  
eyes. "I've got just the thing for  
that." His body liquefied again and  
reformed.  
  
Trunks gasped at the thing that  
stood before him. It laughed insanely  
and cocked its head. It had black eyes  
and pink skin, its body was muscular and  
short. Instead of hair, a pink dorsal  
like protrusion flopped lazily behind  
its head.  
  
"Oh shit," muttered Trunks. "Majin  
Buu!" He dropped back into a defensive  
stance, and everyone around him noticed  
the reaction with a bit of worry. "Get  
ready guys, this is going to suck."  
  
Buu laughed, whether it was at what  
the saiyan boy had said or not; they'd  
never know.  
  
TBC...  
  
  
You hate me, I know this. Heh. ^_^ 


	85. Insertion 85

Insertion  
  
Part 85  
  
It's the end of Jurai as we know  
it...[and I feel fine.]  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Majin Buu?" said Tenchi in  
confusion as he stared at Trunks for a  
moment.  
  
The boy merely nodded as the group  
glared at the pink thing in front of  
them for a moment.  
  
"What's the big deal?" grumbled  
Ryoko irritably as she tensed.  
  
"What indeed?" asked Buu calmly.  
"Are you ready?"  
  
Trunks smirked. "You're not Buu.  
You're just a pathetic fanboy copying  
something he saw on Television. I'm not  
worried at all."  
  
"Well, I'd like to think of myself  
as more of a tribute, but if you  
insist," replied the pink thing  
cheerfully.  
  
Trunks nodded at Ryoko and Hotaru.  
  
"His power level has risen,"  
commented Hotaru as she glanced at  
Trunks.  
  
"I'd noticed that," replied the boy  
with a smirk. "We shouldn't have too  
much trouble with this loser though."  
  
Buu snorted and frowned at them. He  
raised his palm over his head and a pink  
light formed there. The group tensed as  
thousands of tiny tendrils of energy  
shot from his palm and into the air,  
creating an umbrella of destruction that  
rained down around them. "We'll see  
about that won't we?"  
  
"Damn!" cried Ryoko as she realized  
that there was too much for even them to  
dodge coming down on them.  
  
Trunks merely smirked and crossed  
his arms. "Well, I'm glad we've found a  
use for you after all."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
"No!" gasped Ayeka as the screen in  
front of them was blocked out by a  
bright pink light that was visible from  
orbit. It spread out across the surface  
of the planet, and the ground became a  
bright orange in color.  
  
"And so Jurai falls," said Azusa  
calmly as he hung his head.  
  
"All things come to an end, but  
Jurai's time has not yet come," said  
Yosho.  
  
"Eh?" said the Emperor as he glanced  
up at him.  
  
"Watch," said Washuu with a smirk  
forming on her face.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
Pluto stared into the gates of time.  
Horror was clear on her face as she  
simply stared into the image that  
assaulted her. The newly repaired staff  
in her hand wavered as she almost lost  
her grip on it. "No! How could this have  
happened?"  
  
The Earth was ravaged, destruction  
and anarchy was all she could see. The  
last vestiges of humanity clinging to  
life by a thread and it was growing  
frayed. Soon the thread would break, and  
darkness would lord over the universe  
for an untold amount of time. The senshi  
were alive, if you could call it that.  
Usagi's imprisonment, the death of her  
friends, and the struggles of their  
children played out before her in  
flashing images. It was a battle that  
could not be won. Chibi-Usa's eventual  
betrayal, everything that she loved and  
fought for, all gone in a few short  
years. It was all beginning now, and  
there was nothing she could do to stop  
it. Her power was far to low for her to  
oppose this force; she would be  
destroyed by it in the end, leaving her  
daughter to fight on in her place. If  
she survived long enough to be found  
after floating in space for twenty  
years.  
  
"What happened? Where did we go  
wrong?" She growled angrily as she  
realized it all at once. "I was right  
about him all along. I should have  
destroyed him...I should have..." She  
fell to her knees and sobbed. Time went  
on before her eyes, more suffering and  
pain. She couldn't bear to watch any  
longer. "What can I do?"  
  
The gates of time shimmered for the  
briefest of moments; an image came  
before her that she did not see long  
enough to focus through her tears.  
  
Someone stepped through the gate and  
stood over her. She slowly pulled her  
head up to stare at the newcomer with  
tear filled eyes.  
  
"Don't cry Puu, it's not as bad as  
it seems," said an unfamiliar voice.  
  
"Who?" she muttered in confusion.  
  
The figure turned away from her his  
back facing her as he walked towards the  
door to the chamber. "Let's go.  
Shouldn't take us too long to get there  
from here. A day at most."  
  
"Right," commented another voice as  
someone else stepped through the gates  
of time and smirked at her.  
  
"Who are you?" she demanded as she  
rose to her feet. Her grief and the  
feeling of helplessness melted away,  
having dulled her reaction up to this  
point.  
  
"Me? Just a friend. Sorry we don't  
have time to explain, but we've got work  
to do," said the first boy as he smirked  
at her from over his shoulder.  
  
Pluto blinked at this. The pair was  
in their mid-teens, and the both of them  
were walking about as if they owned the  
place. She felt a spike of anger flow  
through her body and leveled the staff  
in her hands at them. "You two will  
return at once!"  
  
The second boy spoke, brushing his  
long bangs out of his face with an idle  
gesture. He had brown hair that was tied  
into a ponytail that went to the middle  
of his back. His companion had short cut  
black hair that was spiked up slightly.  
"How much worse can it get lady?"  
  
With that, the pair walked out and  
left her standing alone. She blinked and  
rushed out the door glancing around the  
hall in search of them. The pair was  
gone. "AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!" She screamed  
in frustration and began to run through  
the halls, searching for them.  
"Bastards! I'll get them for this!" She  
fell down to her knees as a sharp pain  
stabbed into her forehead. "What?  
Again?" she muttered angrily as she  
slowly rose to her feet after a moment.  
"Damn it! I am the senshi of time! How  
can I be surprised so much in such a  
short amount of time?!" she snarled  
angrily.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Tochi snarled as she reared back her  
head and backed through the doorway to  
the concert hall. A crystal gorged on  
power rested in her clawed hands as her  
claws ripped up the carpet in her wake.  
"Soon, our plan will be realized!" she  
growled through her inhuman face as she  
glared at the group standing in front of  
her.  
  
Akane Tendo was breathing hard,  
leaning against one of the seats with a  
silver rifle of some kind in her hands.  
She was winded and beaten, but alive.  
Stones protruded from the ground, spikes  
of rock with people impaled on them  
littered the room in the aftermath of  
the battle. "We did it."  
  
Ranma frowned as his transformation  
powered down, his golden hair settling  
back into black as he stared at the  
doorway with an unreadable expression on  
his face. "Yes, we did."  
  
Jadeite and Kunzite were sitting off  
to the corner, nursing a few small  
wounds as the calm after the battle  
settled in. They were all scratched up,  
but none of them was in any danger of  
dying.  
  
"This one is worse than the one  
before it," grumbled Kunzite angrily.  
"We always manage to drive it off, but  
are we really winning?"  
  
"I know we are," said Ranma with an  
odd-looking smirk forming on his face.  
  
"Doesn't seem that clear to me,"  
commented Kunzite irritably.  
  
Ranma chuckled. "Of course you're  
losing," he thought to himself. "I am  
not though, nor are my allies." He  
turned away and walked out of the room,  
leaving them sitting there to tend to  
their own wounds.  
  
"Where are you going?" asked Akane.  
  
"I've got business to take care of,  
I'll meet you back at the headquarters."  
  
Jadeite glanced at Kunzite and  
frowned. "Something's up with him."  
  
"I know," said Kunzite irritably.  
  
"He's been doing this a lot lately,"  
said Akane with a rough sounding snort  
as she plopped herself against the wall  
next to them. The rifle was slung across  
her shoulder carelessly and she scowled.  
"It's bothering the hell out of me."  
  
"No kidding," grumbled Kunzite. "We  
should keep this to ourselves at the  
moment though."  
  
"Nephrite suspects as well," said  
Jadeite.  
  
"Zocite has expressed suspicions  
with me also," agreed Kunzite. "We have  
to do something about this."  
  
"What? He's all that's keeping us  
alive right now," said Jadeite with his  
frown deepening. "Without him, we are  
helpless against them."  
  
"The senshi are still gone," said  
Akane with her head hung low. "So is my  
sister."  
  
"He seems confident that we're  
winning. I wish I could share that  
sentiment," said Jadeite as he stood up.  
"We should go, it won't be long before  
the police arrive. They can clean this  
mess up."  
  
Akane sighed and nodded as she  
allowed herself to be helped to her  
feet. Kunzite did the same and they  
walked out of the building together.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"How long are you going to keep this  
up?" said Tochi as she landed beside  
Ranma. The pair was standing on top of a  
rooftop overlooking Shinjuku. It was  
silent and a cold wind blew through the  
air.  
  
"Heh. It amuses me. Let me enjoy my  
game."  
  
"It's dangerous," said Tochi.  
  
"These fools will never become  
strong enough to defeat us, anyone with  
that ability is on Jurai. Ekitai is  
doing away with them as we speak.  
There's nothing to worry about," replied  
the pigtailed boy calmly. "Everything is  
going according to my plan."  
  
"You sound doubtful of that," said  
Tochi as she placed her hand on his  
shoulder.  
  
Ranma growled as he looked up at the  
sky. "It should be me out there doing  
this. I should kill them myself.  
Ekitai..."  
  
"He is superior to you in power,"  
said Tochi calmly as she smirked a  
little.  
  
"He will fail. They will return  
stronger than ever," replied Ranma  
coldly.  
  
"You worry too much," said Tochi as  
she squeezed his shoulder a little.  
  
"We should have sent me with him, or  
Chibi-Usa..."  
  
"To do what?"  
  
"Make sure everything goes smoothly!  
Kuroi should have taken care of this  
himself. They are the biggest danger to  
our plans!" snapped Ranma as she jerked  
away from her grip. "Knowing that fool  
is out there, failing miserably is  
eating me alive."  
  
"Ekitai is the second strongest of  
our kind. Only Kuroi surpasses him, you  
should relax," commented the Youma as  
she smirked at his reaction a little.  
  
"That's why he should have gone!  
Ekitai will not return to us!"  
  
"Then, we'll just have to blow them  
out of the sky, and leave them to the  
void when they try to return," said  
Tochi as she moved closer to his side.  
  
"Heh, you make it sound so easy,"  
replied the boy as he glanced at her for  
a moment.  
  
"Who says it isn't?" asked Tochi as  
she leaned in and kissed him on the  
cheek.  
  
Ranma snorted and wiped the side of  
his face with the back of his hand.  
"That doesn't mean I'm not going to take  
precautions. Does Kuroi have what I  
need?"  
  
"The room is as you asked for."  
  
"Good, get me the spore. We're going  
now then," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"What about your game?" asked Tochi  
with a surprised blink.  
  
"Do what you want with them. I will  
not fail," said Ranma angrily as he  
clenched his fist at his side.  
  
"Very well," said the woman with her  
grin growing inhuman. Her teeth  
protruded over her lips and she  
chuckled.  
  
"Heh. For a moment, I almost found  
you attractive," he said in reaction to  
this.  
  
"Would you have done anything about  
it?" she said playfully. "All this  
training, it's making you boring. It's  
all you do these days."  
  
"I'll be interesting enough once  
those fools on Jurai are dealt with,"  
said Ranma coldly.  
  
"We'll see then," she replied as she  
turned away. She pulled out a small  
round object that looked somewhat like a  
compact. "Spore."  
  
Chibi-Usa's face appeared on the  
tiny screen inside of the communicator.  
"I've told you about that."  
  
"Your father wants you," said Tochi.  
  
"About what?" snorted the woman on  
the other side.  
  
"Well, for one thing, you should  
still be a child. It's dangerous to go  
around like that at the moment," said  
Tochi with a slightly amused frown.  
  
"That's my business," replied the  
Black Lady coldly. "What does that old  
fool want?"  
  
"What do you think?" snorted Tochi.  
  
"Again? He is too paranoid! I'm  
proof enough of the outcome of this,"  
said Chibi-Usa coldly.  
  
Ranma snatched the device from Tochi  
and glared at the screen for a moment.  
"Humor me then. I might decide that  
you're usefulness is at an end after  
you've ensured my future you know."  
  
Chibi-Usa growled at this and glared  
at him. "I'll be there."  
  
"Good, because if I decided that you  
were boring, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't  
be too worried about losing you. Make  
sure an old man has a little bit of a  
challenge in his daughter." He closed  
the communication down and snorted.  
  
"Offspring should be dealt with  
harshly. It makes them stronger," said  
Tochi as she accepted the device from  
him as he shoved it into her palm.  
  
Ranma glanced at her for a moment  
without a single word, and flew into the  
sky leaving her there on the roof.  
  
"Well, played," said Tochi. "Exactly  
the kind of man I'd want for my own  
nest."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Tatewaki Kuno walked along the  
sidewalk in the middle of the night. He  
had a contemplative frown on his face as  
the sky grew more and more angry.  
  
"Ranma Saotome," he muttered under  
his breath. The target of his hatred,  
the one who dared keep his one true love  
away from his arms by some unknown  
magic... hadn't been seen on the school  
grounds for weeks.  
  
He cocked his head in irritation as  
he mulled over this. He had gone to the  
Tendo home a few times to face his  
rival. The coward was hardly ever there,  
running from his prowess no doubt. It  
was understandable, there were few who  
would not wet themselves at just the  
sight of his mighty sword.  
  
Still, it was irritating. He wished  
to face the fool in battle, and prove to  
him that he was the best man to hold  
Akane Tendo's heart. Both to the coward  
Ranma, and to Akane herself. Surely she  
would rush into his arms after he  
defeated such an enemy. On the few  
occasions he did find him, he was held  
back from his full potential by unknown  
magic. Something was staying his hand,  
and preventing his strikes from  
connecting. Oddly enough, the strange  
magic had almost cost him his life  
several times. Surely is sheer prowess  
had stayed the curse from being  
completed.  
  
Well, that and the young child who  
had become enamored with his purity and  
grace. She seemed to have tamed the  
savage lowborn fool enough to force him  
to stay his hand at the end of a battle.  
Something about 'needing him in the  
future or something'. No doubt an  
innocent wish to become his wife in the  
future. He would hate to break the young  
maiden's heart when he wed Akane Tendo,  
but it had to be done.  
  
His musings were cut short when he  
heard something unusual. The hour was  
late and he was returning home from a  
full day of meditation, or rather,  
walking around in the hope of running  
into Ranma Saotome on the street.  
  
Whatever it was, it was somewhat  
muffled. He was near to a small park in  
one of the residential areas. He was  
pretty sure he was still in Nerima, but  
not completely so. He'd been walking all  
day, and may have wandered into a nearby  
ward.  
  
The sight that greeted him was  
definitely not what he was expecting.  
  
It was a man with a green face wearing a  
trench coat. He was clutching his head  
as if in pain, and was making a rather  
painful sounding grunting noise. "What  
magic is..." His eyes went wide as the  
man started to pull his face off.  
  
"GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" cried Hikaru  
Gosunkugi as he finally freed himself of  
the mask. His eyes were wide and horror  
filled as he tossed it to the ground at  
his feet. He glared at it in horror and  
gasped for breath. He put his hands up  
in front of his face, they were covered  
in blood.  
  
He had just raided a local drug  
house. Not all that unusual in itself,  
but this time he had lost it completely.  
"My god. What have I done?" he muttered  
under his breath as tears filled his  
eyes. Images flooded his mind, not  
clouded as they usually were after such  
an episode. Images of his hands ripping  
out a man's spinal chord through his  
mouth. Images of himself shoving a  
plunger through a woman's head. Worst of  
all, an image of himself tearing of  
someone's head, and taking the time to  
shit down their neck. "It's getting  
worse!" he muttered to himself in  
horror. "I'm growing more and more  
violent! What's happening to me?"  
  
Unfortunately, he didn't notice the  
silent figure standing nearby, watching  
him intently. A voice brought him out of  
his stupor.  
  
"What magic is this?"  
  
Hikaru Gosunkugi's head shot up and  
his eyes went wide. "Kuno?" he muttered  
as recognition set in. "I..."  
  
Tatewaki Kuno knelt down beside him  
and stared at him for a moment. "I'm..."  
he stammered. It didn't take him long to  
realize that the boy was on his feet  
again a moment later. "What?"  
  
The mask wasn't on the ground  
anymore, it was sitting in Kuno's hands  
as the boy stared at it.  
  
"What? No! You can't! That..."  
  
Kuno snorted and thwacked the boy  
over his head with the bokken in his  
hand and sent him to the ground in a  
heap. "Lowborn fool! You shall not stay  
me from my path! At last I have  
discovered a way to rid myself of the  
foul and cowardly sorcerer known as  
Ranma Saotome!" He blinked and seemed to  
realize what he was doing as he looked  
at the unconscious boy for a moment. He  
was basically robbing him. "I...No doubt  
he would see the need of my person of  
such magics, and gladly donate this to  
my cause!" He slipped the mask into his  
shirt and continued on his way.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Majin Buu smirked at the area around  
him, it was little more than a molten  
pit. He floated above the lava and  
chuckled to himself. "Well, I am  
impressed."  
  
Trunks, Hotaru, Ryoko, and Tenchi  
were floating nearby. Tenchi had his  
hands in the air over their heads  
generating a shield of power to cover  
them. There was also a patch of ground  
just under them, unmolested by the  
assault.  
  
Trunks snorted and floated forward.  
"Are we supposed to be impressed by  
that? Any one of us could do what you  
just did without much effort."  
  
"The fun is just starting," chimed  
Buu cheerfully.  
  
"That it is," said Trunks as he  
moved into a combat stance.  
  
"We should help him," said Ryoko.  
  
"He'll be angry if you try," said  
Hotaru calmly. "Just wait. He's testing  
the waters so to speak. This is for our  
benefit as much as his."  
  
"What?" said Tenchi dumbly.  
  
"Even if he doesn't manage to  
destroy him, we'll have some idea of how  
he fights, and what to expect. I suspect  
that our young friend already knows what  
he's up against."  
  
Ryoko nodded silently at this and  
seemed to calm visibly.  
  
"We shouldn't help then?" asked  
Tenchi.  
  
"I didn't say that, just be ready,"  
replied Hotaru.  
  
Trunks glanced back at them and  
Hotaru nodded to him. He focused his  
attention on Buu after that, not  
worrying that one of the others would  
try to rush him head on.  
  
"Trying to take me on all alone?"  
said Buu with a small disgusted snort.  
  
"Don't look so disappointed,"  
commented Trunks as he started to raise  
his power levels.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
"What's going on?" growled a stoic  
looking Juraian as he sat in the command  
chair of one of the warships that  
circled above the planet in wait.  
  
"I'm not certain sir!" said one of  
the officers. "They appear to still be  
talking."  
  
"How did they survive that blast?"  
said the Captain as he glanced at the  
man.  
  
"I'm not certain sir. The ship that  
rescued the Emperor has not yet reached  
the fleet, but it is definitely off the  
surface."  
  
Trunks could be seen on the screen  
from an overhead view that looked to be  
about twenty feet above the fight. A  
field of power started to form around  
his body that was visible on the screen.  
  
"Energy reading sir!" exclaimed one  
of the men.  
  
"I can see that!" snapped the  
Captain. "What about that thing?"  
  
"Still nothing sir, we're not  
getting a reading from it at all," said  
the man as he glanced at his console.  
His eyes went wide and he stood up from  
his seat. "Impossible."  
  
"Eh?" said the Captain as he glanced  
at him.  
  
"Sir! That man is generating enough  
power..."  
  
"What is it! Spit it out!" snapped  
the Captain impatiently.  
  
"He's generating enough power to run  
this ship for six months," said the man  
as he looked up at his Captain.  
  
"Pardon?" asked the man with a  
disbelieving snort.  
  
Unfortunately for the poor man,  
Trunks achieved his Super Saiyan form at  
that very moment.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Well, that is impressive. I'm sure  
Takibi was outclassed." Buu chuckled to  
himself as he eyed the golden warrior in  
front of him for a moment.  
  
"Match boy never saw this form,"  
said Trunks confidently. "I'm a real  
Super Saiyan now."  
  
"Bah!" snorted Buu as he waited  
patiently.  
  
Trunks snorted and blasted forward  
in a blaze of light. Buu smirked as the  
boy slammed into him fist first at full  
force.  
  
The boy gasped as he felt the blow  
connect. Buu was shot back and Trunks  
pressed the advantage, chasing his  
target down and overtaking it easily. He  
seemed to appear behind it and kicked it  
upwards, repeating the process as he  
shot skyward and moved in front of the  
pink thing once again. He kicked it  
downward and paused.  
  
For the briefest of moments he had  
seen Buu's face before he was sent  
careening towards the lava below. The  
thing was grinning at him. "What the?"  
  
Buu never hit the ground. He stopped  
his decent and folded his arms over his  
chest. "My, how interesting this is."  
  
"What?" gasped Tenchi.  
  
"No way!" growled Ryoko angrily, her  
aura started to burn.  
  
Hotaru merely frowned at it and  
narrowed her eyes. "Interesting."  
  
"Not ready to join us yet?" asked  
Buu as he turned to look at her for a  
moment.  
  
"We'll see," said Hotaru calmly as  
she held her position.  
  
Trunks floated nearby and watched  
the pink thing for a moment as it seemed  
to ignore him. "What's going on? I know  
there's no way he's that strong! He had  
to feel it at least!" His mind searched  
for an explanation and he growled in  
frustration.  
  
"Ready to try again?" asked Buu  
calmly.  
  
"Ka-me-ha-me-HA!" snapped Trunks as  
he thrust his hands forward. A beam of  
power shot towards Buu and the thing  
merely smiled at him malevolently.  
Trunks simply stood there with his mouth  
hanging open as the beam seemed to pass  
right through the center of the thing's  
chest. "No way!"  
  
"Your power is pathetic," said Buu  
coldly.  
  
"I'm not getting anything from him!"  
thought Trunks in frustration. "Not even  
a glimmer of power! Is he an illusion?"  
He grit his teeth in frustration. "Is  
that it? He's not real?"  
  
"Trying to figure this out?" asked  
Buu calmly.  
  
Trunks looked at his hands, he had  
felt himself connect, he knew that he  
had felt his fists hit something solid.  
"This is some kind of trick. I know it,"  
he growled angrily.  
  
"Hmmm, where have I heard that  
before?" said Buu playfully.  
  
Trunks blushed despite himself. "I'm  
really starting to hate Dragon Ball," he  
grumbled under his breath. He blasted  
forward and attacked Buu again, raining  
blows into the thing and feeling every  
one of them connect solidly. He jumped  
back and growled as the thing stood  
there smirking at him and seemingly  
unharmed despite everything he had  
thrown at it. "Damn!"  
  
"Ha! You're a weak and pathetic  
fighter! I haven't even felt a single  
blow! I'm growing tired of this!" Buu  
grinned at him and pointed with his  
finger in a mocking gesture.  
  
"What am I missing here?" growled  
Trunks.  
  
"If you haven't figured it out yet,  
too bad. Playtime is over. I've got a  
job to do, and when I'm finished, the  
entire Universe is mine for the taking!"  
  
Trunks tensed himself and crouched  
slightly as he prepared.  
  
"I'm getting kind of hungry," said  
Buu as he glanced over at the group that  
was watching the battle. "How about  
you?"  
  
Trunks growled.  
  
"I know, I'll make you a cookie!"  
  
He pointed his finger at Ryoko and  
grinned.  
  
"What?" said the woman dumbly.  
  
A strange transparent energy formed  
around her body, distorting the air  
slightly. Ryoko screamed painfully and  
jerked suddenly with her eyes wide with  
fear and pain. She fell forward and  
gasped as it stopped suddenly and she  
almost fell into the boiling lake of  
lava below them. Tenchi managed to catch  
her and hold her in the air.  
  
Trunks had attacked Buu in the  
middle of his assault. The thing was  
glaring at him irritably. "Hmm, takes a  
long time to work if you're still  
strong. I guess I'll have to wear you  
out a bit if I want to eat."  
  
The boy moved back into a combat  
stance and stared at it hatefully.  
"Bring it on."  
  
"As you wish!" said Buu as it  
charged for the first time, in the one  
on one battle, it was on the assault.  
  
Trunks reeled as blow after blow  
slammed into his body. The thing was too  
fast for him to follow, it was almost as  
if it was punching through his blocks.  
He cried out in pain and struggled to  
stay aloft despite the battle. "Damn  
it!"  
  
Buu chuckled as he kicked his  
opponent across the sky. Trunks sailed  
back through the air and actually  
cleared the huge lava crater that Buu's  
first assault had caused. He slammed  
into the ground and dug a long rift into  
the soil. Finally he stopped and looked  
up at the sky painfully. "Ouch."  
  
"Did that hurt? Don't worry, it will  
be over soon," said Buu as he floated  
just overhead with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Damn," growled Trunks as he rose to  
his feet. "I'm gonna have to go all  
out!"  
  
"Eh?" said Buu dumbly.  
  
Trunks screamed as his aura blasted  
outward again. His hair and body grew  
slightly larger and his eyes became an  
ever-deeper shade of blue. "I was hoping  
to save this form for Ranma, but I  
suppose I really should try it out  
first."  
  
Buu sneered. "It won't matter how  
strong you become, you'll never defeat  
me," said the thing calmly.  
  
Trunks shot into the sky again,  
attacking full force. Buu returned every  
blow he was given with an unnatural  
skill that Trunks knew he shouldn't  
have.  
  
"Growing tired yet?" said Buu  
playfully.  
  
Trunks snarled in frustration and  
anger. "This isn't possible!" Buu  
actually felt harder now, he couldn't  
figure out what was wrong.  
  
"Get out of my way weakling," said  
the pink thing calmly as he kicked  
Trunks across his face with a spinning  
blow.  
  
The boy sailed through the air once  
again and landed hard on the ground. His  
impact shot up a huge cloud of dust that  
enveloped almost a full square mile of  
the planet's surface. Buu chuckled and  
waited patiently for his opponent to  
return.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"This shouldn't be!" said Washuu as  
she stared at the scene that played in  
front of them.  
  
"No! Get away!" gasped Ayeka. "We  
have to contact them! Tell them to run!"  
  
Yosho looked at her for a moment and  
frowned. "Even if we could, I doubt they  
would listen."  
  
Nabiki glanced back at him and then  
looked at the screen. "That thing isn't  
that skilled."  
  
"What?" muttered Usagi as she looked  
at the girl next to her in shock. She  
had been silent for the entire fight up  
to this point.  
  
"Something is wrong, Ranma should be  
wiping the floor with that thing," said  
Nabiki calmly. "I don't think it's that  
strong."  
  
"You noticed that as well?" asked  
Yosho calmly as he continued to stare at  
the screen. "I do not believe that this  
creature is as strong as it is  
pretending to be. I can only hope that  
they find an answer soon."  
  
"What?" muttered Rei dumbly.  
  
"Not that powerful?" gasped Azusa.  
  
Washuu glanced at Ami and the girl  
nodded.  
  
"It seems that this thing, is not as  
powerful as it claims. The reason you  
failed Azusa, is because you were trying  
to fight off the power of your own  
planet."  
  
"What?" gasped the Emperor in shock.  
  
"Yes, I agree," said Ami. "I believe  
that this enemy has its strength in  
deception, not power. It doesn't matter  
how hard Trunks punches it, it will not  
be defeated that way."  
  
Washuu blinked at this. "I was  
referring to the fact that it's powering  
itself with Jurai itself."  
  
"Really?" said Ami in confusion.  
"That makes it even more dangerous  
then."  
  
"Then why did Lord Tenchi's  
shield..." muttered Ayeka.  
  
"Because Tenchi is using the power  
within himself, and not the power of  
Tsunami," replied Yosho calmly.  
  
"What?" gasped Ayeka.  
  
"Tsunami can be copied," replied  
Washuu. "However, even if I were to  
clone you, there would still be subtle  
differences between the real you, and  
the clone you."  
  
"You mean...Lord Tenchi?"  
  
"It's because he's half human,"  
replied Washuu.  
  
Everyone looked at her for a moment.  
  
"Something about human blood causes  
an odd mutation when mixed with certain  
species. It enables them to become  
stronger than the original species. It's  
one of the great mysteries of the  
universe. They are a relatively weak  
species on their own, but combined with  
the right genes..." She turned and  
smirked at Azusa. "Of course, that was  
no accident, was it?"  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Still not enough," growled Trunks  
painfully as he waited for the cloud of  
dust around him to clear away a bit. He  
was coughing violently as he said this  
and tried to breath in the dust.  
  
"Shit! What the hell am I gonna do  
now?" he thought as he glared at the  
ground. "I'm at my maximum and I can't  
even scratch him! My beam passed through  
him like he wasn't even there!"  
  
He glanced up and saw the pink thing  
floating on the other side of the slowly  
fading haze above him. "More power?  
Maybe if I get strong enough..." His  
eyes turned to where his friends were  
standing. They wouldn't move to attack  
unless he said too, or died. He knew  
that as they were now, they wouldn't  
stand a chance.  
  
"This is it. All my power, a single  
strike!" he floated into the air slowly,  
facing off against Buu.  
  
"Back again are you? Haven't you  
given up yet?"  
  
"Rrrrrrrr..." was the only reply the  
thing got.  
  
Buu opened his mouth slightly and  
stared at the Saiyan for a moment as it  
started to glow again. "This again?  
Really..."  
  
"You won't be laughing when I'm  
through with you," growled Trunks.  
  
Buu shifted his stance and watched  
the boy warily. "What? What's he doing?"  
Without thinking he dashed forward in an  
attack.  
  
Trunks dodged by shooting backwards  
suddenly and stopping about two hundred  
yards away. His aura grew brighter and  
he looked down at the ground. He started  
to descend as his aura continued to  
glow. Occasionally Buu would take  
another halfhearted swipe at him and  
he'd move out of the way. He always  
faced the thing though and it grew more  
and more confused.  
  
"What are you doing? " snarled Buu.  
  
Trunks smirked as he glanced down at  
his friends. They looked to be just as  
confused as Buu was. He appeared to be  
doing nothing more than taunting the  
thing with his battle aura raised.  
"It's time," he said quietly as he eyed  
the pink thing that was starting to grow  
more impatient by the moment.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"What's he doing?" muttered Ryoko in  
confusion. "He's charging for something,  
but I don't see..."  
  
"Too much power!" gasped Tenchi.  
  
Hotaru was as silent as ever as she  
watched the battle. "What is he doing?  
All that power?" She glanced back at  
Tenchi and Ryoko. "Get ready to fight."  
  
"What?" said the boy in shock.  
  
"If this doesn't work, Trunks will  
be unable to continue," said Hotaru  
calmly.  
  
Tenchi glared at the boy as he put  
his hands together. "No! What's he  
doing! He's gonna blow up the whole  
planet!"  
  
"What?" gasped Ryoko. That was when  
she realized that Tenchi was right. "You  
crazy bastard! Stop that!" She started  
to float up to stop him, but Hotaru  
managed to catch her ankle and slammed  
her into the ground. "Are you nuts?  
We're gonna die!"  
  
"Watch," said Hotaru as she nodded.  
  
Trunks's face contorted into a mask  
of rage, and he dropped down slightly in  
the air. "Final Flash!" he cried aloud  
as the energy beam rocketed from his  
hands towards Buu.  
  
The thing's eyes went wide as it saw  
the power shooting towards it. The  
golden energy seemed to slam into its  
body all at once.  
  
Trunks hit the ground hard, he  
bounced and lay there still. Balls of  
pink goo splattered across the ground  
messily all around the area where Buu  
had been destroyed.  
  
Hotaru narrowed her eyes as she  
watched the beam continue to sail into  
the sky. It vanished from sight and she  
grimaced as several smaller secondary  
explosions could be seen in space. "You  
dope. All the Juraians are above us!"  
  
Trunks was out cold though and heard  
nothing.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"GAAAAAAHHHHHH! That idiot!" cried  
Ayeka as she watched the beam sail out  
into space a few miles in the distance.  
No less than four cruisers had been  
destroyed in its passing.  
  
"A small price to pay, for the  
safety of our planet," said Azusa with a  
heavy sigh. "It seems we are in the debt  
of that boy."  
  
Yosho nodded. "So it would seem."  
  
Washuu heaved a sigh of relief and  
sat down. "Well, I'm glad that's over  
with."  
  
"It's over?" asked Usagi with a wide  
smile growing on her face.  
  
Makoto laughed and grabbed Rei in a  
rather rough hug. The others inside the  
ship quickly followed, even Nabiki pat  
Usagi on the back with a smile on her  
face. It was easy to tell everyone was  
relieved to say the least.  
  
Everyone that is, but Ami Mizuno.  
  
Ami Mizuno was sitting down with her  
laptop on her knees. Her eyes were wide  
and she simply stared at the screen in  
front of her in what could have been  
horror. A screen that showed Majin Buu  
with a huge grin on his face, exploding,  
while the beam was still ten feet in  
front of him.  
  
She raised her head and spoke three  
words that silenced everyone with a  
surprising quietness. "It's not over."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC... 


	86. Insertion 86

Insertion  
  
Part 86  
  
The Mysterious Youths...  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks lay on the ground unmoving, and the remains of Buu were  
scattered across the ground. It was deathly silent and nothing could  
be heard, not even the wind.  
  
"It's over?" muttered Trunks as he looked at the fallen pink blobs  
of liquid on the ground and frowned.  
  
Hotaru frowned slightly and looked at the boy for a moment. "I  
still feel a strong power, he's still alive."  
  
Tenchi gasped and looked at her for a moment. "What?"  
  
"Be prepared, Trunks can't help us right now," said the girl as  
she gave her master a sidelong glance for a moment.  
  
Almost in response to that, the small pink blobs began to quiver  
on the ground violently.  
  
"Shit!" snapped Ryoko. "It didn't kill him?!" She had no illusions  
about their power, Trunks was the strongest of all of them. Still,  
their combined might be able to let them fight the thing.  
  
Tenchi's frown deepened as he watched the pink substance slide  
together. "Damn."  
  
"Can we stop it?" asked Ryoko as she watched it begin to form  
together. She blasted one of the pink blobs with a bolt of ki,  
transforming as she did so. There was a huge explosion and the pink  
blob emerged from the smoke on the other side unscathed. "Damn!"  
  
Hotaru and Tenchi tried a similar tactic, but had the same  
results. The blobs were seemingly immune from their power somehow.  
"This isn't working!" growled the senshi irritably.  
  
"Heh, pathetic," said Buu as his body neared completion. "You're  
no match for me fools."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Akane sat at her desk with a scowl on her face as she glared at  
the screen in front of her. Things hadn't been going well for them  
lately. "What's wrong with Ranma? Why are we driving back the Youma  
Lords so easily? Why haven't we seen many of the weaker Youma?" Her  
face scrunched up in irritation. They had run into a few of the lesser  
monsters, but lately the things were alone. When they encountered the  
Youma Lords, it was as if they were operating independently of the  
other monsters. The lesser creatures were gathering energy, while the  
Youma Lords seemed more intent on making a big mess and causing  
casualties. "This doesn't add up."  
  
"Thinking again?" asked Nephrite as he strolled into the room and  
sat on the edge of her desk.  
  
Akane glanced up at him and her frown deepened. "A lot of what's  
going on isn't adding up," she replied carefully.  
  
"We'd noticed that too, I think Ranma knows more than he's letting  
on, but he isn't talking."  
  
The girl sighed at this, but nodded her head. "You're right.  
Ranma's been keeping to himself lately. He doesn't even go to school."  
  
"Speaking of which..." said Nephrite playfully.  
  
"Yeah, I know. I should get going," replied the girl with a  
slightly tired sigh.  
  
"Right," agreed the man with a somewhat cheerful smirk.  
  
Akane closed down her computer and stood up to go to the  
transporter room. It was still early in the morning, and she hadn't  
gotten more than an hour's worth of sleep in the past few days.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"My baby!" cried Soun as Akane walked into the door and found  
herself tackled by her father in a rough hug.  
  
"DAAAAADDDD!" muttered the girl in embarrassment.  
  
"Oh! You're home Akane!" exclaimed Nabiki.  
  
Genma snorted at her. "Where is that worthless son of mine?"  
  
"I haven't seen him since last night," replied the girl as she  
gave him an unreadable gaze.  
  
Genma nodded at this, his interest was minimal at the moment.  
"What about your sister?"  
  
Akane shook her head. "Still no sign of her."  
  
Soun hung his head, he had brightened up slightly at the mention  
of it, but it faded in an instant at Akane's answer.  
  
The girl frowned at him a little. "Don't worry Dad, we'll find  
him."  
  
Soun nodded silently and shuffled back to the table.  
  
Kasumi fretted worriedly and gave her little sister somewhat  
nervous glances. "Akane, are you sure you can..."  
  
"I trust these people more than anyone," she replied as she gave  
her sister a very slightly irritated glance. "One way or another, we  
will find her."  
  
"All right," said the older girl as she turned away. Akane  
wouldn't talk about her job, or the people there at all. She defended  
their trust with an unwavering consistency though. Truth be told, she  
was somewhat envious of her sister for having people she thought she  
could trust that much. It also worried her slightly that she did trust  
these people as much as she did.  
  
"The boy is slacking off," growled Genma as he looked at the dojo.  
It hadn't been used by anyone in a very long time.  
  
Akane frowned at this, but ignored the man. He seemed somewhat  
irritable when speaking about his son, but that was normal anyway.  
Ranma seemed to have left him alone and gone off to live his own life,  
and Nodoka hadn't been around either. She was trying to kill him  
before, not it seemed like she had forgotten he existed at all. She  
hadn't seen her 'Auntie' for some time now. Genma was miserable  
without any contact from his family, and Ranma hadn't actually been to  
the dojo in almost a week.  
  
"Poor guy," she muttered as she turned to go to her room, she  
could worry about it later, as it was now, she had to get ready for  
school.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Today's the day?" asked one of the two teens that stood outside  
the dojo. He had spiky black hair and a serious frown on his face as  
he glared at the door.  
  
"That's right," agreed his companion. He was a boy of about the  
same age, his face was a cold and seemingly indifferent, and his long  
brown bangs hid his face from view. "It all starts today."  
  
"We rest while we can then, we don't know when the next time we'll  
be able too after he finds out about us," replied the shorthaired boy.  
  
  
His companion nodded silently.  
  
"What are you two talking about? Who are you?" growled Pluto as  
she appeared behind them with a cold frown on her face. "What are you  
doing here?"  
  
"You'll see," said the shorthaired boy as he smirked at her.  
"Later Puu!" He seemed to vanish into thin air.  
  
The longhaired boy watched her for a moment with a smirk on his  
face. "Don't you have somewhere else to be Pluto?"  
  
The woman scowled at him angrily. "I..."  
  
"She's waiting for you, stop being a chicken and go see your  
daughter," replied the boy as he vanished as well.  
  
The woman stared at the space they had once occupied and gave a  
frustrated snort. "What do they know...I..." She hung her head in  
shame. "I can't face her yet..."  
  
"That's too bad, mother," said a calm voice from behind her.  
  
Pluto slowly turned and gasped. Tsuki was standing behind her with  
the coldest frown she'd ever seen on the girl's face. "Tsuki..."  
  
"Mother," replied the girl icily.  
  
"What?" muttered Pluto as she stared at the girl's dress. She was  
wearing her senshi uniform and had a familiar object in her grip.  
  
"Pluto!" said Pluto as she stepped back.  
  
"That's right. You're going to retire soon," replied the girl in  
front of her calmly. "And you're going to leave those two alone."  
  
"What?" gasped the elder Pluto in shock.  
  
"In any case, they are right. You can't avoid me forever, Mother,"  
the younger Pluto gave her an unreadable smirk.  
  
"I...I can't face her yet! She..."  
  
"I've already heard all your excuses about this," replied Tsuki  
calmly as she turned away.  
  
"What are you doing here? Our responsibility..." said the elder  
Pluto as she stepped forward.  
  
"Responsibility be damned!" snarled Tsuki. "I will not... I  
cannot allow that future!"  
  
"But..."  
  
"Are you any better?" replied Tsuki calmly.  
  
Pluto stared at her for a moment, with her jaw hanging down. "Well  
I..."  
  
Tsuki snorted. "Crystal Tokyo indeed..."  
  
"I'll have you know that..."  
  
"I've heard all your excuses for that mess," said Tsuki as she  
smirked at her.  
  
"Mess?!!" cried Setsuna in shock. "I'll have you know, young lady,  
that I..."  
  
"Look where your 'Crystal Tokyo' has gotten you now," said Tsuki  
calmly.  
  
Setsuna had no reply to that.  
  
"Mother, go home. There's little you or I can do now. Just...go  
home." The younger Pluto started to walk away and turned to smile at  
her. "Remember what I've said. You won't see me again."  
  
Setsuna nodded slowly and stepped back.  
  
"Stay out of the way, this is beyond even you," said Tsuki as she  
vanished into a porthole that lead into the time stream.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Tsuki bowed deeply before a great throne and leveled her gaze on  
the woman sitting in front of her. "Yes my Queen."  
  
"Good," replied the woman calmly. She leaned forward and smiled at  
Tsuki in an almost motherly way. Her long pink hair flowed down to the  
floor and cascaded down the stairs that lead up to the seat slightly.  
"So, we have ensured our future?"  
  
"That's up to them," replied Tsuki calmly. "I cannot interfere any  
more than I have."  
  
"Very well, I have faith in those two," replied the woman calmly.  
Her gaze turned to the window that led outside. The sky was a deep  
red, and the city below was shrouded in shadow from the dawn.  
  
Tsuki made a small snort as she watched Chibi-Usa stand and walk  
towards the door. Her tail was coiled around her waist and she had a  
slightly vicious air to her smirk. She fingered the crystal that  
rested inside her brooch idly and left her in the throne room alone.  
"I think I'll go see if Ryo-chan want's to play."  
  
Tsuki stood up after she left, that woman still bothered her.  
Still, at least she had a position to hold after all this time. With a  
heavy sigh she hung her head and opened another porthole. Pluto was  
long gone, but the time gates had been rebuilt at least. Now residing  
on Phobos, one of the two artificial satellites created in the Silver  
Millenium in order to restore the lunar balance after Diamos was  
destroyed by Genaku all those years ago.  
  
"Bastard," thought Tsuki irritably as she remembered the man  
responsible for the destruction of the planet. Ranma Saotome would get  
what was coming to him, unfortunately, she had nothing to do with it.  
It was still somewhat comforting to think about it though.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Hotaru glared at the thing in front of her as it giggled madly and  
cocked its head at her. "Well, are you just going to stand there? I  
might get bored and decide to just blow up the planet."  
  
Tenchi growled angrily at this and stepped back.  
  
"Ryoko, it's time," said Hotaru calmly.  
  
The woman blinked at her and didn't seem to understand for a  
moment.  
  
"Get ready," said Hotaru as she walked up beside the woman.  
  
Buu frowned and stepped back. Hotaru's power was actually  
dropping? Something wasn't right. The other woman's power was rising,  
but Hotaru was far superior. "What are you doing?" it grumbled to  
itself.  
  
Tenchi moved in front of them and put his hands up, the Wings of  
the Light Hawk came to life and he frowned at the thing for a moment.  
  
"You're going to fight me? Don't be absurd!" guffawed Buu.  
  
"No, my job is to keep you away, I'm not strong enough to fight  
you," said the boy simply. He shook his head from side to side slowly.  
  
"What?" muttered Buu in confusion.  
  
Hotaru and Ryoko were standing next to each other in a ready pose.  
Buu blinked when they started to dance. "What the hell? Have they gone  
insane?" He grunted as he was forced to shield his eyes as a bright  
flash of light filled his vision. "Argh!"  
  
What emerged from the flash was definitely something different.  
"Fusion dance?!" he muttered as he stared at the woman before him.  
  
"Heh. That's right monster," said the dual voice of the figure  
floating in front of him. She had a thick mane of spiky dark blue  
hair, a long slender body, and a pair of violet eyes. Her smirk was  
cold, and her face looked very youthful despite her figure. "I am  
Ryokaru, and you're dead meat." She pointed at the thing with a brash  
confidence in her tone.  
  
"Heh," chuckled Buu. "It doesn't matter how strong you become.  
You'll never beat me!"  
  
Ryokaru screamed as she flexed her arms at her sides and powered  
up. Within a few seconds time she had golden hair and deep blue eyes,  
not a new trick really. However, she paused for a moment and smirked  
at Buu. "Let's push it a bit further shall we?"  
  
"Hurry up. I can't do this all day," grumbled Tenchi.  
  
Ryokaru snorted at this, but nodded. "You're no fun Tenchi-chan."  
  
The boy flushed at the name but remained focused on his shield.  
  
Buu knew better than to try and break through the Wings of the  
Light hawk. He simply watched and waited.  
  
Ryokaru grunted in effort and screamed again as her power rose  
even further. "Haaaaa!!!" She had grown larger, more muscular, and her  
hair was slightly larger and had more pronounced spikes in it. "Level  
two!" she said as she glared at Buu.  
  
"Are you finished yet?" said Buu and Tenchi at the same time.  
  
Tenchi blushed and Buu frowned at him. "I know where this is going  
you know. Just go to level three so we can start!"  
  
"Three?" said Ryokaru in confusion. "You mean there's a -third-  
level!!??" Her eyes were wide as she stared at the thing in front of  
her for a moment.  
  
Buu worked his jaw open and closed dumbly. "You mean...you didn't  
know?!"  
  
"Great! I think I'll try!" said the woman cheerfully as she mulled  
over it for a moment. "I mean, I didn't think I could get much better  
than this, but now that you mention it, I do have a bit more room."  
  
Buu slapped himself on the forehead.  
  
Ryokaru grunted in effort, her hair pushed further and further  
down her back, finally stopping just above her feet. She had grown  
even larger and the golden power around her seemed to be almost too  
bright to look at. When it died down, her eyebrows were gone and she  
had an even more arrogant looking smirk on her face.  
  
Tenchi gasped in shock as the Wings of the Light Hawk shattered as  
he was thrown forward and landed at Buu's feet. He scrambled away as  
quickly as he could, aware of the surging wave of power that poured  
off the figure behind him. "No way!" he stammered.  
  
Buu was too busy staring at the thing in front of him to care  
about Tenchi. "This is...great!"  
  
Even Ryokaru had to pause at that.  
  
"A real fight at last! Come on!" said Buu as he charged forward.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Akane walked into the gates of Furinkan High in her school  
uniform. It was quiet and relatively normal for the most part. The  
level of excitement had dropped dramatically since Ranma had stopped  
attending. She had briefly considered halting her education until the  
threat had passed, but the pigtailed boy had insisted that she  
continue. She supposed he was right, but she had been forced to cut  
several times due to an attack. Luckily, her memory eraser made that a  
little easier to deal with.  
  
She glanced around the grounds for a moment, not really paying  
much attention. When she reached the tree where Kuno usually emerged,  
she paused and sighed. "Another day."  
  
"Akane Tendo," said a familiar voice from behind the trunk.  
  
"Kuno, good morning," she said lazily.  
  
"Today is the day I prove my love to you at last, by defeating you  
in honorable combat." The boy stepped from behind the trunk and smiled  
at her.  
  
Akane sighed, she didn't care much for Kuno, but the battle with  
him in the morning was actually beneficial to her. Her skills were  
kept sharp, no doubt saving her more than once on the job. "Come on  
then, let's get started." She smirked to herself as she prepared  
herself. She knew that Kuno was no longer able to hold back against  
her. Her skill had grown too much over the past few months. Battling  
Youma will do that to a person, especially without the benefit of  
magic to help her. She almost wished Kuno was strong enough to take a  
few blasts, then she might have been able to use this as target  
practice as well.  
  
"Today, shall truly be our final battle," said Kuno as he narrowed  
his eyes at the girl. His wooden sword was held ready and he gave her  
a smile that was a little more vicious than normal.  
  
"Yeah, I wish," she grumbled under her breath.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Two boys stood outside the gates watching the scene. The  
longhaired boy turned to his companion and smirked. "So, this is where  
it all begins?"  
  
"Right, get ready," replied the spiky haired youth.  
  
"I've been ready for this for a long time," replied his companion.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Akane avoided a quick strike from the older boy with his wooden  
blade, it was getting easier and easier to beat him. The girl casually  
sidestepped a blow from above and planted her fist in his gut, sending  
the older boy doubling over in pain. Kuno fell to his knees and gasped  
for breath.  
  
"Humph, you're not even worth my time these days Kuno," said the  
girl as she snorted and started to walk away.  
  
"Hold! The battle is not yet finished my love!" said Kuno as he  
staggered to his feet and smiled at her weakly.  
  
Akane frowned, the boy wasn't usually smiling after a blow like  
that. Something was up, and she was getting a chill down her spine.  
  
"Your skills grow ever stronger my love, almost equal to mine!"  
exalted the boy with tears in his eyes. "Truly a match by the gods  
themselves! Today is the day that I prove my love and allow you to  
date me at last!" Kuno reached into his shirt.  
  
Akane gasped at the sight of the wooden mask the boy pulled from  
inside his robes. A memory trickled into her mind, she had seen the  
mask before, and the result of its power. "How did he...?"  
  
Before she could react, Kuno had placed the mask on his face. It  
seemed to liquefy as it absorbed his head and began to turn green.  
After a moment, thunder rumbled in the sky above and dark clouds  
appeared out of nowhere.  
  
"Kuno! Where did you get that!?" demanded Akane angrily.  
  
"No!" cried Gosunkugi as he staggered out of the nearby bushes  
with a panicked looking face. "Kuno! You don't know what you're  
doing!" Akane spared him a passing glance but quickly focused her  
attention on the Kendoist.  
  
The figure that had once been Tatewaki Kuno laughed; it was a  
horrible sound. "I, the Mighty Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, shall  
defeat you at last! Then we shall be joined as one!" His face was  
sharper than the familiar figure that had worn it before. Kuno had  
become more muscular and a wild fire burned in his eyes, a lust a  
thousand times greater than Akane had known before.  
  
"Oh shit," she muttered as she stepped back.  
  
Kuno dove forward, his sword lashed out at her and she jumped  
away. The speed was incredible, Kuno shattered the ground, creating a  
huge crack in the earth where she had once stood. "Fear not Akane  
Tendo! We shall be wed this very day!"  
  
The girl staggered back and kicked at the thing, her foot impacted  
on his chest and she was thrown to the ground by the force of her own  
strike. Kuno hadn't even felt it.  
  
"A love tap," said Kuno as tears began to form in his eyes. He  
reached for her as she lay on the ground. "Come my darling! Let us..."  
  
Akane screamed as the thing puckered up its lips as it held her  
down with one arm on her shoulder. "What are you doing! Get away!"  
  
If Kuno heard her, he didn't react. He forced his lips onto hers  
as she struggled.  
  
Akane couldn't move, she struggled and tried to throw him off, but  
it was as if he was rooted to the ground. He pressed his body down  
against hers as he kissed her. "At last, I have conquered my tigress!"  
he lamented as he broke the kiss. "I have accepted her innocent kiss!  
Now, I shall make her mine forever!"  
  
The student body looked on in horror at the scene. Akane was  
struggling harder than ever, but couldn't muster the strength to  
remove the boy from on top of her. No one moved, whether it was out of  
fear or disbelief no one could really say. Finally, one of the girls  
stepped forward.  
  
"No! What is he doing?" A ripping sound seemed to fill the air as  
Akane's shirt started too rip off.  
  
The girl went very still suddenly, the right side of her bra  
exposed suddenly as the green headed monster tore though the top of  
her uniform with a quick tug.  
  
Akane froze, her struggling ceased quite suddenly.  
  
Kuno had tears of joy in his eyes as he looked at her. "Oh! You  
accept me!"  
  
"Get off me," said the girl firmly. There was a flash of light  
from between their bodies. A spray of red showered the air behind  
Kuno's back and the boy blinked at her. He sat up slightly, still  
pinning her to the ground, surprise clear on his features.  
  
Akane managed to free her arms and was now holding a chrome-plated  
weapon against his chin. A look of complete rage was clear on her  
features. "Bastard."  
  
"It seems there is a spell keeping your heart from expressing its  
true feelings! I know a way to break this spell," said Kuno as he  
grinned at her. His crotch pressed up against hers.  
  
Akane's eyes narrowed as she felt his arousal, she pulled the  
trigger on the weapon and Kuno's head went flying away. It landed  
against a nearby tree.  
  
Akane gasped as the body remained still, keeping her against the  
ground. The head rolled upright on its own and frowned at her.  
"Forgive me Akane Tendo, the spell must be broken."  
  
"No!" screamed the girl as she renewed her struggles as Kuno  
started to grab what was left of her clothing.  
  
The student body would not approach the scene. Fear and horror  
were now the only reactions. The scene before them would be the stuff  
of nightmares for years to come.  
  
"I think that's about enough of that, Loki," said a calm voice  
from the gates.  
  
"Eh?" said Kuno's head as it turned to glare at the boy who stood  
glaring at him.  
  
The body froze as it tugged on Akane's bra and she gasped as she  
turned to look at the stranger.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" said Kuno's head.  
  
The boy had short spiky black hair and a smirk on his face. "My  
name? I don't give it to just anyone..."  
  
"Stuff it Gohan! We don't have time for this!" said the other boy  
as he walked up to his companion's side.  
  
"Why you!" snarled the boy angrily.  
  
"Rice? That guy's name is Rice?" muttered one of the nearby  
students in confusion.  
  
"Damn it Trunks!" snapped Gohan irritably as he seemed to forget  
about the scene in front of him for a moment.  
  
"Bastard! How dare you call me that!" snapped Trunks angrily.  
  
Kuno rolled his eyes and forced his body to continue what it was  
doing.  
  
The two boys snapped out of their stupor and glared at the thing  
hatefully.  
  
"Let's kick his ass," said Gohan.  
  
"We're going to have a long talk about this later," growled Trunks  
irritably.  
  
"Damn right we are!" agreed Gohan.  
  
Akane never knew what hit her after that was said, but she knew  
Kuno wasn't on top of her anymore. She blinked and staggered to her  
feet, holding her uniform closed with one arm and gripping the weapon  
in her hand with the other. "Who the hell are you?" she grumbled as  
she stared at the pair for a moment, daring to take her attention away  
from Kuno for a moment.  
  
"We'll discuss this later, right now, we've got bigger problems,"  
said Trunks as he frowned at Kuno's prone body. The boy was standing  
right next to Akane with a scowl on his face.  
  
The thing had found its head again and was glaring at the pair.  
Its body was now undamaged and power seemed to burn around it.  
  
"He's too strong," growled Akane. "We're going to need help."  
  
"Nah, we got it covered," said Trunks as he smirked at her.  
  
Gohan appeared at his side and smacked him in the back of his  
head. "Have you forgotten who you're talking too? Quit flirting and  
kill the monster."  
  
"Flirting?" muttered Akane dumbly.  
  
"Right," muttered Trunks in embarrassment.  
  
"Face the wrath of the Blue Thunder of Furninkan High!" roared  
Kuno as he charged.  
  
"Not today Loki!" snapped Gohan as he met the charge head on.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Tenchi stared at the thing above them and watched the fight.  
Ryokaru was fighting Buu full force. Her blows rained down on the  
creature and it seemed to be something of a standoff.  
  
"Get him!" he growled as he waited patiently. Buu still had a  
stupid grin on his face, while Ryokaru's face was much more serious.  
  
"Damn! No matter how hard she hits him, it doesn't seem to hurt  
him!" grumbled Tenchi. "What's going on? He doesn't feel that strong!"  
The boy's mind worked on the problem. "I'm missing something! I know  
it, but what?"  
  
Ryokaru spun into a kick that slammed into Buu's head, sending him  
spinning away in the air. The thing slammed into the surface of the  
planet, seeming to conform and flatten against the ground for a moment  
before bouncing back. "Heh. Pathetic. You can't hurt me."  
  
"Damn!" growled the woman as she glared at it. Her eyes flicked  
towards Tenchi for a second. He was a good distance away, and Buu  
couldn't hurt him as long as he was being distracted. The boy's Light  
Hawk Wings should easily block anything sent towards the boy. However,  
she also knew that he couldn't really help her.  
  
"Have you figured it out yet? You're running out of time," said  
Buu calmly as he smirked at her.  
  
"Damn," growled Ryokaru. The monster was right, she had about five  
minutes of fusion left. "I've got to do something! After this fails,  
we're all screwed!"  
  
Buu formed a ball of pink light in his hand and grinned at her.  
"It's over." He paused as he noticed the light in his hand flicker  
slightly. It was a weak energy. "But...the planet's power is..." His  
eyes went wide as he realized that the power he was using was  
concentrated on a single point now. "Impossible!"  
  
"RYOKARU! GET OUT OF THERE! SPIRIT BOMB!" cried a voice from above  
them.  
  
"WHAT?!" cried Buu in shock as he turned his head towards the sky.  
Hidden in the sun a figure floated smiling at him. A ki ball the size  
of a starship floated above his head. "Damn it!"  
  
Trunks laughed as he launched his attack. The sphere of ki  
rocketed towards Buu and slammed into the ground with explosive force.  
The creature screamed in agony as it writhed within the light.  
  
"HA!" chuckled Trunks as he concentrated the attack on a single  
point. "We may not be able to hurt you with a punch, but I sure as  
hell can evaporate you Buu!"  
  
"What?" said Ryokaru as she paused and watched the scene from a  
short distance away. The Spirit Bomb turned a bright red color and the  
thing's screams grew weaker from inside. "How did?"  
  
Tenchi was watching her and smiling slightly. "It's working!"  
  
Trunks finally unleashed the attack and it exploded outwards.  
Sending shockwaves away from the surface of the planet in every  
direction.  
  
Ryoko, Tenchi, and Trunks struggled against the energy as it  
blasted outwards. Sending a ring of power blasting away from the  
planet's surface and into space. When it all cleared, they were lying  
on the ground in the dust.  
  
Trunks staggered to his feet first and smirked. "It worked!"  
  
"What the hell?" grumbled Ryoko as she stood up next, Hotaru was  
beside her clutching her head.  
  
"Oooh, what happened?" muttered the younger girl.  
  
"You didn't really think I was stupid enough to use all my power  
at once do you?" replied Trunks calmly as he glanced at the trio.  
  
"But you..." stammered Tenchi.  
  
"I used most of my energy for that blast, but I held back a  
little. I needed Buu to think I wasn't a threat, that attack takes a  
very long time to charge."  
  
"But, we blasted him before, your attack didn't even hurt him!"  
said Ryoko dumbly. "He just fixed himself and..."  
  
"My attack never hit him, none of the blasts we used did," replied  
Trunks as he shook his head. "The reason we couldn't hurt Buu is  
simple, he was never solid."  
  
"What?" said Hotaru. She blinked and looked at her fist for a  
moment. "But, I felt my fist connect."  
  
"It's pretty simple. You were moving so fast that his body felt  
solid when you hit it. We were trying to beat a puddle of water to  
death. If we had used a slow attack, we would have passed right  
through him."  
  
"Like the blasts?" asked Tenchi.  
  
"Sort of, he was just making holes in himself for them to pass  
through. The Spirit Bomb was too big for him to do that. It took me  
the longest time to figure that out. I noticed the ripples in his body  
when he was fighting Ryokaru. From the front end you couldn't see it,  
but if you looked at his back, he was always spattering everywhere."  
  
"Come to think of it, she was always between me and him, for the  
whole fight!" commented Tenchi.  
  
"Right," said Trunks as he smirked at them. "I bided my time and  
played dead for a few minutes. Once Buu started to ignore me, I went  
into the sky and started collecting power for the Spirit Bomb. I had  
to stop whenever he tried to use a Ki blast, so he wouldn't notice me  
using his power source. Once I had finished, it was too late for him  
to do anything about it."  
  
"So, what happened to him?" asked Tenchi. "I don't see anything  
left."  
  
"He evaporated, not even he can recover from that. It took an  
enormous amount of power for him to recover from just blowing himself  
into little pieces."  
  
"So, we did it?" asked Tenchi in shock.  
  
"Yeah, we did. Hang around me a bit more, and you'll get used to  
it," said Trunks as he winked at the boy and started walking away.  
  
Hotaru sighed with relief and started after him.  
  
"Where the heck are we going?" asked Ryoko as she glanced up at  
the sky and saw the flaming trails of the populace of the planet  
returning into the atmosphere.  
  
"Where else? We gotta go back and meet everyone," said Trunks as  
he smirked at her. "We've still got a lot of work to do, Jurai is safe  
now, so we can get back on schedule."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Kuno roared in anger as he found his arms held back by the  
mysterious figure. The boy was smiling at him as he pushed against the  
monster's arms.  
  
"Fool! You cannot defeat me!" snapped the angry boy.  
  
"Heh, you've already lost," said Gohan with his smirk widening. He  
felt his arms being pushed back by the sheer power of the god within  
the mask, but he wasn't really trying to overpower him.  
  
Trunks appeared behind Kuno and dug his fingers into the back of  
the mask. "Show's over!"  
  
"What? No!" screamed the thing as it struggled to free itself from  
Gohan's grip. It was too late though, Trunks ripped the thing open and  
pried it away from Kuno's face.  
  
Within a few seconds, the Kendoist was lying on the ground gasping  
for breath. The mask was shoved into a small leather pouch on the  
longhaired boy's belt.  
  
"You dare!" snarled Kuno as he rose to his feet.  
  
Gohan promptly decked him. The boy flew through the air and passed  
through the wall of the school with a loud crash. "Jerk! How dare he  
try something like that in front of everyone!?"  
  
"It was the mask Gohan, the mask," said Trunks with a small sigh.  
  
The student body was giving them a wide berth as they strolled  
back over to Akane.  
  
"Undressing that Ghoul in front of me?! I won't forgive him!" said  
Gohan in disgust.  
  
Akane stepped forward with a shocked expression on her face.  
"Trunks? Gohan? Who...who are you?"  
  
The pair turned to look at her and blinked.  
  
"Um, hello Akane Sensei," said Trunks sheepishly.  
  
"Hey Ghoul!" said Gohan cheerfully.  
  
Trunks smacked the boy in the back of his head.  
  
"Sensei?" muttered Akane as she stared at him.  
  
"Yeah, we got a lot to explain and not much time. We need to meet  
with the others, before Ranma finds out we're here," said Gohan with a  
serious looking frown on his face.  
  
"Right," agreed Trunks.  
  
"Others?" muttered Akane with a suspicious frown.  
  
"We're from the future," said Gohan as he frowned at her. "We've  
been sent back in time to make sure you stay alive."  
  
Akane blinked at this and stared at them. "Say what?"  
  
"Well, that and I need to kick that old man's ass for naming me  
Trunks. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a date with a name  
like this?"  
  
"Hey, I'm not much worse off than you are," grumbled Gohan. "What  
kind of idiot names you after a meal?" The two boys grinned at each  
other and cracked their knuckles.  
  
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA! Revenge at last!" they cried in unison.  
  
Akane just stared at them.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC... 


	87. Insertion 87

Insertion  
  
Part 87  
  
Victory on Jurai.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks smirked as he walked slowly across the paved surface of the  
Jurai spaceport's landing area. Starships roared as they landed around  
the group as they casually strolled through the midst of the massive  
gusts of wind that the engines kicked up. The palace was nearby,  
rising over the horizon a short distance away, eating up much of the  
view of the planet's surface. A forest of giant trees surrounded the  
airfield, dwarfed by the giant tree that housed the Juraian Royal  
Family.  
  
"I hate this sort of thing," commented Trunks as he snorted in  
undisguised annoyance.  
  
"Huh?" said Tenchi as he looked at the boy at his side in  
confusion.  
  
"Hey!!" said Ryoko as she waved to the large crowd forming on the  
other side of the field. Thousands of Juraians had gathered on the  
opposite side of the airfield.  
  
Hotaru frowned slightly. "What is this?"  
  
"A welcome for the heroes," said Trunks with a small frown.  
  
"Heroes?" muttered Tenchi dumbly.  
  
"Well, we did just save the planet," said Ryoko as she grabbed him  
around his neck.  
  
"Cut it out Ryoko! Not in front of all these people!" cried the  
boy in embarrassment.  
  
"Come on, the others should be getting back soon, if they aren't  
there already," said Trunks as he started moving forward a little  
faster.  
  
"We could just fly there," said Hotaru as she smirked at him.  
  
"Bah, I bet he loves this stuff really," said Ryoko as she smirked  
at the girl for a moment.  
  
"Man, there's so many of them," said Tenchi nervously.  
  
As they entered the crowd a wave of cheers sounded all around  
them, the crowd seemed to swarm around them. They continued moving as  
if they weren't there, ignoring the cries of joy around them.  
  
A media crew pushed through the crowd and Trunks paused for a  
moment. The others looked at him in confusion. It was a blonde woman  
in a professional looking spandex outfit. Trunks wasn't sure why it  
looked professional, but it did. There was a cameraman with her, with  
his face hidden behind the lenses of whatever passed for video media  
on Jurai.  
  
"We are here live with the heroes who have single handedly saved  
the entire planet from destruction at the hands of the evil monster!"  
  
"Who are you?" said the little boy as he peered at her for a  
moment.  
  
"Not now kid," said the woman as she glanced down at the boy.  
  
Trunks blinked at this. "Huh?"  
  
"Can we see them yet?" asked the woman as she looked at her  
cameraman.  
  
"Hey," said Trunks as he poked her with his finger.  
  
The woman was thrown down on the ground hard, almost taking  
several members of the crowd with her.  
  
"Oops," said the boy as he looked at his finger in confusion.  
"Guess I don't know my own strength, sorry lady."  
  
The crowd backed away from him slightly.  
  
"Hey! Careful!" said Tenchi.  
  
"It's them!" cried the woman as she jumped to her feet.  
  
"Um, yeah," said Ryoko lamely.  
  
"The mystery saviors of Jurai at last!" said the woman a little  
too dramatically.  
  
Trunks frowned at this. "Mystery? You mean, you haven't heard of  
us?"  
  
"Um...no," said the woman as she stared at him.  
  
"I'm the great martial arts master Trunks, Prince of the Sayajin,  
this is Crowned Prince Tenchi Masaki, visiting from Earth. He's the  
son of First Prince of Jurai Yosho in case you didn't know. This is  
Hotaru, or Sailor Saturn, Senshi of Death and Rebirth, reborn from the  
Silver Millenium. She's supposed to bring about the end of some world  
or something according to prophecy, but I think it's another planet.  
You probably don't have to worry. Oh, and this is Space Pirate Ryoko,  
bane of Jurai, scourge of the Universe, and all around nasty person.  
She got better though."  
  
"Heh heh," said Ryoko as she stared at the boy for a moment.  
  
The crowd was staring at him dumbly; a dead silence filled the  
air.  
  
"What?" said the boy.  
  
The woman was merely standing there with her jaw hanging open as  
she stared at him. She turned towards her cameraman and spoke to him.  
"Are we sure these are the right people?"  
  
The man looked at her and shrugged.  
  
Trunks frowned at her and crossed his arms. "Excuse me, but I've  
got to get to the palace, the Emperor is probably expecting us."  
  
Tenchi thought he was going to die of embarrassment.  
  
Hotaru was trying not to giggle and look intimidating.  
  
Ryoko was standing in the middle of a large crowd of Juraians,  
hoping they wouldn't riot now that her identity was revealed. She had  
made quite a mess last time she was on the planet.  
  
"Come on you losers, I'm tired of this," said Trunks as he floated  
into the air.  
  
The others flew after him, leaving the crowd behind.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Washuu smirked as she walked off the ramp of the starship and  
glanced around. "Well, it seems we're not the first ones back."  
  
An envoy of Juraians was waiting for the Emperor to emerge. Ami  
and Minako helped him down the ramp, by holding his arms over their  
shoulders. Yosho walked down the ramp under his own power, if not a  
little slowly. Mihoshi stumbled out a little dumbly, her hair still  
black and a somewhat dazed stare; more than normal that is. The rest  
of the senshi quickly followed, with Nabiki behind them.  
  
"Bah," grumbled George as he peeked out of the ship for a moment.  
He turned back inside and ignored the scene outside for the moment.  
  
"For god's sake! Someone get him some men's clothes!" said Nabiki  
as she glared at some of the guards kneeling before the group.  
  
They looked up at her in confusion for a moment.  
  
"You heard the girl," grumbled Azusa as he shifted onto the arms  
of a pair of high-ranking officers. "Take me to my room."  
  
Yosho glanced at Nabiki for a moment and frowned.  
  
"You noticed too?" asked the woman as she smirked at him for a  
moment.  
  
"Eh?" said the man as he glanced at her.  
  
"During the battle, she called him 'Ranma'."  
  
"Yes..." said the man as his frown deepened somewhat. "I do not  
believe anyone else noticed it."  
  
"That could be problematic," said Washuu.  
  
"Yes, if she were to reveal it..."  
  
"He would lose some of their trust, that's not a good idea at this  
point," said the redhead as she glanced at the girl for a moment.  
"I'll have to speak with him about this later."  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Inside the office of the Men in Black, a meeting was taking place.  
Ranma Saotome was not present, but a new pair of faces stared at the  
group calmly.  
  
"So, why are we here?" said Jadeite as he glared at the pair of  
teens standing with Akane.  
  
"They know about us," said Akane calmly as she glanced back at the  
pair over her shoulder for a moment.  
  
"That's easily fixed," said Kunzite as he frowned at them.  
  
"I'm not sure how much they know, or when the learned it," said  
Akane. "They aren't talking yet."  
  
"We are here you know," said Gohan irritably.  
  
"You said his name is...Gohan?" said Nephrite in confusion as he  
looked at the pair. .  
  
"Shut up!" snapped the boy angrily.  
  
"What the hell is this?" said Kunzite as he started to grow  
impatient.  
  
"This is about your future," said Trunks as he frowned at them. He  
had a more serious tone to his voice and an almost permanent scowl.  
"We were sent back to keep you alive."  
  
"Sent back?" said Jadeite as he narrowed his eyes at them.  
  
"From the future, we were sent by Neo Queen Usagi the second,"  
said Gohan as he snorted at them. "You know her as Chibi-Usa."  
  
That got their attention.  
  
"What the hell are you going to do to keep us alive?" snorted  
Zocite.  
  
"Ranma Saotome isn't who you think he is," said Trunks calmly.  
"There's something terribly wrong on Earth right now."  
  
"You're being a little vague," said Zocite.  
  
"We can only reveal enough to get you too believe us," said Trunks  
as he shook his head. "Time travel is dangerous enough as it is."  
  
"This is..." grumbled Akane as she held her head.  
  
"Ranma Saotome freed you from Beryl's power a few months ago,"  
said Gohan to the males. "He formed this organization to fight her,  
keep the senshi in check, and basically pick up where you left off  
during the Silver Millenium. However, you may notice that he's been  
acting a bit strangely lately."  
  
The room was silent for a long moment. Zocite growled under his  
breath. "What would you know about that?"  
  
"Ranma has fallen under Beryl's control," said Trunks with a rough  
snort.  
  
"What?!" said Jadeite as he jumped from his seat. The others did  
much the same without voicing it.  
  
"It doesn't get better, in a few months time, he'll go insane, and  
kill most of the people in this room," said Trunks as he glared at  
Jadeite directly. His eyes turned towards Akane and softened somewhat.  
"All of you but Akane."  
  
"What's with you man?" said Gohan as he waved his hand in front of  
his companion's face for a moment.  
  
"It's nothing," grumbled Trunks as he looked away from her  
purposefully. "In any case, he manages to break Beryl's control."  
  
"So it's not so bad," said Kunzite with a relieved sigh.  
  
"No, it's worse. He doesn't break her control because he turns  
back, he grows stronger than her, and overpowers her will. He'll take  
over the entire planet, and bring an age of darkness with him," said  
Gohan. "He kills most of the human population of the planet, and  
basically renders the planet inhospitable. He was eventually defeated,  
and the planet was healed..."  
  
The room was looking at the pair in shocked silence once again.  
  
"This is nuts!" cried Zocite.  
  
Akane turned to look at him for a moment. "Ranma has been acting  
strangely lately."  
  
"Destroying the entire planet? What about his daughter?"  
  
"Chibi-Usa is in on the whole thing," said Trunks as he smirked at  
the man. "She was sent back, much like we where. In order to keep  
things on track, and make sure they went the way they were supposed  
too."  
  
"You want us to fight him?" snorted Nephrite. "We'll be wiped  
out."  
  
"I know," said Gohan as he smirked at the man. "We aren't going to  
fight him. That's not our job."  
  
"Why should we trust you?" asked Kunzite.  
  
"Because if you don't, you'll all die rather horrible deaths in  
the near future," replied Trunks calmly. "We aren't asking you to  
fight him, you'd lose if you did anyway."  
  
"So, what is the plan?" said Akane irritably.  
  
"We're going to leave Japan," said Trunks.  
  
"And go where?" asked Kunzite.  
  
"China, I won't say more than that now," said Gohan as he smirked  
at them.  
  
"What? This could be a Youma trick!" said Jadeite as he glared at  
the pair.  
  
"You'd be dead already if it was, the Youma don't care about you,  
you're too weak to hurt them anyway," said Gohan with a small shrug.  
  
"What's this too you anyway?" said Jadeite as he frowned at the  
pair. "What do you care about us?"  
  
"We don't particularly," replied Gohan as he scratched at his ear.  
Trunks elbowed him in the ribs and growled.  
  
"Ranma Saotome is our grandfather," said the longhaired boy as he  
unwrapped his tail from around his waist.  
  
"..." said Akane as she stared at them.  
  
"Look, we don't have much time, we have to leave now. Ranma  
probably has this place bugged," said Gohan as he frowned at them.  
  
"So, this is an ultimatum?" said Jadeite with a small chuckle.  
  
"Basically," said Trunks with a small shrug. "We can protect you,  
but we can't fight Ranma ourselves."  
  
"Why not?" asked Kunzite as he frowned at the pair.  
  
"Because if they killed him, they'd cease to exist," said a  
familiar voice from behind them.  
  
"Actually, the old guy is training at the moment, we can't really  
fight him because he's stronger than us. I begged Mom to send us back  
a little sooner, but she insisted..." The boy hung his head slightly  
and sighed.  
  
The group turned to see Sailor Pluto frowning at them all. She  
narrowed her eyes at them and scanned the room for a moment. "The time  
stream is a mess, there's no clear view of anything in the future.  
That says their story is probably true. They came through the time  
gates a few hours ago."  
  
"Hey Puu!" said Gohan cheerfully.  
  
Pluto glanced at him in confusion for a moment and turned back to  
the room. "We have no choice but to believe them."  
  
"How did you find this place?" said Jadeite as he frowned at her.  
  
"I followed them," said the woman as she nodded towards Gohan,  
Trunks, and Akane.  
  
"The Senshi's interests are similar to ours, they wouldn't want us  
dead," said Akane. She glanced at Pluto again and back at the pair.  
  
"Their story is becoming more credible," agreed Zocite.  
  
"The Senshi are not on the planet at the moment," said Pluto as  
she glanced at the pair. "I shall meet you with my daughter in China,  
I have no choice but to place my trust in you at the moment."  
  
"Boy, she sure is enthusiastic," said Jadeite as he frowned at  
her.  
  
"Hey, ya think she likes me?" asked Gohan as he turned towards  
Trunks. "Gotta make a good impression..."  
  
"Man, you're hopeless," grumbled the other teen as he rolled his  
eyes.  
  
"You're no better with the ghoul!" retorted the boy as he punched  
his companion upside his head.  
  
"Hey! That hurt!" snapped Trunks.  
  
"Stop that!" snapped Akane.  
  
"Yes sensei," replied the pair in unison, everyone else blinked as  
the pair bowed to her slightly, in what appeared to be a reflex  
action.  
  
"Looks like we've got to believe them, I don't like this though,"  
said Jadeite as he frowned at them.  
  
"Smells like a trap," snorted Kunzite.  
  
"Man, you old guys sure are paranoid," grumbled Gohan.  
  
"Old?" said Zocite as he stared at the pair for a moment.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma smiled as he stood over Chibi-Usa. He cracked his knuckles  
and turned away from her with a calm air about him. "Pathetic."  
  
The saiyan girl growled as she pushed herself upright and growled  
at him. "You'll pay for that old man."  
  
"Humph, I'm not even breaking a sweat anymore spore," said the man  
calmly as he turned his glare back onto her again. "You're rather  
pathetic now."  
  
Chibi-Usa ground her teeth together in frustration, sparks of  
power flew off her body as she glared at him in a rage. "How? How did  
he get so strong?! I could have wiped the floor with him a few weeks  
ago!" she thought angrily.  
  
Ranma paused, as if deciding to stay a bit longer rather than  
simply walk off. "Do you really want to know?"  
  
"Huh?" said the girl as she looked at him with a confused frown on  
her face.  
  
"You're wondering why I'm so strong now, correct?" said the man as  
he glanced back at her again. "You've been ignoring my calls, and my  
orders to train harder. Now you see what it gets you. You've grown  
weak, satisfied with your current power. When my other self returns,  
he will be much stronger. You'd best be ready spore."  
  
"What do you mean?!" growled the girl angrily. Her form shifted  
into a woman's body and she staggered to her feet finally.  
  
"Come, I'll show you," said Ranma as he started walking away  
again.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"What is this?" said Chibi-Usa as she stared at the gym like room  
she found herself standing in.  
  
"Heh, I had Kuroi create it for me," said Ranma as he smirked at  
the scene. "We've been using energy gathered in our operations to  
power this subspace pocket. It's a dimension of my own design, I  
control every aspect of it. The Gravity, the temperature...you get the  
idea."  
  
"This is where you've been for the past few weeks?" said the girl  
as she stared at him for a moment.  
  
Ranma chuckled at this reaction. "Of course. We're going to have  
one hell of a fight when my other self returns. You're going to spend  
your time training with me in here from this point on."  
  
Chibi-Usa growled at the order, but didn't argue.  
  
"Humph, you'd best get used to this fast, because I'm not going to  
slow down just for you, you'll just have to catch up." He closed his  
eyes for a moment and the woman slammed into the ground, her legs  
giving way under her own weight.  
  
"It's only five hundred times the planet's gravity at the moment,  
just a warm up for me. I suggest you get used to it quickly, because  
tomorrow I'm going to double it. Get to work." He turned away and left  
her lying on the ground, gasping for breath from the weight on her  
chest and the impact.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks smirked as he landed on the roof of the Mikon Taka and  
looked around. "Looks like we've been expected."  
  
A group of rather nervous looking guards stood around staring at  
them.  
  
"What?" said Ryoko as she landed beside him lightly.  
  
"Come on, we've got to check on the others. We've got a schedule  
to keep," said Trunks with a small shrug.  
  
"Schedule?" said Tenchi.  
  
"Your training is complete, but the Senshi still have to be ready  
for the battles to come," said Hotaru with her icy calm tone.  
  
"Okay," said Tenchi as he shrugged and jumped down into their  
escort.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Well, nice to meet you," said Trunks as he smirked at the  
Emperor.  
  
Yosho arched his eyebrow as the boy walked up boldly to the center  
of the room and eyed Azusa coolly. He was sitting off to the side with  
the Senshi.  
  
"Show some respect!" demanded one of the nobles near to the  
Emperor's side.  
  
"Heh, I'm the most powerful being in this room," said the boy as  
he leveled a cold glare on the man. Wisely, the noble quickly took his  
seat. "If anyone demands respect, it's me," said the boy as he glanced  
around the room. There were numerous scandalized gasps and mutters at  
this, but no one voiced any protest. The boy had beaten something that  
had defeated even the Emperor of Jurai, not to mention the fact that  
the young prince was standing beside him. A boy with a command of the  
Wings of the Light Hawk like he had was nothing to be scoffed at.  
  
"In any case, we owe you our gratitude," said Azusa through his  
teeth.  
  
"Yeah, something like that. I trained Tenchi for ya, he's stronger  
than you are now. Hope you appreciate it." The boy jerked his thumb  
back at the teen behind him.  
  
"Hey! Try to be a little polite sensei!" pleaded Tenchi nervously.  
  
"Whatever," said Trunks as he rolled his eyes.  
  
Ryoko was oddly silent, but seemed to be enjoying the scene.  
  
Washuu stood up and walked over to him. "You haven't changed much  
over the years have you?"  
  
The boy scratched the back of his head and grinned at her.  
  
Everyone looked at him in confusion but didn't press the matter.  
  
Azusa stood up and sighed deeply. "You could at least pretend to  
be respectful."  
  
"Why?" said the boy with a shrug. "I've got work to do, then I can  
go back and kick Ranma's ass. After that, I'll be out of your hair for  
good most likely."  
  
Azusa noticed Ryoko standing unusually close to Tenchi's side. His  
eyes fell on Ayeka, who was sitting nearby. She was wringing a  
handkerchief in her hands and twitching. She was trying, and failing  
to keep a dignified expression on her face. He sighed and shook his  
head. "There will be a feast tonight to commemorate this occasion. You  
are all invited of course, and to the ball afterwards."  
  
Trunks grinned at this. "Great! Food!"  
  
"Thank you, your highness," said Tenchi with a small bow of his  
head.  
  
"Ball?" said Usagi as she blinked. She felt a small sense of dread  
at the mention of the word. An image of a giant red-haired man with a  
keg under his arm and a pair of panties on his head filled her mind  
for reasons she couldn't explain. A shiver ran down her spine, but she  
quickly pushed them aside. The man in the image was wearing a plaid  
skirt as well, it was somewhat unsettling.  
  
"So, now what?" asked Ryoko.  
  
"Well, we need sleep," announced Trunks as he started to walk out  
of the room without being dismissed. This sent another uproar of anger  
and frustration among the nobles. No one voiced this very loudly  
though, and Azusa seemed beyond caring.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Washuu smiled at Trunks as he lay on the sheets of the giant bed  
in the room the Juraians had supplied him. He was staring at the  
ceiling with a somewhat thoughtful frown on his face.  
  
"Hello again," said the woman as she strolled up to him.  
  
"Huh? Oh, hey," replied the boy as he picked his head up and  
blinked. "I wonder why they gave me such a huge bed? I'm not that  
big." He looked around at the massive mattress for a moment. "You  
could fit about fifty of me on this thing."  
  
"Well, it is a palace," said the redhead as she smirked at him.  
She sat down on the edge of the bed and smiled at him.  
  
The boy jumped up and bounced over too her side. "D'ya want  
somethin?"  
  
"I need to speak with you..." said the redhead with a small sigh.  
  
"Huh? About the project? Is there a problem?"  
  
"No, everything is fine with that actually, couldn't be better to  
be honest. We're actually ahead of schedule. The special modifications  
on your room are almost finished as well. Should be done in a week's  
time."  
  
"Great!" said the boy as he smirked at her.  
  
"This is about that girl, the earthling..."  
  
"What's up?" asked Trunks as he stared at Washuu. "What has she  
done now?"  
  
"She hasn't done anything yet, but I think she knows who you  
really are," said the redhead as she stared at the wall for a moment.  
"I don't think she noticed, but she called you by name on the ship  
during the fight."  
  
"Did she?" said Trunks as he flopped back on the sheets and spread  
his arms out. "That could be a problem, but I'm not really surprised."  
  
"What should we do about it?"  
  
"Nothing," said Trunks.  
  
"If the Senshi find out..."  
  
"It's easy to explain," replied the boy as he chuckled. "I just  
gave them something a bit more believable than the truth. No big  
deal."  
  
"You could lose their trust," said Washuu carefully.  
  
"That's the least of my worries, having the senshi like me isn't  
something I care about. They won't like me at all when I'm through  
with them, but they'll respect me." He smirked at her and winked.  
  
"What about that girl?" said Washuu.  
  
"I've got a special place for her," replied the boy as he grinned  
at Washuu. "If she's figured me out already, then she's smarter than I  
thought she was. Don't worry."  
  
The woman nodded and stood up. "All right, I suppose I should just  
trust you this time."  
  
"Yeah," said the boy as he smiled at her again.  
  
"Oh, one more thing..." said Washuu as she turned around again.  
  
"Huh?" said Trunks as he looked at her again.  
  
"You're supposed to wear this to the ball, it's formal," said the  
woman as she held out a clothing bag to him.  
  
"Eh?" said the boy as he blinked at the package. He opened it and  
stared inside for a moment. "Hell no."  
  
"Wasn't my idea. I think Azusa is still a little miffed at being  
shown up earlier."  
  
"Well he can blow it out his ass. I'm not wearing this thing." The  
boy pulled out a handful of purple feathers. He couldn't tell if they  
were attached to the collar or the waist on the thing. "There is no  
way in hell I'm going to wear this."  
  
"Well, you've got about a day to figure something out. You've got  
to wear something, I mean those clothes you've got on won't work."  
  
The boy looked down at himself. He was wearing an ill fitting pair  
of pants and a white muscle shirt. "I guess you're right..." He  
searched around in his pockets and came up with some Juraian currency.  
  
  
"Where did you get that?" said Washuu as she stared at the rather  
impressive wad.  
  
"Tenchi gave it too me. Ayeka gave him a huge bundle when they  
first showed up, and he didn't know what to do with it, so he gave it  
away. I don't have much use for it myself, but it was a nice gesture."  
The boy shrugged and fumbled about through the pile. "Feel like taking  
a trip?"  
  
Washuu blinked and shrugged her shoulders.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ryoko opened the door to her room a few hours before the party.  
"Hey," she said as Trunks tossed a package into her chest and grinned.  
  
  
"Huh?" said the woman as she stared at it.  
  
"For the party tonight, Ryoko and Hotaru have one too.  
  
The woman stared at it for a moment and said nothing. "Um,  
okay..."  
  
The boy turned away and walked down the hall with a cheerful  
whistle.  
  
Ryoko stared at it for a moment and went back into her room.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"Lord Tenchi..." said Ayeka as she walked into the boy's room and  
glanced around.  
  
"Oh, hey Ayeka," said Tenchi cheerfully as he stepped aside from  
the door to let her inside. "What's up?"  
  
"Well, I haven't seen you since you left the other day..." said  
the girl as she blushed slightly.  
  
"Yeah, I've been pretty busy," said the boy with a cheerful nod.  
"Is there something I can do for you?"  
  
"Well, I just wanted to see how you were doing," said the princess  
as she smiled at him.  
  
"Oh, I'm fine. Don't worry," said the boy as he grinned at her.  
  
"Have you been treated well?" she inquired.  
  
"Huh? Everyone's been very nice, but I haven't really had time to  
notice to be honest, I've been training hard. This is the first time  
in a long while I've been able to relax really." He smiled at her  
warmly.  
  
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have allowed you to be taken away like  
that," said the girl with a small frown.  
  
"Huh? Don't worry about it Ayeka, I didn't mind at all. I'm much  
stronger thanks to Trunks," said the boy cheerfully.  
  
"But, being stuck alone with that monster woman for an entire  
year. It must have been very hard."  
  
Tenchi blinked at this and looked at the ceiling. "Not really.  
Ryoko and I get along all right. We were training most of the time we  
were in there, Trunks and Hotaru didn't give us a lot of free time."  
  
"That's a relief," said Ayeka with a small sigh.  
  
"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Tenchi dumbly.  
  
"Oh? It's nothing, I'll see you this evening?"  
  
"Yeah," said the boy cheerfully.  
  
"Save a dance for me Tenchi," said the girl as she bowed and  
turned away.  
  
"Okay, I will," said the boy with a nervous grin.  
  
The princess excused herself politely and walked out of the room.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Azusa sat on a throne on one end of the ballroom with his wives on  
either side of him. Funaho smiled at the nobles politely, and Misaki  
had a somewhat cheerful grin on her face. Both of the women were being  
polite to those that kneeled in front of the Emperor, but Azusa simply  
looked bored and intimidating.  
  
The room was spacious and there was a long table that took up the  
entire edge of the room along the wall. There were chairs sitting  
around the tables, but no one was sitting yet. It was a social event  
so far and dignitaries conversed with each other in the middle of the  
room.  
  
"They're late," grumbled Azusa irritably.  
  
Yosho was standing nearby and frowned a little at this.  
  
"I hope they're all right," commented Ayeka. "Perhaps we should  
send someone too..."  
  
Usagi and her friends were grouped around the middle of the room  
in elaborate gowns. The colors matched their senshi uniforms and they  
had wide skirts and tight tops with low necklines. They appeared  
somewhat nervous and a little out of place, the occasional noble had  
to be dodged by a few of them as he made a pass.  
  
Nabiki frowned at the girls as they stood around her. Her dress  
was cut much slimmer than the others' clothes, it revealed a bit more  
as well. It was dark red, with a slit that ran all the way up to her  
hips on the right side. "This is annoying."  
  
"Disgusting old perverts aren't they?" commented Rei.  
  
"I think someone grabbed my ass," said Makoto as she eyed a  
particular group of males that hovered nearby with a distasteful  
frown.  
  
"You're not sure?" said Nabiki as she cocked her eyebrow at the  
girl.  
  
Makoto blushed a little at this but remained silent.  
  
"I haven't seen Washuu," said Usagi as she glanced around the  
room.  
  
"She's over by Yosho," said Minako as she pointed at the prince  
and the redhead. They were standing side by side and conversing idly.  
"Maybe we should go over and talk to them?"  
  
"I don't want to be too near the Emperor, I don't think he likes  
us much," said Rei as she frowned at the intimidating looking man. "I  
hate to admit it, but I'll feel better about being here when Trunks  
and Tenchi show up."  
  
"Do you think they're coming?" asked Usagi.  
  
"I hope so, Ayeka says they'll be here," replied Minako.  
  
The great doors of the hall opened and four figures walked into  
the room calmly. "Heh, so, this is Jurai's idea of a party?" said  
Trunks as he glanced around the room.  
  
Tenchi, Ryoko, and Hotaru were just behind them, they were all  
wearing bright orange tunics with a small white circle on the right  
chest. The pants were baggy and all of them had on a pair of high top  
boots with flat soles. The kanji for 'horse' was inside the circle  
with another larger one on the back with the same symbol in it.  
  
Azusa eyed them all for a moment in confusion. They weren't  
wearing the clothes he'd sent too them. After a moment he frowned.  
  
"Heh," said the young Trunks as he eyed the Emperor for a moment  
and then turned his gaze to survey the room.  
  
Tenchi moved up beside him. "Why'd it get so quiet?"  
  
"I dunno," said Ryoko as she stepped back slightly.  
  
"Ah, it seems the guests of honor have arrived, so we may begin,"  
said Azusa as he stood up and grinned at them.  
  
"Boy, I can already tell this party is gonna suck," muttered  
Trunks as he glanced around at the nobles.  
  
"Heh, you expected better?" said Ryoko as she glanced down at him.  
  
"Humph," snorted Hotaru. The boy should have known what to expect,  
he'd been too enough events like this as Genaku in the past. Or  
rather, he'd ruined enough events to be permanently banned from any  
and all balls by the queen herself. The girl suddenly tensed as she  
looked down at the boy and realized who he was. "Oh boy..."  
  
Trunks smirked at her shocked expression. "Don't worry, I'll  
behave."  
  
This seemed to alleviate her somewhat.  
  
The boy strolled forward with his student's behind him.  
  
"The clothes I sent you were not satisfactory?" said Azusa as the  
boy neared him.  
  
"I felt it was appropriate for us to wear the uniform of my  
school," replied the boy calmly. "They are all my students, and they  
have earned the right to wear my symbol."  
  
Azusa eyed Tenchi for a moment and said nothing. "Very well, shall  
we eat?"  
  
"You know how to keep a Saiyan happy don't ya?" said the boy as he  
grinned at the man.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
The meal was quite boring, nobles exchanged idle chat in what was  
obviously just another excuse to get together and discuss political  
matters. The off world party sat next to the Emperor on his left side,  
with Misaki directly at his side.  
  
Trunks ate like a true Saiyan, as did Ryoko, Hotaru restrained  
herself for appearance sake. Usagi was directly next to her and looked  
somewhat uncomfortable.  
  
Yosho and Tenchi sat beside each other next to Funaho and Ayeka.  
  
"So, what are your plans now?" asked Azusa as he frowned at Trunks  
for a moment.  
  
"We'll continue training in a few days. Washuu needs a few more  
days to prepare for that, after that we'll leave and return home."  
  
"To free your planet?" said the man with a small nod.  
  
"Something like that," said the boy as he nodded seriously. "In  
any case, we appreciate the help."  
  
Azusa snorted and shook his head for a moment. "I see. These  
girls?"  
  
"I don't know. The Moon Kingdom's fate is up to them," replied the  
boy as he glanced at the Senshi for a moment. "They may choose to  
revive it, or they may decide to go another way. It's up to them.  
Either way though, you're going to lose your control of the Earth. Not  
that you had much to begin with anyway."  
  
Azusa nodded at this. "It doesn't concern me. The planet was  
useless to us for the most part anyway."  
  
Trunks nodded at this and smirked. "Not that you could do anything  
about it anyway."  
  
The man's gaze widened a tiny bit at this.  
  
"Heh, got ya!" said the boy as he chuckled and pointed at the man.  
"Yer fun to tease ya know that? Always so serious."  
  
This caught the man off guard again and he growled under his  
breath.  
  
"Quit teasing him," said Hotaru as she smacked him in the back of  
his head.  
  
"Aw, come on! It's fun!"  
  
"You're gonna make him mad idiot!" snapped the girl as she turned  
her head away from him. "Did you forget he's got an entire star fleet  
and an army?"  
  
"Nah," said the boy. "I remembered."  
  
The guests had stopped eating at this point and were moving into  
the middle of the room. A band was set up on one side of the room and  
they started to play music. It was soft at the moment and the Emperor  
strolled into the middle of the room to start the first dance with his  
two wives.  
  
"Man, he's big enough to dance with both of them," commented  
Trunks as he watched the scene for a moment.  
  
"Well, I suppose we should dance too," said Hotaru as she frowned  
slightly. "It would be impolite to not dance at least once."  
  
"With who? I'm like two feet tall," said Trunks as he pointed at  
himself for a moment.  
  
Everyone looked down at him for a moment.  
  
"You guys dance, I'm gonna go find Nabiki. I gotta talk to her."  
The boy wandered into the crowd leaving the group alone.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"What do you want?" said Nabiki as she glared down at the child in  
front of her coldly.  
  
"Don't be so harsh, I've seen you naked before, that should count  
for something!" said the boy as he looked at her with his cutest  
expression.  
  
The girl felt her stomach turn at the sight of it. "I'm assuming  
you've got a reason for bringing me out here?"  
  
"Well, you know who I really am, thought we'd talk about that,"  
said the boy as he smirked at her.  
  
Nabiki narrowed her eyes at him.  
  
"You slipped up, Washuu and Yosho noticed you call me 'Ranma',"  
continued Trunks as he smiled at her. "I'm not surprised you figured  
it out, but I need to be sure you keep the secret for a while."  
  
"Why should I?" said the girl irritably.  
  
"Because I need them to trust me a bit for a little while," said  
the boy with a shrug.  
  
"What do I get out of this if I keep your secret?" snorted the  
girl.  
  
"Nothing," said Trunks calmly. "You also get nothing if you tell  
the others, so either you get nothing."  
  
"I could probably gain something," replied the girl as she looked  
down at him again and smirked.  
  
"You may be right," said the boy cheerfully. "You're a smart one,  
I like that."  
  
Nabiki blinked at this, but remained silent.  
  
"Heh, you'll come to regret that soon enough," said Trunks as he  
started walking back towards the hall again. The boy paused and looked  
somewhat surprised for a moment. "Hey, something is up..."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
"I was planning on returning to Earth with Lord Tenchi Father,"  
said Ayeka as she looked at the Emperor for a moment.  
  
"Eh?" said the man as he looked at his daughter for a moment.  
  
"Oh boy," grumbled Ryoko from nearby.  
  
"What's going on?" asked Tenchi.  
  
"I'm not sure," said Washuu as she strolled up to his side.  
  
The Emperor closed his eyes and frowned. "So, you will remain  
there?"  
  
"Yes," said the girl with a somewhat nervous step back.  
  
"If that is your wish," said the Emperor with a small nod.  
  
"Oh, thank you for understanding father!" said Ayeka.  
  
"Damn," grumbled Ryoko under her breath.  
  
"Under one condition!" exclaimed the Emperor.  
  
Yosho looked at the man from nearby; he had been talking with his  
mother and was glad for the distraction. She was questioning him on  
why he hadn't contacted her for the past few hundred years. "Eh?"  
  
Funaho seemed to lose interest in the conversation at this point  
as well and looked at her husband with an unreadable gaze.  
  
Azusa drew himself up. "If that boy can defeat the man I chose as  
your fiancee! I will grant your wish."  
  
"Well, so much for that," said Ryoko with a small shrug. "Guess  
you're coming back with us huh princess?"  
  
Ayeka looked at her for a moment with her jaw hanging down  
slightly. "Um..."  
  
"What?" said Tenchi as he stared at the man for a moment.  
"But...I..."  
  
A man strolled through the crowd and smirked at Tenchi. He was  
dressed in elaborate Juraian robes and had a smirk on his face. He had  
pink hair and a fan covered his face. "Well, I've been waiting for  
this moment. It seems you're a bit out of your league boy, best give  
up now."  
  
"What the?" muttered Tenchi dumbly.  
  
"Oops, I've forgotten to introduce myself. Princess Ayeka, you  
look just fabulous!"  
  
Azusa coughed into his hand and interrupted the newcomer. "Listen  
and listen well! If that boy can defeat him, you can do whatever you  
like."  
  
Trunks appeared out of the crowd with Nabiki at his side. "Hey,  
who's this gay guy?" he jerked his thumb at the pink haired man.  
  
"What?" said the man as he stared at the boy.  
  
"Well..." said Tenchi.  
  
Sasami walked up next to Tenchi, having moved from Misaki's side.  
"I'm rooting for you Tenchi!"  
  
"Lord Tenchi! You are willing to fight for us aren't you?" said  
Ayeka.  
  
"Well...I..."  
  
"Tenchi! Don't fight! You don't have to do this for them!" cried  
Ryoko as she shoved the princess aside.  
  
Misaki shoved a page into the woman's face.  
  
"Huh? What's that?" muttered Ryoko.  
  
"This is a bill for you, for all those parts of Jurai you  
destroyed," said the woman cheerfully.  
  
"Hey! She worked that off when she fought Buu!" said Trunks as he  
stared at the woman. "Besides, it's kinda gross getting married to  
your own great aunt."  
  
Ayeka turned red. "What! Maybe on Earth, but..."  
  
"What are you nuts? Tenchi is mostly human. Humans don't inbreed  
for a reason. Unlike Juraians, inbreeding can cause birth defects and  
mental problems. Humans are designed biologically to diversify, it's  
bad news to go against that," said the boy with a small nod.  
  
"What?" muttered Ayeka.  
  
"That shouldn't be a problem here my boy," said Yosho calmly.  
  
"Eh?" said Trunks.  
  
"You're right in your fears, but Juraians aren't wired that way.  
It won't pose any problems, if Tenchi chooses that path," agreed  
Washuu.  
  
"Whatever, Tenchi, you've got to accept this challenge on behalf  
of the school though!" said Trunks firmly.  
  
"Huh? But you just said..." stammered the boy in confusion.  
  
"Bah! That doesn't matter! It's a matter of honor, you've got to  
uphold the school! You must accept any challenge!" said Trunks as he  
nodded to himself. "I just wanted to make sure you were fighting for  
the right reasons!"  
  
"School?" muttered Yosho as he looked at the boy. He seemed to  
just notice what his grandson was wearing. "I see."  
  
"Huh?" said Tenchi.  
  
"Very well boy, if that is the path you have chosen," said the man  
as he nodded at the boy.  
  
"Hey, wait a minute!" said Tenchi as he found himself shoved  
forward on several fronts towards the pink haired man. "All right,  
fine."  
  
"Just take it easy on him Tenchi," said Ryoko cheerfully.  
  
"No! If you hold back you'll be hurt!" cried Ayeka.  
  
"Ryoko is right boy, best not make too much of a mess, try to keep  
it toned down," agreed Trunks.  
  
The man laughed to himself. "Really, it's really a waste of time.  
It's rather one sided, he really has no chance. I must fulfill the  
wish of the Emperor. After all, he is my future father in law."  
  
Tenchi stood off against the man with an uncertain frown on his  
face. "Oh man..."  
  
"Kick his ass Tenchi!" cried Trunks cheerfully. "Do it, you'll  
enjoy it!"  
  
"I'm not so sure about that," said the boy nervously.  
  
"Say, how long do you think it's going to take Tenchi to defeat  
Cerio?" asked Misaki as she walked up to her husband.  
  
The man grunted. "Just watch, Cerio is going to defeat Tenchi in  
less than a minute," grumbled Azusa.  
  
"Heh. Cerio didn't fight Majin Buu with us old man, his power is  
nothing to Tenchi," said Trunks. "You forget, Yosho has been training  
him for most of his life as well. You're not really dumb enough to  
believe that he'll win are you?"  
  
The Emperor glared at the boy, but Trunks ignored him and kept his  
eyes on the battle.  
  
"Tenchi, put that sword away! You don't need it," called the boy  
as he smirked at the two combatants.  
  
Tenchi looked at Tenchi-ken for a moment and put it into his  
robes. "If you say so."  
  
Cerio chuckled at this. "You are a fool! Giving up so easily?"  
  
The boy merely smirked at his opponent. "Ya know, this might  
actually be a little fun." Cerio was starting to get on his nerves.  
  
"Give it to that bastard!" cried Ryoko as she raised her fist into  
the air.  
  
"Hmm, ignorance is your weakness. You don't seem to understand  
that you are no match for me. I don't think you want to go through  
with this, it's simply for your own good. I don't want to humiliate  
you, you know?" said Cerio.  
  
Tenchi was growing more and more irate.  
  
"He's developed something of a temper," commented Washuu in  
surprise.  
  
"Tenchi has trained hard for his skills, that idiot is belittling  
his power. I taught him that he should be proud of his skill, false  
humility says nothing for a warrior like him," said Trunks.  
  
"Humility is an important aspect of the art," said Yosho in  
disgust.  
  
"Confidence in your own abilities is more important, Tenchi knows  
he can win, and he knows when he has to fight. Unlike when you trained  
him, he's sure of himself and the outcome of the battle," replied  
Trunks. "It's the one fault I could find in the training you gave him.  
He didn't think he could really win against Kagato, it almost  
destroyed him."  
  
Yosho stared at the boy for a long moment and turned back at  
Tenchi. "It seems we differ in our opinions."  
  
Trunks merely nodded.  
  
"You want to concede? A wise choice for a barbarian like you..."  
said Cerio.  
  
"I don't think so," replied Tenchi calmly. He shifted his weight  
back and put up his fists. "I'm ready for you."  
  
Cerio blinked at this. "Are you sure?"  
  
Tenchi nodded.  
  
"Very well, I suppose I'll have to hold back my true power, as to  
not humiliate you," said Cerio.  
  
"If you do, you'll lose," replied Tenchi. An aura burst to life  
around him, blue flame that seemed to burn away his clothes. Within a  
moment he was wearing Juraian battle armor and had a cold frown on his  
face.  
  
Cerio stepped back and stared at the boy. "What?"  
  
"Should we start now?" asked Tenchi.  
  
The man shrieked girlishly and backed away.  
  
"Hey! You can't run from a challenge like that! Get back in  
there!" cried Trunks as she shoved the man back towards Tenchi as he  
tried to step into the crowd and tensed to run.  
  
Cerio seemed to realize that everyone was watching him and  
frowned. "It seems, I cannot allow you to escape, though it pains my  
heart too..."  
  
"Shut up and fight Kuno!" snapped Trunks.  
  
Everyone looked at him for a moment.  
  
"Sorry," muttered the boy sheepishly.  
  
"Enough, fight!" said Azusa angrily.  
  
Cerio swallowed and stepped forward. "I strike!"  
  
Tenchi promptly decked him with a casual looking right hook.  
  
Cerio flew across the room over the crowd and slammed into the  
wall. "No fair...I didn't...even get my weapon...ready..." he muttered  
as he slowly slid down the wall and onto the floor.  
  
Tenchi looked at his fist for a moment and scratched the back of  
his head. "Oops. I guess that was too much."  
  
The crowd was in a state of silent awe.  
  
"Man, that was lame," grumbled Trunks.  
  
"I had hoped it would last a bit longer," agreed Hotaru.  
  
"Yay Tenchi!" cried Sasami.  
  
Ayeka breathed a sigh of relief. She straightened herself up and  
turned towards the boy.  
  
"Good shot Tenchi," said Ryoko with a smirk on her face as she and  
Tenchi put their fists together.  
  
"Thanks," he replied calmly.  
  
Ayeka shoved Ryoko aside and grabbed the boy around his neck. "Oh  
Tenchi! You saved me!"  
  
The boy blinked in surprise and laughed nervously. "I did?"  
  
"You've done the school proud boy!" cried Trunks as he clenched  
his fist tightly. He had tears of pride on his face.  
  
"Idiot," grumbled Hotaru as she stared at him.  
  
"Tenchi, what is this art you have learned?" thought Yosho to  
himself. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not.  
  
"Well, it's been a gas, but we've got work to do tomorrow," said  
Trunks as he pat Azusa on his shoulder by floating up to the correct  
height. "The others can enjoy the party for a while, but Washuu and I  
need sleep."  
  
The redhead nodded and turned towards the door. "I suppose you're  
right. Tomorrow I've got to return to the project."  
  
"Great!" said Trunks cheerfully. "Should be ready in a few days  
then?"  
  
The woman nodded. "I still need some more input from you, on  
exactly what you want."  
  
"We'll talk about that in the morning. I could sleep like a rock  
right now," said the boy as he started towards the doors as well.  
  
Azusa sighed and turned back to his throne, the music started  
playing again and everyone went back to the party.  
  
Trunks looked over his shoulder and sighed. "Man, these Juraians  
sure throw crappy parties."  
  
"Thanks for saving me," muttered Washuu from his side.  
  
"Yeah, I don't think I could have taken much more," grumbled the  
boy.  
  
"Quit trying to egg the Emperor into a fight," said Washuu as she  
looked at him for a moment.  
  
"Aw, come on. It'd be fun!" exclaimed the boy pathetically as he  
hung his head.  
  
"We need his help!" snapped Washuu. "If he decided he doesn't want  
us here, it will be difficult to finish the project. We only need a  
few more weeks."  
  
Trunks sighed and nodded his head. "Fine."  
  
"Come on, we should go," said the woman as she turned away. "We  
can find a real party."  
  
"Yeah, maybe we can find a good bar or something..." muttered  
Trunks cheerfully. "Say, does this planet have nude entertainment?"  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Bwahahahahahahaaaa!" cried Washuu as she waved her fans and stood  
on the table. She had a wad of money in her hand and a muscular  
Juraian was dancing on the table.  
  
Trunks was sitting quietly beside her, hanging his head and  
wishing it would all just go away. "This isn't exactly what I meant  
Washuu." He picked up his drink and downed it in a single gulp.  
  
Another muscular and half-dressed Juraian brought him another one.  
  
"Aw, come on! Loosen up!" exclaimed the woman.  
  
"I think I'm going to leave now..." muttered Trunks as he stood  
up.  
  
"The fun's just starting! There's a wet jock strap contest in a  
few minutes!" cried Washuu.  
  
Trunks rushed out the door, knocking several of the men aside as  
he ran for his very sanity.  
  
"I wonder what's with him? Oh well!" She turned back to the man  
dancing for her and grinned. "Do you want to be my new guinea pig?"  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC... 


	88. Insertion 88

Insertion  
  
Part 88  
  
101 reasons to hate Usagi Tsukino.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
A week had gone by on Jurai, parties were attended, dances were  
formal, and life for Trunks basically sucked. He had grown to hate the  
socialites of Jurai.  
  
"I'm not going to another stupid party," grumbled the boy as he  
glared at Hotaru irritably.  
  
"It's not that bad, the celebrations should stop soon though,"  
said the girl as she smirked at him.  
  
The boy was sitting on his giant bed, which he'd also grown to  
hate, because he had to walk ten feet just to get to the floor if he  
was in the middle of the bed. He was wearing his martial arts uniform,  
as was Hotaru. "Screw being polite, I'm sick of this. I've got work to  
do."  
  
"If you say so," replied the girl with a small shrug. "I doubt if  
anyone will miss you, and those Senshi of yours are growing accustomed  
to these parties."  
  
"What do you mean 'those senshi of yours'? You're one of them ya  
know," replied the boy flatly.  
  
"I suppose so," said the girl with a slightly irritated frown. "In  
any case, they seem to be enjoying themselves."  
  
"Usagi seems to have a panic attack every time I show up at one of  
those things though," grumbled the boy irritably. "I haven't done  
anything yet..."  
  
:"You've been surprisingly well behaved, for someone who was  
permanently banned from any formal occasion by the queen herself all  
those years ago."  
  
"Well, I'm not all him anymore ya know," grumbled the boy as he  
glanced at her for a moment.  
  
"Yes, I had noticed that," replied the girl with a smirk forming  
on her lips.  
  
"At any rate, I'm declining the next few invitations. I don't need  
to be polite to save face for the others anymore, they can stand on  
their own reputation now."  
  
"Hmmm," agreed Hotaru as she looked down at the magazine that was  
sitting in her lap for a moment.  
  
"What's that?" said the boy as he hopped over to her side and  
peered over her shoulder.  
  
"Just something I picked up while I was out. I got bored," replied  
the girl with a small shrug. "Tenchi is Jurai's sexiest man." She held  
up a page to him with the boy's face on it. Next to it was a full body  
shot from one of the parties. He looked somewhat nervous.  
  
"Good for him," said the boy as he shrugged.  
  
"You're actually quite popular yourself," said the girl as she  
held up another page. "According to this, you'll be one of the most  
eligible bachelors in the Universe. With you being a prince and  
all..."  
  
"I'm the prince of like, five other people, and two of them are  
trying to kill me," said the boy as he blinked and looked at the page.  
It was in a 'teen' section of the magazine. "This is..." He stared at  
it for a moment. There was a full body shot of him standing with his  
arms crossed over his chest with a smirk on his face. It was taken  
directly from his battle with Buu, probably one of the satellites that  
had broadcasted the fight to the ships in space. "I'm...a teen idol?"  
he muttered dumbly.  
  
"Yes, apparently you're adorable," said the girl as she smirked at  
him.  
  
"But...I'm not even ten yet," muttered the boy with a slightly  
sour frown.  
  
"You're popular with the thirteen and under set," said the girl  
with a small shrug.  
  
"Oh," said the boy as he flopped down and flipped through the  
pages for a time. "Hey, you're pretty popular yourself. There's that  
weenie Cerio...man, his fan club is pissed at me."  
  
"Yes, the entire planet is questioning his manhood thanks to your  
comment," replied Hotaru as she smirked at him.  
  
"That guy is in serious denial then," said Trunks with a smirk.  
"Seems Usagi is pretty popular too, so is Rei. Well, all of them  
really, but they get the highest ranking. How little these idiots  
know."  
  
"What? You don't think they are...attractive?" said Hotaru as she  
arched her eyebrow at him.  
  
"Usagi is a klutz, and Rei is a complete and total bitch most of  
the time."  
  
"Ah," said Hotaru as she nodded in understanding at this.  
  
"Come to think of it, that kinda puts Rei right in with these  
Juraian royal types. Go figure," continued the boy with a small shrug.  
"Ryoko sure is getting a lot of publicity too. Heh, they don't know  
what to make of her."  
  
"I'm not surprised, considering her last visit here brought about  
untold destruction and the loss of a first prince."  
  
Trunks smirked at this and shook his head. "Oddly enough, Yosho is  
taking a back seat in all this. I've barely heard any mention of him  
returning. It should be a big deal. Only thing I've seen are these  
reports of him going off to marry Ryoko, and that they were secret  
lovers or something."  
  
"Oh, you mean the story where she got angry with Azusa for not  
allowing them to marry and ended up blowing up half the planet in  
order to 'escape with her lover'?" said Hotaru cheerfully.  
  
"Yeah, something like that. It seems awfully played down to me."  
  
"Wonder if Azusa has anything to do with that?" wondered Hotaru  
out loud.  
  
"It's very possible," said Washuu as she strolled into the room  
and smiled at the pair.  
  
"Hey, what's up?" said Trunks cheerfully as he sat up and grinned  
at her.  
  
Washuu smiled at him. "It's ready."  
  
The boy got an odd looking grin on his face, one that made even  
Hotaru nervous. "Excellent," he said as he steepled his fingers  
together.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki Tendo was getting annoyed with this place, not so much by  
the rich living and servants, but the idiot publicist and their  
questions. "Which planet are you the senshi of?" she grumbled in  
irritation as she walked. She gave a disgusted sounding snort at this  
and continued to walk down the hall towards her room. She had been  
associated with the Senshi more and more, mostly because she was  
usually seen with them. This gave her a pause, she stopped her stroll  
and turned towards one of the massive windows that gave her a view of  
the planet's surface.  
  
"I have been spending a lot of time around them. There isn't  
really anything else for me to do around here." She wasn't sure if she  
liked that idea or not. The girls were the only people she really felt  
comfortable around on the planet. She didn't speak to them much, but  
they were friendly and welcomed her presence. Most of them were easily  
manipulated by a few choice phrases or a little prodding.  
  
The girl frowned a little at that; she didn't see how they were  
destined to rule the world one day as they claimed. Trunks seemed  
agreeable with them, but she didn't see how they could as easily as  
she seemed to maneuver them. They mostly just hung around each other  
and talked for the most part, she would hang back and only  
occasionally give her input on a given situation. They would usually  
listen to her and seemed to accept her presence mostly. She wasn't as  
friendly with the rest of the group as they were with her.  
  
"I don't get it," she muttered as she continued to stare out the  
window.  
  
"Don't get what?" asked a familiar voice from behind her.  
  
"Huh? It's nothing," said Nabiki as she turned to see Mihoshi  
standing there with her usual cheerful grin. She was dressed in her  
Galaxy Police uniform and had a notebook under her arm. "Haven't seen  
you for a while."  
  
The woman nodded and smiled at her even more brightly. It unnerved  
Nabiki a bit. "Yes, I had to return to headquarters and give a  
report."  
  
"That's right, you're some sort of cop," said Nabiki to herself.  
  
"Um, yeah," said the bubbly woman as she winked at her.  
  
"Trunks has weird friends," said Nabiki with a small shrug.  
  
"That isn't very nice," muttered Mihoshi with a small frown on her  
face. It quickly vanished though and she shrugged.  
  
"I'm not a very nice person," said Nabiki with a somewhat  
thoughtful cock of her head.  
  
"Really?" said Mihoshi as she stared at the girl.  
  
"I never really thought about it much before, but I don't think I  
am," replied Nabiki as she nodded. It didn't seem to bother her that  
much.  
  
"Well, better be good, or I'll have to arrest you," said Mihoshi  
cheerfully.  
  
Nabiki smirked at this and shook her head in amusement. "I'll  
remember that."  
  
"Well, I should be going, goodbye," said the blonde as she started  
walking away.  
  
"Right, I should find something to do myself," said Nabiki as she  
sighed.  
  
"Don't worry, I've got just the thing," said Trunks as he walked  
up to her from behind.  
  
Nabiki turned and stared at him for a moment. "What?"  
  
"Come on, we've got to go get the others," said Trunks as he  
motioned for her to follow him.  
  
The girl blinked and started after him, unsure of what else to do.  
"Where are we going?"  
  
"You'll see," he replied calmly.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Akane Tendo was standing on a boat staring out into the sea. "What  
the hell am I doing?" she muttered to herself as she watched Japan  
fade away into the distance. They were traveling on a rather large  
yacht that belonged to Kunzite. It was really a miniature sea borne  
base of operations, with several computers and some monitoring systems  
onboard.  
  
Trunks and Gohan were simply standing there watching the opposite  
horizon without speaking to anyone else.  
  
Nephrite jerked upright and blinked. He had been leaning against  
the side of the boat with his eyes closed and his arms crossed over  
his shoulder. "Do you hear something?"  
  
Akane turned to look at him and blinked. "Huh?"  
  
Trunks and Gohan remained still, but Akane saw them tense up for  
just a moment. She turned her head towards Nephrite and frowned. "Like  
what?"  
  
Jadeite walked up, attracted by the conversation. "You hear  
something? Probably just the waves."  
  
"No, it's coming from inside the ship," said Kunzite as he  
appeared from inside the cabin of the ship.  
  
Zocite was with him and looked somewhat annoyed. "Rats?"  
  
"I hate rats," grumbled Akane angrily as she clutched her arms a  
little tighter.  
  
"There it is again," said Jadeite as he cocked his head.  
"It's...tapping?"  
  
"Don't worry about it, the ocean causes a lot of strange noises,"  
said Gohan as he glanced back at them.  
  
"Nothing this rhythmic," said Kunzite as he heard the sound as  
well. "There's something on board the ship."  
  
"Um, no there isn't," said Gohan.  
  
Trunks was staring out at sea, seemingly ignoring the situation.  
No one saw the pensive looking frown on his face.  
  
"It's coming from this storage compartment," said Jadeite as he  
pointed down at a latch on the deck.  
  
"Uh-oh," muttered Gohan under his breath.  
  
"Shit, I thought I told you to use more drugs," grumbled Trunks.  
  
"I didn't want to kill him," said Gohan as he whispered back at  
his companion harshly. "That would kinda defeat the whole point of  
bringing him along!"  
  
Jadeite opened the latch and stepped back with a surprised looking  
frown on his face. "What the?"  
  
A young boy in his twenties was curled up inside the compartment  
with his hands and feet tied together. He had a gag over his mouth and  
stared up at the man in frightened confusion.  
  
"What the hell is this?!" cried Akane as she stared at him.  
  
"Looks like our friends took a prisoner," said Nephrite as he  
turned to look at the pair.  
  
"Sorry, we didn't have time to explain..." said Gohan as he  
scratched the back of his head.  
  
"Hey, I know this guy. He works for us," said Akane dumbly.  
  
"Huh?" said Jadeite as he turned to look at the boy for a moment.  
  
"I don't know him," said Nephrite.  
  
"He works in the auto shop," said Akane in confusion. "What the  
hell is he doing here?"  
  
"He's rather important," said Gohan.  
  
"That's enough," muttered Trunks.  
  
"Right," said Gohan with a small sigh. "Well, I suppose we should  
let him go, now that they know about it..."  
  
"Let him go? What the hell did you two idiots do?!" cried Jadeite  
angrily.  
  
"We kinda kidnapped him, sorry. We didn't have time to explain  
things too him," said Gohan as he backed away from them.  
  
"Who is he?" asked Akane dumbly as she pulled him out of the hold  
and began to work on his ropes. He was something of a wimp and she  
doubted if she'd have much trouble subduing him if he caused any  
problems.  
  
"His name is Keiichi Morisato," said Trunks. "He doesn't look it,  
but he's very important. We need to keep him out of sight for the time  
being."  
  
"Why?" said Akane.  
  
"Because some very important and powerful people are going to be  
looking for him. We'll need them later on, and if he dies, they won't  
be available to us," explained the longhaired boy calmly. "Sorry if we  
were a bit harsh about it, but it's very important."  
  
"Do we have any other guests?" grumbled Jadeite as he glared at  
the pair.  
  
"Um...no?" said Gohan as he scratched the back of his head.  
  
"Idiot," muttered Trunks as he glared at him.  
  
"Come on, I suppose we should find them," growled Nephrite as he  
glared at the pair and started walking away.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Shampoo was irritated, the place she was hidden away in was dark  
and cramped, and the ropes that bound her were rather tight. She  
growled in frustration as she tugged at them and glared forward at the  
ceiling. Eventually she would be able to work her way out of the  
bindings and escape. Unfortunately, that would take several hours.  
"Shampoo kill when escape," grumbled the girl angrily as she continued  
to tug at the ropes.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Cologne sipped at her tea and sat inside another hidden  
compartment on the ship. She was calm and relaxed, the two boys who  
had kidnapped her and Shampoo were very polite thus far. She cocked  
her head as she remembered them coming into the restaurant and  
explaining that it was very important that they escaped Japan with  
them. They promised explanations later and carried her rather gently  
to the ship while flying.  
  
It made her feel like a young girl again to be carried away like  
she had been. Plus, these powerful fighters had told her they were  
planning to visit her village. Quite fine specimens the both of them.  
No doubt she could find them both nice wives without too much trouble.  
She had considered not allowing them to take her, but her curiosity  
got the better of her and she remained. They even made her a nice  
lunch to tide her over for the trip.  
  
Unfortunately, Shampoo had been less than cooperative with them.  
They managed to subdue her without knocking her out and carried her  
into the air. That stopped her struggles rather quickly and they tied  
her up. Technically, it was a defeat, but she needed something a bit  
more solid for the counsel to buy into it. She'd goad one of them into  
knocking her out by accident or something once she was sure which of  
them was the better catch. She could probably do it before they  
reached the village. Seeing as most of those aboard could not fly.  
  
"It's nice how things work out sometimes," she said to herself  
cheerfully.  
  
The door above her head opened and she smiled cheerfully at the  
face that stared down at her. "Oh, hello."  
  
Akane blinked as she stared at the old woman. "I've found another  
one!" she called to someone behind her.  
  
"Do I get to come out now? How nice," said the old woman  
cheerfully as she picked up her staff from the ground at her side.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome smirked at the group in front of him and walked back  
and fourth. He looked them all up and down and they stared at him in  
confusion. Each of them had a large green duffel bag in front of them.  
The bags were filled, but no one could see what was inside. They also  
had large backpacks on them with a lot of pockets on them.  
  
"What's going on?" asked Usagi dumbly.  
  
Nabiki frowned at Trunks as he glanced at the girl and smiled.  
"He's up to something. I don't like this."  
  
"We're only going on a little trip," said the boy.  
  
He pulled out a small laptop computer and tapped a few of the keys.  
Washuu appeared on the screen and smiled at him. "Hello," she said  
with a cheerful smile. In the background behind her, a muscular man in  
a thong was being held in the air by mechanical arms. He had a  
panicked look in his eyes and was crying like a baby.  
  
"Oh? Am I interrupting anything?" said Trunks as he smiled at this.  
  
"Nothing important, just an...experiment," said Washuu cheerfully.  
  
"Right," said the boy as he smirked at her. "You finished the  
systems check right?"  
  
"Everything is ready, anytime you want to go in," said the woman  
as she grinned at him.  
  
"Just don't forget you've got your own projects to worry about,"  
said the boy calmly as he nodded.  
  
"This is just a little distraction," said Washuu cheerfully as she  
waved her hand at him. "Everything is on schedule. I'll be going into  
my special room later today and finishing that up. I should be out a  
few hours after you come back."  
  
"Right," said Trunks as he shook his head and shut down the  
transmission.  
  
"Where are we going?" asked Usagi.  
  
"Pick up your gear ladies, it's time to go," said Trunks.  
  
The group looked at the ship next to them for a moment in  
confusion. The Mikon Taka was sitting there and was shut down  
completely.  
  
"This way," said Trunks as he opened a door from nothing and  
pushed it open wide.  
  
The girls all blinked at this and the boy waved his arm for them  
to enter. They all did so, not sure of what else to say or do.  
  
Trunks smirked and stepped in behind them. " Oh? You're coming?"  
he asked Hotaru as she floated down behind him from the air.  
  
"Heh, I wouldn't miss this," replied the girl as she walked in  
behind him.  
  
"I suppose I could always use a little help," said the boy as he  
nodded at her.  
  
The door closed behind them, sealing all those inside for the rest  
of a day for anyone outside, and an entire year for anyone inside.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
The girls looked around at the room; they were standing inside  
what appeared to be a long hallway with an open wall on the opposite  
side leading into a large field. There were several bunks on the end  
they were standing on, and what appeared to be metal picnic tables on  
the other end. The floors were polished to a shine and everything had  
a sort of sterile look to it. The bunks were all made up uniformly  
with dark green sheets, and a large open locker sat against the wall  
just behind them.  
  
"What is this place?" muttered Rei in confusion.  
  
"Your new home for the next year," said Trunks as he looked at  
them all. Hotaru was beside him with her arms crossed over her chest.  
"It's going to stay looking like this too, or else."  
  
The girls all blinked at this, not sure of what to say.  
  
"This is a room of my own design, actually, it's more of a  
subspace dimension than a room. It's whatever I want it too be outside  
these walls." He pointed his finger and it started snowing outside the  
room. The ground appeared to be made of simple brown dirt before, and  
in an instant it was covered in three feet of snow.  
  
"Wow," said Usagi as she stared at the scene.  
  
"Heh, the amazement wears off I assure you. You're all stuck here,  
no one can enter or leave this room for an entire year," said the boy  
as he watched them all calmly.  
  
"What!?" cried Rei in horror.  
  
"Relax, only a day will pass outside, that's why this room is in  
another dimension. It's to protect the time stream outside from the  
adverse effects of the different time field."  
  
The girls all relaxed slightly at this, but didn't look too much  
happier.  
  
"What the hell are we going to do for an entire year?" cried  
Minako as she stomped her foot.  
  
"You really want to know?" said Trunks as his evil looking grin  
widened.  
  
"Of course!" cried the girl in frustration.  
  
"Heh," said Trunks as he turned to look at Hotaru. "Well, for  
starters, all your senshi powers have been sealed away for the  
duration of this trip."  
  
The girls all looked at him dumbly.  
  
"The reason you're here is simple. You call yourself pretty  
soldiers? Well, I'm gonna turn you into real soldiers."  
  
"Um...you can do that?" said Usagi as she stared at the boy.  
  
"Well, I know enough about it, plus I've got a little help with  
it." He nodded his head and smiled. "From now on, you'll call me sir."  
The boy put a cap on with two silver bars on the front of it. "She's  
Ma'am," he handed Hotaru a cap with a single silver bar on it.  
  
"This is Drill Sargent Fuller," the boy jerked his thumb back at  
the towering figure who seemed to melt from the shadows. He was a  
massive black man with arms as big around as the girl's waists. He had  
a vicious looking snarl on his face and cracked his knuckles as he  
stared them all down from under the rim of his large round hat.  
  
"You can call me...Drill Sargent." He chuckled at the girls as  
they backed away from him slowly with horrified looking expressions on  
their faces.  
  
"You...you can't do this too me!" cried Nabiki as she stepped  
forward and stared at Trunks with rage in her eyes. There was also a  
large amount of fear.  
  
"Heh, you're here with us for the year. You work, or you don't  
eat," he replied calmly. "We don't have enough food to waste on  
someone who isn't training."  
  
The girl stepped back and stared at him, there was nothing she  
could do. "I'll tell them who you really are!" she cried desperately.  
  
"Tell them, it doesn't matter anymore," replied the boy as he  
shrugged. "After this is over, they won't like me anyway. They'll  
respect me though."  
  
Nabiki gasped at this and looked at the huge man standing over her  
in terror. Usagi had started to cry, and Minako was clutching Rei  
fearfully, much to the dark haired senshi's annoyance. Ami and Makoto  
were simply looking up at him with their mouths open.  
  
"Are they mine yet?" asked the towering man as he looked at  
Trunks.  
  
"Not quite, I've still got a few more things to explain to them,  
and I'll turn them over too you," said the boy as he smirked at him.  
  
"Drill Sargent Fuller is an artificial program. Created from  
military files and textbooks on training from the United States Armed  
Forces. You'll get a little bit of everything from him. He's  
unbribeable, ruthless, and he doesn't like you. Don't try to reason  
with him, do what your told, and you'll be fine."  
  
The girls were all listening to him very carefully at this point.  
"In this reality, you can't die, but you can be killed. Don't think  
for a second that it won't hurt either. Every injury, every wound will  
look and feel real. If you die, you'll be revived in about an hour. I  
suggest you avoid that, take it from someone who knows. Dying really  
sucks."  
  
"Um...he's going to kill us?" said Usagi fearfully.  
  
"No, he won't," said Trunks as he shook his head. "His job is to  
make you wish you were dead. You won't have to worry about dying until  
later, he won't hurt you. Well, he will hurt you, but he won't put you  
in any real danger. That comes later on."  
  
The Drill Sargent grinned at them all; a single gold tooth  
sparkled in his maw as he looked them over. "Hurting is good for ya,  
lets ya know yer still alive. I'm gonna show you every kinda pain,  
you'll love it."  
  
"Well Sargent Fuller, they're all yours."  
  
"Yes sir," replied the massive man as he stormed forward. He  
glared at the girls. "I'm gonna show ya what yer locker's gonna look  
like from now on. Ya'd better learn it real good."  
  
"Yessir," muttered Usagi in terror as he glared directly down at  
her.  
  
"SIR!? I WORK FOR A LIVING! YOU WILL CALL ME DRILL SARGENT AND  
ONLY DRILL SARGENT! YOU WILL BEGIN AND END EVERY SENTENCE YOU SPEAK  
FROM NOW ON WITH DRILL SARGENT! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" screamed the  
man as he put his nose up to her face and got a look of rage so  
horrifying that the girl almost passed out right there.  
  
"Yessir," muttered Usagi as any possible intelligence hidden  
within the depths of her mind ran away and shit itself from terror.  
  
"EVERYBODY OUTSIDE! I FEEL LIKE RUNNING A FEW HUNDRED LAPS!"  
  
"You were right! This will be fun!" said Hotaru as she smirked at  
the boy next to her.  
  
"Heh, I'll start turning up the gravity a little at a time in a  
week. We won't ever get up to our normal level, but I think they'll be  
able to withstand twenty times or by the time this is over."  
  
Hotaru nodded and smiled cheerfully at the boy. "This part will  
take about eight weeks or so?"  
  
"Yeah, then we get into the real meat of the training," said  
Trunks with a serious nod. "That's when they can die, and we'll get  
some real laughs out of that."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Makoto Kino's journal: Entry one  
  
We got a few notepads with our gear, Drill Sargent says they're  
for writing letters home. He also said something about earning phone  
privileges through hard work. I don't see what good that will do us,  
seeing as there's no one on the entire planet we can call really. I  
asked Trunks about it, he says there's still some bugs to work out of  
Fuller's system. That scares me frankly.  
  
We're working hard, we've been up for two days straight now. The  
Drill Sargent yells at us all the time and makes us do painful  
exercises. Nabiki, Rei, and myself seem to be doing the best at that.  
Nabiki says she did aerobics to keep herself fit, but we're all in  
pain and can barely move. Drill Sargent says we get some sleep  
tonight, after we clean the billets. That's what he calls the room we  
stay in. He won't let us start for another hour though, we get what he  
calls 'personal time' seeing as I can't really write letters, I  
decided to do this. It looks like most of us have the same idea.  
  
We're all wearing camouflage uniforms, they have our names on them  
in Romanji, but no tag specifying what service we're in. Ami says it's  
Army Training from what she sees. We have to keep our hair pinned up  
above our necks now; he isn't making us get it cut though. It has to  
be able to fit under our covers, what he makes us call our caps. I  
hate this place already; I don't see how we're going to make it.  
  
Usagi has the worst of it; she's terrified of the man. He won't  
leave her alone, I feel so sorry for her. We can't do anything to help  
her either, our powers are locked up and he's as strong as he looks.  
Not that we've tried, but I saw him lift a few ten foot long logs as  
if they were made of paper the other day when he was building a large  
pit just outside to fill with water for mud. I don't really want to  
know what that's for.  
  
That girl Nabiki stopped talking. We don't know her that well, but  
she's been a friend of sorts since this whole mess started. She seems  
to have taken too this rather well I think. She does what she's told  
and tries to stay out of sight. I think she's just as scared of him as  
we are, but she doesn't show it. The stress of this is getting to all  
of us, and there's no escape.  
  
Ami can't move around much, the same for Usagi. Minako is a little  
better, but not much. They were complaining about every part of their  
body being sore, it's the same for me, but I'm in better shape. I know  
it must be really hard for them.  
  
The weather outside has been perfect so far, but I know it's only  
a matter of time before Trunks starts making it harder for us. He  
seems indifferent to our suffering, we've tried talking too him, but  
he ignores us and states that if we want to eat, we have to work. I  
don't see why we need this; we were doing fine... well maybe not.  
Still, I don't see how this is going to help us.  
  
The man is horrible to us, all he does is yell and force us to run  
and sweat in painful ways. If one of us screws up, we all do. Those  
are his exact words, we've always worked as a team, I hope we can get  
through this.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Makoto's journal: Entry Two  
  
It's been three days since I last wrote anything in this book. We  
get sleep now, but only six hours at most. We're outside before light,  
and we don't come back until the sun comes down. Most of what we do is  
physical, Trunks says there's a few classes he had to edit out of the  
program. So far we've learned about some of our equipment and he's  
teaching us how to march. Next week we get gas masks, I don't think  
that's good. Why would we need them?  
  
Another thing bothers me, we got weapons today. We have to call  
them weapons, Usagi has trouble speaking without getting herself into  
trouble, we try to railroad him away from her, but he seems to single  
her out more than anyone else. Our new weapons are called M-16 A2s. We  
don't need guns, the very idea offends me. Still, we have to do what  
we're told. None of us like it one bit though. We're learning to  
adjust the sights, clean, and disassemble the weapons right now, but I  
know it's only a matter of time before we end up firing them.  
  
We're constantly under his thumb, all day every day. He's  
constantly criticizing us; nothing we do is good enough. Plus, he  
forces us to act like we enjoy this torture. During what he calls  
'PT', or the workout portion of our training. He makes us say things  
like. "We like it, we love it, we want some more of it. Make it hurt  
Drill Sargent, make it hurt!" I feel stupid and humiliated; I've never  
felt so inadequate in my life. His favorite torture is making us run  
'until he feels tired'.  
  
Usagi is trying hard, but she keeps screwing up. That girl Nabiki  
keeps giving her angry glares. It's not the poor girl's fault, I'm  
kind of upset with her, but in a way I also understand. It's hard on  
all of us.  
  
We discovered what he was building outside with those logs as  
well. He calls it 'The Pit'. Over the past few days we've learned all  
about it, and we regret every moment. The pit is where he forces us to  
roll around, crawl, run, push up, and basically hurt ourselves in the  
most grueling experience of my life. He literally has us in there  
until we can barely stand. It's the place we go when he decides to  
punish us for some imagined insult. His favorite game is to ask us  
questions he knows we can't answer and then send us out there for a  
half-hour or so. The man is sick, twisted, and completely revolting.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Makoto's Journal: Entry Three  
  
I wish I could put a date to this. I'm not sure what month it is  
anymore, much less what day. It's been about a week since my last  
entry. Things aren't getting much better, but we are getting through a  
little easier. The physical part doesn't hurt so much anymore. Even  
Usagi isn't rendered completely helpless any longer. Doing something  
to the point of muscle failure isn't rare, but we recover much faster.  
It seems warmer in here also, and if I didn't know better, I'd think  
that we're growing weaker. Everything seems to be heavier now, if only  
a little.  
  
I found out why we needed gas masks. I wish I hadn't. Fuller took  
us to a small building, and put us into a small room. He then  
proceeded to break several gas capsules in the middle of the room. We  
were forced to put on our masks in less than a minute, and had to  
clear them of the gas before we could breathe. It was horrible, we  
went outside and we were covered in snot, tears were pouring down our  
faces, and Usagi and Minako got really sick. The stuff burned, it was  
awful. It took a long time before it wore off. Why is he doing this to  
us? What did we do?  
  
Yesterday, we fired our weapons. We were taken out to a range and  
fired at targets. Fuller explained a lot of things to us, how to hold  
the weapon, how to keep score on the targets, that sort of thing. Rei  
shot him. He laughed at her and beat her up pretty badly. She's not  
seriously hurt, but it was a devastating blow to all of us. She cried  
herself to sleep that night, I almost couldn't bear the sound of it.  
We went to Trunks about that, and he simply snorted and said 'Now  
she'll no better than to try something like that. Those aren't toys.'  
That bastard. Hotaru is a little more understanding, but she didn't do  
anything either. She watches us a lot, but doesn't say much and tends  
to keep to herself.  
  
This is wearing us down, I yelled at Usagi today. I felt pretty  
bad about it, but it didn't last long. She screwed up again during a  
march and we were forced to run. I feel so sorry for her, she's  
trying, but...she's causing us so much pain. I hate to say it, but I  
wish she hadn't come with us. We got little knives called bayonets,  
they attach to the front of our weapons. That part wasn't so bad, we  
had to run up and stab little dummies made up to look like Trunks and  
Fuller. The man actually seemed to enjoy watching us do it. It's  
disturbing.  
  
We've got the marches down pretty well now. It doesn't give us too  
much trouble. Even Usagi seems to have gotten the hang of it somewhat,  
she still screws up a lot though. Not nearly as much as when we first  
started though.  
  
Tomorrow we go to an obstacle course. That sounds like it might be  
a little fun, even though I hate to admit it.  
  
Ami and Nabiki have gotten very quiet, they don't talk much to  
anyone, more so for Nabiki than before. Ami seems distant now, but  
still friendly. I caught her giving Usagi an odd look the other day.  
I'm not sure what to make of it. Rei is handling this surprisingly  
well; she acts pretty much the same towards Usagi as she always has.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
Makoto's Journal: Entry Four  
  
Another week has gone by, I hate this place. I know I say that a  
lot, but it's tearing us apart. The stress is unbelievable, we're  
constantly under pressure to perform, and we never get the opportunity  
to have more than a few moments to ourselves. Even when we're just  
standing around, we have to do it quietly and uniformly. The worst  
part is, I'm growing to dislike Usagi. Even Ami feels that way, though  
she doesn't voice it. I realize that was what that look she was giving  
the girl meant after I saw it on a few of the other's faces. I'm  
really trying to fight these feelings, but...  
  
Fuller has grown more sadistic with time. This morning he woke us  
up by rolling several canisters of gas into the billets. We had to  
struggle to get our masks and he laughed at us while we were doing it.  
  
  
Ami doesn't voice much of anything really. She only speaks when she's  
spoken too anymore, it's frustrating. Nabiki is a bit more vocal, but  
she has to be. Fuller appointed her 'squad leader' meaning she's in  
charge of keeping us in line so to speak. She's become our  
spokesperson, we had to ask for feminine items the other day. That was  
embarrassing, Fuller doesn't seem to care about our moods though. Rei  
is really bad, Minako is going into withdrawal I think. She hasn't  
seen a boy in weeks. She's starting to give Fuller odd stares.  
Fortunately, Trunks seems to be a little young for her to stare at  
that way. It's very disturbing.  
  
All we've really been doing is firing those rifles this week. We  
go out to the range for most of the day, and shoot up targets. Some of  
them jump up at us now, and we're learning about other weapons as  
well. The M-60, I didn't like the look in Rei's eyes when she saw that  
weapon. I think she was sexually aroused when he brought out the  
rocket launcher. This place is doing strange things to us, I'm afraid  
for us.  
  
Nabiki seemed to go on some power trip after she became squad  
leader. She was always ordering us around. I didn't understand it at  
first, but when she was confronted by the group of us she said 'would  
you rather have me tell you to do these things, or have him find out  
they aren't done?' It made too much sense, we apologized for it and  
she seems to be doing a good job of keeping us out of trouble.  
Unfortunately, Usagi does just as good of a job of getting us into it.  
  
I wasn't sure if I wanted to put this into the journal, seeing as  
it's something I don't really want to remember. We found out two days  
ago, that Trunks was not bluffing us. We learned about hand grenades,  
and went out to a range to toss a few around. There were large targets  
and dug in barricades for us to hide behind when they went off.  
Naturally, Rei got that look in her eyes a few times while we were  
there. It wasn't shaping up to be that bad of a day really, it was  
light on PT, and we seemed somewhat relaxed.  
  
That is, until Minako blew off her arm and tore up her face when  
she dropped her grenade. We all panicked, Usagi cried a lot, we all  
did. Nabiki was the only one who didn't look too upset. She had a  
disturbing calm about her throughout the whole thing.  
  
Trunks showed up in a truck and loaded her onto the back of it. He  
tried to calm us down, but we were too angry. He ignored us and drove  
off, Fuller wouldn't let us follow.  
  
When we got back to the billets...she was sitting on her bunk as  
if nothing had happened to her. The look on her face was scary. She  
seemed almost white with fear. She was looking at her arm and flexing  
her fingers. We asked her what had happened, but she simply said that  
she had passed out just after arriving, and when she woke up, she was  
fine.  
  
This place isn't natural; it scares me more and more each day.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Makoto's Journal: Entry five  
  
Another week has gone by. I hate Usagi Tsukino, but that doesn't  
excuse what we did. I feel so horrible, but it was satisfying in a way  
I can't describe. I can't understand, how I could have enjoyed it.  
  
She's quiet now, looking at us with that hurt and betrayed  
expression. I think it broke her, I don't know how I'm going to live  
with myself after seeing those eyes. I just...  
  
Usagi screwed up one too many times. Her weapon was a mess for the  
inspection. It was dirty, and she had forgotten to put the firing pin  
back in. We just couldn't take any more.  
  
That night, we all sneaked up on her in the middle of the night. We  
grabbed her sheets and beat her with soap that we had put into socks.  
Her cries of pain tore into my heart, but I didn't stop. I couldn't.  
This went on for a few minutes, but it seemed like an eternity. We all  
went back to bed. She didn't even get up; she just stayed there  
sobbing to herself. I didn't get any sleep that night, I know Minako  
and Rei didn't either. Ami and Nabiki did though, I don't see how  
though. I'm not sure how many times I cried that night, listening to  
Usagi apologize to us over and over. I don't think I'll ever forgive  
myself. She wasn't doing any of it deliberately, it was just. I can't  
even bring it to words. I just...oh god what have I done?  
  
One of my best friends, and I can't even bring myself to think of her  
that way any more. She's just an annoyance now, the one thing keeping  
us from succeeding.  
  
The next day, Usagi was gone. We didn't do anything; we just did a  
lot of PT, but no real training otherwise. She came back that night,  
her eyes never fixed on any of us. I'm not sure what happened to her.  
I think she was with Trunks and Hotaru all day, but she isn't talking.  
Most of the others are too disturbed by their own actions to speak  
with her.  
  
Ami and Nabiki don't seem to care. I don't know what happened to  
Ami, she's so different now. She was always quiet, but she was never  
this cold. I liked her a lot; I'm not sure how much. Now, I can barely  
stand to look at her. We've all changed so much. I don't think it's  
for the better either.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Makoto's Journal: Entry Six  
  
I haven't seen the billets in three days. We've been outside for a  
long time. Camping, Fuller calls it Bivouac. We sleep in tents, and  
spend the day running around in the strange environment. We seem to be  
in a forest, but I've never seen one while outside before. It's as if  
it popped up overnight. That doesn't surprise me, seeing as Trunks  
controls every aspect of this place. It rained all day yesterday, and  
it snowed most of the day today. We've got about four feet outside the  
tents now, and we're all miserable. Even Nabiki seems to show it. Ami  
seems oddly comfortable though, maybe because she's Sailor Mercury?  
Huh, I'd almost forgotten about that.  
  
We call each other by our family names now, nowhere near the  
personal relationship we used to have. I'm not sure why, but it seems  
right with the situation. Fuller has always referred to us that way  
though. I wonder if we'll go back to the way we were once we leave? I  
doubt it. I don't think any of us will ever be the same.  
  
Usagi screwed up as usual, she managed to tie her arms together  
during first aid training. Fuller seems to focus more on us as  
individuals now rather than as a group. Our fear of Usagi screwing up  
has lessened somewhat, but we still don't want to let her if we can  
help it. Fuller doesn't always focus on just her. When she screws up,  
sometimes he announces that we should 'Thank Tsukino' for whatever  
torture he's devised for us. We all screw up sometimes, and all of us  
have had a similar announcement made on our behalf. Usagi just has it  
happen a lot more, a whole lot more.  
  
She's stopped crying at least, and seems to have more focus on  
what she's doing. She's trying harder than ever, and her slipups are  
lessening somewhat. Whatever Trunks told her, it definitely helped.  
She still doesn't speak too us about that, or anything if she doesn't  
have too. I can't bear to look her in the eyes, not out of disgust for  
what I did so much as I honestly don't like her. The others feel the  
same way, and none of them tries to hide it. It's like we've all had a  
big fight about something important. Maybe we did, but I don't see it.  
Her cheerfulness is gone, she's sullen most of the time, but doesn't  
look for forgiveness or try to make up with us. I'm not sure if she's  
expecting us to make up with her, or if she just doesn't care anymore.  
Maybe she doesn't like us either? I can't say I blame her.  
  
Trunks seems to be around more often than normal. I've seen him  
talking to Usagi, he seems to be encouraging her. We all tried that  
before, but it didn't work. It's obvious he doesn't like doing it, I  
had to hold in a laugh when he walked by me muttering something about  
'becoming Tuxedo Dork'.  
  
Fuller is more reserved now, if we do things on our own, he  
doesn't show up as much. He seems to leave us on our own as long as we  
aren't screwing around. That's a great relief to most of us, we strive  
to keep things in order just to keep him away whenever we can.  
  
Eating is still an adventure. I found that out when Fuller passed  
out something called an MRE. Meal Ready to Eat or something like that.  
It was the most disgusting thing I've ever had. There was a little  
chocolate bar inside of it, but it tasted like chalk flavored wax. We  
all ate it though, going hungry isn't a good idea the way we move  
around. We march miles at a time, we run constantly, and we're always  
stopping for 'PT stops'. No one else gets the pun but me, not that  
it's funny or anything.  
  
From the very beginning, we've had to eat meals in about five to  
ten minutes, depending on how well we've performed over the past few  
days. The better we did, the more time we have to eat.  
  
We go out at night sometimes now. We've been to the rage a few  
times after dark, it's a lot different. Rei's weapon is always  
immaculate, I think she's gotten in a bit of trouble for keeping it  
that way rather than focusing on her uniform and boots. Fuller has to  
be able to see his face in our boot toes, that's not easy to do with  
as much wear and tear as the boots get. Life is getting into a sort of  
pattern now. It's getting easier to predict what's happening next, and  
a lot of our time is becoming routine. I find myself thinking that  
this place isn't so bad. I hate that thought.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Makoto's Journal: Entry Seven  
  
It's been two weeks since I last wrote in this book. Looking back,  
I wish I had written more. Fuller says he'll be leaving soon, and that  
we should be proud of what we've accomplished. I don't know what to  
say to that. I've just got no clue.  
  
All I know, is that Trunks has something else planned for us after  
this. I'd like to think the worst is over. Over the past few weeks,  
we've worked hard. Usagi earned Expert on her marksmanship oddly  
enough. She did the best out of all of us. Unfortunately, that's about  
all she can do well. Rei is a bit upset that the girl did better than  
her on the range.  
  
We've done so much, I've been too busy to write, and too tired to  
even think at night. We repelled off the top of a tall tower, after  
climbing up to the top with nothing but our hands, feet, and a few  
protruding ledges in the side of the structure. We went through an  
obstacle course at night, with a machine gun firing over our heads.  
The pit is rarely visited any longer. Not that it bothers us much  
anymore.  
  
I've learned so much over the past few weeks. I don't know how it  
will help us in the future, but I can't fault the man for being a bad  
teacher. We learned everything he had to teach us, whether we wanted  
too or not. I know we were changed forever by this. I wish I could  
just go back to the way I was before. I know that's not possible.  
  
I feel a sense of pride for just having survived this. Fuller is  
an evil man. Well, he's not a man at all really, it's easy to forget.  
He's evil, but he's evil with a purpose, I find myself respecting him,  
despite the fact I know he doesn't even exist..."  
  
"Actually, he does exist. Fuller was created from my own  
memories," said Trunks as he smiled at Makoto and looked at her after  
glancing over her shoulder at the page she was writing.  
  
"Huh?" said the girl in surprise as she looked at him. "Sir!" she  
jumped to her feet and saluted him sharply. "I'm sorry sir! I didn't  
see you come in!"  
  
"It's all right," replied the boy calmly as he returned the salute  
and shook his head.  
  
"You knew a real Fuller?"  
  
"It was a very long time ago, but yes I did. I never liked him,  
but I respected him an awful lot in the end." The boy smirked at her  
and looked around the room. "I wish I could give you all a graduation  
like the one I had. Your families would be quite proud."  
  
The girls all looked at him in confusion.  
  
"What?" said Nabiki.  
  
"It's over, you've all passed," replied Trunks calmly as he walked  
into the middle of the room and looked around. "You've just completed  
Basic Combat Training. You're all real soldiers now."  
  
Usagi turned to look at the others for a moment and smiled  
slightly weakly. "Congratulations then."  
  
Everyone looked at her uncomfortably, even Nabiki was unnerved by  
the reaction. Ami frowned at the girl and shook her head slowly.  
  
"What do you mean?" said Trunks as he looked at her. "You passed  
as well. You're a little rough still, but you meet all the  
requirements."  
  
Usagi blinked at this and stared at him. "But...I'm not good  
enough, all I do is hold them back."  
  
"I'm not going to argue with you Usagi. You may be an annoyance  
sometimes, but they will not succeed without you."  
  
Everyone in the room stared at him as if he'd grown a second head.  
  
"You've all still got a lot to learn, but don't worry. You'll  
learn very quickly. The real training is about to start, and I'm  
afraid it's nothing compared to what you have just done. All I did,  
was give you the knowledge to take the first step in the next part of  
your training."  
  
"There's more?" wailed Minako.  
  
"Great," grumbled Makoto irritably. "I take it we'll be seeing  
Fuller again tomorrow then?"  
  
"No, Fuller has fulfilled his role. You're going to have to deal  
with this on your own. I'm afraid Fuller has been shut down." The boy  
blinked in surprise as Minako fell too her knees with tears in her  
eyes.  
  
  
"Noooo! Fuller! The only real man in this place is gone!"  
  
Ami had been standing next to her and moved away with an  
uncomfortable looking frown. "So, what will we be doing?" she asked  
gently.  
  
"You're jumping straight into the field. You'll get the weekend  
off today, do what you want, rest, relax, and enjoy yourselves for a  
couple of days. On Monday, you'll start your first mission."  
  
"Mission?" said Usagi as she cocked her eyebrow in confusion.  
  
"That's right. Tendo, I'd like to speak with you," said the boy as  
he walked out of the room and outside.  
  
The girl stood in front of him at attention and he looked her up  
and down. "Heh, you've done very well."  
  
"Thank you sir," replied the girl emotionlessly. Trunks could tell  
she didn't like speaking too him at all.  
  
"Well, I've decided to keep you on as the leader of this troupe.  
Congratulations Lieutenant." He handed her a small box with a single  
gold bar inside. She looked at him in surprise and muttered a quiet  
thanks.  
  
"I doubt if you'll be very pleased with this in a few days time.  
You're responsible for them now, I'm giving you Fullers job. You just  
don't have to be as vicious about it as he was. They're completely  
under your control."  
  
"What about you?" said the girl as she stared at him.  
  
"I'll be giving orders to you, it's your job to make sure they get  
sent out," replied the boy calmly. "Minako is going to be your first  
Sargent, with Ami being directly under her as Sargent First Class."  
  
"All right," replied the girl as she nodded once. "What will we be  
doing, if I might ask?"  
  
Trunks smirked at her. "See that?" said the boy as he pointed at a  
building that had appeared on the horizon. Nabiki gasped as she  
realized that it was several buildings, making up a complex of some  
kind. "You're going to invade that building, with specific objectives  
that you need to complete. This is a live combat exercise. You saw  
what Happened to Minako on the grenade range, so you understand what  
I'm planning."  
  
"What?" gasped the girl in shock as she stared at him.  
  
"I'm telling you so you can be ready, you can tell the others if  
you like, or keep it to yourself until the time comes. Let them enjoy  
their time off so to speak. However, don't think for a moment that  
you're going to survive at first. There are hundreds of programs  
similar to Fuller running around that building. Most of them  
programmed to kill you all."  
  
Nabiki was as white as a sheet, she stepped back away from the boy  
slightly and nodded her head once. "Why? Why are you doing this?"  
  
"You'll understand when the time comes," replied the boy calmly.  
"For now, simply concentrate on relaxing, because in a few days,  
survival will be the only thing on your mind."  
  
Nabiki nodded and turned away after giving the boy a sharp salute.  
  
  
After she had returned to the inside of the building, Hotaru  
landed beside the boy. "That was definitely worth my time to watch."  
  
"They've grown harder, stronger, now they'll learn to be ruthless  
and smarter."  
  
"It should be amusing at any rate," said Hotaru with a small  
shrug. "Are you sure about Usagi though?"  
  
"She'll go in with the others. Despite it all she did pass, if  
only barely."  
  
"Your call," replied the girl with a small shrug. "How do you  
think she'll handle it?"  
  
"That's up to her," replied Trunks with a small snort. "She has  
the strongest will. I think she'll do better than you think."  
  
Hotaru nodded and glanced at the doorway to the billets. "Maybe  
you're right. They'll never be the same though."  
  
"Heh, of course not," said Trunks as he waved his hand to dismiss  
the matter. "It'll be interesting if nothing else."  
  
"Well, I think I'll definitely be entertained watching those girls  
get themselves killed."  
  
"The fact that they don't stay that way, does make it more amusing  
doesn't it?" agreed Trunks. "Let them have their two days though.  
We've got plenty of time for that stuff later."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
TBC... 


	89. Insertion 89

Ahem, before I begin this chapter of Insertion, I would like to  
point out that the last chapter of Insertion was in no way related to  
'Full Metal Jacket'. It was based on my own personal experience in  
Basic Combat Training on Ft. Knox, in Kentucky. I was in the military,  
I went through a lot of what the Senshi did during that chapter, and  
to be perfectly honest, it lost a lot of the comedy element it was  
intended to have because I made it a bit too real for it's own good.  
  
In retrospect, I should have added a 'dark' tag to that chapter. I  
didn't realize how bad it was till I reread it.  
  
I've gotten a lot of people telling me they didn't agree with it,  
and a lot more telling me that Full Metal Jacket wasn't a comedy.  
Which had absolutely noting to do with this, I say again. That was  
Marines Boot Camp anyway, the Senshi have been doing the Army version,  
which is called Basic Combat Training, but I digress.  
  
I've also gotten a few reviews praising me for my realism, [a far  
cry from what one reviewer deemed 1970's training. I can understand  
that view given the side of training I showed honestly though.  
Military training doesn't change much with the times, they're just  
more careful about what they say and do as to not offend anyone, and  
they still get away with as much as they can.]  
  
A lot of people don't realize exactly what Basic Combat Training  
is supposed to do. It's not an entrance exam for the armed forces,  
it's designed to break you down, destroy you completely, and then  
rebuild you from scratch as a soldier. It's harsh, it's physically  
and psychologically trying, and what the Senshi did to Usagi is far  
from impossible in such an environment, even for friends as close as  
the Senshi. Believe me, I saw it with my own eyes. Friendships, life  
long ones at that, were destroyed before even meeting the Drills.  
People who joined the service together were at each other's throats  
all the time while we were waiting to be assigned to a Unit. I'm  
talking about brothers in one case.  
  
Now, the warning. This part of Insertion will be extremely violent.  
I'm going to write chapter 90 in such a way that you can skip this  
chapter if it bothers you that much. This part will be much more  
comedic than the last one, but not by much, and even then only after a  
short serious scene involving a rather bloody battle. It will get back  
to normal again after this, but with the response I got last time it  
seemed somewhat necessary to put this here.  
  
By the way, I don't hate the Senshi, if I disliked them, I  
wouldn't write stories about them. It's the same thing with Nabiki  
really. I've been accused of disliking her cause I kill her so often.  
Truth is, it's just interesting to put them in this position, and  
Nabiki is the easiest character to get rid of in Ranma, well, her and  
Kasumi. I just don't feel like dealing with the fallout of killing  
Kasumi, so I haven't. That's not to say I won't in the future though.  
^_^  
  
Now, on with the fic...  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Insertion  
  
Part 89  
  
The Art of War.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Water splashed the side of the tiny vessel as the senshi stood  
inside the ship that would take them to their destination. They all  
had determined looking frowns on their faces. There were men around  
them on all sides as they moved ever closer to the target ahead. It  
loomed over the horizon, shrouded in mist.  
  
The men surrounding them were all dressed the same as they were,  
army fatigues, and they were all silent. The realism of the situation  
didn't sit well with Nabiki Tendo as she looked at the fabricated  
soldiers for a time from her position at the back of the hold. The  
looked nervous, apprehensive, a few had crazed looks on their faces,  
there were even a few who looked slightly sick from the motion of the  
ship. As if to illustrate this point, one of them threw up, and sent  
his lunch splattering across the deck.  
  
"Where are we going?" asked Rei pensively. She didn't like this at  
all, none of them did.  
  
"Pipe down," said Nabiki as she stared forward. She and the pilot  
were the only ones who could see the beach in the distance. Flashes of  
light, smoke, and a few of the landing craft could be seen there  
already. The sound of battle had not yet reached them. "Dear god.  
Where are we going?" she thought to herself in horror.  
  
Usagi was shaking like a leaf as she stared at the door in front  
of her. Those aboard could hear the first thump of artillery. It was  
still quiet yet, but was steadily growing louder and more dangerous  
sounding. She squeezed her eyes shut as the distinctive sound of  
automatic fire could be heard over the morning haze. A haze that  
smelled suspiciously like something burning.  
  
"I can't do this..." she muttered to herself.  
  
"Little late to go back now," commented one of the nervous men  
beside her with a somewhat cheerful smile. It faded the instant he  
turned his gaze away from her.  
  
Minako glanced at the man for a moment, he was roguishly handsome.  
The kind of man she would have found herself talking too easily if she  
had been home. Unfortunately, she wasn't home.  
  
"Get ready," commanded Nabiki as she strolled down the middle of  
the ranks of men and moved towards the door that would let them out of  
the troop transport. Her gaze was calm and cool, and her jaw was firm  
and tight. She simply stared forward as best she could. "Fix bayonets!  
Make sure your weapons are ready to fire as soon as your feet hit the  
ground!"  
  
Those around her immediately followed her orders.  
  
Makoto turned her head to see a Hispanic looking man holding a  
cross up to his forehead and saying a prayer to himself. "My god, what  
the hell are we doing?" she muttered fearfully as she clutched her  
weapon a bit tighter. She found she couldn't hear her own voice from  
the now deafening roar of the battle outside.  
  
The door opened, and all hell broke loose.  
  
Five men fell the instant the ramp was dropped. They slumped over  
dead as those behind them rushed forward over their corpses. Nabiki  
charged out first, running as fast as she could towards the beach. The  
water was only knee high where they had landed, but a quick and costly  
glance around would tell them that many others were not so lucky.  
  
They rushed forward, towards the large buildings that loomed  
overhead. The machine gun fire roaring around them as they pushed  
through the fallen bodies of others who had not been so lucky. Mortar  
fire hit the ground around them, and the bunkers were seemingly  
impossible to reach on the uphill slope that started where the beach  
ended.  
  
The bunkers were monstrosities of concrete and sandbags, dug into  
the high ground overhead, with a single long slit across the front for  
machine gun emplacements. Total blackness was all you could see inside  
the bunkers aside from the flash of a muzzle as those inside fired  
down on the invading force.  
  
Minako fell to the ground as one of the explosions sent a mass of  
sand into the air around her. She gasped and clutched her weapon as  
she rolled onto her side and looked down the length of her body.  
Everything was still there. She shook her head and started to stagger  
too her feet. Ami was beside her and she put her hand on the girl's  
shoulder, trying to get her attention so they could move forward  
together.  
  
She paused when she got no response and looked down from the back  
of her friend's head. She had been blown in half at her torso. The  
girl screamed in horror as she staggered to her feet and stepped back  
away from Ami's body. A dull thump that she felt more than heard hit  
her suddenly. With wide eyes she looked down at the growing red stain  
in the center of her chest and opened her mouth. Blood poured out from  
between her lips and she fell to her knees. She was kneeling on  
someone's arm, for reason's she didn't know, she looked down to see  
the man she'd seen speaking to Usagi lying dead there. Unable to  
speak, she fell forward into the sand face first. Then, there was  
darkness.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Usagi Tsukino found herself leaning against the edge of the beach,  
on a sand dune just before the incline that would lead them to the  
complex. There were several others beside her, but no one she knew. A  
man with a single gold bar on his helmet turned to look at her.  
  
"You have any grenades?" he asked.  
  
Usagi nodded once and looked him in the eyes. "Yes sir."  
  
"Good, Peters here lost his on the way in. We're gonna need some  
power to get that bunker. All we've got are grenades; the units with  
RPGs got misrouted about a quarter of a mile down the beach. They're  
going to try to punch through the side. For now, we've got six  
grenades." He pointed towards the man lying next to him, apparently  
not realizing that the soldier had a hole in his forehead just yet.  
  
"I've got three more sir," she replied nervously.  
  
"Good, our radio is dead now," replied the man as he held up a  
smoking piece of equipment and showed it to her.  
  
The girl found herself wondering why they had a radio like that at  
all. The equipment they had used during training was much more  
advanced.  
  
"Lay down some cover fire, we're going to try and go around that  
way and get close enough to toss a few into the bunker!" said the man  
as he pointed towards a path that led up to the small fortress that  
was laying fire down on the beach.  
  
Usagi nodded and handed him her grenades. She slowly edged herself  
up towards the top of the hill, flinching with each spray of sand that  
the bullets striking it caused. With a sudden burst of will, she  
lurched forward and started firing.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Rei and Makoto were pushing through the mass of bodies, and what  
was left of some of the living. They ignored the screams of pain from  
the mangled and torn remains of the artificial soldiers. It wasn't  
easy though; they looked far too real.  
  
Neither one spoke as they wove through the battlefield. They  
simply pushed forward. Nabiki had been ahead of them, but she had been  
lost a long time ago. They were simply following those that could  
still run blindly through the smoke.  
  
"We're almost there," said Makoto firmly as she steeled her gaze.  
  
"Almost where? Where the hell are we..." Rei's angry retort was  
cut off as her throat exploded in a spray of red.  
  
"Rei?" muttered Makoto in shock as she watched her friend gurgle  
and fall to her knees. The girl's eyes were wide with surprise as she  
died.  
  
Makoto fell down beside her on her knees, shaking the girl's  
shoulders. "Rei! No!"  
  
"She's gone! Get moving!" said a firm voice from behind her as she  
felt some unknown soldier force her to her feet and push her forward.  
She stumbled blindly into the smoke in front of him, never realizing  
who had moved her.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki Tendo was leaning against the edge of the beach with a  
frown on her face. She was glancing up towards the top of the small  
dune that shielded her and six men from the hail of fire from above.  
They couldn't sit there forever, and she knew it.  
  
"What should we do Ma'am?" insisted one of the men beside her.  
  
She glanced at him and then back towards the bunker again. "What  
the hell should we do?" she muttered under her breath. Everyone was  
looking to her for orders; she was the highest-ranking person in the  
small group of men. "Shit."  
  
"What's our sitrep?" she asked one of the men behind the soldier  
that was pressuring her for instructions.  
  
"We've got about two magazines each, and no explosives," replied  
the man stonily.  
  
"So, we can't do much at the moment," she said with her frown  
deepening even more. "We need some way to get into that damn machine  
gun bunker."  
  
"We can wait for someone with grenades to make it up the beach to  
us?" said one of the men near the back of the group hopefully.  
  
"That might not happen," said the stone-faced man calmly.  
  
Nabiki frowned as she glanced between the pair, they were both  
right. "We can't sit here, we've got to try something. No one is going  
to make it up the beach until these machine guns are taken out."  
  
"Well, you command, we obey," replied the stone-faced man with his  
chilling calm.  
  
Nabiki glanced over her shoulder and cursed. "We're screwed then.  
Come on, the only thing I can think of is laying down some cover fire  
with what little ammunition we've got, and hoping one of us can make  
it up there and unload a clip or two through that firing hole."  
  
"Hey, if it don't work, maybe someone else will make it up the  
beach," quipped the stone faced soldier as he cocked his weapon.  
  
"Right," replied one of the other men nervously.  
  
Nabiki frowned; she pointed at two men in the back and stated her  
orders. "You two are going to try and rush it. Stay low, find cover  
where you can, and don't push your luck."  
  
They looked at one another and swallowed hard. Both of them knew  
they would probably die within the next few minutes.  
  
The girl found her teeth clenching ever tighter at the looks the  
pair was giving her. "We'll do all we can to cover you. Get ready to  
run."  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Silence, sweet blissful silence. She longed to hear the sound  
again. Smoke rose from almost every surface, small fires crackled,  
burning on the remains of the uniforms and soldiers. A few pitiful  
moans and cries of pain could still be heard along the beach. Medical  
teams rushed around her as she staggered through the sand. The water  
was red now, dark and murky, tainted with the blood of those who  
hadn't made it, and probably a good bit from those who had as well.  
  
The battle was over, the occasional shot, or cry of the enemy  
could be heard from above. Those who had made it to the top were still  
cleaning out the bunkers. They had only needed to secure the beach  
this time, destroy the defenses of the compound, and according to the  
orders, another unit would come in behind them to push further inside.  
  
Usagi Tsukino simply stared forward with dead eyes as she watched  
the waves lap against the sands. She had remained on the beach,  
shooting so those who had rushed forward could make their way to use  
the grenades. Only two out of ten had made it. Despite her best  
efforts, she wasn't able to save them all.  
  
"Usagi," said a quiet voice from behind her.  
  
"Yeah, what is it?" said the girl rudely. She wondered where it  
had come from.  
  
"Have you seen any of the others?" asked Makoto as she walked up  
beside the girl.  
  
"No," replied the blonde simply.  
  
"Rei didn't make it," said the girl as she took of her helmet and  
let her hair hang down. It was matted down with sweat and blood, and  
covered in sand.  
  
"Rei?" said Usagi quietly. "That's too bad." She looked sincere  
about her words.  
  
"That's too bad? How can you say that? She was your friend!" said  
Makoto with a sudden anger in her voice.  
  
"Maybe she was, once," replied Usagi. "I'm alone now. You're not  
my friends, you're my comrades, my fellow soldiers."  
  
Makoto simply stared at her for a long moment.  
  
"I've learned a lot, I'm not sure what use it will be, but I know  
things now I wish I had never learned," replied the blonde calmly.  
  
"So, you won't forgive us?" said Makoto quietly.  
  
"Do you want to be forgiven?" was the only reply.  
  
The pair simply stood there, watching the water after that moment  
for a long time.  
  
After what seemed like an eternity, a new voice came up from  
behind them. "So, you two made it?"  
  
"Yes Ma'am," said Makoto as she turned towards Nabiki. She didn't  
bother to salute the girl.  
  
Usagi merely turned her head to acknowledge that she had been  
spoken too.  
  
"I found Ami and Minako about a half-hour ago," said Nabiki as she  
staggered over to their side. She had a bad limp and a red stained  
bandage over her right thigh.  
  
"You should get that looked at," said Makoto as she noticed it.  
  
"The medics are too busy right now, it's not that bad," said  
Nabiki with an obvious pain in her tone.  
  
"They aren't real," said Usagi as she frowned at her.  
  
"No, but now you know what war is really like," said Trunks as he  
walked up to them and looked at the beach for a long moment.  
  
"You!" snarled Nabiki hatefully.  
  
"Watch your tone lieutenant."  
  
"Don't you dare lieutenant me! You bastard! Why the hell did you  
put us through this?" screamed Nabiki in rage. She almost fell over  
from her injured leg as she glared at him hatefully.  
  
Trunks merely turned towards her with an unreadable frown on his  
face. "One of you three is going to rule the entire planet one day. I  
think that's more than enough reason to show you what a war looks and  
feels like. Out of all of you, any one will have enough power to  
create a battle a hundred times worse, and years longer than the one  
you took part in today. This is just one battle, imagine what an  
entire war could do to the world."  
  
Usagi fell silent at this and stared at the sand. "I wish I never  
found out."  
  
"We would never do something like this!" screamed Minako.  
  
"You've already proven that you can betray her," said Nabiki, as  
she suddenly became very calm and stared directly at the girl.  
  
This caught the brunette off guard and she stared at her superior  
in shock. "I..."  
  
"You begin to see what I mean," said Trunks as he nodded calmly.  
"Willing to die for her, but put in the position I had you in, you'd  
just as soon be rid of her. Usagi Tsukino is Sailor Moon, and the  
Princess you were sworn to protect."  
  
"She was no better," replied Makoto in shame as she turned towards  
Nabiki.  
  
"I was never one of you until this happened," replied the girl  
calmly. "You weren't my friends, I didn't even know you."  
  
"If you don't want me, I'll just leave," said Usagi as she turned  
towards the pair. They were arguing as if she wasn't there, and it  
finally got to her.  
  
"I'm not giving you that option," interrupted Trunks. "You'll do  
as your told, follow your orders, and fulfill your duties."  
  
"Duties? What duties?" snapped Makoto.  
  
"If you can't even do it here, what makes you think you'll be able  
too out there?" he replied calmly. "Like her or not, it doesn't matter  
to me. You're on the same side in a war, and you're going to find a  
way to work together. No matter how many times it kills you. It's a  
luxury you don't have in the real world. You can't always choose your  
allies, or your enemies."  
  
"Where are the others?" asked Nabiki as she turned away from the  
conversation.  
  
"In hell," replied Trunks with a small shrug. "They'll be waiting  
for you when you get back to the base."  
  
"Hell?" muttered Usagi dumbly.  
  
"Yeah, hell. I've been there a few times. Not a nice place, and I  
don't want you thinking that dying is a way to get out of training.  
You die, you go to hell and watch the others until they die and join  
you, or the mission is completed. It also prevents one of the down  
sides to VR training, losing your fear of death. I know you'll be  
afraid to die now, because you know what could be waiting for you on  
the other side." He smirked at them and turned away, walking towards  
the compound. "There's a transport waiting for you a few hundred yards  
down the beach. You'll have to wait a few hours before they'll have  
enough room to load you up due to the wounded. I suggest you rest up  
and try to relax before then. Hotaru will brief you on the next  
operation in the morning."  
  
The trio of survivors did exactly that.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Three of them lived?" asked Hotaru as Trunks walked up beside her  
at the base. The transport carrying the leftover senshi hadn't arrived  
just yet, but those who had died were all passed out in the billets.  
  
"Yes, surprised me. I wasn't expecting any of them to survive  
that," said Trunks calmly as he nodded at her.  
  
"Well, we should move on to the next phase then."  
  
"I'm not entirely comfortable with what I just did," said Trunks  
as he turned to look at her.  
  
"What? Why?" she replied in confusion.  
  
"It's not just that whiny part of me either," continued the boy as  
if he hadn't heard her. "I think all of us were bothered by that on  
some level. It wasn't really part of the training, but I think it was  
an important lesson."  
  
Hotaru stared at him for a long moment; he was smiling rather  
oddly. "We are teaching them to kill you know."  
  
"Yeah, I know. The missions from here on out will be a bit  
different though. The rest of the training will involve small group  
operations. Espionage, tactics and stealth, that sort of thing. That  
was just bloody warfare, masses of men killing, not even completely  
sure why they were doing it."  
  
"It's a hard lesson," agreed Hotaru.  
  
"You could learn it yourself," replied Trunks calmly.  
  
"Genaku taught me more than enough thank you," replied the girl as  
she narrowed her eyes at him. "He taught me what it meant to be the  
Senshi of Death, they feared me anyway, so I gave them a real reason  
to fear me."  
  
"What about rebirth?" said Trunks as he smirked at her.  
  
"That lesson, was for Hotaru to show me," replied the girl calmly.  
  
  
Trunks nodded and turned away from her. "Put them back together  
when they return. We leave at first light for the extended training  
regimen. I'll have the compound set up by then."  
  
"What's the target?" asked Hotaru.  
  
"I'm thinking the threat of launching thermo nuclear devices into  
a few continents will be enough to spur them to action."  
  
"Isn't that a bit much?" asked Hotaru dumbly.  
  
"Hmmm. Maybe it is, but they need to learn, that sometimes you  
have to act, for the greater good."  
  
"You want me to brief them?"  
  
"Have Nabiki do it."  
  
"Right."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"What's going on here?" growled the angry looking woman that stood  
on the landing platform of Jurai Palace. A group of confused guards  
stood around her as she glanced around in irritation. She had long  
blonde hair and a scowl on her face as she seemed to seek something  
out.  
  
Another goddess landed beside her, her body almost not visible by  
the blinding light that reflected off her dress. "She should be here,  
they are all together."  
  
A third figure appeared a scowl on his face as he glanced at the  
alarmed guards in disgust. "Tsunami? This is her doing? I am most  
displeased with this development."  
  
Another woman appeared, her skin was light blue, with a mist  
rising off the surface of her body. "Why has my avatar come here?"  
  
The third was a more familiar looking figure, Urd appeared too the  
group with a worried looking frown on her face. "No! We can't be  
here!"  
  
"Your friendship with Tsunami will not protect her from our wrath.  
She has overstepped her bounds," growled the male god as he glared at  
her for a moment.  
  
"But...Tsunami..." said Urd nervously. "You mean nobody told you?"  
  
The other gods were in the midst of opening a porthole and ignored  
her. "I have found it!" cried the male god as he ripped open a hole in  
the new dimension.  
  
One of the female goddesses growled under her breath as she  
steadied the flow of time. "Idiot! You should have looked before you  
opened that! Do you want to destroy the entire galaxy?"  
  
"Hmmm, yes," replied another god who appeared beside the first. He  
was wearing armor and had an amused smirk on his face.  
  
"Oh boy," muttered Urd as she followed after the others.  
  
The group entered a strange room, it was dark, and rows of beds  
could be seen along the walls. It appeared to be the middle of the  
night.  
  
"Tsunami! I know you are here! Come out and explain yourself!"  
cried the male god in a booming voice that carried across the room. He  
paused and blinked as he realized it didn't quite have the effect he  
had originally planned.  
  
The gods heard movement in the shadows, none of them could see  
very well in the darkness. Several dry clicking sounds could be heard  
around them and they paused and froze quite still.  
  
"What is this?" grumbled the male god dumbly.  
  
They were surrounded by several girls with tired looking frowns on  
their faces, in the space of four seconds, they had been awakened, and  
surrounded the intruders.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" growled a feminine voice from the shadows.  
  
"Foolish mortals! I am..."  
  
"Dead meat," said another female voice. The sound of gunfire  
filled the hallway and the gods knew no more.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!" laughed Trunks as he looked at the  
rather pathetic looking faces of the intruders who had entered his  
domain.  
  
"Are we where I think we are?" muttered the blonde goddess  
nervously.  
  
"Kinda, yeah," said Urd as she smiled at her weakly. "Hi boss."  
  
"Well, I'd ask you why you're all here, but I'm not done laughing  
at you just yet," said Trunks cheerfully as he snickered at the rather  
sheepish looking group in front of him.  
  
"What has happened! I demand to know!" screamed the angry male  
god. The armored god looked rather bored at the moment at his side and  
had yet to speak.  
  
"I haven't seen Hild yet," he muttered under his breath.  
  
"Well, I'm assuming you're all gods," said Trunks as he lounged on  
the high throne of hell and watched them for a moment.  
  
"Demon! You cannot hold us here! We'll..."  
  
"Can it Zeus! That's L-sama sitting there you moron!" snapped Urd.  
  
Every single one of the gods fell silent at this.  
  
"Well, technically, I'm just a little piece of him. I'm actually  
quite mortal at the moment."  
  
"Her," corrected Mars as he stared at the Lord of All.  
  
"You should know better," said Trunks as he blasted the god with a  
small bolt of chi. Mars stood there smoking with a rather painful  
looking expression on his face.  
  
"If I might ask..." started the cold looking goddess.  
  
"Um, Urd...?" asked Trunks as he didn't recognize her.  
  
"This is Shiva, all of these gods are the patrons of the Senshi,"  
replied the goddess with a small sigh. "Myself, Skuld, and Belldandy  
are all patrons of Setsuna..."  
  
"Ah, I get it now," said the boy as he jumped off of his seat and  
walked up to them. "Well, I suppose you should explain why you're  
here."  
  
"We came for our patrons! They had vanished off this plane of  
existence. Jadeite told us that they had been sent too..." started  
Venus nervously.  
  
"This must be his idea of a joke," commented Trunks lazily as he  
cut the woman off. "Ah well. You'll find you're quite mortal in here.  
Your powers have been sealed away by the same field that keeps the  
senshi in check. Sort of a training device, but I digress..."  
  
The gods all blinked at this.  
  
"At any rate, I suppose you're wondering what they're doing here?"  
  
A collective nod came from all but Urd.  
  
"Well, I'm training them. I take it you're aware of the current  
situation on Earth?"  
  
"Of course, they are needed there..." started Zeus.  
  
"Yadda yadda, they'd get their asses handed too them in about two  
seconds," replied Trunks calmly. "I'm training em right now. We'll go  
back, and I'll destroy that other me. Then you can have em back."  
  
Once again, the gods looked confused.  
  
"Training?" prodded Mars.  
  
"Yeah, pretty standard human stuff at the moment. I wasn't  
planning on unlocking those senshi powers of theirs for a while yet.  
Maybe another month or so, then I'll let them have em back."  
  
"What sort of training?" said Shiva with an icy calm about her.  
  
"You're an Ice goddess? Thought you were some kinda multi armed  
blue chick," said Trunks as he peered at her for a moment.  
  
She turned her head away and blushed for a moment as she formed  
her other arms.  
  
"Right, anyway. It's been loads of laughs watching those girls  
train. I have to admit, there's been some personality changes, but  
it's not too bad..."  
  
"Personality changes?" said Venus as she arched her eyebrow at  
this.  
  
"You'll see," replied the boy with a small shrug.  
  
"What about Crystal Tokyo, our ultimate goal?" said Amaterasu  
irritably as she glared at Mars in disgust for a moment. The war god  
had a huge grin on his face as he followed after Trunks as the boy led  
them through a hallway in hell.  
  
"Oh, that? I may decide to let them have it, if they build it  
themselves," he replied calmly. "No way am I gonna let some stupid  
crystal do all the work for em though. Perfect world indeed, who asked  
me permission for that monstrosity?"  
  
"Monstrosity?" muttered Venus dumbly.  
  
Urd winced at this. It had been Belldandy's idea actually; the  
others with her just seemed to like it. She had no idea why Mars had  
agreed to it. The guy was just weird that way she supposed, who knew  
what was going on inside his head.  
  
"Anyway, they've made me quite proud so far. Usagi's still a bit  
rough, but hey! She'll pull through, she's a tough kid."  
  
Venus stared at the one of the walls they had passed; scenes of  
the girl's training were playing all around them. "What the hell did  
you do to them?"  
  
"Well, I've killed them a lot. That was them that shot you by the  
way, just so you know. Quite impressive ne?" The boy looked quite  
pleased with himself. "Anyway, I'm gonna need a little help once I get  
back. That evil me is mine, but there's gonna be a lot more than that  
waiting for us. So I figured since I brought them along, I might as  
well make use of em. This'll help em later on. Although, Usagi is  
worrying me a bit, she seems kinda down lately."  
  
"Only you could crush a girl's spirit that much," muttered  
Amaterasu dumbly as she stared at her own avatars training.  
  
"Hmmm, she seemed to think that her powers derived from love,  
rather than just pure light. Wonder how they got that idea into their  
heads?" muttered Trunks as he gave Venus a passing glance.  
  
"Heh, heh," said the goddess nervously as she looked at the ceiling.  
  
"I've got a lot of work to do with them yet. They started training  
in the VR environment about two months ago. Another three months of  
that and I was going to start retraining them as the Sailor Senshi  
again. Kinda odd, having that name. They aren't Sailors, never were as  
I recall."  
  
"Well, now that we know that, we should all leave. Belldandy needs  
my help actually, we kinda lost Keiichi. I was gonna go up to heaven  
to look for leads, when I ran into these idiots and tried to stop them  
from coming. So, if you'll just show us the way out..."  
  
"Out?" said Trunks as he looked up at her and blinked. "What do  
you mean you -lost- Keiichi?"  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks sat in a boardroom style area of the room. It had a long  
table and three walls on all sides, with one leading out to the open.  
The gods were sitting around him and Urd had just explained that  
Keiichi had been kidnapped while at work.  
  
The boy hung his head and rubbed at his temples in irritation.  
"Well, that's definitely not good. Still, I wasn't expecting a lot of  
help from the gods anyway. It's most likely L-sama will tell you to  
stay out of the way of this one. It's sort of a personal matter  
really."  
  
Mars frowned at this, but the others seemed to nod. Trunks  
suspected it was because he didn't like the idea of missing out on all  
the fun. Not that he was all that involved in the first place, but it  
was probably the principal of the matter.  
  
"At any rate, I thought I'd give you the rundown of what I've been  
doing with the Senshi. I've got lots of film clips, made them for my  
own personal amusement later on really, but it's nice to know that I'm  
prepared." He held up several disks. "This is really just a highlights  
reel more than anything else. I'll show you how they're doing now  
after we're through."  
  
"What's going on here? What are you doing to them?" muttered Shiva  
icily. She didn't appear to have much of a personality.  
  
"Watch and see," said the boy cheerfully.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
Usagi Tsukino frowned as she stared at the doorway that barred  
their entrance into the compound. It was a huge bay door that was  
raised with the help of a motor inside the building. It was also about  
a foot off the ground. A light snow fell all around the group of girls  
as they stood together on a hilltop. The guards below could be seen  
milling about, but hadn't noticed them.  
  
They ducked behind the hill together and stared at each other.  
  
"What are we gonna do?" muttered Rei irritably.  
  
"We don't have any weapons, we were ordered to procure them on  
site," said Ami with a slight frown on her face.  
  
"Nabiki?" muttered Makoto as she turned towards their silent  
leader.  
  
"Our best bet to find weapons is to get inside unnoticed. That  
won't be easy with all those guards."  
  
Usagi nodded at this with a frown on her face. "How do we do  
that?"  
  
"We'll have to move in as a group," said Nabiki with a small sigh.  
"We'll move ahead one at a time, while the others keep track of where  
the guards are and when it's safe to move."  
  
"Great! Let's go then!" said Usagi cheerfully. She stood up and  
started moving forward, only to hear a dry click under her foot. "Aw  
shit."  
  
The rest of the team's eyes went wide as a loud boom tore across  
the silence. There was a flash of light and a spray of red. Usagi's  
body fell to the ground, with her entire left side torn to little more  
than a bloody pulp.  
  
"Mines!" cried Rei in alarm.  
  
"No duh!" snapped Minako as she growled and searched the area  
around her in vain. The snow hid any traces of any of the deadly  
devices.  
  
The girls all froze in place as the sound of around twenty dry  
clicks sounded from the forest around them.  
  
"We've been spotted!" muttered Nabiki quietly.  
  
The roar of gunfire filled the forest, tearing into the girl's  
bodies as they fell to the ground rather quickly after the shooting  
started.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Well, that went well," said Trunks as he looked at Nabiki with a  
smirk on his face.  
  
The girl was glaring at him angrily. There was a one-hour minimum  
time limit on hell, once they died; they were there for at least an  
hour before they were brought back. "We did what we were ordered too."  
  
"Actually, you never even cleared the first objective," said  
Trunks as he looked down at a report of the operation that was done up  
by Hotaru. She had free run of the area, and did nothing more than  
watch them. It was her job to report back to the boy about what had  
taken place, even though he didn't really need it. He could watch any  
area from his office, or play back things that had happened at his  
leisure.  
  
"You set us up!" snapped Nabiki.  
  
"Actually, the AI did. It will actually get smarter as you  
progress, and it's responsible for the defense of the compound."  
  
"Nabiki blinked at this."  
  
"It works just like a real squad would actually. It can't make  
mines magically appear they have to be set. You were the ones who  
decided to walk into the middle of it. Not to mention, you stood on a  
hilltop as if no one would be looking that way. You might as well have  
raised a flag."  
  
The girl blushed slightly at this.  
  
"In any case, you failed to even enter the compound. You'll try  
again tomorrow. Don't expect the defenses to be the same, the interior  
of the building will change with each failed mission as well. I expect  
you to keep that between us for now, let them figure it out on their  
own."  
  
"Change?" muttered Nabiki dumbly.  
  
"Of course, you don't expect me to send them through the exact  
same exercise every time do you?" said the boy as he looked at her and  
blinked. "Mission objectives will vary as well. You might be going up  
against a single squad one day, and an entire army the next."  
  
Nabiki nodded at this and stood up to leave. "If there's nothing  
else?"  
  
"Dismissed," replied the boy as he chuckled at the report in his  
hand.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"Great job Usagi," muttered Rei as she glared at the girl cleaning  
her weapon on the other side of the room. She didn't know why the girl  
was bothering anyway; it wasn't like they were allowed to take them  
along on a mission yet. "She got us all killed."  
  
"Stupid mines," grumbled Minako as she rubbed at her leg. She had  
lost it just before she died due to stumbling over one of them in her  
attempt to find cover. It felt strange to still have it.  
  
No one spoke of the place they had been sent afterwards. The hour  
in hell had a sort of odd silence about it between them.  
  
"We can't blame her," said Minako calmly as she glared at Rei. "We  
were all careless that time."  
  
"She's right," agreed Makoto.  
  
Ami simply stared forward at the group from her own bunk. She  
looked over at Usagi and then back at the others.  
  
Usagi noticed this and glanced up at them, before turning her head  
back down to the maintenance of her weapon.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"What's the job today?" said Nabiki as she stared at Ranma. The  
Senshi were all standing in a row behind her at attention.  
  
"Well, I thought I'd do something a little simpler this time.  
Seeing as how you can't even get into a building."  
  
None of the girls even flinched.  
  
"Today, you're going to find me..." the boy paused and watched  
them for a few seconds. "A shrubbery."  
  
"A what?" said Nabiki as she narrowed her eyes at him.  
  
"Nii!" cried Trunks as he whirled around to face her.  
  
"A shrubbery. Right," said the girl as she sighed and turned to  
face the others. "You heard the man, let's go find a... shrubbery."  
  
"Something nice!" said Trunks as they all piled into the back of a  
large green truck.  
  
"Right," muttered Minako as she spared him a rather weary looking  
glance.  
  
"And not too expensive!" called the boy as Nabiki started the  
engine.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"Where are we going?" muttered Minako as she jumped out of the  
back of the vehicle.  
  
"Down there," said Nabiki as she looked down at the tiny village  
that had somehow appeared on the road through her binoculars.  
  
"Seems quiet," said Ami calmly.  
  
"That's what scares me," grumbled Nabiki. She turned to look at  
her troops, each of them was armed. He'd even allowed Rei to bring  
along a rocket launcher. She didn't like the look in the girl's eyes  
when she held it, but it was strapped across her back and largely  
forgotten at the moment.  
  
"We should move in," said Makoto.  
  
"Right, won't do us any good to stand here," agreed Usagi.  
  
"Makoto, you've got point," said Nabiki as she glanced at the  
girl. "This is about as close as I want to drive."  
  
The girls all nodded and readied their weapons for the hike to the  
village. It was at least two miles away at the moment though.  
  
It didn't take long before they reached the edge of the village.  
They moved in, hugging close to walls and hiding behind barriers.  
Every obstacle in their path was a potential threat, and they kept  
their eyes on every door and window as they moved through what  
appeared to be a residential area.  
  
They moved silently, using hand signals and quick glances to  
communicate. Everything was going smoothly, just like in training as  
they neared the business section of the small town.  
  
It was a great deal more populated as they moved into the main street  
area. They had seen several people watching them off their porches in  
confusion, but they hadn't been attacked yet.  
  
Finally, after getting a large number of confused glances as the  
pedestrians moved out of their way. Usagi stopped as Nabiki signaled  
her to move forward. "What the hell am I doing?"  
  
Minako, who had been squatting down beside her blinked, "Huh?"  
  
Usagi shouldered her weapon and stood up, walking out into the  
middle of the street. Everyone tensed up nervously as they watched  
this. Nabiki was cursing under her breath.  
  
"Usagi! What the hell are you doing?" she hissed angrily at the  
girl.  
  
"Shopping," replied the girl with a small shrug. She turned and  
looked up at a sign on one of the buildings, 'Roger's Shrubbery'. With  
a small sigh she strolled inside and left the rest of the senshi  
staring at her dumbly.  
  
About ten minutes later she came out holding a shrub in her arms.  
"Okay. We can go back now." She turned and started walking down the  
street, noting that the others were still hiding behind cars and  
forcing people to give them a rather wide area of clearance.  
  
"What the?" muttered Minako in shock.  
  
"This seems too easy," said Ami as she narrowed her eyes and  
glanced around.  
  
"Maybe that's just it?" said Makoto as she looked at her.  
  
"You mean...there's no hostels here?" said the girl as she  
returned the brunette's stare with a sort of blank frown.  
  
"I don't think so," said Nabiki as she appeared over them, walking  
out in the open. "He's just messing with our heads again."  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
"Great! You got it!" said Trunks as he accepted the plant from the  
girl. "Thanks."  
  
"We've completed a mission?" said Makoto with a sort of proud  
smile on her face.  
  
"That's right," said Nabiki as she looked at her and smirked. "I  
think that deserves something."  
  
"You're right. I'll give you a little extra time off tonight,"  
said Trunks cheerfully. "Just don't expect it too much."  
  
"Right," grumbled Minako.  
  
"But first..." said Trunks with a wide grin on his face.  
  
The girls all groaned.  
  
"You must fetch me..." he paused to soak up their misery for a  
moment. "Another shrubbery!"  
  
"What?" said Nabiki as she stared at him.  
  
"Yes. We'll put one slightly higher than the other, so it forms a  
little path down the middle."  
  
"We could have just gotten two while we were there the first  
time!" snapped Minako.  
  
"This is how we do things in the military," snorted the boy as he  
frowned at her. "Plus, after you've done that, you must cut down the  
mightiest tree in that forest." He pointed at a nearby patch of woods.  
They were about to voice a protest when he spoke up again. "Wiiiittth,  
a herring!" He held up a small fish.  
  
"We most certainly will not!" snapped Nabiki.  
  
"Oh come on, please?" said Trunks as he grinned at her.  
  
The girl blinked as if she suddenly realized this was some kind of  
joke she just didn't get.  
  
"Ah well. Enjoy your time off ladies," said Trunks as he turned  
away from them. "Just be back and ready to go back to work by sunrise  
tomorrow. That means well rested, so be sure to get some sleep."  
  
There was a resounding cheer from the group as they immediately  
rushed away.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
The next day, the girls all returned at a reasonable hour much to  
the boy's surprise. They had returned to the town and spent much of  
the day there, shopping, or eating. They actually had a paycheck,  
which surprised them when Nabiki informed them.  
  
Trunks appeared at sunrise, just as promised. He had a grin on his  
face as he strolled into the room. "Welcome back ladies, time to go  
back to work."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Usagi! On top of the tower!" screamed Nabiki as she kept her  
hands stuck on Minako's throat as blood oozed between her fingers. The  
girl's eyes were wide, and she had a desperate expression on her face  
as she tried to breathe. Nabiki's expression was frustrated and almost  
panicking. She kept herself under control though, and noticed the  
flash of a lens in the large tower about a hundred yards away from  
their position.  
  
The blonde girl nodded grimly, knowing that Minako's fate was  
practically sealed. The girl would soon be suffering in that horrible  
place again. She raised her rifle up to bear and frowned deeply as she  
pressed the sight up against her eye.  
  
Rei watched calmly from her position next to Ami against a  
shattered looking brick wall. Her face was frozen in a dead state; it  
took Ami a moment to realize that Rei wasn't watching at all. She  
wasn't there anymore.  
  
"No!" muttered the girl in horror as she stared into her friend's  
dead eyes. "No! No! Don't leave me here Rei!" she muttered in horror.  
"Damn it...I...I can't..."  
  
Usagi took the shot, it was clean and she saw the tiny silhouette  
fall away as the bullet struck home. "I got him!" she cried in  
triumph. Her cheer was short lived as her brain splattered across the  
ground a moment later from another sniper on a rooftop nearby.  
  
Nabiki looked on, still clutching Minako's throat wound, despite  
the fact that the girl had already moved on. Ami was breaking down,  
and Makoto was pinned on the other side of the large open field in the  
center of the complex by a group of machine gun toting soldiers that  
were just out of sight of her position. "Shit. Shit! Shit!" she  
muttered as a hail of bullets tore up the ground around her.  
  
She dove down beside Ami; the girl was crying and clutching her  
head in horrified fear. "Damn it! Snap out of it! You're all I've got  
right now!" Without bothering to do any more than that to check on the  
girl, she glanced at Rei to find out where the shot she had been hit  
with came from.  
  
Nabiki gasped as she realized that the wound was on the front of  
the girl's chest. That wasn't good, considering that she was facing  
the same direction they were. "Crap."  
  
A trail of smoke followed the rocket that blasted towards them.  
She never even saw who had fired it.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Makoto wanted to scream, she wanted to blast everything within a  
mile of her position with everything she had, unfortunately, she had  
nothing but an M-16, and two clips of ammunition. Her senshi powers  
had been gone for some time, and she had used all her grenades in  
earlier attempts to move from her current position.  
  
"Damn. Where the hell is everyone else?" she muttered angrily.  
With a grunt of effort she hefted her weapon and fired it as one of  
the soldiers exposed himself slightly. She missed, but the fire  
pinning her down died down for a moment. "Shit. I think I'm all that's  
left!" she grumbled in frustration. "What the hell do I do now?"  
  
Just as the words escaped her mouth her blood ran cold at the  
sound that rumbled from around the corner. She'd only heard it a few  
times during her training, but it was distinctive none the less.  
"Shit."  
  
A huge tank rolled around the corner and stopped as it became  
fully visible. The turret slowly turned towards her and she tensed her  
body. "No way! I am not goin back to that place again!" She pulled  
herself to her feet in a sheer display of will and forced herself to  
run, despite the numbness in her legs. Bullets shattered the ground at  
her feet as she charged away, and a massive shower of dirt flew into  
the air from when the tank's shell blasted the area she had been lying  
on away.  
  
She screamed and cursed as she dove back into the complex. The  
warm air hitting her skin and creating a maddening itch all across her  
skin as she continued to run forward. "Damn! Damn! Damn!" she screamed  
in frustration as the sounds of soldiers charging in behind her seemed  
to haunt her every step. She ducked behind a wall as a bullet cracked  
the concrete surface of the large warehouse style interior. There were  
a lot of boxes lying around, and the bodies of those they had killed  
in their entrance were still hidden away behind some of them.  
  
She stopped cold as she found the hallway she and the others had  
entered through. "Oh no."  
  
Ami had mined the hallway, to stop someone from sneaking in after  
them and taking them by surprise. She couldn't see the lasers, but she  
knew they were there, and could see some of the carefully hidden  
explosives if she looked hard enough. Not that she had time to find  
them. "What the hell?" she grumbled in frustration as she glanced  
around for some kind of escape. She could probably hide in the maze of  
boxes. The game of cat and mouse would end soon enough though, and she  
would be on the bad end of that deal.  
  
She turned as the sound of the soldiers rushing after her grew  
ever closer. "Damn!" Makoto fell to her knees and started to sob,  
knowing that there was nothing she could do. That was when her eyes  
fell on the small grate in the wall. "What the?" She raised her weapon  
and fired into the thin metal that blocked the airshaft.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks smiled as Minako sat before him with a pensive looking  
frown on her face. She knew she was in trouble.  
  
The boy shuffled some papers on his desk and sighed. "I really  
wish you idiots had figured out that you can run when you have too  
sooner. I was getting tired of sending you all to hell every time you  
went up there."  
  
The girl blinked. She had her arm in a sling, and several nasty  
looking cuts. After the blast in the hallway took out a majority of  
her pursuers she didn't have much trouble picking the rest off after  
crawling through the shaft and into the next room before they reached  
it. She didn't dare continue forward, knowing she'd die if she did and  
came back with her head hung low. "What?"  
  
"You're starting to think outside the rest of the group. I like  
that. Using that airshaft was a good idea. Every time you've gone up  
there, you've walked through the front door, shooting anything that  
moves to clear your way. You're the first one to come back alive, even  
though you didn't fulfill any of your mission objectives."  
  
"I was outnumbered! I couldn't win!" she snapped.  
  
"I suppose so," replied Trunks calmly. "It's a matter of stealth  
and tactics. You idiots are rushing that damn place like you're in the  
Marines or something."  
  
Makoto simply stared at him in shock.  
  
"There are some missions you won't be able to turn back from, no  
matter how bad it gets. Some of them you can retreat from if need be,  
or simply fall back to a safer position and try again later. I'm going  
to have a talk with Nabiki about her forward only tactics. It's  
admirable, but not really practical."  
  
"If this is her fault, why is she leading us?" grumbled Makoto  
sourly.  
  
"Because she's smarter than you, she just has to learn to apply  
these kinds of situations."  
  
"By getting us all killed?" growled the girl angrily.  
  
"At least you come back here," replied Trunks with a dark frown of  
his own. "That's a luxury you don't have outside this room."  
  
"That place you send us might not be so bad after a while," she  
grumbled.  
  
"Heh, the stronger you become, and the more used to it you get,  
the worse it will become," he replied calmly. "Don't forget that  
Makoto."  
  
The girl swallowed and stared at him numbly for a moment.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
The others had returned once Makoto had set foot on the base.  
Trunks had debriefed them all with Makoto being the last of them. They  
had learned something new that day; the suffering ended once those who  
didn't die came back from a mission. It didn't matter whether the hour  
was up or not.  
  
Trunks had also made it clear that it wouldn't be the case on all  
of the missions either. Some had to be completed, or failed completely  
for them to return. They weren't anywhere near that level just yet  
though.  
  
Usagi was being rather silent as usual, keeping to herself and  
cleaning her gear.  
  
Ami was the focus of the rest of the room though. She was a pale  
white, and held her knees while shivering in terror. She hadn't spoken  
since she had awoken from death.  
  
"Ami? Are you all right?" muttered Rei as she moved up to the girl  
carefully.  
  
Makoto was quickly by her side, staring fearfully at the girl. "Is  
she sick?"  
  
"She's in shock!" cried Rei.  
  
Hotaru frowned as she strolled into the room and looked at Ami for  
a moment, shoving the others aside and grasping the girl by her  
shoulders. "Something...is..."  
  
Ami screamed; it was a painful wail as she simply looked up and  
cried out at the top of her voice.  
  
Usagi jumped up from her place and rushed over to the scene, the  
others stepped back with shocked looks on their faces.  
  
Everything had come down on the girl at once. Fear, anger,  
frustration, the faces of those she'd killed, and those she'd seen  
die. Her eyes rolled up and she slumped down onto the mattress  
unconscious.  
  
No one had a clue what to do. Hotaru gave her a worried looking  
frown and stood up.  
  
Usagi shook her head and walked away with tears flowing down her  
cheeks. "Oh Ami..."  
  
"What do you care?" snapped Rei angrily.  
  
Usagi simply looked at her with an unreadable expression on her  
face. "I may not like any of you anymore, but I will always care."  
  
Rei reacted as if she had been physically slapped. Her jaw dropped  
and she stepped away from the girl. "Wha?"  
  
Hotaru was kneeling at Ami's side with what looked like a small  
wrist mounted computer. She was frowning in confusion as she peered  
into it. "She seems fine. She's sleeping quite peacefully."  
  
Makoto looked at the woman in confusion. "But...you saw what just  
happened to her! What the hell was that?"  
  
"Don't tell me that was nothing!" cried Rei.  
  
Usagi's face flashed with something none of the others could  
place, but it was dangerously familiar to them all. They all felt  
ashamed at the sight of it, but couldn't quite place why. "That sound,  
was the death of a soul. Ami will not be the same when she wakes up  
again. She will never be the same." The girl turned away and moved  
over to her bunk.  
  
Trunks was standing in the back of the room unnoticed. He frowned  
deeply at what had just happened, and what Usagi said chilled him to  
the bone. "What did we just do to that girl?"  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ami Mizuno woke up the next morning. She sat upright and glanced  
around at everyone surrounding her. They were getting dressed and she  
stared at them all for a moment before standing up and moving to her  
locker.  
  
"Oh! Ami!" gasped Makoto. "You shouldn't be up. You've got the day  
off today!"  
  
The girl blinked at this. "Why? I am not injured or sick."  
  
Makoto stared at her for a moment. "Well, you don't have to come  
today. You should just stay here and rest up."  
  
"I see no reason for that," replied the girl as she opened her  
locker and started to shuffle around inside.  
  
Nabiki watched her carefully from the other side of the room. She  
didn't interfere and watched the girl put on her gear. "Something is  
up."  
  
Ami was the first one done, despite the fact that the others had  
all started before her. She walked outside and waited in her place for  
the others to form up to receive their orders for the day.  
  
Nabiki strolled out of the building and frowned at them all.  
"Today is pretty normal. Our objective is to find a disk. It's encoded  
and we have to use the computers in the complex to decode it before it  
can be of any use to us. Intelligence tells us that the room we need  
to find is on the second floor. The disk is probably in the possession  
of this man." Nabiki pulled out a photo of an older looking soldier;  
he had a buzz cut and a gruff expression on his face. "He'll be  
commanding the men we'll be facing today."  
  
There were muttered grumbles from within the group. Ami said  
nothing and simply watched.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
They were being driven to a point where they could proceed on  
foot. The entire squad of girls was huddled in the back of a green  
military transport truck. There was about a foot of snow outside, and  
the green cloth covering did little to protect them from the elements.  
  
  
There was a large amount of silence within the group. Makoto would  
occasionally try to start small talk with Ami or Rei, but neither was  
receptive. It was a grim scene for all involved.  
  
It was somewhat of a surprise to everyone when Ami stood up and  
walked over to Nabiki. Their attention was quickly elsewhere as the  
girl leveled a stare at Usagi that no one could read.  
  
"Did you want something Mizuno?" grumbled Nabiki gruffly. She had  
a cup of coffee in her hands and a rather sour looking frown. She  
still wasn't a morning person, and the girls largely avoided her when  
it was as early as it was.  
  
"Permission to speak, Ma am?"  
  
This caught Nabiki off guard and she stared at the girl for a  
moment. "Um. Granted..."  
  
"This mission requires stealth, we should eliminate Tsukino before  
we go in. She will endanger the mission."  
  
"What?" muttered Nabiki in shock. "What do you mean eliminate?"  
growled Nabiki quietly.  
  
Ami noticed that Rei had overheard her, but no one else could over  
the roar of the diesel engine. The black haired girl sucked in a quick  
breath and her eyes went wide. She didn't speak or move and waited  
silently for either one of them to continue.  
  
"Tsukino is an excellent shot, but she is clumsy and loud. She  
will threaten the mission, and our lives. We should eliminate her  
before the mission begins. It will give us a much greater chance for  
success."  
  
"You're not being very clear, Mizuno," grumbled Nabiki with a  
tense tone. "What do you mean 'eliminate'?"  
  
"Forgive me, I thought my meaning was clear. I will shoot her,"  
replied Ami calmly.  
  
Neither Rei nor Nabiki spoke for a moment. Rei wasn't sure if she  
thought it was a good idea, or if she was afraid that Nabiki actually  
seemed to be considering it.  
  
"Mizuno, if you ever even suggest something like that to me again,  
I will..." Nabiki thought for a moment. What kind of leverage did she  
have over them really? "I will..." She couldn't think of anything more  
than a little extra exercise. Finally she turned her head away in  
shame. "Trunks will not be pleased to hear this. I'm sure he can find  
an interesting way of punishing you if you try it."  
  
Ami merely nodded at this. "Understood." She stood up and returned  
to her seat. Rei stared at her with wide eyes and a horrified  
expression for a moment. The others were confused, but Ami merely sat  
back and closed her eyes to wait for the ride to finish.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Ami found herself in a storeroom with Usagi about five hours  
later. The soldiers inside were alert to the group's presence in the  
building, but didn't have any clear idea where they were exactly.  
Makoto and Minako were gone; Nabiki and Rei were on the lower level  
searching for the computer.  
  
Ami stared through an air vent into a large warehouse like room  
below. It was clear of boxes and a group of soldiers were standing in  
front of the old soldier holding the disk.  
  
"There is the target," said Ami calmly.  
  
Usagi looked up at the girl. She was standing on top of several  
boxes to look inside the next room. "What?"  
  
"I've found him," replied Ami calmly. "There are five others with  
him, he appears to be briefing them on something. Probably  
coordinating the search for us."  
  
The blonde nodded seriously at this. "What can we do?"  
  
Ami turned to look at her with a cold expression on her face. The  
only one she'd had since she'd woken up. "You will remain here and  
cover me through this vent. I will go and retrieve the disk. Take out  
the target first, and then eliminate the others with him. I will clean  
up what remains while I retrieve the disk."  
  
"Then what?" muttered Usagi fearfully.  
  
"Then we will contact Lieutenant Tendo, and wait until they find  
their objective. We will then take the disk to them for decoding."  
  
Usagi nodded at this numbly and shivered. She clumsily mounted the  
boxes and climbed up to her firing position while Ami moved towards  
the door.  
  
"Wait thirty seconds and begin. If he starts to move out of range,  
take the shot anyway. Don't miss."  
  
The blonde nodded at this and swallowed. "A...all right."  
  
Ami left her alone and moved into the hallway that connected the  
room to the warehouse. She moved along the wall and peered around the  
corner that would lead her into the room carefully. Finding no  
opposition, she slowly stalked forward with her weapon held ready.  
"Three, two, one..."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
Usagi looked into the sight of her rifle. It was a bolt action  
forty five millimeter sniper rifle. The crosshairs trembled as she  
placed them over the man's chest and slowed her breathing. A cold  
sweat formed on her forehead as she counted down. "Three, two, one..."  
  
A crack echoed through the room. The man fell face first on the  
ground and a feminine scream filled the air as the men all hit the  
ground and pulled their own weapons to the ready.  
  
"Daddy!" cried a voice. A girl of about ten rushed up from an area  
the girls couldn't see and ran to the man's body. One of the soldiers  
grabbed her around her waist and pulled her down with him as he  
scrambled for cover. The room was mostly empty, but there were a few  
boxes that could be used.  
  
Usagi was frozen in horror. The little girl's face burned into her  
mind as she saw the tears flowing down her cheeks. "Oh no! What have I  
done?" she muttered to herself. She slowly lowered her weapon and  
simply looked at the scene for a moment. "What have I..."  
  
"The air shaft!" cried one of the soldiers as he pointed towards  
her position.  
  
She didn't even realize that she had done it. The only thing she  
remembered was pulling the rifle away from her face and staring at the  
smoking barrel for a moment. "I...I'm sorry..." She set herself again  
and waited for one of the men to reveal enough for a clean shot.  
  
She didn't even take the time to realize that she had no tears in  
her eyes.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ami stared forward as the second man fell. She could see two of  
the others, but it was painfully clear that she'd misjudged the number  
of people in the room. Her objective was down, and lying in the middle  
of the room face down. Simply rushing towards him would get her  
killed, and she knew it. With a small sigh she pulled her M-16 up to  
bear and switched it to burst fire.  
  
The two men never knew what hit them, with a single squeeze of the  
trigger, she managed to them down. There was at least one more that  
she couldn't see. She glanced back behind her. She briefly wondered if  
she could trust Usagi that much.  
  
She rushed forward towards the target.  
  
Turning as she ran she found the fifth soldier. There were what  
appeared to be several civilians standing along the wall. One of them  
was a woman with tears in her eyes, and the others simply looked  
afraid. She brought her weapon up as the soldier started to react to  
her. He was still hidden from Usagi's line of fire. He was also  
holding a little girl in his arms.  
  
Ami paused, she gasped as she noticed it and faltered on the  
trigger.  
  
Unfortunately, the soldier didn't. She felt a painful force slam  
into her gut. It was the first time she had such a wound; it burned  
badly and almost knocked her off of her feet.  
  
She grit her teeth and grunted in pain and anger. Bringing herself  
up to bear, she twisted and fired her weapon. The man fell to the  
ground and fired off a few more rounds as he died. The hit the ceiling  
as he slammed into the ground, the little girl was dead, but she had  
unwittingly shielded him from the bullets.  
  
Ami frowned at this, and staggered forward as he groaned in pain.  
She stared at her for a moment down the barrel of her rifle. With a  
rough snort, she shot the man in his chest, silencing him completely.  
  
The people along the wall gasped in shock and horror as she  
trained her weapon on them. The woman was screaming now, and had  
fallen to her knees. The girl was probably her daughter.  
  
"This isn't real," muttered Ami to herself as she staggered over  
to the target. She kept the weapon trained on them the whole time and  
kneeled down to inspect him. It took about a second to search through  
his pockets and find the disk. Her arm was growing weary, and she  
could feel the blood flowing from her open wound. "Damn. I've almost  
finished!" she muttered as she struggled to keep herself from  
collapsing.  
  
Finally, she struggled to her feet and slowly moved back across  
the room. She walked over to the wall and leaned against it just under  
the air grate where Usagi was still watching.  
  
Ami found herself smirking despite it all; she could hear the  
girl's sobs from above her. She held up the disk and slid it between  
the grate. "Take it, finish this damn it."  
  
"But...you're..."  
  
"Already dead. Get the hell out of here. I'll see you when you get  
back," muttered the girl as she coughed and glared at the people as  
they cowered away from her. She was between them and the exit.  
"There'll be more in a few minutes. Get going!"  
  
"I won't leave you!" cried Usagi. Ami couldn't see her, but oddly  
enough, she could imagine the look on her face.  
  
"Don't make this for nothing," growled the girl as she stared at  
the teary eyed woman. She was still sobbing, and didn't look like she  
would recover any time soon. Those with her held her back forcefully,  
fearing what might happen if she ran to her daughter's body.  
  
"You killed that girl..." muttered Usagi as her voice became  
clearer suddenly.  
  
"Go, or I'll kill you as well," growled Ami weakly. She didn't  
even have the strength left to hold her weapon upright. She closed her  
eyes and listened. There was no sound; she wasn't sure if it was just  
the blood loss, or if Usagi had actually managed to leave that  
quietly. "Guess I'll never know..." she said calmly as her head  
drooped down.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Enough!" cried Urd as she stood up with tears in her eyes. "I've  
seen enough..."  
  
The images stopped playing suddenly, pausing on that scene. The  
gods were sitting around the table with Trunks at the head. Each of  
their faces was lit up by a different colored light that shined up  
from the edge of the table in front of them. The boy had his hands  
folded in front of his face; he was wearing white gloves, and a pair  
of lightly tinted sunglasses. He smirked at them from behind his hands  
and said nothing.  
  
"Not very pleasant is it?" said Venus quietly.  
  
"No, it is not," said Amaterasu. She looked only slightly upset  
really.  
  
Mars snorted and looked rather pleased. Shiva merely nodded her  
head and said nothing, and Zeus muttered to himself for a moment  
before looking at Trunks. "Did they complete the objective?"  
  
The boy arched his eyebrow at this; he pushed his glasses up his  
nose as he started to speak. "No, but they came very close. Nabiki  
didn't manage to escape with the disk. They had it decoded, and she  
was almost out though."  
  
"My avatar seems to be making progress rather well," noted Shiva.  
  
"She was the most changed," agreed Trunks with an uncertain frown  
on his face. "I'd have to say Usagi would be second in that category."  
  
"I do not know what to think about what you have done to Usagi,"  
said Amaterasu calmly.  
  
"What have you done to them?!" cried Venus in horror.  
  
"Seems like he's preparing them for a war," commented Mars.  
  
"Yes, I do not agree with some of this, but I admit it is rather  
effective," agreed Zeus.  
  
"In any case, even if I win, they will still have to face Mistress  
Nine, possibly the Dark Moon Family although I doubt that one will  
come into play, and Galaxia," said Trunks with a serious looking nod.  
"I still have my doubts on whether or not they can take on Galaxia  
alone, but they'll have help if everything goes well."  
  
The gods all looked at him for a moment and said nothing.  
  
"At any rate, shall we go see how they are progressing now? What  
you just saw was a compilation of several weeks actually. They are  
much improved at this point. It's almost time."  
  
"Almost time for what? I thought you said they had another six  
months!" cried Urd.  
  
"Why, it's almost time for me to give them back their powers. I'm  
almost glad you guys came along actually." He grinned at them all  
widely. "I was planning on synthesizing them after I shut down the  
barriers that hold them in check. Yggdrasil is strong enough to enter  
this dimension on it's own, but your powers would have still been  
blocked. They probably would have lost their powers anyway because of  
that, but I didn't want them clinging to any residual power that might  
have been left behind." The boy steepled his fingers and glared down  
at all of them. "However, I think I'll wait a day or two for that.  
They'll need a bit of time to adjust to having them back as well."  
  
Urd nodded at this and seemed slightly relieved. "Why train them  
like this then?"  
  
"So they don't have to rely on their powers," replied Trunks.  
"Also, so they understand what real combat is. I couldn't train them  
as martial artists, because they just don't have the ability to meet  
the levels they'd need to in order to fight what they'll be against.  
This was the next best thing I could think of." The boy paused to  
smile at them all in a somewhat unfriendly fashion. "In any case, I'm  
sure you're eager to see the results. Shall we?"  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Rei frowned as she glared down between the grates at the scene  
below her. There were several dozen people tied up in the room, with  
about four guards posted among them. "Usagi, you in place yet?" she  
said quietly into the tiny microphone that curled down from her ear.  
  
"Almost," replied the girl on the other end. Ami and Makoto aren't  
in position yet either.  
  
"Ami?!" muttered Rei. She almost gasped.  
  
"We ran into some resistance," commented the girl coolly. "We're  
in position now though."  
  
"Cut down the chatter ladies, I want radio silence. We may be  
scrambled, but that doesn't mean someone can't break in," said  
Nabiki's voice. "As for this operation, you may fire when ready  
ladies."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Various muffled screams erupted from the hostages as a pair of  
female soldiers burst down from the air vents above them. They were  
dangling from their feet by a thin chord of black rope and had a pair  
of sub machine guns in each hand.  
  
The shocked guards didn't have time to react as they spun in the  
air and blasted everything that wasn't sitting. Unfortunately, that  
meant one or two of the hostages as well.  
  
Three more of the female soldiers burst into the room from  
opposite sides and performed a clean sweep of the interior. The first  
two landed on the ground and quickly replaced their weapons with  
assault rifles after removing their masks to reveal long blonde hair  
that was tied up in a bun on each of them.  
  
"Rei," said Ami as she pulled off her mask as well. The two  
blondes were forcing those near the wall to move back, shoving them  
aside almost carelessly.  
  
The girl smirked and leveled a grenade launcher at one of the  
walls. "Instant exit, coming up." The room filled with shards of  
cement and a thick cloud of dust.  
  
Outside, after the dust cleared, a huge half-track truck waited  
for them. Nabiki opened the door as the girls paused at the sight of  
the machineguns that were pointed at them. "It's all I could scavenge.  
Shut up and load them up! I want to be gone before they can react."  
  
"Rei, did you disable their transportation?" said Ami coolly as  
she strolled by the girl.  
  
"Huh? Oh yeah," said the girl as she waved off the comment.  
"Taking care of it now." She pulled out a small remote and pressed the  
single button on it after flicking a toggle switch on the side.  
"Done."  
  
The confused looking hostages screamed in terror as the sound of  
an explosion a short distance away shook the building and caused a  
shower of dust to fall on them from above.  
  
"Move it ladies!" snapped Nabiki sharply.  
  
"She is correct, the mission is not yet completed," agreed Ami.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
That night, there was a large party going on at the tavern in the  
small town that Trunks had created for their off time.  
  
"Hey Larry! Another round!" cried Makoto as she slapped Rei on the  
back and called to the bartender.  
  
The man grinned at the call and began to fill up several mugs.  
  
Ami was sitting quietly beside Usagi, neither one appeared all  
that interested in the other. The shorthaired girl had her eyes closed  
and was leaning back in her chair, simply listening to the sounds  
around her. The blonde was playing with a knife that was stuck into  
the table casually. She seemed happy, but distant.  
  
"Well, hello ladies," said a voice that made the whole bar go  
silent.  
  
"Sir!" barked the girls as they jumped to their feet and saluted  
Trunks.  
  
The boy chuckled at this and strolled inside. "Relax, you're off  
for the night. I don't have anything new for ya." He sat down at the  
table they had for themselves and grinned. "I do have some news for  
ya."  
  
"What's that?" said Nabiki a little sourly.  
  
"Yes, tell us," said Usagi with a cheerful smile.  
  
"It's not something bad either," grumbled Trunks as he looked away  
from them. "Jeez, even I give you good news sometimes."  
  
"Yes, but not usually," commented Nabiki coolly.  
  
"All right. Fine, here you go." The boy placed several familiar  
looking pens on the table, and a brooch.  
  
"These are..." muttered Rei dumbly.  
  
"Our transformation pens," said Minako in shock. A broad  
shouldered man was acting as her chair, and she had her hands around  
his neck. She had looked quite happy until Trunks had walked into the  
room.  
  
He glanced at her for a moment and frowned. "Um, you do realize  
he's not real. Right?"  
  
"Yeah? So?" said the girl as she blinked at him, her attention  
away from the pens on the table.  
  
"What good do these do us?" muttered Rei.  
  
Trunks almost slapped her. "Don't be stupid! You've got your  
powers back of course!"  
  
Usagi simply stared at him for a moment. "What?"  
  
"You can become Sailor Moon again starting tomorrow. The exercises  
will start being tailored for it actually. You'll need them."  
  
"That's nice, but what good does that do me?" grumbled Nabiki  
sourly. She had no desire to become one of the senshi, but she did  
feel a slight dread creep up to her. She didn't want to be alone  
again."  
  
"Oh, that. Well, it's pretty simple really. When was the last time  
you saw more than a little combat anyway? You're an officer and  
they're the grunts. Do your job like always."  
  
Nabiki blinked at this. "What?"  
  
"You've always been more of a supporting role in combat situations  
Nabiki. You give orders and plan things, they follow the orders.  
Nothing's changed; you've just got stronger weapons at your disposal  
so to speak. All I ever really do is give you objectives, how you meet  
them is your problem."  
  
"Oh," said the girl as she realized what he had said was mostly  
true.  
  
"Well, enjoy the rest of your evening off ladies," said the boy as  
he stood up and left them to their party.  
  
Once he left the door he paused and glanced over his shoulder.  
"Wonder how long it'll take them too..."  
  
A multicolored flash of light shined through the window for a few  
seconds. The boy smirked to himself and shook his head as he walked  
away. Various shouts of joy from the senshi could be heard from  
within.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
The next day...  
  
"I am Sailor Moon! On behalf of the Moon! I shall punish you!"  
  
"There they are!"  
  
Boom.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
"What the hell were you thinking?" said Trunks lamely as he stared  
at the girls as they hung their heads in shame and looked at him  
rather pathetically.  
  
"Well, it always worked before," muttered Minako.  
  
Trunks slapped himself in the face in frustration. "All that  
training, and you blow your first outing with your powers because  
you're too stupid to remember that standing on rooftops and spouting  
poetry makes you a target?"  
  
Ami frowned at that. The boy was right; she hadn't posed with the  
others, and had been too surprised to really react once Usagi started  
her usual routine. Nabiki had been the only one to survive that  
encounter, and she was still limping from the wound.  
  
"Jeezus! You'd think people who have seen their own intestines  
before would know better than to pull crap like this!" cried Trunks as  
he glared at Usagi.  
  
The girls all went slightly green at the mention of this. They had  
all been in that position at least once during the past several  
months. It was not a pleasant memory.  
  
"At any rate, tomorrow you go back again!" snapped Trunks.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Usagi frowned as she glared at the thing standing over the town.  
She wasn't sure how long it had been since they started training with  
their powers, but things hadn't gotten any easier for them since that  
day.  
  
At the moment, they were fighting what appeared to be a three  
hundred foot long giant lobster.  
  
"Tsukino! Pay attention!" snapped Nabiki from her headset.  
  
"Right!" muttered the girl as she focused her power into her  
palms. It was a ball of white light.  
  
"How much longer?" growled Makoto as she moved up beside the girl.  
She was holding a bolt of lightning in her hand with a sour looking  
frown on her face. The electricity moved and writhed in her grip, but  
still retained a spear like shape despite it.  
  
"It's too big, and that damn armor isn't denting," commented Rei  
from the headsets.  
  
She was down on the ground directly in front of the creature. It  
lumbered forward. The girl jumped back to avoid one of its claws and  
growled in anger. "Mars Fire Cannon!" cried the girl as she dropped to  
one knee and positioned her arms as if she was firing a rocket  
launcher. Flames burst to life in her grip, taking the shape of a  
rather large version of such a weapon. With a resounding boom, a huge  
ball of flame shot from the barrel of the fire weapon and slammed into  
the thing's armored hide. It covered the monster completely, but did  
no real damage. The monster was slightly irritated by this, and  
continued to lumber after her.  
  
"We are set," said Ami's voice. "Mars, do you almost have it in  
position?"  
  
"Why do I have to be the bait!?" cried the girl in frustration as  
she dodged again.  
  
"Because, you're the only one who can irritate it enough to make  
it follow you," replied Nabiki calmly.  
  
"Damn," grumbled the girl as she rushed across a bridge that ran  
across a rather large river. The monster followed after her as she  
pelted it with small fireballs, egging it on and keeping it angry  
enough to follow after her.  
  
The bridge groaned under the weight of the monster as it crawled  
onto it, it crushed the concrete easily under its claws as it rumbled  
across and it was clear that the structure would not hold.  
  
The other senshi were all standing on the other side of the river  
at this point, having moved together from wherever their hiding places  
had been before, waiting patiently. Finally, the monster was in  
position.  
  
"It's all the way on the bridge. Go!" cried Nabiki. She wasn't  
with them at the moment, and was watching over from a small mobile  
command center.  
  
Ami pressed a small detonating switch and the remains of the  
bridge exploded, sending the monster into the river with a mighty  
splash.  
  
"Hino! Kino! Do it now!"  
  
The pair nodded and jumped into the air.  
  
"Jupiter Thunder Storm!"  
  
"Mars Fire Cannon Barrage!"  
  
Hundreds of fireballs and dozens of lighting bolts slammed into  
the water from the sky. The water glowed orange for a moment beneath  
the surface and started to boil instantly, then there was a red flash  
of light and a huge boom tore through the air, shattering every window  
in the small town in its wake. A huge cloud of steam rose into the  
air from the now dry riverbed.  
  
Ami stared at it with a pair of goggles that allowed her to see  
through the thick cloud. She saw a giant dead youma at the bottom of  
the riverbed. "Mission complete."  
  
"All right! Giant steamed lobster!" cried Makoto.  
  
Usagi gave out a sigh of relief. Even if the tactic hadn't worked  
and killed it, they would have lured it away from the town at least.  
That would have made using their more destructive attacks much easier.  
  
"That was too easy," muttered Nabiki with a small frown. They  
hadn't had to deal with something so large, clumsy, and stupid in a  
long time. Most of their enemies as of late had been intelligent  
beings, much smaller and more agile. She had to admit, they hadn't  
fought anything with that much resistance to damage before.  
  
Trunks floated down from above and clapped his hands as he watched  
them for a moment. "Excellent. Very well done. Your patrons are quite  
impressed."  
  
The senshi looked uncomfortable at the mention of the patrons.  
Trunks had told them about the gods who gave them their powers, and  
the idea didn't sit well with some of them. Others didn't really care,  
but it seemed to bother Usagi the most. She believed that it was her  
own power and will that allowed her to succeed before.  
  
Trunks confirmed that belief, stating that she wouldn't have been  
able to access as much power as she had unless that was true. Still,  
the power had to come from somewhere. Why not gods? He wasn't sure why  
it bothered some of them, but it did slightly. Only Ami and Minako  
seemed indifferent to it.  
  
The girls hadn't met any of the gods since they arrived. The gods  
themselves were looking at it as some sort of vacation really. They  
spent most of their time in a self-contained 'heaven' that the boy had  
made for them shortly after their arrival. They lent their powers, and  
watched the show for the most part.  
  
"That seemed too easy," said Nabiki as she glared at the boy.  
  
"Oh? Well, I thought I'd take it easy on you today," replied the  
boy as he smirked at them all. "Thought keeping you busy would be the  
best way to keep your mind off waiting."  
  
"Waiting for what?" said Usagi dumbly.  
  
As if on cue, a door opened from thin air behind him and he  
smirked at them all. "That of course."  
  
The girls simply stared at the opening in their reality for a long  
time. None of them were able to speak at all really.  
  
Nabiki finally managed. "It's...it's been?"  
  
"A whole year," said Trunks as he nodded at them cheerfully.  
"You've all done rather well actually." He paused at the dumb looks he  
was getting from them. "What? You mean you -all- lost track of the  
time?!" he said as he stared at them for a moment in shock.  
  
"Well, we have been busy," said Usagi nervously.  
  
"Oh, well, we can go now," said Trunks with a small shrug.  
  
The boy didn't react fast enough and quickly found himself  
trampled under a large group of teenage girls. "Of all the  
ungrateful..." he muttered painfully.  
  
"Well, that was interesting," commented Hotaru as she walked up to  
him and helped him up. "Fun's over again?"  
  
"Yeah, shame it is. We've got one more day in this room. Won't be  
the same though." He sighed and smirked at the girl. "Did you tell the  
gods?"  
  
"Yeah, that's them," she jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the  
group of immortals who were walking up to them.  
  
"It's been fun," said Venus cheerfully.  
  
"Yeah, right," grumbled Urd lamely. "It's bad enough I've been  
here this long! Who knows what might have happened to Keiichi since  
I've been gone!?"  
  
"He might have found some peace and quiet?" offered Trunks as he  
twisted his pinky into his ear for a moment.  
  
"Gah! That's horrible! Um...I mean I should find him before  
Belldandy gets worried!" She rushed out the door and the other gods  
followed after her.  
  
Mars hung back and smirked at Trunks. "So, I finally get to meet  
the New Lord of All? Not as impressive as I imagined."  
  
The boy peered at him for a moment and shrugged. "I'm a lot more  
impressive when I'm all there ya know?"  
  
"Lord of All?" said Hotaru dumbly.  
  
"It's a long story, and you don't need to hear it," said Trunks  
with a heavy sigh. "It's just this title thing I picked up on a really  
weird adventure. Doesn't mean anything really."  
  
"Indeed," commented Mars with a slight chuckle. "Not to this  
version of you anyway. I'll be seeing you."  
  
"You'd best remember who you're teasing, Mars," snorted Trunks  
calmly. "The real me isn't nearly as forgiving as I am."  
  
"Well, that made absolutely no sense. I've decided that I really  
don't want to know," commented Hotaru as she walked out the door with  
him.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Finally! It's done! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!  
  
Still a bit darker than I intended with this part. It got better  
though. Next time: Free at last! 


	90. Insertion 90

Insertion  
  
Part 90  
  
A break in training.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks smirked as he walked in front of the Senshi and Nabiki Tendo. The girls were all standing in line in front of him. They had just emerged from the room and he looked somewhat trampled after they're escape. However, a simple call of 'formation' had halted their mad dash.  
  
"Well ladies, I have a few things to tell you before I release you for the next few days."  
  
The girls stared forward at attention.  
  
"For starters, congratulations on completing the training, in three days you will return for some more technical training, you'll learn to operate the star fighters I've had Washuu building for us."  
  
This actually got a surprised reaction from the group.  
  
"We'll be facing the old navy of the Moon Kingdom when we return as you know. The Juraians will be supporting us, but only three cruisers will accompany us back to Earth. This fight is ours ladies."  
  
"A squad of star fighters and three cruisers against the Moon Kingdom's armada?" said Rei dumbly.  
  
"That's right, we'll be well equipped to deal with it, and that was part of the reason I've been training you so hard. Once that threat is gone, there's still the forces on Earth to deal with," replied the boy simply. "The training room was at about twenty times the Earth's gravity during the last leg of your training as well. I think I should warn you about that before I set you loose on Jurai. You're much stronger physically than you were when you entered, and I'm betting you don't know just how strong you are. Be careful ladies."  
  
"More training?" muttered Usagi fearfully.  
  
"You have three days, enjoy your leave ladies," replied the boy as he turned away from them.  
  
"Twenty times the Earth's gravity?" muttered Makoto dumbly.  
  
"It would seem that we need to gauge our strength, in order to not cause damage," said Ami calmly.  
  
"Well, where are we going?" said Rei as she looked at her companions for a moment.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Makoto Kino sat at a bar brooding. She had a drink in her hand as she stared forward in her senshi uniform. "I never expected anything like this..." she muttered to herself as she watched her own reflection in the mirror behind the bar. She could see that she was much more muscular, but it wasn't that bad really. She was firmer, all of them were, and they lost a little bit of chest, barely noticeable to anyone who didn't know them well. Otherwise they didn't look that different, it was the look in their eyes that haunted her.  
  
She and the rest of the senshi now had haunted and far away looks about them. They had seen and done things that they would probably never come completely to terms with. Ami was the most changed, her friendly and shy demeanor torn to shreds, and replaced with a cold calculating mask of ice. It suited her powers really, but was very unnerving for all who had known her in the past.  
  
Usagi had been alienated from the group. Yet she was still one of them somehow, it was obvious that she didn't really like any of them much anymore. She seemed to think it was her duty to work with them, and she did care about their welfare. She'd proven it several times over while in training, saving all of them more than once.   
  
Rei had actually calmed because of the training. Her temper was still there, but it was much more subdued than it had been.  
  
Minako didn't appear to change much outwardly, but she'd seen the haunted looks on the girl's face when she had thought she was alone. Her eye wandered around the men in the room with a strange glint to it, a little more intense than it had been before.  
  
She hadn't known Nabiki all that long before the training. Now she could barely recall what life was like without her. The girl was always keeping her emotions away, but now she seemed more in command than she ever had before. She had taken to her authority rather well actually, and was now probably the most responsible member of the team.  
  
As for herself, well, she was never quite this introspective before. She snorted a chuckle out and sipped at the hard liquor in her hand for a moment.  
  
"You all right lady?" asked the bartender as he walked over towards her for a moment.  
  
"Naw, I'm not," she responded calmly as she glanced at the man. A brief flash of memory, of the beach where they had fought along side hundreds of other soldiers in a bloody and costly battle flashed in her mind as she stared at the man for a moment. His horrified face lying dead on the ground. She stared at him for a moment and he grew uncomfortable. "No. No way..." she muttered under her breath as she stood up and turned away from the bar. "It can't be." She staggered over to where the rest of the group was sitting. They had taken a large table near the back of the room and were all sitting around quietly. Usagi had her own booth nearby; Nabiki was sitting on her own as well, in the next booth.  
  
Ami noticed the look on the girl's face and turned to look at her emotionlessly. "So, you noticed it as well did you?" She turned to look into the crowd.  
  
"What?" muttered Makoto dumbly as she stared at the girl.  
  
"I shot him in the face," replied the girl as she pointed at someone sitting nearby. "Him, I stabbed with a rather large shard of ice, and the one next to him, was blown in half."  
  
Makoto stared around the room, there were a lot of faces she didn't recognize. Mixed in where a few that would haunt her dreams forever. Those she'd killed or witnessed dying at the hands of her friends.  
  
"Unreal," muttered Minako as she sucked in a quick breath of air. Apparently, she had just noticed it as well.  
  
"I get the feeling, we'll be noticing this over the next few days no matter where we go," said Rei as she looked up from her drink. "Probably until we leave this planet."  
  
Nabiki walked over to them and sat down. "I just got hit on by a man I castrated once. That was an interesting experience," she said as she downed half her drink in a single gulp.  
  
"Castrated?" muttered Minako in horror.  
  
"The grenade didn't kill him, he bled to death," replied the girl with a small shrug. It was clear she was very disturbed by it though.  
  
"This is too weird," muttered Makoto as she looked down at the half empty glass in her hands.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks stood before the Emperor of Jurai with a smirk on his face.   
  
"So, you have returned, and turned those senshi into soldiers?" asked the man in a patronizing tone.  
  
"Each one, individually, could probably kill half the people on this planet," replied the boy calmly. "As a group, not even you could stop them."  
  
Azusa frowned at this.   
  
"In any case, once the final leg of our training is completed, we'll be returning to Earth. Lord Tenchi and Yosho will probably return with the cruisers. It would be best if they were in command of the Juraians in this operation. I don't trust someone who has no real interests to protect in this."  
  
Azusa looked slightly miffed and impressed at the same time. "I see."  
  
"It would be best if Lady Ayeka did not return with us. Ryoko will probably accompany Tenchi, but the princess is not strong enough to be of much use. It would put her in harms way needlessly if she came along."  
  
The man arched his eyebrow at this but didn't reply.  
  
"The Galaxy Police probably won't have much interest either, this is an internal struggle," continued the boy as he paced back and forth.   
  
"You'd like to keep it that way?" said Azusa as he chuckled slightly.  
  
"It's out of their jurisdiction," replied the boy with a small shrug.   
  
"I see, so you are going to leave within a few days?"  
  
Trunks nodded at him and turned away. "We'll begin the training in three days. After that, we'll be out of your hair." He walked towards the door, not bothering to be dismissed. The few nobles that had witnessed this grumbled irritably, but didn't speak out any longer; at least not until Trunks had left.  
  
"The boy is disrespectful, he's dangerous."  
  
Azusa glanced at the man who had said this too him. "He has saved Jurai from destruction, he made no attempt to take the throne despite the fact that he could have easily. The Juraian Royal family was at his mercy. I trust him more than I trust you. I can tolerate a little disrespect from someone like him."  
  
The man looked enraged by this, but sat down silently.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Tsunami," Trunks stared at the great space tree for a long moment. It towered over him as he stared up at it. He'd been able to sneak into the complex that housed the mighty tree easily enough. He and Hotaru had not been completely idle in their time in the room with the Senshi. They had their own training to see too, well out of sight of the Senshi. It was really the true purpose of making Nabiki the ranking member of the group.  
  
He reached forward and touched the tree with his palm. "Tsunami, I want to speak with you."  
  
The woman appeared behind him with a small frown on her face. He didn't even turn to face her as he took his palm off the tree.   
  
"What is it that you desire?" she asked diplomatically.  
  
"I want to find out about Keiichi Morisato. I want to know what happened to him, is he dead?"  
  
The goddess cocked her eyebrow slightly at this. "That is not too difficult."  
  
"I know, I wouldn't have bothered asking you if it was," replied the boy with a small shrug. "If he's not dead, I'd like you to contact Urd for me. I want to know if they find him, and when they do, I want to know what happened to him."  
  
Tsunami frowned a little at this. "If I might ask, why do you care for this mortal's life?"  
  
"Because if he dies, I will lose three very powerful allies," replied the boy as he smirked at her. "If Keiichi is sent to heaven, then Belldandy will have to follow. That means Urd and Skuld will go as well, having lost any personal interest in Earth."  
  
Tsunami nodded at this. "I see, I understand. I shall see what I can discover. I do not believe that the trio have found him yet."  
  
"That bothers me a bit, it would have to be a pretty strong force to hide him from their magic," commented Trunks.  
  
"This is true as well," said the Goddess with a short nod. She vanished and left him alone.  
  
"I get the feeling, if he isn't dead, there's another force at work here besides my evil self and those Youma."  
  
"Brilliant deduction Holmes!" snapped Dan.  
  
"Another force?" muttered Ranma in confusion.  
  
"That's right," said Carrot as he chuckled to himself. "Kinda makes me wonder what it is though. Is it friendly or not?"  
  
"I hope so," muttered Pissant fearfully.  
  
"Well, I guess we'll find out sooner or later," muttered Carrot with a small shrug.  
  
"Right, whether we like it or not,"agreed Dan.  
  
"Well, we've screwed up the Senshi pretty good," commented Carrot lazily.   
  
Pissant tried to make them hold their breath in order to express his displeasure at this comment. They overpowered him easily though and he gave up. "That wasn't a very nice thing to do to them at all!"  
  
"What the hell where you thinking?" snapped Ranma at Carrot and Dan.  
  
"Hey, you were laughing just as hard as I was when they started blowing each other up," snorted Carrot. "Don't even think of pinning this on me. The Drill Sargent was Dan's idea anyway. It would have been more fun to do it ourselves."  
  
"Well, I suppose so. It was kind of fun to kick around Hotaru a bit too," said Dan with a small shrug. "Too bad she's older than us now though."  
  
"Gah! Don't say that, once was enough don't ya think? We should find someone else!" snapped Carrot.  
  
"Isn't that cheating?" muttered Pissant in confusion.  
  
Carrot slapped himself in the face.  
  
"Thanks," muttered Ranma. "I hate to say it, but we haven't gotten any in a while."  
  
"Well, we're like ten years old. That's normal. I'd be more disturbed if we had gotten some," commented Carrot. "Since when are you worried about that? You cry for a week every time we find some girl who wants to have a good time anyway."  
  
"Well, I kinda...got used to it ya know?" muttered Ranma sheepishly. "Besides, it ain't like we gotta worry about that whiny tomboy chick anymore."  
  
Carrot sighed. "Ah, I can hear the sound of us getting slapped for that comment resounding across the heavens now."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
In the office of L-sama, the Lord of All sneezed as he rubbed his cheek in irritation.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
Meanwhile, back on Earth...  
  
Trunks frowned as Gohan smiled cheerfully as the group overlooked the village below them.  
  
"Hey, still looks the same," said Gohan cheerfully.  
  
"It doesn't," snapped Trunks irritably.  
  
"Sure it does, why, it looks just like it did that summer we came to visit the elder and..."  
  
"All this is burned down in the future moron," grumbled Trunks.  
  
"Oh, well I guess they did a good job rebuilding it," said Gohan with a small shrug. "Hey Ghoul, you comin?"  
  
"Why does he keep calling me that?" muttered Akane irritably as she glanced at Cologne.  
  
The elder had other things on her mind though. "Burned to the ground? Hold! What do you mean burned to the ground?!"  
  
Shampoo had a cute frown on her face at that moment, not quite understanding what was going on.   
  
"Oh, all this is destroyed when the starships come," said Trunks with a small shrug. "Actually, casualties aren't too bad around here. He'll be more interested in cities and such at first."  
  
"Starships?!" cried Cologne angrily. "What foolishness is this?!"  
  
"What's not to believe? He already flat out told you he wasn't human," said Gohan as he stared at her for a moment.  
  
Cologne simply stared at him. "I..." Ranma had said something along those lines to her before. She just hadn't thought too hard on it at the time. "Space travel on such a level? I never imagined I would see it."  
  
"Yeah, kinda neat isn't it?" agreed Gohan cheerfully.  
  
"Where are we? Where are you taking me?" muttered Keiichi fearfully as he glanced around the group. He looked tired and worn out, the others were all much stronger than he was, and had a great deal more endurance. Only the fact that he was excused from carrying any supplies had enabled him to keep up at all. "Why am I here?"  
  
Trunks blinked and looked at him for a moment. "You're here so you stay alive. If you die, those goddesses with you have to return to heaven. That's not a good thing with what's coming this way."  
  
"You still haven't explained that," commented Jadeite as he and the other generals appeared around the group. They had just returned from scouting ahead.  
  
"These defenses are a joke," commented Nephrite lazily. "There's only about five people patrolling the area right now."  
  
"He's right," agreed Kunzite. "The area is only defended to the south, the northern area is wide open to anyone who wishes to enter."  
  
Akane rolled her eyes at this. "So what? We aren't trying to invade them."  
  
Cologne looked somewhat irritated by this. "I leave for a few months, and everything goes to hell? I am going to have a long discussion with some colleagues of mine in the near future."  
  
"Right, can we just go now? I'm tired!" whined Keiichi.  
  
"Well, we can't just stand here all night," agreed Gohan. "Cologne should be able to get us in without too much hassle too."  
  
"Why come here though?" asked the Elder as she watched them.  
  
"Because we know it's safe here. Ranma won't mess with the Amazon's yet. He's got other plans for you, once you're out of the way that is." Trunks looked at the old woman for a moment and gauged her reaction.  
  
Cologne didn't even blink. "I see. Would you divulge this information to me?"  
  
"No," replied Trunks before Gohan could respond. "If it doesn't happen anyway, it won't matter if you know about it or not."  
  
"You're awfully distrusting," said Cologne with a small shake of her head.  
  
"Think I don't know what you're planning for us down there? A couple of strong guys like us just waltzing into the village? Right, I know about you and your laws. Of course I'm cautious, I don't trust you."  
  
Cologne narrowed her eyes at him for a moment and sighed. "Saw through me that easily did you?"  
  
"You were awfully enthusiastic about us coming here," said Gohan with a small shrug. "Seemed a bit odd to me anyway. What with us kidnapping you, and your great granddaughter from your home that way."  
  
"Can't fault an old woman for trying can you?" replied the hag cheerfully.  
  
"No, but we already know our future here," said Trunks calmly. "Nothing you can do will change that." The boy glanced back at Akane for a moment. "Sensei, you should be careful here. You're strong, but fighting with these women here is a bad idea. Please be careful."  
  
The girl nodded dumbly at this. "Why do you keep calling me that?"  
  
The pair looked at each other and shrugged. "Cause that's who you are to us," replied Trunks.  
  
"Yeah. You'll always be an old bat too me!" replied Gohan cheerfully.  
  
Akane blinked and looked at the pair for a moment. She was the heir to the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts after all. It was the only possible connection she could think of.  
  
Cologne hopped forward. "Come, we should be there before nightfall."  
  
"We should be there in about five minutes," corrected Gohan. "It's just up ahead, sheesh."  
  
Cologne rolled her eyes; the boy had no flair for drama obviously.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Chibi-Usa was lying on the floor in pain, her father standing over her with a malevolent grin on his face as he stared down at her. "Weak. You can barely stand, much less fight. This is truly pathetic."  
  
A golden aura formed around the woman as she glared at him angrily. "I am not weak!"  
  
"Then why am I not the one on the ground? I was going easy on you spore."  
  
The girl growled at this. "You would never go easy on me."  
  
"Bah. You're only on the edge of your second transformation, I've mastered mine, and I am pushing through to the next level. When he returns, I will destroy him utterly."  
  
"Still hanging around here are you?" said a calm voice from behind the pair.  
  
Ranma turned to look at the intruder with a smirk on his face. "As it were, yes."  
  
"You're wasting time," said the small boy who simply stood watching them. He looked to be about eight, and had short black hair and a black schoolboy uniform on.  
  
"I'm making sure," replied Ranma coldly as he turned away.  
  
"If it amuses you, go ahead," replied the boy calmly as he smiled slightly. "Your mother is looking for you."  
  
"Let her," replied Ranma with a snort. "I've got no time to waste on childish plots and foolish tactics. I'm preparing for the real battle, she can sit on the sidelines while I do what she failed in."  
  
"Our plans are almost complete," said the boy.  
  
"Good, I'll rest easier when everyone who can oppose us is dead," replied Ranma icily. "Not a moment before."  
  
The boy nodded and turned away. "Good, I like that. Tochi is lax as of late, and Ekitai has gone silent."  
  
"I warned you about that," replied Ranma coldly. "We should have all gone, he is the greatest threat to us."  
  
The boy smirked, his back was still turned to them, but Ranma could still tell. "So you did. I'll remember that in the future. The ships will arrive within a month or so. Once they are here, we will have this planet within a week."  
  
"That's your end, my end is still alive, on Jurai," replied Ranma coldly. "Get up Spore, resting is over."  
  
The woman glared at him and staggered to her feet. The golden aura burning around her was the only thing that gave her the strength to do so.  
  
The boy walked towards the exit and sighed. "He's growing strong, perhaps too much for my liking. Still, I will need him for a time." He frowned and left the room.  
  
"Kuroi doesn't like me training this much," commented Ranma as he took his attention off his daughter.  
  
"What?" muttered Chibi-Usa irritably.  
  
"He's beginning to see me as a threat to his power, true, but dangerous for us," said the boy as he frowned deeply. "It would be wise, for both of us to keep an eye on him."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks frowned slightly as he found himself surrounded by a large group of armed women. Fortunately, they seemed somewhat friendly.  
  
"Um, Hi," said Gohan as he waved at them.  
  
"Are they going to kill us?" muttered Keiichi fearfully as he clung to Akane Tendo's back.  
  
The girl looked somewhat annoyed at this, but refrained from speaking. She wasn't wearing her black suit at the moment, rather a durable bodysuit of the same color with several large pockets for equipment sewn into it. Her eyebrow twitched slightly from behind her shades, but she didn't move to strike the cowering boy.  
  
The generals snickered in amusement at the scene behind her, irritating her further.  
  
Cologne and Shampoo moved up to the girls.   
  
"You!" said one of the guards in Chinese.  
  
Akane frowned and put her finger up to her ear, making a slight adjustment to the tiny device inside. "The translators are working."  
  
"Good," replied Jadeite with a small shrug. The group had avoided populated areas for the most part on the trip to the village, but he had known his was working for several days. All of the men had worn them throughout the trip, and they had taken a train to get to the village at one point in order to speed things along. Akane hadn't seen the need to wear hers, as she didn't speak with anyone outside the group. Zoicite and Kunzite had taken care of any dealings with the locals, with Cologne's help of course. Shampoo had also been enlisted to buy food once or twice as well.  
  
Keiichi looked up at her in confusion and Jadeite grabbed his head forcibly. The boy muttered in panic, but didn't try to stop the man as he shoved something in his ear. "Shut up and pay attention."  
  
The boy nodded at this and seemed to relax a bit more as he was released.  
  
"Hey, that's pretty neat," said Gohan in excellent Chinese.  
  
"Whatever, it's up to you now old woman," snorted Trunks irritably.  
  
"Yes, so it seems," commented Cologne lazily. "I see Fu Shin hasn't taken the opportunity to lord over the village lightly. That old fool, she's as stupid as she is clumsy. Only her age has allowed her as much respect as she has now."  
  
"I'll remember that," commented Nephrite with a small snort.  
  
"What?" cried one of the girls in the group. "You dare!?" She started to move forward, but a gnarled old staff held her at bay easily.  
  
"These men are under my protection for the time being. That may change soon, but until then, you will leave them be." Cologne's tone left no room for argument. She turned to look at the man. "Be careful what you say here. You seem to have insulted her granddaughter."  
  
"And you didn't?" replied the man casually. "Information is always an asset. It would be foolish of me to disregard the opinions of others so blatantly, especially political figures like yourself and this Fu Shin seem to be."  
  
Cologne offered him a wry grin. "You're smarter than you seem."  
  
"Ranma didn't carry us to our positions. We earned them ourselves a thousand years before your ancestors were born," replied Kunzute coldly. "In any case, we are being rather rude to our hosts."  
  
"It's understandable, given our guides' reluctance to part with any of their intuition about our future," said Cologne calmly. "None of us is very certain about why we have come here. Although I do admit, it is favorable to myself to be in my own 'back yard' so to speak for this."  
  
"Ouch," commented Gohan. "Look, we told you, if we tell you too much, it might disrupt things more than needed. That's bad. This situation is unpredictable enough as it is."  
  
"He's right, Pluto-sama gave us strict instructions about what we let slip," said Trunks with a firm nod.   
  
"Pluto-sama?" said Gohan as he stared at his companion for a moment.  
  
"Not one word," grumbled Trunks irritably.   
  
"In any case, the village will be most interested to meet this group," said Cologne as she sighed and started to hop forward. "Follow me please."  
  
Trunks and Gohan shrugged their shoulders and walked after her, followed by the rest of the group.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
"Nice place you got here," commented Gohan cheerfully.  
  
"Stop embarrassing me," grumbled Trunks.  
  
Cologne was sitting with the two teens with a number of withered looking old women around them. The others were outside the room, as only those with business could enter the chamber of elders; especially the males in the group.  
  
"What business do you have with the Amazons?" asked Cologne formally.  
  
Trunks snorted. "No real business, we needed to be out of Japan for a time, this was just a convenient place to go really. It's out of the way, far enough to make him following us inconvenient, and well guarded."  
  
"Why do you need to be away from Japan?" asked one of the other elders suspiciously.  
  
"Because Ranma Saotome is an insane monster, who will destroy any who oppose him. Here, we're out of his reach for the time being," replied Trunks.  
  
Cologne sighed at this. "What good will this do you? Sooner or later, he will be able to reach this far. If what you claim is true."  
  
Gohan frowned at this. "We don't have to do anything. Help is already on the way, from the planet Jurai. The Sailor Senshi are there training, once they return with their allies, they will eliminate the threat in Japan."  
  
There were muttered whispers and gasps within the chamber.  
  
Cologne narrowed her eyes at the boys in front of her and slowly stood up. "Senshi? Alive?! This cannot be!"  
  
Gohan and Trunks looked at each other for a moment. This was obviously something they were not expecting.   
  
"Ah, but it is Ku Lon."  
  
All of the elders were on their feet as a new person walked out from the shadows. Another was at her side, a girl with long violet hair. Both of them had rather smug grins on their faces.  
  
"Demon!" cried Cologne.  
  
"Wait, you mean she didn't know about the Senshi?" muttered Gohan as he looked at Trunks for a moment.  
  
"That's crazy, they've been all over the news. Besides, she's met Usagi I think."  
  
"News?" muttered one of the elders.   
  
"Serenity has been reborn," said Pluto as she walked between the two boys and glared directly at Cologne. She smiled at the woman's glare. "The daughter of the woman who banished your people to this desolate area of the world in a time before history even started."  
  
"Our people remember that insult!" snapped Cologne hatefully.  
  
Tsuki was at her mother's side, holding a small metal object in her hands. "Mother..." she muttered tensely.  
  
"They won't attack us, they know our power," said Pluto calmly. "They command the elements themselves, but we hold the power of entire worlds. Most of the magic they could have used to oppose us, died a thousand years ago. Lost arts to them now."  
  
"Thanks to your meddling no doubt," growled Cologne.  
  
"Perhaps," said Pluto as she smiled at her. "Serenity has no memory of your foolish treachery though. This is your chance at redemption."  
  
"Redemption?" growled Cologne angrily.  
  
"Push aside your anger elder, if only for a moment. Serenity will rule this world, this entire system, once again. Your people were outcasts, because of your ancestors' mistakes, now you can be welcomed back once again, with open arms. If you will only do one thing."  
  
Cologne didn't look impressed; the two teens that stood around the Senshi of Pluto and her ward stepped back slightly away from her. "What might that be?" asked the old woman hatefully.  
  
"Save yourselves, and this entire world," replied Pluto calmly. "This is not time for blood feuds or petty age old punishments. Your ancestors betrayed their own Queen to Beryl, giving her the keys that she later used to bring down a dynasty that had lasted for thousands of years, and sealing her own fate. It is ironic that you survived this, thrived, and are now on the brink of extinction yourselves. However, now a new threat will destroy all that you know on this world if you do not act quickly."  
  
"Please, get to the point," growled one of the elders hatefully. "Then leave at once!"  
  
Pluto's expression never changed. "Your bitterness will be the destruction of your own people. The reason these two had to be silent as to the fate of your people was simple. I wanted to give you a choice, before you went into the arms of the devil willingly. If you follow him, you will be destroyed."  
  
"This devil sounds more appealing by the moment monster," growled Cologne.  
  
"Really? I assumed you would say as much. Allow me to show you what you will be facing, if you choose to oppose us." Pluto arched her eyebrow slightly as she looked at the two boys. "Transform please."  
  
"Huh?" said the pair in unison. They had been edging for the door, hoping to escape the tension of the room.  
  
"Just do it," muttered Tsuki irritably. She was giving Pluto odd glances as the woman spoke to the elders from time to time, and seemed distracted.  
  
"Okay," said Gohan cheerfully as he smirked at her.  
  
"Great," mumbled Trunks to himself as he crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.   
  
A golden light filled the room suddenly, waves of power poured from the teens as they stood there. Nothing but their aura's had turned golden as of yet, but the power was growing stronger by the moment. They seemed relaxed so far, but it was becoming obvious that something powerful was building up by the way they were starting to sweat.  
  
"Enough!" cried Cologne suddenly as the wall behind her cracked. The floor had started to shake and several of the elders were on the floor at this point.  
  
The pair stopped building energy and relaxed.  
  
Pluto looked at the old woman calmly. "What you just felt, was less than a tenth of their power. The ones training on the planet Jurai, are a hundred times stronger than this."  
  
There were several whispers within the chamber once again. Hateful glares and interested smiles mixed together amongst the council.   
  
"Great, some of them are ready to kill us, and some of them are ready to make us call them Grandma," muttered Trunks irritably.  
  
Gohan was looking at Pluto and her daughter, not really paying attention too much else.  
  
"What a mess," grumbled Trunks.  
  
"At least we know which side they pick," whispered Gohan. "Man, they never told us about any of this mess."  
  
"It seems you leave us little choice," said Cologne with a heavy sigh.  
  
"There is always a choice elder, you have merely chosen the correct one," replied Setsuna as she turned to leave. "Come Tsuki, it is best that we not remain here."  
  
"Aw man," grumbled Gohan in disappointment.   
  
The pair found themselves under the glare of every old woman in the room. They were also alone now, as the two senshi vanished into their portal.  
  
"Think they're mad at us?" asked Trunks as he looked at his companion.  
  
Cologne cleared her throat. "Had I known about this, you'd have never set foot inside my village."  
  
The pair looked at the ground sheepishly.   
  
"However, it seems we have no choice but to accept you for the moment."  
  
"We didn't know about this either," grumbled Gohan.  
  
"Silence!" snapped Cologne as she belted him on the top of his head with her cane. "Do you have any idea what you have brought upon my village?"  
  
"Not really, no," said Trunks.  
  
"Shut up!" cried Cologne as she repeated the act on the second boy. "This is a disaster worse than the revival of the Phoenix King! What have you done to us?"  
  
The pair looked at the ground, not wanting to make her any more upset by answering.  
  
She bopped them both again. "Answer me fools!"  
  
"But you said..." started Gohan.  
  
"Don't speak idiot!" cried Cologne as she promptly gave him another sound rap on his skull.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Keiichi frowned as he found himself standing alone in the middle of the village. Akane and her companions were currently setting up a campsite just outside the edge of the village. He'd decided to go with the two kidnappers after they'd basically shooed him away. Unfortunately, the pair had been called into a private meeting.  
  
Now he was alone, and surrounded by women who were all looking at him.  
  
"He's one of those who came earlier today. I hear they are strong fighters," said one of the nearby females to her companion.  
  
"What?" he said as he stared at her.  
  
One of the women walked up to him with a firm looking frown on her face. "You! I challenge you!"  
  
Keiichi blinked.  
  
"I have heard they are very strong, I shall challenge him as well," said another amazon.   
  
The first looked annoyed by this, but didn't argue as she hefted a long pole up into a combat stance.  
  
"Um. Wait a minute," started Keiichi.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Stupid backwater..." grumbled Akane as she glared at the tents they would be using as lodging.   
  
"It's not so bad," said Jadeite. The tents looked more like small plastic lodgings, with a lot of electronic equipment protruding from them. There were four total and they looked quite comfortable.  
  
Jadeite cocked his head slightly. "Did you just hear someone scream?"  
  
"Huh?" said Nephrite. "Naw, must have been some animal or something."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks smirked as he looked at himself in the mirror. He was wearing his martial arts uniform again. The orange tunic with the horse symbol on the right chest. There was another ball that evening, and he decided to attend, for lack of anything better to do. He hadn't seen much of Yosho or Washuu since he'd emerged from the time chamber.  
  
"Damn, we're a sexy bitch," said Carrot cheerfully as they looked themselves over.  
  
"We need water to be a bitch, but we are impossibly sexy aren't we?" commented Dan.  
  
"We've been remarkably dry lately," commented Pissant.  
  
"Well, the fact that we stay indoors mostly, coupled with the fact that we've been in a room where we control every aspect of everything probably helped," commented Carrot.  
  
Ranma sighed as he looked at himself. "Why do we gotta go to this stupid party anyway?"  
  
"Well, for starters, I wanna talk with Yosho and Washuu, they'll both be there," said Carrot. "Secondly, we don't have anything better to do, we might as well have some fun at Azusa's expense."  
  
"Besides, I want to see how the girls are holding up, they'll be there as well," said Dan. "I'm kind of worried about how they'll react to a crowd like that. I haven't heard any reports of random killings, or stuff exploding without reason, but I'm still a little worried."  
  
"Maybe we went too far?" muttered Pissant.  
  
"Maybe we did, there's nothing we can do now," said Carrot calmly. "In any case, they seem to keep each other relatively stable. Nabiki's level head helps a bit too. They don't question her in the slightest anymore."  
  
"Is that a good thing?" muttered Ranma as he thought about a few things the girl had done in the past.  
  
"I'm not sure. I'm not even sure if they'll even go through with Crystal Tokyo or not, even if they do, I doubt if it will be the same."  
  
"I'm worried about Usagi," muttered Pissant.  
  
"She seems to be taking all of this rather well," said Carrot with a small shrug. "What happened to her was definitely unexpected. I didn't think the Senshi had it in them. Nabiki maybe, but not those girls. They were willing to die for her, and then..."  
  
"Their loyalties might have changed, that could have an effect on the future," said Dan with a heavy sigh.   
  
"Thinking we might have caused a civil war?" said Carrot as he turned them towards the door.  
  
"It's possible," commented Dan. "Ami or one of the others might decide that they'd make a better ruler than Usagi."  
  
"That's possible, any reason you singled out Ami?" asked Carrot.  
  
"She's the most different," said Ranma as he forced a slightly guilty blush to form on their face.  
  
"Well, I doubt if her soul died, as Usagi put it," commented Carrot. "She's definitely changed, and shut down her emotions, but they're still there. You saw how she reacted to that little girl."  
  
"I think they work well together," said Dan.  
  
"Things might change once the climate becomes more political. A war is easier to pick sides on," said Carrot.   
  
"So, we basically don't know what the future is gonna be like again," said Ranma with a small sigh.  
  
"Relax Saotome, we can always play mediator," said Carrot cheerfully. "I doubt if we'll need too. They might surprise you."  
  
"They also might surprise you," said Dan calmly. "Come on, we should go. It's only fashionably late if we get there before the party is over."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Azusa sat with his two wives on either side of him. He frowned at the doorway as the last ball in honor of the barely averted destruction of Jurai went on before him. "He's late."  
  
Misaki frowned at him slightly. "Maybe we should have had more food?"  
  
Funaho sighed "He seems to enjoy being late, but he enjoys teasing you too much to pass up an opportunity like this one."  
  
Azusa growled slightly at this, the woman actually looked somewhat amused by this. "Perhaps."  
  
"Speak of the devil," said Funaho with her smirk fading slightly.  
  
The boy strolled into the room with a somewhat bored looking frown on his face as he glanced around. No one seemed to notice him enter, or cared that much really. A few of the partygoers moved out of his path as he strolled up to the throne. "A final party, celebrating our leaving your presence?" he asked as he smirked at Azusa.  
  
"Something like that," said the man with a nod. His face was unreadable. Trunks glanced around the room and noticed Ryoko and Tenchi standing beside Ayeka. The trio were discussing something politely, even Ryoko was doing a good job of not angering the princess so far. He noticed Tenchi looked slightly uncomfortable.   
  
"I wonder if anyone ever bothered to tell him he can have more than one wife?"  
  
"Doubtful," chuckled Azusa lazily. "It will be expected of him, if he is to remain in contact with Jurai."  
  
"I'd tell him, but this is too much fun to watch," said Trunks cheerfully as he eyed the trio for a moment. His gaze flicked over to the senshi next. They were standing in a group, wearing dress military uniforms. None of them looked particularly interested in the party, but they conversed amongst each other.   
  
"I haven't seen Yosho in a while, is he here?" asked Trunks as he glanced up at the emperor. "I get the feeling he's been avoiding me, and his grandson."  
  
Azusa smirked at this. "Just figured that out did you?"  
  
Trunks arched his eyebrow in surprise and frowned. "I've been busy."  
  
"Actually, I believe he will speak with you before you leave, he's outside at the moment. The boy has been oddly...introspective as of late."  
  
"There's a lot of that going around, excuse me," said Trunks as he turned away from the man and walked towards the doors.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
"I'm starting to hate these gatherings," grumbled Nabiki as she brushed her dark green jacket down slightly. They were all wearing the same uniform. A green jacket with various medals hanging from their chests, with a black skirt and dark hoes. Their shoes were highly polished, with only Rei opting for high heels. The others wore flat-soled shoes of a similar design.   
  
"It's not so bad," said Minako as she smirked at one of the young servants who walked by carrying a tray of drinks. He didn't seem to notice her, but her hungry gaze fixed on him anyway.  
  
"Tsukino is more silent than usual," commented Makoto.  
  
"I just don't have much to say Kino," replied the girl as she continued to watch the dancers in the middle of the room calmly. There was no heat in the exchange at all really.   
  
"Should we leave?" asked Rei.  
  
Ami glanced up at the longhaired girl for a moment nursing a drink against the wall. She didn't respond, nor did she look like she cared too.  
  
"No, this is very political," said Nabiki as she smiled at them for a moment. "We should be mingling, there are a lot of connections to be had in this crowd."  
  
"Why aren't we?" asked Usagi as she returned the cool gaze of her superior.  
  
"Because I was gauging everyone, to see who looked like they might be the most beneficial to us. There are a lot of people bowing and scraping around that one," she pointed out a balding man with a stern face who strolled by the crowd unmolested. "Minako is eyeing the drink boy, but he's actually security in disguise."  
  
"I'd noticed that," commented Minako lazily.  
  
Everyone looked slightly surprised at this announcement, but Nabiki continued anyway. "Approaching the emperor would be foolish and a waste of time. He doesn't seem to care for us much. However, that group over there is high class, probably pretty high ranking nobles. It might be wise to test the waters by mingling a little bit. Ladies, I think we should disperse. Ami, you can hang back if you want." She glanced at the girl who was still resting against the wall.   
  
"As you wish," replied the girl quietly as she closed her eyes and hung her head down appearing to doze off again.  
  
"I'm gonna go see how tight security is," said Minako cheerfully.  
  
Usagi walked in front of her, not bothering to hide it as she rolled her eyes and vanished into the crowd with the others.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks smirked as he stood in front of Washuu and Yosho. The pair were outside, watching the sky together, basically enjoying being old. "Heh. I knew you old geezers would get tired of all that activity in there."  
  
Yosho blinked, he looked to be in his twenties at the moment. Washuu glared at him in irritation.  
  
"Jeez, it's way to easy to push people's buttons around here," commented Trunks lazily as he walked up to them. "How's the project going?" he looked directly at Washuu as he said this.  
  
"It's finished," replied the woman calmly. "Ready to go any time you are."  
  
"Good," said Trunks cheerfully. "I guess we're finally even...well, not really. You can never make up for what you did to me with Mihoshi."  
  
She smiled at this and shook her head. "I actually just got out a little earlier today. I finished up a week early, so I took a little break before coming out."  
  
"Must have been nice," said Trunks cheerfully. "We'll be going back to the room tomorrow morning. This is sort of a last fling for the girls."  
  
The redhead nodded. "After we get out again?"  
  
"Most likely we'll take a day to rest, and then return to Earth," said Trunks with a small shrug. "No big deal really."  
  
The woman nodded at this and smiled. "Well, I've had enough fun for one night. I'll leave you boys alone." She turned away and left.  
  
As soon as she was out of sight, Trunks's face was serious once again. "So, you wanted to speak with me about something?"  
  
Yosho didn't look surprised in the slightest. "There is a lot on my mind. Concerning Tenchi mostly, and what he has become."  
  
"He still uses his art you know, I didn't train any of his forms out of him," said Trunks. "My training focused more on sharpening what he already knew, but mostly on making him more powerful above all else."  
  
"I had noticed, he has lost some of the philosophies of my school though. Not overly bad per say, but that is not what bothers me."  
  
Trunks arched his eyebrow at this. "Eh?"  
  
"The boy is stronger than I could ever hope to be," said Yosho. "I'm not sure if that was your doing or not, but his power is greater than I imagined it could be. That...disturbs me."  
  
"That you didn't think he could be that strong, or that he has become that strong?"  
  
"I am not certain," replied Yosho calmly. "I don't know what to say, or do with the boy now. He is my superior in power, he is also of my blood. He may choose to remain on Jurai after all this ends, but I will return home."  
  
"Hmmm," said Trunks with a small nod. "Little Tenchi is growing up and becoming a man, that's what's bothering you."  
  
"In a round about way, yes," said Yosho with a slightly wistful smile on his face.  
  
"I've got three daughters, one from the future who's trying to kill me, one who, as you know, is already grown into a woman of her own, and one who's mother hates me so much, that she hid who I was from her for more than ten thousand years. I've never gotten the chance to really raise my own child. I envy you Yosho."  
  
The old man glanced down at the boy's serious expression for a moment. "I am sorry."  
  
"Maybe, in the future, I'll get the chance. I'll probably be around for a while if I live through all of this."  
  
"Yes, this part of a child's life is always hard. Tenchi is growing into his own man, and I can do little more for him."  
  
"I doubt that," chuckled Trunks as he glanced up at the man. "Compared to me, you're a model parent. If I picked up fiancees as easily as I did daughters, my life would have been much simpler."  
  
"That's an odd comment," replied Yosho.  
  
"I suppose it is, I got to see what my life was supposed to have been like once. What I got was a whole lot different."  
  
Yosho didn't look completely satisfied with the answer, but brushed it off anyway. "It seems we are both fated to become old men in young bodies."  
  
"It's not so bad, beats the heck out of arthritis," replied Trunks as he smirked at the man. "If my luck keeps going as it has been, I'll never need Viagra. Speaking of which...how was Minako anyway?"  
  
Yosho glanced down at the boy with shock openly expressed on his face. "What?"  
  
"Come on you old codger! I know where she was all day yesterday! Your room is just down the hall from mine," said the boy as he winked at him.  
  
The man blushed heavily. "I...um..."  
  
"You pervert, she's fifteen," said Trunks as he elbowed the man in his ribs.  
  
The man grabbed the boy by his shoulders. "What?!!"  
  
"Ya didn't know?" muttered Trunks in confusion.  
  
"She told me she was..." muttered Yosho as he shook the boy by his shoulders.  
  
"Man, I can't believe you fell for that," muttered Trunks lamely.   
  
"But she was so...experienced..." muttered Yosho as he found himself sitting on the grass with an awed expression on his face.   
  
"Eh, kids today," replied Trunks as he patted the man on his shoulder.   
  
Yosho clutched the boy's leg. "Are you certain?"  
  
"Yosho, I'm sorry about what happened, but if you don't get your hands away from that area of my body. I'm going to rip your head off, both of them."   
  
The man realized what he was doing and quickly jumped away. "I apologize."  
  
"Whatever, don't worry about it. Minako is kind of a slut, I saw her eyeing the drink server in the party a minute ago. Kinda feel sorry for him, she actually tried to sleep with Fuller at one point."  
  
"Fuller?" muttered Yosho.  
  
"The training program I created for them. Luckily, I didn't include full functionality in his program. She shorted him out pretty badly for about an hour though."  
  
"I begin to understand," muttered the man as he slumped his shoulders.  
  
"Look at it this way, at least you don't have to worry about any sort of commitment this way. It was just a good time and all." Trunks smiled at him cheerfully and pat him on the back.  
  
Yosho sighed. "I suppose so."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Minako smiled at the man who she now had cornered in the back of the room. "I said, I want to see how tight security is." She touched her finger against his chest. "You're security aren't you? Well, how tight is it?"  
  
The man stammered at her dumbly. "I...uhhh..."  
  
"Don't worry, you can trust me. I want to hear all about it," said the girl as she winked at him.  
  
The unfortunate young man was desperately searching for an escape from this situation. "I've got to get back to work. I'll get in trouble if I'm missed!" He tried to step around her, but she kept moving in front of him.  
  
"I'm sure Azusa won't mind if I borrow you for the night. I'll explain things to him. I'm sure he'd want me to feel secure after all..."  
  
"Look, it's getting late..." stammered the man as he looked at his watch and glanced over her shoulder nervously.  
  
"You're right, I should be getting back to my room. Why don't you keep me safe on the way there?"  
  
The man frowned at her suddenly and his expression darkened. "Damn."  
  
Minako blinked at this and glanced over her shoulder. "Huh?"  
  
Azusa was standing up from his throne and heading for the door.  
  
"Sorry lady. Love to take you up on your offer, but I've got places to be," said the boy as he smirked at Minako.  
  
"What the?" said the senshi as she noticed him drop his tray and step back. Before she knew what hit her, she was sent onto her back by a surprisingly strong kick. "What's going on?"  
  
Something clicked in her mind as she saw him rush towards the emperor, not even registering with the guests really. The towering man hadn't noticed yet, and he was a good distance away from any guards. "Assassin!" muttered Minako. She pouted quite cutely. "No! He's so cute, and now I have to kill him!?"  
  
It all happened within a split second, she noticed Ami rushing towards the man from the side, the only one besides herself to realize what was happening. She grit her teeth in frustration and jumped into the air. "Venus Love Me Chainsaw!"  
  
The crowd of partygoers turned their gazes upwards as the girl initiated her attack. It was a loop of hearts that were linked together in a long oval shape. A high pitched whine filled the air as they began to move at an amazingly high rate of speed. Venus slashed down with her arm, and the giant chainsaw blade moved down with it, cutting the floor directly in front of him and stopping his forward motion.  
  
Ami skidded to a halt and pushed her hands forward. "Shabon Cage!"  
  
Rows of thick ice spikes shot up from the ground around the man in a circle, they curved towards each other connecting at the top, creating a prison that held the man in place.  
  
Ami looked at Minako for a moment. "You missed."  
  
"He's got a nice butt," said the girl with a shrug. "Besides, I saw you were coming from the side, so I only needed to slow him down a little. You didn't kill him either though."  
  
Ami snorted. "No, I did not. He needs to be tortured so that we can discover who sent him. Then he will be executed."  
  
Minako glanced through the icy bars at the man and sighed. He was cowering fearfully away from the pair. "Too bad, you're really good looking too. Oh! Hey! Look at that guy!" Her attention was diverted instantly as another young male came into view.   
  
Azusa walked up to the pair and frowned deeply. "It seems I owe you my thanks. I will take it from here."  
  
"Good, torture is messy business, I'd rather not deal with it if I don't have too," commented Nabiki as she walked up with the rest of the senshi around her. They were all alert now, and were glancing around the room for a possible accomplice. "Still, whoever did this probably has a lot of pull. I'll send some of my girls to make sure he doesn't escape before we can get some answers out of him tonight."  
  
"I think it can wait until tomorrow. It is late," said Azusa.  
  
"You won't have us around tomorrow," said Nabiki calmly. "Whoever sent him is likely to do something to make him clam up as well, it's even possible that he could be killed, or released before then. It's best that we do it now, just to make certain."   
  
"I will go, he will not escape," said Ami coldly. She narrowed her eyes at the man and frowned deeply.  
  
"Very well, I leave this in your hands. The Captain of the Royal Guard will handle the rest."  
  
Nabiki nodded and turned to face the man who the Emperor had indicated. "Hello."  
  
Two hours later, Ami Mizuno walked out of the dungeon with a stony expression on her face. She had some bloodstains on her collar and hands, and a name. One of the court as she suspected all along. It was fairly simple to extract the information from the man with her power over ice. Freezing various body parts off of someone tended to do wonders with loosening of lips. A few razor sharp needles and blades, and the will crumbled to dust. It was an oddly familiar feeling to do what she had done. Perhaps something related to her past in the Silver Millenium. The emperor's men had limited success with their own interrogation, and had accepted her offer to assist only a half-hour into the torture.  
  
She'd wash off the blood later, for at the moment, she had an order for execution in her hand, signed by the Captain of the Guard, and the Emperor himself. Having a license to kill was an oddly free feeling, while at the very same time restricting in the same manner. Duty, Honor, and responsibility weighed much more with such a freedom. Before, her kindness and feelings would have prevented her from doing what was necessary. Now, she had no such problems with her duty.  
  
When the next morning came, there was one less traitor in the Emperor's court. Apparently someone was rather upset with the man's decision to just give away the Earth without a fight. To even assist those who were taking it from them was apparently going too far. The information was easy enough to garner, he was not nearly as difficult to persuade as his assassin had been.  
  
Ami Mizuno walked into Nabiki Tendo's room and found the girl waiting quietly at a desk inside. "How did it go?"  
  
Ami handed over the paper silently and stepped back. "Mission, complete."  
  
"Very good," said Nabiki as she gave her a sort of predatory smile. "We've just gained an awful lot of respect here. That could help us in the future."  
  
Ami nodded. "If there is nothing else?"  
  
"Dismissed," replied the girl as she waved her hand casually.  
  
Ami glanced up at the clock as she left the room. She still had five hours to sleep, more than she had been expecting. "How fortunate," she commented to herself as she walked into her own room.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
George Lucas sat up in his cot aboard the Mikon Taka. Things had been quiet since the end of the whole Buu episode. It was rather relaxing, and he'd been able to fix everything onboard the ship. Which meant there was nothing to do anymore. "This is pretty boring," he muttered to himself with a small smile. Boring was good, it meant he wasn't being tormented. "I hope this lasts a while." He laid his head back and sighed in contentment.  
  
"Psst. Hey George," said a familiar voice from beside him.  
  
"Eh?" muttered the man as he turned his head. "GAH!"  
  
Trunks was grinning at him. "Time to go."  
  
"Go?" he muttered fearfully.  
  
He found himself being dragged off by his wrist. His belly hanging out over the exposed midsection of his spandex outfit. Still the same one he had worn during the Silver Millenium. Apparently he had several such outfits, and the male clothes the Juraians had sent him were largely ignored.  
  
"Jeez, you're still wearing those things? Get a grip man," muttered Trunks as he peered at the man for a moment.  
  
"Where are you taking me?" whimpered the man as he struggled futilely in the boy's iron grip.  
  
"It's time for training dumbass. You gotta show those stupid chicks how ta fly!"  
  
"It's six in the morning!" cried George.  
  
"Yeah, I let ya sleep in, come on. You'll get used to the time schedule in a day or two," muttered the boy as he led the man down the ramp of the ship.  
  
The girls were all standing in front of him at attention, and Washuu was beside them with a slightly dazed look about her. Hotaru smirked at the scene and rolled her eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow then." She turned away and walked back towards the palace.  
  
"She's not coming?" said Nabiki in surprise.  
  
"Nah," replied Trunks calmly. "We're going to be too busy for me to really train with her this time."  
  
The girl nodded and swallowed as Trunks opened the door to the room and shoved George inside.  
  
"You'd better not expect me to get up this early every day," mumbled Washuu irritably.  
  
"Come on," said the boy as he rolled his eyes and pushed her inside. The Senshi and Nabiki walked in after her, and he walked in last, closing the door behind him.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC... 


	91. Insertion 91

Insertion  
  
Part 91  
  
The fall.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks sighed as he stared at the progress the girls were  
making with their training units. The wall was lined with several  
pod-like simulators. They didn't move, mostly because they didn't  
need too. Rather than create a training environment that  
encompassed the whole room, the pods created the field instead.  
It was a measure to conserve the amount of power they needed to  
use.  
  
Washuu was sitting at a long table with him and George.  
Various papers were strewn across the wood surface along with a  
large number of binders and folders. "So, they are doing well?"  
asked Washuu.  
  
"Not as well as I'd like," commented Trunks.  
  
George nodded sleepily. "Ami is doing well in the repairs and  
maintenance. Usagi couldn't figure out which end of the  
blowtorch to use."  
  
"That's not unexpected, she's doing well though," said Trunks  
as he smiled at the pair. "All around, she's probably the best of  
them. The others seem to excel more on individual things."  
  
"Tsukino?" said Washuu as she stared at him dumbly.  
  
"That's right," said Trunks as he tossed a folder at her.  
"Her scores are never above average. The others all have higher  
scores at one area or another, but their all around scores are  
actually lower than hers. Only by a point or two though. She's  
also the best shot."  
  
"Hmmm. I hadn't noticed this before now," commented Washuu as  
she furrowed her brow slightly. "You're right though."  
  
"Yeah, it gets old after a while," said the boy as he looked  
down at a few more papers. "So, what's the program for today?"  
  
"Just a Star Destroyer, and a full compliment of Tie  
fighters," said George with a small shrug.  
  
Trunks nodded. "Toss in an asteroid field."  
  
The man blinked, but nodded his head.  
  
"Okay, what's for lunch?" said the boy cheerfully.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
To say that Keiichi Morisato was in pain would be a bit of an  
understatement. He was lying on a bed covered in bandages.  
  
"You were supposed to watch him!" snapped Akane as she belted  
Trunks across his head as she stood over him with Gohan and  
Cologne.  
  
"Those involved have been punished. Extra guard duty for a  
month or so is the best I could get," said Cologne irritably.  
"They didn't know that you were to remain untouched. Word had  
spread of your arrival, but not of the immunity."  
  
Gohan frowned and nodded. "He's not hurt too badly. He'll be  
bruised a bit, and probably have a hard time moving around for a  
few days."  
  
"Damn you old woman. I told you we should have let him in,"  
growled Trunks as he glared at Cologne.  
  
The old woman snorted at this. "Some of our rules may be  
bent, but not broken. I don't care how special you are."  
  
"Oh? And what of Ranma Saotome's kiss?" said Gohan with a  
sort of cheerful grin forming on his face.  
  
"That became optional when it was discovered that he was not  
human," replied Cologne calmly.  
  
Keiichi muttered painfully in his sleep.  
  
"What's he doing?" said Trunks as he frowned at the boy.  
  
"Bell..." whispered the boy.  
  
"Oh shit," said Gohan as he quickly grabbed the boy by his  
shoulders and shook him.  
  
"What's going on?" cried Akane.  
  
"This isn't good," muttered Gohan as he realized what Trunks  
was doing.  
  
"What do you mean?" snapped Cologne.  
  
"This boy, he's staying with three goddesses right now,"  
growled Trunks as Keiichi opened his eyes slowly.  
  
"He was trying to call to them in his sleep," commented  
Gohan.  
  
"So?" muttered Akane.  
  
"He probably didn't even know he was doing it," grumbled  
Trunks. "If he succeeded, we're about to have visitors."  
  
"What do you mean?" Cologne did not look happy with this.  
  
"We're about to have three pissed off goddesses land on our  
heads," said Gohan as he turned towards the door.  
  
"What?" gasped Akane.  
  
"What have you brought down on us now?!" Cologne's mood  
wasn't getting any better.  
  
"Relax, we're gonna take Keiichi outside of the village.  
Maybe if we give them what they want, and explain things, they'll  
help us," replied Trunks as he followed.  
  
"You should have done that sooner then!" snapped Akane  
angrily as she followed after the pair.  
  
"We didn't have time," replied Gohan calmly. "If Ranma  
figured out where we were, we wouldn't have stood much of a  
chance. He's a lot stronger than we are."  
  
"What?" said Cologne as she froze in place. "If what you say  
is true..."  
  
"Relax old lady, we've got help on the way," said Trunks  
calmly. "There is another one like us, he'll be the strongest of  
us all."  
  
Cologne narrowed her eyes at the pair. "If you survive those  
Goddesses at all..."  
  
"Heh. Let us worry about that," said Gohan with a smirk on  
his face.  
  
Cologne was almost knocked off her feet by the sudden surge  
of power that blasted off the pair. The ground shook violently  
under the village, spilling amazons and their possessions to the  
ground all across the village. Her eyes went wide as she  
staggered back. "This is..."  
  
"Heh. We're just getting started," said Gohan with a  
confident smirk on his face. His hair looked like it was threads  
of pure gold. Trunks looked much the same, both of them had grown  
larger and their hair was longer and had a more edged appearance  
to it.  
  
"This is just our first transformation," agreed Trunks  
calmly.  
  
"Showoffs," muttered Akane as she snorted. It was obvious she  
wasn't impressed.  
  
Trunks blushed a bit at this.  
  
"Don't be that way, the old bat is just jealous," said Gohan  
cheerfully as he pat his companion on his back.  
  
Keiichi was lying on the ground looking confused. "Oh man.  
Now what?"  
  
Trunks lifted him up and hefted him over his shoulder. "Come  
on."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome stared off in the distance. He had a frown on  
his face as he floated over the forest and simply watched the sky  
in the distance.  
  
"What was that?" growled Chibi Usa as she stopped directly by  
his side. Neither of them was transformed at the moment. Chibi  
Usa was in her 'Dark Lady' form again.  
  
"A power, weak compared to us, but still unusually strong,"  
said the pigtailed boy as he narrowed his eyes in the distance.  
"Unfamiliar to me."  
  
"So?" growled Chibi Usa.  
  
"It could be dangerous, perhaps..." Ranma frowned.  
  
"We have a mission," said the girl hatefully.  
  
"I know, but this shouldn't be ignored," said her father as  
he glared at her. "There is something out there, too strong to be  
ignored."  
  
"So what do you want to do? We need to complete this  
mission," said the woman irritably.  
  
"I'll take care of the mission, you go and see what that  
was," said the boy calmly.  
  
"What?" growled the girl irritably.  
  
"Find that power, destroy it, I think I might know what it  
is," commented the pigtailed boy as he turned to look at her  
again. "I think whoever pulled Keiichi out of our grip is there.  
That power I felt could be those goddesses. Go, if I'm right kill  
Keiichi, take down whoever stole him from out grip. Do not fight  
the goddesses. The whole point of killing him is to get them out  
of our way. Don't give the other two a reason to hang around when  
we've finished."  
  
Chibi Usa growled.  
  
"Go!" snapped Ranma angrily.  
  
The girl gave him a final glance and flew off in the  
direction he had pointed out.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Usagi Tsukino grit her teeth as she pitched back and rolled  
in her X-wing. Two of the Ties following her managed to duplicate  
the maneuver and shot after her at high speed. She blasted  
through the remains of Minako's starship with an angry looking  
frown on her face. "I can't shake them!"  
  
"Hold on Tsukino," said a deadly calm voice from her com.  
"I'm coming towards you from the left."  
  
Laser blast exploded all around her as she struggled and  
weaved through the void. Her entire left side was nothing more  
than the dull gray metal of the Star Destroyer's hull. "No! I  
don't wanna die!" cried the girl as she jerked back again. This  
time she flipped over in mid flight, finding herself pointing  
directly at the two fighters that had been chasing her. "Get out  
of my way!" She fired her lasers almost reflexively. The next  
thing she knew there was nothing but the bright orange of the  
explosion surrounding her cockpit, then the sea of stars on the  
other side once again. "I made it!" she cried in triumph.  
  
"Tsukino," said Ami's monotone voice. "One has survived."  
  
The blonde screeched in surprise as another starship screamed  
over the top of her own, no more than a foot of distance between  
them. Ami destroyed the stray fighter in a hail of laser fire and  
the pair was clear for a few seconds.  
  
"Thanks Mizuno," muttered Usagi as she tried to catch her  
breath from the surprise.  
  
"Pay attention. Another wave is approaching," was the only  
reply.  
  
"Kino, why is that deflector shield still up?" said Nabiki's  
voice from the com.  
  
"They are taking too long," said Ami.  
  
"You worry about those fighters, I'll worry about the  
shields!" was Makoto's irritated reply. "There's a lot of guns on  
the surface, I can't get a clean run. We're handling it."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
One of the X-wing fighters went barreling through the hail of  
lasers as it charged forward. Rei screamed as she fired  
repeatedly at the gun emplacements. Occasionally, a small  
explosion could be seen in her wake, and the fire died down just  
a little. "Kino! I don't know how much longer I can do this!" she  
screamed as she evaded more fire skillfully.  
  
"I'm on it!" cried the girl as her fighter blasted by Rei on  
her left side. "I'm making my run. Cover me!"  
  
Rei nodded slowly and pulled up behind her. The pair shot  
directly towards the large dome deflectors on the top of the  
battleship. Fire surrounded them, but the emplacements that were  
left were not designed to cover that area of the battle cruiser.  
The dome exploded in a spectacular ball of flames.  
  
"Got it!" cried Makoto triumphantly. One of the lasers tore  
through her ship and she was gone in another smaller explosion.  
  
"No! Makoto!" cried Rei. "Damn it!" She steeled herself and  
frowned. "There's one more left, I'm going for it."  
  
"You won't last without cover!" snapped Nabiki angrily. "Fall  
back! I'm sending Ami to support you!"  
  
"Too late!" cried the girl as she shot across the surface of  
the Star Destroyer. No more than five feet above the surface she  
blasted ahead at full throttle. The ship rocked as the tail came  
into contact with the surface as she pulled up hard.  
"YAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"  
  
"What the hell are you doing?!" cried Nabiki angrily as her  
ship passed over Hino's ship.  
  
"I won't fail!" Her lasers came to life; the second dome of  
the ship blew into thousands of pieces as the girl blasted  
through it. Unfortunately, Rei's ship did not survive the  
explosion.  
  
"Damn!" growled Nabiki angrily. "Tsukino, Mizuno, regroup and  
prepare for final attack run. Their shields are down."  
  
The three ships pulled away from their positions, dodging  
dozens of Tie fighters as they moved a short distance away from  
the starship and formed up.  
  
"Tsukino, you have the lead. Mizuno and I will cover you,"  
said Nabiki.  
  
"Right," said the girl. Her voice wavered slightly and she  
swallowed. "Okay Usagi. You can do this!" Her gaze became hard  
and she stared forward.  
  
The trio shot forward towards the front of the Star Destroyer  
and into the swarm of Ties once again.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
The doors to the pods opened and six girls stepped out. A few  
of them where a little more pale than the others. Only Ami and  
Usagi were steady as they moved away from the training modules.  
  
"You are becoming more useful," commented Ami as she moved up  
beside Usagi.  
  
The girl blinked and looked at her for a moment. "What?"  
  
"Keep it up," said Ami as she continued to walk ahead of  
them.  
  
Nabiki watched the exchange from the rear of the group. She  
had a tired looking frown on her face, but it broke slightly at  
the sight of the scene. "So, you're gaining respect from them  
again."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Well, they're taking this rather well," commented Carrot as  
he watched the girls relax after training. The bunks they stayed  
in now were identical to the ones they had used in their previous  
training. He was watching them from a closed circuit television  
monitor.  
  
"It's not near as bad as it was the first time." Dan actually  
sounded a little disappointed as he said this.  
  
"Well, they are well trained now," said Ranma.  
  
Pissant merely grumbled uncomfortably. "Why do we still send  
them to hell though?"  
  
"Because I don't want them getting used to dying in those  
starships any more than I want them to get used to dying without  
them," was Carrot's reply.  
  
"Yeah, quit complaining," agreed Dan.  
  
Ranma sighed. "I think they're gonna take a shower again."  
  
"Good. More fun for us then!" said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"This time, don't use that scented lotion damn it," grumbled  
Dan. "I hate it when we smell like apples."  
  
"Wonder if Kino and Mizuno will wash each other's back  
again?" said Carrot cheerfully as he switched the camera to the  
shower room.  
  
"Man, being ten sucks," commented Ranma as he put a large  
bottle of lotion on the table.  
  
"None of that 'amaguriken' shit this time damn it. I wanna  
enjoy ourselves," said Carrot angrily.  
  
"This is wrong on so many levels," whimpered Pissant.  
  
"Well, we could hit up Washuu, but she'd have to be a little  
girl. It'd just be weird otherwise," said Carrot.  
  
The group thought about it for a moment.  
  
"Naaah."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stared at the mountain before him with a grin on his  
face. "Wonder who I'll meet with first?" He chuckled as he landed  
in front of the mountain and glanced around. The entrance was in  
front of him, unguarded. "Mount Phoenix? How quaint, I was  
expecting something a bit bigger."  
  
With an evil smirk on his face, he strolled inside.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks frowned as he waited patiently outside Joketzuko.  
Gohan's face was actually somewhat serious as they stood there in  
their super forms and watched the sky.  
  
"Here it comes," said Trunks calmly.  
  
The sky overhead began to grow dark, thunder rumbled in the  
distance.  
  
"Sounds like they're pissed," commented Gohan without much  
humor in his tone.  
  
The trio appeared above them just below the clouds. The two  
saiyans simply waited calmly as they descended.  
  
"It's not going to help our case that he's all beat up,"  
pointed out Gohan.  
  
"I know, just shut up will ya? I'm thinking," grumbled  
Trunks.  
  
Belldandy was the first to land. "Keiichi!" she called as she  
glanced around.  
  
Urd was the next to touch down. She looked around and frowned  
calmly. "I can sense him. He's nearby."  
  
Skuld landed on her face almost. "Ouch." She quickly managed  
to stand and frowned at her sisters. "Are you sure he's here?"  
  
"Yes. Once he called to us, I was able to break through  
whatever was hiding him from us," said Urd as she glanced down at  
the younger Goddess.  
  
"Um. Hi," said Gohan as he stepped towards the trio.  
  
The Goddesses noticed them all at once.  
  
"Who are you? Why did you take Keiichi away?!" snapped  
Belldandy angrily.  
  
"You're gonna let us explain first? Great!" said Gohan  
cheerfully.  
  
Trunks put his head into his hand. "Idiot."  
  
This caught all the goddesses off guard. They simply stared  
at them for a moment. That was when Belldandy noticed Keiichi  
sitting behind the pair. "Keiichi!" She rushed forward and shoved  
them aside as she put her arms around his neck. "Are you hurt?"  
  
"Um, kinda," said Gohan nervously. "That wasn't really our  
fault though..."  
  
The goddess simply looked up at him. Keiichi was crying tears  
of joy, surely he was free of his torment now. "I was so scared!"  
  
"What do you mean 'it wasn't our fault'?" growled Urd as an  
aura of power formed in her hands.  
  
"Wait! We had to take him! He would have died if we didn't!"  
cried Gohan as he put his hands up.  
  
"Explain," said Urd as she narrowed her eyes at the pair.  
Neither of them looked like they wanted to put up any resistance.  
It was kind of disappointing.  
  
"Um, we're from the future. We were kinda sent back in time  
to make sure some bad stuff doesn't happen. Keeping him alive was  
part of that," said Trunks.  
  
"Bull! I would have felt a temporal disturbance if..." Urd  
paused. "Wait a minute! There is a temporal disturbance!" She  
glared at the pair. "Well, back you go then!" She raised her  
hands into the air.  
  
The pair quickly moved into a defensive stance. "You'll  
regret it if you do it!" cried Trunks.  
  
"Can't have you here messing with time," reasoned Urd calmly  
as she continued to power up her spell. "This won't hurt a bit!"  
  
"If you get rid of us now, Keiichi will die! The whole planet  
will suffer!" growled Trunks.  
  
"Time travel? Must be a bug in the system," grumbled Skuld as  
she pulled out her debugger.  
  
Belldandy moved between the two pairs and frowned. She had  
her arms spread out wide and faced the two saiyans. "What do you  
mean Keiichi will die?"  
  
Both boys relaxed a bit and stared at her.  
  
"Should I?" asked Gohan.  
  
"No. I'll do it," replied Trunks. "In about a month, a large  
fleet of starships will come to Earth and wipe out most of the  
human population. If Keiichi dies, then you'll be gone too. That  
means you can't help us."  
  
"We can't help you anyway. We can't become involved with this  
sort of thing. There are rules against that."  
  
"You're right. You can't fight them, but you can protect,"  
said Trunks as he smiled at her. "Fighting is someone else's job.  
We were just sent back to make sure things go right in order to  
prevent the disaster. The one who will fight, is still on Jurai."  
  
"You mean him?" muttered Urd as she stared at the boys. "I  
get it now. That's what he's training the senshi for."  
  
"You didn't know?" muttered Gohan in surprise.  
  
"I knew, but things are starting to fall into place a little  
more now. I'll bet this is Pluto's doing."  
  
The saiyans blushed a little as they looked away.  
  
"Why is Keiichi so important?" muttered Belldandy as she  
looked at the boy. "And why is he all beat up?"  
  
It was Keiichi's turn to blush.  
  
"If Keiichi dies, you have to go back to heaven with him. His  
wish was for you to be with him always. That means even in death,  
you'll be with him."  
  
Belldandy gasped and her eyes went wide. "Oh!"  
  
"This whole mess is starting to make sense," muttered Urd as  
she looked thoughtful for a moment.  
  
"Maybe it is," said a new voice from above them.  
  
Gohan and Trunks immediately jumped back in surprise.  
  
Dark Lady floated overhead, a vicious smirk on her face as  
she glared down at the scene. "Well, look what I've found. A lost  
little boy, three goddesses, and two fighters who can't match my  
power even if they combined their strength."  
  
"I wouldn't bet on that," growled Trunks angrily.  
  
The woman floated down to the ground and smirked at them.  
"I've got to wonder, where two more Saiyans came from though. I  
thought there were only four of us left."  
  
The duo tightened up their stances and growled.  
  
"You weren't expecting me here, were you?" said the pink  
haired woman as she eyed them for a moment. "Thought you were  
safe in China?"  
  
"What's going on?" asked Belldandy as she watched the  
standoff.  
  
"Well, father will be very pleased to hear this, after he's  
finished with the Phoenix King."  
  
"Damn," growled Gohan. "They know where we are."  
  
"This isn't good," agreed Trunks.  
  
"Ha! How long did you expect to hide from us here? We should  
have realized where you had gone right away."  
  
"That won't do you any good," said Gohan as he steadied  
himself a little more. "We might not be able to beat you, but  
we're strong enough to escape. Even you can't fight three  
goddesses to get to Keiichi now."  
  
"Maybe not," agreed Chibi Usa as she watched the three women  
stand protectively around Keiichi. "He'll get what's coming to  
him soon enough." She frowned as she glared at him. "Father would  
be so irritated with me if I killed three goddesses anyway." She  
snorted and turned her back on them. "We'll meet again soon  
enough. You can have him until then."  
  
The two boys growled as she floated away lazily.  
  
"This could be a problem," grumbled Urd.  
  
"You have no idea," snorted Trunks as he turned to look at  
her.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma smiled at the group of armed guards that stood around  
him. He was calm and collected while the birdmen stood around him  
with spears and pikes held at the ready.  
  
"You should not have come here," growled one of the guards  
coldly.  
  
"Please, I don't have time to play with such weak beings.  
Tell me, where is the Emperor Saffron? I need to speak with him."  
  
  
"What would you know about Saffron?" growled one of the  
winged guards irritably.  
  
"I know where Jusendo is, and how to get inside," replied  
Ranma simply. "Now, move out of my way."  
  
The guards did not budge, confusion was clear on their  
features.  
  
"Do you want me to spell it out for you?" snorted Ranma as  
his patience grew thin.  
  
"Go speak with the chancellor," said the head guard to one of  
his soldiers. "Tell him what you have heard and return quickly."  
  
Ranma watched the man go and crossed his arms over his chest  
lazily. "I hate waiting."  
  
"What do you want here?" growled the lead guard angrily.  
  
"I want to revive Saffron," replied the boy as calmly as  
ever.  
  
"Why? Do you know what that means for your kind landling?"  
snorted the man in reply.  
  
"Yes. I know exactly what he means to my kind," replied Ranma  
darkly. "My reasons are my own. You shouldn't look a gift horse  
in the mouth."  
  
The guard snorted and sat back to await the arrival of his  
subordinate. "Watch him closely."  
  
There was a sound down the hallway. Ranma arched his eyebrow  
and frowned at the noise. "What?"  
  
"We're under attack!" cried a desperate looking guard who  
rushed down the hallway.  
  
Ranma snorted irritably. "Chibi-Usa."  
  
The guards that surrounded him moved closer and pointed their  
weapons at him once again. "You know who's doing this?"  
  
"Yes, she's my daughter, and a complete moron. We're supposed  
to get you as allies. What's she thinking?" He growled under his  
breath as he shoved the pair in front of him aside easily and  
strolled back into the mountain.  
  
About a minute later he came upon and odd scene. His daughter  
was standing over a pile of broken birdmen with a scowl on her  
face. "Lowborn pigs. Get out of my way." She dusted off her hands  
and turned around. The angry boy standing in front of her with a  
scowl on his face gave her pause and she froze.  
  
"We weren't supposed to attack them," said the boy coldly.  
"We need them, as allies for now."  
  
The woman bowed her head and growled as she was admonished.  
"But..."  
  
"If you've screwed this up, I'll take it out of your hide,"  
said the boy coldly. "Report."  
  
The woman glared at him as she spoke, her fingers flexed as  
she struggled to hold her temper. "I couldn't get to Morisato. He  
was with two more of our kind that I don't recognize. They  
weren't strong enough to beat me, but the three goddesses were  
there as well. I could not destroy him."  
  
The pigtailed boy nodded and frowned. "The goddesses have  
found him, that is not good. He will not be alone for some time  
then. A small crimp in our plans if nothing else. The goddesses  
cannot oppose us directly though, so it is not too much of a  
problem."  
  
Chibi-Usa nodded slowly and her frown deepened. "What of the  
other two?"  
  
Ranma smiled at her. "They'll have to be dealt with, but not  
before we find out who they are, and how they ended up here. We  
should be the last of our kind. What were their names? What did  
they look like?"  
  
Chibi Usa frowned at her father and snorted. "They were  
pathetically weak, I think they have only achieved their first  
transformation. One had short black hair and the other had brown  
shoulder length hair. They had the same build as you...well,  
perhaps larger. They seemed older than you as well."  
  
Ranma merely nodded. "This could be a problem."  
  
"Where did they come from? Do you know? Where there other  
survivors?" asked the woman as she noticed the guards standing  
behind her father. She smirked at them for a moment and looked  
back at him.  
  
"Probably the same place you came from, if only a little  
farther ahead. They need to be dealt with quickly. They will grow  
in power quickly if they are not destroyed. In a year or two,  
they will be quite a threat."  
  
Chibi-Usa growled a response out to that. It wasn't a very  
nice one, but Ranma ignored her and turned towards the guards.  
"Where is this chancellor?"  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks and Gohan found themselves standing in the middle of  
the village again with two more guests.  
  
Cologne stared at the two women who had come back with the  
group so hard that the two saiyans were beginning to think that  
her eyes might fall out of her head.  
  
"Goddesses you say?"  
  
"That's right," said Trunks calmly.  
  
"Are you certain?" muttered the old woman as she peered at  
them.  
  
"Pretty sure," replied Gohan with a shrug.  
  
"Um..." muttered Belldandy. "We aren't supposed to tell  
people about..."  
  
"It would have been hard to hide anyway," said Gohan as he  
glanced at her. "Some of these people can sense stuff like that."  
  
"Oh," mumbled Urd as she watched the women around her. They  
had a rather large crowd gathered around them by this point.  
  
"Well, I guess you three can stay at the temple with Keiichi.  
He has to be guarded at all times. They won't attack him if  
you're around," said Gohan as he glanced over to them. "They'll  
be watching for the opportunity though. Don't let your guard  
down."  
  
"Why not?" muttered Urd as she frowned at him.  
  
"Getting the gods pissed at you is one thing, giving them a  
reason to come after you is something else entirely," replied  
Trunks as he leveled his gaze on Belldandy.  
  
"I see," muttered the gentle goddess nervously.  
  
Trunks noticed that there were only two goddesses standing  
there at this point and blinked. "Um...where's Skuld?"  
  
There was a loud cracking sound from a fair distance behind  
them. Everyone turned to look in the direction it had come from.  
  
"Shit," muttered Trunks.  
  
"There goes the rest of our day," agreed Gohan with a heavy  
sigh.  
  
Skuld was standing over the prone form of one of the village  
girls. She looked to be about the same age as Skuld physically.  
The goddess was holding her debugger over her shoulder and had a  
rather satisfied looking smirk on her face. "Take that you  
bully!"  
  
Trunks covered his eyes with his hand.  
  
Gohan smiled at him cheerfully. "Should you say something, or  
should I?"  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma smiled at the old birdman that appeared before him. He  
was escorted by a large squad of guards and had a scowl on his  
face as he glared at them.  
  
"Hello, you must be the chancellor," said the boy as he  
nodded his head towards him.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"Saffron to return to full power, and an alliance," replied  
the boy calmly.  
  
The old man snorted at this. "Why?"  
  
"Because I will rule this planet," replied Ranma coldly. "Or  
I will destroy it."  
  
The old man narrowed his eyes at the pair in front of him.  
The woman had been silent so far and merely glared at him. "Kill  
them."  
  
Ranma just smiled. "Well, I suppose we'll just have to take  
Saffron by force then." The birdmen around him jumped back as the  
auras came to life around the pair.  
  
"Kill as few as possible, we need their numbers," instructed  
Ranma.  
  
Chibi-Usa just smiled.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Well, now what?"  
  
Washuu looked slightly annoyed at Trunks as he sat up from  
lying on the floor. He looked quite bored really.  
  
"Huh? What ya mean?" muttered the boy as he frowned at her.  
  
"We've run out of training programs for the girls," replied  
the woman with a shrug.  
  
Trunks stared at her, he didn't look like he was very sure  
what to do. "What do you mean we've run out?"  
  
"The Senshi have completed their training," replied the woman  
calmly. "There's nothing left for them to do."  
  
"Um, Star Wars?"  
  
"All one hundred and thirty seven campaigns completed."  
  
"Wing Commander?"  
  
"Done."  
  
"Um...Colony Wars?"  
  
"Last week," replied Washuu.  
  
"Decent?"  
  
"Finished in about three days," replied the woman as she  
looked at the chart in her hand.  
  
"Really?" said the boy dumbly.  
  
"Every program you've supplied has been completed," replied  
the woman as she shrugged again.  
  
Trunks scratched his head. "Um, how long will it take to  
create more?"  
  
"I can do a few more for them within a few days," replied the  
woman as she shrugged. "Using the parameters from the other  
programs, we should be able to work something out."  
  
Trunks nodded. "Load the program for the ships they'll be  
using once we leave and mix up the current training programs a  
bit."  
  
Washuu glanced at him. "What?"  
  
"The ships they'll be using when we go to war, the one's  
you've spent the last four years building," replied Trunks as he  
frowned at her. "They've had enough experience with the default  
ships. Just do some review stuff with the new system in place.  
That way they can get used to the control setup and abilities of  
their fighters."  
  
"I see, I was wondering why we hadn't been training them in  
those ships," responded the woman as she glanced down at the  
chart in her hands.  
  
Trunks shrugged. "Huh? That wouldn't have been much fun. This  
way they get experience with all sorts of styles and makes of  
starships. Never know when that might come in handy. Besides, I  
wanted them to get the basics down. Doing that sort of thing in  
the ships you built would be a little to easy for them."  
  
Washuu stared at him for a moment. "Ah. I see." She turned  
away. "It shouldn't be too hard to throw these ships into the  
training system. I suppose we could increase the difficulty as  
well."  
  
"Yeah, go ahead," replied the boy as he lay on his back  
again. "Wish I'd thought to bring Hotaru along. I wasn't  
expecting to have this much free time." With a heavy sigh he  
jumped to his feet and looked around. "Guess I should train some  
more." He walked over to a small console on the wall and began to  
tap a few of the buttons. Several moments later, large training  
weights appeared on his arms and legs. They were several thousand  
times heavier than they looked and he smiled as he felt his  
muscles strain under the weight. "This should work."  
  
"These are heavy," muttered Pissant.  
  
"So? That's the point, what are you complaining for?" snorted  
Ranma as he started to punch at the air.  
  
"I'm not, it's just that..." Pissant was somewhat uncertain  
for a moment.  
  
"Just spit it out!?" snapped Dan as they felt their body rise  
into the air.  
  
"What if we become too strong, and our muscles get really  
big?" said the whiny voice pathetically.  
  
"What?" said Carrot as they paused their exercise.  
  
"We could really hurt ourselves!" cried Pissant.  
  
"I'm going to kill him!" said Dan as he started to charge up  
a ki ball in his hand and pointed it at his head.  
  
"We'll die too," pointed out Ranma.  
  
"Pissant, let me ask you something. Why did you think we were  
doing this in the first place!?" snapped Carrot.  
  
"That's not what I meant! What if we're watching the senshi  
shower again, and we grab it too hard or pull something?!"  
  
"..."  
  
"Please let me kill him!" cried Dan.  
  
"Focus on the training idiots!" snapped Ranma as he began to  
push their body harder.  
  
"Ya know, as much as I hate to admit it, he's got a point.  
We're gonna have to be careful about stuff like that," said  
Carrot.  
  
Dan screamed in rage as the blasted them in the head. "Just  
die!"  
  
They fell to the ground and fell in a heap. The little boy's  
arms and legs moved at impossible speeds as he beat himself  
senseless.  
  
They paused and looked up as a shadow fell over them. Trunks  
looked up and saw Ami Mizuno staring at them with a blank  
expression on her face.  
  
"Um...Hi."  
  
Ami didn't react much at all. "I was going to ask you for  
instructions on today's activities. Washuu says that we will not  
be using the training module for the day."  
  
"Um, take today off?" said the embarrassed looking boy. He  
had a large black eye forming on his face and several bruises  
were becoming apparent.  
  
"Very well," replied the girl.  
  
"Where's Nabiki at?" asked Trunks as he sat up.  
  
"She is still speaking with Washuu about the future training  
schedule. I was sent in her stead to ask for further  
instruction."  
  
"Um, right." The boy nodded and stood up while dusting  
himself off. "Anything else you were wondering about?"  
  
"Yes. What smells like apples?" Ami glanced around in  
confusion.  
  
"It's nothing," replied the boy as he turned away from her.  
  
"Very well. I shall return and tell the others that we are  
released from duty until tomorrow."  
  
"You do that," said Trunks without looking at her.  
  
Ami turned away and started walking. She paused when she  
heard the boy muttering to himself for a moment.  
  
"I told you! Next time make sure it's unscented!"  
  
She decided that it was best that she did not know. She  
continued back to the group to deliver the instructions she'd  
been given.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma smiled darkly as he stood over the cowering boy. "Well,  
what have we here? A little boy, with no power to speak of."  
  
"Who are you? What do you want?" cried the boy fearfully as  
he backed against the wall. There was nothing he could do, his  
guards were defeated, and Kiima was lying on the ground out cold.  
Only the scary looking figure and the pink haired woman with a  
cruel looking grin on her face remained.  
  
"I am Ranma Saotome, and I have come to make you an offer  
that you cannot refuse," replied the boy with his grin growing  
harder somehow. "I will make you a man, and give you more power  
than even you can imagine."  
  
The boy stared at him with his jaw hanging down. "What?"  
  
"There is a price for my kindness boy. In return, you and  
your people will become my servants. Together, we can rule this  
planet, conquer the galaxy itself. Will you join me?"  
  
The pink haired woman growled angrily behind him, but didn't  
make a move to stop him.  
  
"You'll make me into a man?" he muttered dumbly.  
  
"That's just an expression. We're going to Jusendo, to awaken  
your real power. I know you begin to feel the desire even now,  
your body is already preparing for the transformation."  
  
The boy shied away from his hand and frowned. "What?"  
  
"You are beaten, it is useless to resist," said Ranma coldly.  
  
Saffron slid along the wall away from the pair as best he  
could. There was nowhere for him to go. "There is no escape.  
Don't make me destroy you. Saffron, you do not yet realize your  
importance. You have only begun to discover your power! Join me  
and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we  
can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy!"  
  
"I'll never join you!" cried the boy fearfully. His voice  
wavered as he shook with terror.  
  
"If you only knew the power of the dark side!"  
  
Chibi Usa smirked. She knew that her father had to omit a bit  
about this speech. It wasn't the first time she'd heard it from  
him.  
  
"Dark side?" said the boy in confusion. "When I'm grown up,  
I'll have all the power I need!"  
  
Ranma raised his palm and a ball of light formed between his  
fingers. He released the energy and Saffron cringed in terror.  
Slowly, the boy raised his head and looked up. In the wall of the  
mountain was a huge hole. The room he had been moved too when the  
attack started was in the center of the mountain. Saffron's eyes  
went wide as he realized he could see the sky outside at the end  
of the new tunnel.  
  
"Come with me. It is the only way," said Ranma as he offered  
his hand once again.  
  
Saffron looked down at his hands and turned towards the older  
boy. He growled to himself for a moment and reached out.  
  
"Take me to Jusendo."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Kuroi, I don't like this," said Tochi as she frowned at the  
boy sitting behind a large desk. They were in what appeared to be  
a darkened office.  
  
"Really?" asked the boy as he turned away from what he was  
doing to look at her.  
  
"These Phoenix people bother me," growled the woman.  
  
"I thought it was rather clever. Enslave an obscure race, and  
save us the trouble of gathering a large force of Youma for what  
we need."  
  
"They could turn on us," said Tochi as she frowned at him.  
  
"I doubt it. Ranma isn't stupid, he has plans to keep them in  
line," said the boy calmly. Transporting them will pose a bit of  
a problem, but it's not too bad. We've collected enough spare  
energy to manage."  
  
Tochi nodded. "Still, I'd feel more comfortable using our own  
forces."  
  
"I agree, but we do not have the time, nor the resources to  
deal with it at this point. Creating a force that large is bound  
to garner us unwanted attention as well."  
  
"Beryl?" asked the female Youma.  
  
"Metallia concerns me more," said the boy calmly. "Beryl is  
just an indirect way of telling her."  
  
"We can't reveal our plans too soon?" asked the woman as she  
nodded.  
  
"Yes, and this course of action is the safest way to  
accomplish that," said the boy as he turned back to the papers  
he'd been looking over.  
  
"I see. Very well then." She nodded and turned towards the  
doors.  
  
"Going somewhere?" asked Kuroi as he smirked at her.  
  
"I'm going to make sure things are going our way," she  
responded calmly.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma frowned as he flew with Saffron under his arm. He  
paused and floated in mid air for a moment. "Something..."  
  
"What is it?" snapped Chibi Usa impatiently.  
  
"Mother." Ranma frowned and narrowed his eyes as a dark cloud  
formed in front of him.  
  
Beryl floated with an angry looking frown on her face in  
front of the pair. She had just become visible to them and waited  
for them to approach.  
  
"Hold him," said Ranma as he handed Saffron to his daughter.  
  
The boy looked up at her nervously as she cradled him in her  
arms.  
  
"What are you going to do?" said Chibi Usa as she glared at  
him.  
  
"I'm going to go see what she wants," replied the boy calmly.  
He shot forward across the sky towards the dark woman.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"There you are," said Beryl as she noticed her son appear in  
front of her.  
  
"What do you want?" he asked calmly.  
  
"You dare treat me with such disrespect?" she snarled  
hatefully.  
  
"If you don't have anything useful to say..." started her  
son.  
  
"Insolent boy! I created you so that you'd help me! You've  
been playing around long enough! Come with me, we have a world  
to..."  
  
"Destroy? Conquer maybe? Please mother, I can handle that  
without your help."  
  
Beryl's jaw dropped. "What?"  
  
"I've been taking over the planet for months now, and getting  
ready for the battles to come for some time. You've been cooling  
your heels, gathering energy for whatever that thing is that you  
seem to like so much. All the while, I've been ignoring your  
foolish plots and concentrating on the big prize. Don't you feel  
foolish?"  
  
The woman growled angrily as dark power began to form around  
her. "What?"  
  
"Swearing your loyalty to something like that is foolish.  
She'll destroy you once your usefulness is over. I'm surprised  
she's put up with you as long as she has. From what I understand,  
the humans foiled your most recent plot. The police no less.  
Really mother, it shames me so to hear about things like that."  
  
"So. You will not help me?" growled Beryl angrily.  
  
"I'm doing what you've failed in," he replied simply. "To  
accept your help would be stupid. You've bungled your way through  
four generals, and your Youma Lords have stabbed you in the back.  
They're working with me, and we have no intention of conquering  
the planet, just to give it away to Metallia. She'll be dealt  
with soon enough."  
  
"Betrayer!" snarled Beryl hatefully.  
  
"Really mother! Who are you to talk?" said Ranma as his dark  
smile widened. "In any case, I may have found a use for you after  
all."  
  
"What?" snapped the woman as she stared at him.  
  
Ranma vanished from in front of her. "After all, we can't  
have you going back and telling Metallia about all this can we?"  
  
Her head snapped around just in time to see a fist close in  
on her face. "No!"  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
Saffron stood in the steaming pool and frowned at Ranma as he  
stood overhead. Beryl struggled in his grip, tightly bound and  
gagged. She growled angrily as he held her above the ground.  
  
"What's she for?" snorted Chibi Usa irritably. "You should  
have killed her by now!"  
  
"Saffron needs food to complete his transformation properly,"  
responded her father calmly. He looked down and noticed the  
threads beginning to form around the young boy in the pool. "Ah,  
here we go." With a casual toss the bound and gagged girl was  
thrown into the threads. The demigod quickly consumed her as he  
became encased in his egg. "Now, we need only wait."  
  
The pink haired woman nodded once and frowned. Beryl's  
muffled screams only lasted a few minutes, and her gag kept the  
noise down considerably. "You should have taken off the gag."  
  
Ranma nodded. "I know. I didn't think about it. Oh well, at  
least we got to watch."  
  
The pair sat back and waited quietly. Saffron would not  
emerge for several hours and they had a bit of time. After about  
ten minutes Ranma stood up.  
  
"Huh?" muttered his daughter.  
  
"Come on, we might as well get some training in while we're  
here."  
  
The girl nodded and followed him as he rose into the air. The  
mountain wall was easily blasted aside as the pair flew off into  
the air.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
Setsuna frowned as she stood on top of a smaller mountain  
near to where Saffron was being reborn. "It's almost time."  
  
Her daughter appeared at her side and nodded silently. "So  
now what?"  
  
"There is much to do. I fear I don't have much time left."  
  
Tsuki blinked at this. "Huh? What do you mean?"  
  
Setsuna smiled at her daughter. "You'll understand soon  
enough. No matter how long you live, there will always be things  
left unfinished, and regrets that you will not have time to  
correct." She placed her hand on the girl's head as she said  
this.  
  
"Mom, you're talkin funny."  
  
"Come, we must act. There is little we can do here, but there  
are allies we have not awakened yet."  
  
"The other Outer Senshi," said Tsuki as a realization became  
clear on her face.  
  
"Yes," said Setsuna with a small nod. "Come."  
  
"What good will they do us?" snorted Tsuki. "Why didn't we  
wake them up sooner? We could have used their help a long time  
ago!"  
  
"Us? Who said they would do us any good now?" replied her  
mother cryptically.  
  
Tsuki frowned at this and snorted. "Whatever. Can we just  
go?"  
  
Setsuna sighed lightly and opened the porthole. She stepped  
in without a word and her daughter followed.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: The Awakening! 


	92. Insertion 92

Insertion   
  
  
  
Episode 92  
  
The voyage home.  
  
The forces of light and darkness are in the final stages of preparation for the final battle.   
  
The evil Ranma awaits the awakening of Saffron with his daughter in Jusendo while the Phoenix people cower in the jungle below the mountain. His dark plans coming closer to completion as the Armada draws near.  
  
Trunks and Gohan lead the Men in Black out of Joketzuko. Keiichi has remained behind leaving the village under the protection of the Goddesses, and the Amazon women. The remains of the group move on, hoping to hide in the southwestern portion of the continent for a time.  
  
The true 'Ranma', who is currently using the name Trunks, has finished the Senshi's training and is preparing to leave Jurai and return to Earth. The Emperor, who is indebted to the boy and his friends for saving Jurai, has allowed three Juraian battle cruisers to accompany them. These ships will be under the command of Prince Tenchi, who's victory over Cerio resulted in a formal engagement with the Princess Ayeka. During this time, in a desperate attempt to ensure the boy's happiness would continue to suffer, Yosho and Trunks both came to an agreement between their families, engaging Ryoko to the unfortunate boy.   
  
The pair had a most excellent time when they sat the boy down alone with them and explained it all, in painful detail, with serious frowns on their faces. Neither one bothered to inform him that he could have more than one wife. The best part was doing it together and watching the boy's head whip back and forth as he stared at them both in helpless horror as they explained the heavy burden of honor the agreements both had attached to them.  
  
After all, when this mess was over they didn't want things to get boring did they?...  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks smirked as he slipped on his shades and adjusted his tie. The old uniform kind of felt good. He'd had one tailored for himself during their stay on Jurai. "I guess we should be leaving soon then?"  
  
Tenchi was sitting on a small pillow on the floor with his head hanging low. He had a horrified expression on his face. His grandfather was sitting sternly on his other side.  
  
"But, I can't...if I marry one of them...then..." The poor boy was at an absolute loss. "Wait!" He looked up at the two men with a frightened expression. "How am I supposed to do this?"  
  
"I dunno," replied Trunks with a small shrug as Yosho quietly dodged the question by standing behind the boy. "Kill one of em maybe?" Unlike Yosho, he could actually claim to not know about Juraian marriage customs later on.  
  
The boy just stared at him blankly. The kid smirked at him as he glanced over his shoulder. "How you figure this out is your problem." He turned away from the large mirror on the wall and turned towards the door. "You two should probably start packing. We'll be leaving in a few hours."  
  
"So soon?" said Yosho in surprise, it was more to keep the conversation going than anything else. He had to make sure the boy had enough time to forget about asking him anything.   
  
"Heh. I think I can handle that asshole no problem." The boy seemed to actually be drawing power from his own arrogance at the moment. The still youthful Juraian seemed a bit put off by that for a moment as he glanced at Tenchi. He was somewhat relieved to see the boy's face was doubtful.   
  
"I don't know about no problem. This was an awful lot of training for a single opponent."  
  
"Indeed it was," agreed Yosho calmly. "You'd best be ready for the storm ahead. This battle will be unlike any you've fought before my boy. To be in command of a force as powerful as a Juraian battle cruiser is no small task. I have watched your actions in the recent events, and I know you are ready."  
  
Tenchi sat in silence for a long moment. "Command?"  
  
"Yes," replied his Grandfather as he stood to his feet and held out his hand. "Come boy. We have a lot to discuss and little time."  
  
Tenchi nodded with a serious looking frown on his face. The pair walked out of the room and passed by Trunks in the hallway. The boy was leaning out a window with a cigarette in his fingers and watching the natural beauty it seemed.   
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Man. This is gonna be so cool!" said Carrot cheerfully. "We've got an army of anime heroes at our disposal. He's got two monsters and a few crummy Sailor Moon villains. Hotaru will probably keep Chibi Usa for herself and we won't really have to bother with it at all!"  
  
"I'm lookin forward to the space battle myself," said Dan as he puffed the cigarette. "Lots of explosions, high speed, countless enemies buzzing around us."  
  
"Well, Piloting is fun," agreed Ranma. "I think I'm gonna go with Carrot on this one. I just want to pound that guy's face in with my bare hands."  
  
"How could you be looking forward to this mess?!" cried Pissant.  
  
"Maybe we'll get laid again in the commotion?" muttered Carrot with a heavy sigh. "It's been quite a while."  
  
"Probably be a year or two before we get laid, we still got some serious growing to do before any babes will pay attention to us," said Dan as he shrugged.  
  
"Right," whined Carrot.  
  
"Hello," said a cheerful voice from beside him.   
  
Trunks jumped back in surprised shock as Washuu simply stood there leaning towards him with a huge grin on her face. "What?" he muttered after he got his cool back and put the cigarette between his lips again.  
  
"Smoking is bad for you," said the woman cheerfully.  
  
"So am I."  
  
"Oh. I see."  
  
"Did you want something, or are you just bothering me because you're bored?" He smirked at her and she slapped him across his face.  
  
"Now what?"   
  
"What's wrong with you all of a sudden?" grumbled the woman irritably.  
  
"I'm frustrated with my own age," he said simply. "Besides, sometimes I'm just cranky."  
  
"Hotaru says it's a bit more often than sometimes, but I've noticed that."  
  
"I suppose you would notice a lot of odd things about me," he replied with a small shrug.  
  
"Frustrated with your own age?" she asked him in confusion.  
  
"I'm used to looking a bit older than this. It's kind of annoying really. I've got to go through a lot of stupid things again."  
  
"Oh. I get it. First dates and all that?"  
  
"I don't think this body has even finished puberty yet."  
  
"Oh my," muttered the woman as she stared at him for a long moment.  
  
"I'm not really worried about it. I'm a saiyan, so it'll be relatively short and painless. It's just, I kind of miss certain things ya know?"  
  
"Actually, I know exactly what you mean. I'd offer to help, but I doubt you'd be able to perform for a year or two anyway."  
  
"Yeah. Thanks loads," he grumbled sourly.   
  
"I could accelerate your aging process a bit, sort of a kick in the pants, but it would still take a month or two to kick in. I'd need another week here as well."  
  
The boy simply chuckled. "No thanks. Maybe I'll take you up on that later, but for now I'll just wait it out. I want to beat his ass as a little kid."  
  
"Men," grumbled the scientist as she rolled her eyes and turned away from him.   
  
The boy just grunted at her with a smirk on his face.  
  
Washuu simply shrugged and walked away. There were still things she didn't understand in the universe, and that boy was one of them.   
  
Trunks simply hung limply over the edge of the window and stared down at the ground far below him. "This sucks. Why do we have to be so damn prideful? We'd have an advantage if we did it. Well, I don't care about our image all right?"  
  
"Um, who are you talking to sir?" Minako walked up behind the boy but he didn't bother to move.   
  
"I'm talking to myself because I'm in a bad mood."  
  
"Oh." She seemed even more confused and stepped back slightly. "Why?"  
  
"Because I need to get laid. If you aren't going to help me with that then please go away." The boy had yet to budge and Minako blushed as she stared at him in disbelief. He couldn't have been older than eight by the look of him.  
  
"I need our departure time. I'm coordinating our schedule."   
  
Carrot finally glanced over his shoulder and noticed she was holding a clipboard. "Jeezus. What the hell did I do to them?" he grumbled as he went back to hanging. "Whenever you finish packing. How's that?"  
  
"Make that this evening. The Emperor wishes to invite the senshi, and their friends to another formal gathering this evening."  
  
"Blow it out your..." snarled Trunks as he whirled around to growl at the offender. He backed off considerably when he realized it was Azusa himself. "Oh. Hi. We kind of need to leave soon. Our planet is quite possibly demolished already. It'd be nice if we could manage to salvage what's left. Ranma Saotome is more than enough to do it before the starships arrive."  
  
The senshi glanced around at each other for a moment. All of them had serious frowns on their faces.   
  
Azusa merely nodded. "Yes. I know. This is a very important party. I'd like to introduce you to a few people actually. Those familiar with rebuilding a planet should the need arise. If it is destroyed, I imagine you'd die anyway. Should you be victorious, connections like these could lessen the blow considerably. I have gathered that what you face at home is even more powerful than what you faced here."  
  
The boy only nodded once.   
  
"I'm also giving you a bit of a leg up. Though you do not yet have control of your planet. I imagine it will be a relatively simple matter for you when it ends, should you win. In any case, the Juraian government recognizes the planet as under the rule of the Senshi. You have the full support of the nation, and it's allies I assure you."  
  
"I wouldn't place any bets on that, but it sounds like it just might be worth our time," said Nabiki as she walked up behind the pair. "I was wondering what was taking you so long."  
  
"Sorry Ma'am," replied Minako nervously as she handed the clipboard over.   
  
"Great. You all owe me again for this one," growled Trunks as he glared at Nabiki and Minako.   
  
Nabiki just smirked. "I know."  
  
"This had better be everything you say it is, or a reasonable facsimile.  
  
I'm already sure you're lying."  
  
The man shrugged his shoulders. "The Kingdom ruled by Serenity was powerful and a great ally. We owe a lot to her people."  
  
"Yeah. So this is a political thing for us, because we saved your collective asses?"  
  
"If you wish to look at it that way. I prefer to think of it as extending our friendly relations to the next ten thousand years."  
  
"It doesn't hurt that it's the home planet of the boy who might someday become emperor himself."  
  
"What?!" snarled Azusa as he flared his nostrils and stood up firmly.  
  
"Don't give me that. You knew Tenchi would cream Cerio. Don't play dumb with me old man."  
  
"It's polite to ignore it," commented Nabiki.  
  
"I'm a real nice guy really, but I'm not polite."  
  
"I'd noticed that," growled Azusa as he adjusted his garments and calmed considerably.   
  
Trunks grinned at him and wagged his tail. "I'm right aren't I?"  
  
The Emperor merely turned away and walked off.  
  
"Aw, spoilsport."  
  
"You are the only person I know with enough balls to tease an Emperor," said Nabiki as she arched her eyebrow at him and turned away. Minako followed behind her to what was probably a meeting.  
  
One of the things that annoyed Carrot the most was organization. He hated people who were too organized. He didn't even really know why, he just did.   
  
"This is really starting to piss me off. We need to find some action so they'll stop being so West Point. A little wear and tear does a soldier a lot of good."  
  
"He's got a point. They're still green," agreed Dan.   
  
"Green? Are you insane?" cried Pissant. "After all we did to them you think they're still green?!"  
  
"Well, Ami isn't..." agreed Carrot begrudgingly. "After torturing someone to death and carrying out a few executions I'm sure she's pretty much as changed as she's going to be. I don't recall any of the others actually killing anyone yet though.""  
  
Dan merely growled as he made them look towards the sunset dramatically. "At the moment they realize that all of it was real, it will all change again. We need something to wake them up before we get there."  
  
"Great. How 'bout we ask Washuu?" said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Ranma. "Besides, I'm starting to rethink this whole going back as a kid thing."  
  
"Quit being such a wimp," grumbled Carrot.   
  
"I think this is a bad idea," muttered Pissant.  
  
"Yes, we know. That's why no one asked you," replied Carrot.  
  
"Jerk," grumbled the voice pathetically.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Dan. "Still, he's got a point."  
  
"Thanks... Hey!"   
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma smiled as the flaming wings blasted out of the sides of the mountain. Chibi Usa looked surprised as their foothold crumbled beneath them. Her father simply floated where he had always been and stared at the creature that climbed out of the mountain. It was mostly human in appearance, save for the clawed appendages and gigantic wings.   
  
"He's more powerful than predicted," grumbled Chibi Usa.  
  
"Yes I know," replied her father calmly. He uncrossed his arms and floated forward.   
  
Saffron was glaring at him angrily as he hovered just outside the wall of flame that made up the giant bird that was still surrounding him.   
  
"Hello, Saffron."  
  
"You'll suffer for what you did," growled the god angrily.  
  
"I think not. I doubt I'll even need to transform to beat you."  
  
"You're a fool then," chuckled the phoenix.   
  
"Quit playing with him. Just transform and be done with it." Chibi Usa appeared behind her father with her back against his.   
  
"Stay out of my way," said her father coldly. She vanished and left the pair alone. "Don't go too far though. I want you here when I'm finished."  
  
Saffron ignored her. As arrogant as she seemed, it would be child's play to lure her out later on. "You still think you can win? Don't you even realize what you're dealing with?"  
  
"Yes. Someone I can cause an infinite amount of pain. I'll show you that immortality is a curse if you cross me Saffron. I'm sure that once I give you a good enough beating you'll step in line."  
  
The phoenix blasted back and pushed both his palms forward. A massive ball of flames about the size of a home erupted at the thing floating in front of him.  
  
Ranma merely smiled as he backhanded the projectile into the top of a nearby mountaintop. It exploded in a spectacular display that took nearly a third of the mountain off the top. "Pathetic. I was hoping for better."  
  
Saffron was merely staring at him in shock. "What?"  
  
"Don't you get it yet? You don't have enough power to even scratch me."  
  
The god was enraged. "I'll show you power!" The giant flaming bird that surrounded him cried out, as its skin seemed to burst to life. Saffron himself could barely be seen within the creature as it flared a thousand times hotter than before.   
  
Ranma merely floated back a few feet and grinned. "It's an improvement, a small one, but I suppose I can't be picky. It's not like there are a lot of easily captured and enslaved demigods on this worthless rock."  
  
The angry phoenix could stand no more. With a cry of rage that shook the earth itself he rushed forward and dove towards his opponent. The giant creature opened its beak and cried out as it tried to swallow him into the flames.  
  
Ranma merely put up his fist. The flames of the bird's head shattered and parted as they encountered an invisible shield. By the time the god realized what was happening, his face was planted in the man's fist.   
  
Ranma shook his hand off as he watched the creature stagger back under the force of the blow. "Hurts don't it?" He shook his head and put his hand on the thing's shoulder. "You see, you really can't win kid. I'm afraid it's time to just give up. I really don't want to hurt you, just enslave your people and force them to pilot the starships."  
  
"What?" muttered the god dumbly as he looked up at his opponent. He was still shaking off the last punch.   
  
"Face it. You're a bit of a puss, and I'll beat the shit out of you if you keep going. Might even beat you to death a few times. Just give up. Besides, even if you manage to drive me off. My starships will blast you and your people to atoms once they arrive anyway. You might live, but it will be awfully lonely after I've wiped all life on the planet out."  
  
"Monster!" growled the god as he rose to his feet and glared at him.  
  
"Heh. I'm so much more than that." An aura of gold surrounded the boy and his body almost doubled in size. He simply stared forward with his cold blue eyes and smiled.  
  
Saffron was on his knees as he stared at the beast before him in awe. "No."  
  
"I could destroy this entire planet in a single blast. Fortunately for you, I prefer to do things the fun way. I'll destroy this rock when I'm through playing with it."  
  
"I won't!" snapped the god as he punched Ranma in the face.   
  
The golden beast simply turned his head. His twisted leer never even twitched. "I'll just have to break you then."  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
"We've been by that bush," grumbled Trunks.  
  
"Quit saying that. We have not," replied Gohan as he frowned at his companion. Both of them were leading the hikers through the jungle. Akane and her friends were keeping up admirably just behind them.   
  
"You know, it's very scenic," commented Zoicite as he brushed a lizard off his shoulder casually.  
  
"I still think we'd be better off in a vehicle. There's got to be something we can get our hands on," grumbled Akane irritably.  
  
"I'm certainly not enjoying this trip," growled Jadeite.  
  
Nephrite merely snorted. "Genaku was cunning and brutish. I imagine his counterpart is no different. We're probably running right where he wants us."  
  
"He was honorable at least," commented Kunzite.  
  
"So now what?" said Akane as the two boys argued over a map just ahead of them. They had stopped and were pointing at various points.   
  
"What the hell is going on?" growled Kunzite as he glared at the pair angrily. "Have they gotten us lost?"  
  
"They made us dump the GPS stuff so we couldn't be tracked," said Akane as she turned towards Jadeite and frowned.  
  
"I know," he replied with a sigh.  
  
The girl adjusted the sleeves on her jacket. Climate control clothing was nice. They'd probably make a fortune when it was released on the market the next year, if they lived that long. "You two idiots had better not have gotten us lost." She was standing right between them when she said this. "Why am I standing in the middle of a jungle still? What on earth possessed you to bring us right to where he was going? I thought you were from the future!"  
  
"We are," replied Gohan with a confused looking frown.  
  
"Where are we?"  
  
"Here!" replied the boys in unison as they pointed at two different places on the map.  
  
"Give me that," she snarled as she snatched it from them. "We're going to have to climb and get a look at the terrain. If we want to figure out where we are I think." They were in a valley with mountains on either side of them and couldn't see very far in any direction. She glared at them over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes. "I don't like this at all. Anyone could surprise us in this place."  
  
"What's up?" asked Zoicite as he jogged towards her. The others followed quickly behind her.  
  
"We need to get a look around the area. I don't think these two idiots knows how to read one of these maps."  
  
"And you do?" asked Jadeite.  
  
"No. You guys do though, right?"  
  
"Yes. All of us can," said Kunzite with a small shrug. "We were generals after all."  
  
"Maps were different back then though. I've had to work with a few of these while we were working for Beryl though," said Zoicite as he stepped ahead of the others and held out his hand.  
  
"Good," she replied as she handed it over. "I'm going to go and sit down while you take care of this then."  
  
The men looked at the map in their hands and folded it open. It was large enough that they could all see it easily. He turned his head and narrowed his eyes at the boys. "This map doesn't cover a very wide area. It reads more like directions. Our path is marked clearly. It ends..."  
  
"It's the one we were given. Sorry." Trunks shrugged his shoulders and placed the folded up map back into his shirt. "I figure they'd know where we were going." He smirked at the looks on the men's faces as he turned down the path again. It had taken them a moment to realize it was gone. "Sorry about that, but I'm afraid I can't let you have this map again." He shifted his eyes towards Gohan. "You should be more careful."  
  
"I didn't see you standing up to her about this," replied the boy as he started off again. "It's this way. I know where I'm going, you're just being paranoid."  
  
"Did you see where it stopped?" asked Akane as she moved back with her group. They hung back considerably."  
  
"A place called Jusendo. It was easy to spot because it was written in by hand. It's very close to Jusenkyo," replied Jadeite calmly. "It looks like a long route as well. We shouldn't need to look around. I think they were just humoring your impatience by handing it over. They both know where they're going."  
  
"Gohan knows anyway, I'm not sure about the other one. He seems to think we're lost." Nephrite glanced at the two saiyans. They were waiting patiently for the others to start walking again.  
  
"Well, at least we know where we're going in general. How long of a trip?"  
  
"Two weeks at most," said Jadeite. "Why haven't they started walking?"  
  
Akane blinked. The two boys were looking quite pleased with themselves as they discussed their surroundings. It now appeared that they both realized where they were exactly. "Something is up," she said to the others.  
  
"Huh?" was the general's unanimous reply.  
  
"We made better time than I'd thought," said Gohan as he walked up behind the men with a wide grin on his face. "We're here already. I wasn't expecting to find it until tomorrow actually. That's why we were a little confused about where we were."  
  
"We've arrived?" said Zoicite as he glanced around. "Arrived where?"  
  
"You'd better be kidding," growled Akane as she rolled up her sleeves.  
  
"Not where we're standing. It's passed the next hill," said Trunks as he frowned seriously and smacked Gohan on the back of his head. "Quit stalling and let's get going. We've still got to set up camp before nightfall."  
  
The group walked over the small hill into even more dense foliage.   
  
"We're going to be staying here for a while. There's a town nearby where we can get food and fill our needs so to speak. For right now, we're going to lay low until help arrives." Gohan tossed his traveling pack to the ground and looked back at the group. He had just stepped out of the jungle and into what appeared to be a small field at first glance.  
  
"You have got to be kidding me," muttered Kunzite as he stepped out of the jungle and into the ruins of an ancient Chinese village.   
  
There were dozens of small huts centered on the remains of a much larger structure. At one point there was quite a few other buildings, but most of them were nothing but broken walls now.  
  
"What is this place?" asked Akane.  
  
"Dead," replied Kunzite as he kicked over the last remains of a small piece of wall. "This village has been abandoned."  
  
"That's right. We're going to hide out here until help arrives."  
  
"They'll track us down before then," replied Jadeite as he frowned at the pair.  
  
"Ranma won't come here," replied Gohan as he glanced back at them as he started taking things out of his traveling pack. "Don't think we won't be busy though."  
  
"Why?" asked Akane as she looked around. "What's so special about this dump?"  
  
"Because he won't be able to track us. This is a dead zone."  
  
"What?" muttered the girl in confusion.  
  
The generals seemed to relax quite a bit more as they started unpacking their things. "Dead Zones are areas on a planet where energy signatures are contained. Unless he's inside the field he won't be able to find us. It's a good place to hide, but nothing lives long inside the field."  
  
"So it isn't safe?" muttered the girl fearfully.  
  
"Sure it is. It's a natural phenomenon. Nothing grows well in these areas because energy doesn't go in or out. Most of the animals and people just leave for more fertile land. Otherwise they starve. A small village like this one can do just that without too much trouble."  
  
"We're just inside the edge of one. There's a village about ten miles away where we can get supplies. It's probably the relatives of the people who lived here," said Trunks as he walked up to them. "It extends about a hundred miles to the west through this valley." He pointed and the group turned to face it. Nothing but dead trees and dirt could be seen on the other side of the clearing.   
  
"My god," muttered Akane as she stared at it.  
  
"Impressive isn't it?" said Zoicite as he chuckled. "A desert in the middle of a jungle."  
  
"It doesn't look natural," grumbled the girl a little sourly.  
  
"The universe is full of strange things," replied Jadeite as he sat down on a rock and relaxed for a moment.   
  
Kunzite patted his shoulder and motioned for him to stand. "Come on. We can look at the scenery after we set up camp."  
  
"Pick a hut," said Gohan as he walked into one of the more intact structures.   
  
"I have a feeling this isn't going to be a very interesting wait."  
  
"It'll be a chance to learn more about our two new friends," said Akane as she nodded towards the two Saiyans. "There's an awful lot they haven't explained to us."  
  
"Given time I imagine they'll slip up a bit. If we combine our efforts, we may piece together something useful without having either of them realize it," said Kunzite calmly.  
  
"Apparently we've got nothing but time," said Jadeite as he finally walked into the abandoned village.  
  
"Wonder how long this place has been abandoned?" commented Akane as she followed the rest of the group as they followed their companion's example.   
  
"Probably a hundred years or so," replied Zoicite as he turned his head to look at her. "If you really want to know the exact date you'll have to wait until we get our equipment back." All of them were armed, the boat they had taken to China was meant to function as a moving miniature base of operations. They were forced to abandon it once they hit land. Ranma knew about the boat. It had to be scuttled once they reached their destination to try and keep him from using the guidance systems inside to find them. All of the on board electronics were destroyed by them before that. They carried a lot of firepower in the black backpacks hanging from their shoulders even though it looked as if they were carrying nothing more than side arms with another rifle style weapon strapped to the side of the pack.  
  
The girl sighed as she looked up at a hut that looked like it would suit her needs. "I don't even know why I believe them at all." She did though, and the confusion it caused was frustrating. She eyed a particular slab of wall near to where she was. At least she had something to take out her frustrations on later.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Look at them, aren't they beautiful," Kuroi stood up from his chair and looked at the massive screen in front of him. The starships were floating far, far away still, but they grew ever closer to him. "Soon they'll be ours."  
  
"Yes," agreed Tochi as she smiled down at him as she stepped up behind him. "What of Ranma's progress?"  
  
"I do not trust these phoenix people he speaks of." The boy didn't look much like it bothered him either. "Be watchful. They will not be commanding the starships, but if they turn on us they will be troublesome. How many are there anyway?"  
  
"Around nine hundred."  
  
"Half of them will be in fighters," added the boy calmly. "I don't like this. Youma are too costly to manufacture, we'll only have a few hundred by then. Keeping them in command positions is our only option. All those successful energy gathering operations of yours are paying off now though."  
  
"We have little choice," replied Tochi as she brushed her golden locks out of her face and continued to stare into the monitor. "Besides, once we destroy the senshi and that boy."  
  
"Don't forget, our man may still lose. I have a feeling that the other one isn't just sitting around up there. He's training as well."  
  
"That's why you haven't stopped our friend?" she asked coyly.   
  
"Yes. I may regret it before this is over."  
  
"I have a feeling he won't be much trouble for us," she said calmly.  
  
"He's not trustworthy."  
  
"He is strong though, the perfect stock for our race to become even stronger."  
  
The boy chuckled. "Oh. I see. Don't get your hopes up. If he's weak enough when the battle is over, I intend to kill him myself, regardless of who wins. If it's too much trouble to bother with at the time I'll allow you to keep him for a little while before we dispose of him."  
  
The woman frowned at him. "Well. I hope the battle goes well then."  
  
"It should pose no problem," replied the child calmly.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma had Saffron by his throat. The birdman was making gurgling noises through his shattered neck as his eyes bulged and stared forward in terror. "Really Saffron. I expected much more. You're not really a god you know, just a pathetic excuse for an immortal. If you were a god I'd probably have half of heaven storming this place by this point."  
  
The god's arms flailed to life again as the nerve connections reestablished themselves. He gripped at the thing's arms even though doing so caused blisters to appear on his fingers and hands.   
  
"Do you think they heard you down below when you begged me for mercy, pleaded for me to finally kill you? I have good news boy, your suffering is over, for now." He tossed the body on the ground in a heap after he broke his neck yet again. "You're getting low on power. I don't think you'll be able to keep reviving yourself any longer. Tell your people, I am their new god."  
  
Saffron was barely able to breathe. He simply wheezed on the ground in a broken heap that slowly started to reform itself. His eyes gave everything away. He simply had no fight left in him.   
  
"Good boy," said the saiyan as he turned his eyes towards his approaching daughter.  
  
"I see you over did it."  
  
"It will take him longer to forget this way. If he remains alive he'll grow stronger and start thinking he can take me. I'll probably have to remind him this way periodically actually. If it becomes too much trouble I'll just destroy him. Any who resist his command to surrender are to be executed immediately. Hunt them down and destroy them. Now go."  
  
She growled at him as she turned towards the two birdmen that she had forced to come with her. They were cowering in fear with their eyes locked on their former god.   
  
"You heard him. Follow his commands or die a horrible and painful death. Try to run away and I'll hunt you both down."  
  
The pair nodded and spread their wings. They rose into the air and quickly flapped away. The woman had captured them and dragged them both there forcibly when she'd found them cowering in the forest below.  
  
"Kuroi. I have them," said Ranma into his watch as he ignored her.   
  
The boy's calm voice replied from a small earpiece. "Excellent. Take them to their village and I'll have a team there shortly. They need to be trained."  
  
"I've got the list of jobs. I'll have them separated by the time you arrive."  
  
"How many do we have?"  
  
"My estimation is around nine hundred men."  
  
"What of women and children?"  
  
"That isn't wise. If we treat them too badly they'll fight much harder against us. Revolt would be bothersome at this point, best save that sort of thing for later, when they've outlived their usefulness. They need to be treated as well as we can treat them within our timeframe."  
  
"What?"  
  
"We're giving them galaxy class starships and fighters. You figure out the rest."  
  
"Heh. Point taken."  
  
"Once I get some information I'll find a way to make them a little more comfortable than they were under Saffron. If we play our cards right we'll get him with us instead of merely using him as a puppet to show off our power."  
  
"Explain," stated Kuroi.  
  
"Give them privileges over the humans. Make them think they are a ruling class. They'll help us keep them under control. Eventually they'll try to be rid of us, once they grow arrogant enough to think they might be stronger. I've given us a few years tonight at least I think."  
  
"Heh. I like this," said the boy calmly.   
  
"I thought you might," replied Ranma coldly. "I've got business to attend."  
  
"I'm watching you."  
  
"I know," he replied as he looked up at the sky and grinned.  
  
"Those two cowards should have found their friends by now," said Chibi Usa as she walked up behind her father and smirked.   
  
"Go with them to spread the spirit so they get the point. Don't kill any if you don't have too. We need them alive, and in relatively good condition. We're about to turn all of them into a ruling class."  
  
"What for?" snorted the woman irritably.  
  
"Having numbers is always a plus," he replied calmly. "If we treat them correctly, we'll have their loyalty. Fear is strong for motivation, but for loyalty you must satisfy their most basic desires."  
  
The woman frowned as she glared at him. "What? We have to feed them?"  
  
"Fool. How can someone so stupid really be my daughter?" he grumbled to himself. "I said desires, not needs. Give them power over something that's too pathetic for you to notice. Rule them firmly, but let them play all they want with the humans. They'll keep the population that remains after this well under control. After all, everyone desires power. We rule them, and through them the planet."  
  
"A noble class?"  
  
"Now you're getting the point."  
  
"How quaint," she growled as she glared at the jungle below them.   
  
"Nice is for another day though. Today we show them what suffering is, and then we'll forgive them for having such a weak god and allow them to follow us. I don't want a single one to escape alive. I also want enough left of any you have too kill so they can be identified by the others and counted. I'd like to have the exact number when I see you again." Deep down inside him, he felt a little proud of the grin he received in reply to that as she floated into the sky. "Too bad she's so stupid."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks wasn't really in all that good a mood. He'd gotten suckered into the party he was sitting at. He didn't need connections with Sailor Moon around. She could fix all the stupid damage to the planet anyway. He knew that of course, but Azusa seemed to want the girls to meet some of his friends for some reason.   
  
There were quite a few familiar faces in the crowd, as well as a few he hadn't seen before. It was quite crowded in the ballroom and he simply floated above the mess in a corner. He was casually gazing through the faces and keeping an eye on things in general. Mostly because he was so bored.   
  
The Senshi were actually hanging around with Azusa and talking with some of the dignitaries from the planet. He was introducing them to various people by calling them over and letting the girls watch whoever it was kiss his ass. Nabiki wasn't with them though, and that struck him as odd. She was standing off in a shady looking corner and appeared to be doing the same thing he was really.  
  
Tenchi was stuck between Ryoko and Ayeka. The pair was not speaking to each other and glared at each other angrily despite the boy between them. Trunks grinned at him and waved. The boy hung his head down even lower.   
  
"He'll get over it," said Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"I'm kinda feelin sorry for him," said Ranma nervously.   
  
"Do you want to go over there and tell Ryoko that she's not engaged to him anymore?" queried Dan.   
  
"NO!" was the original occupant's immediate reply.  
  
"Too late to do anything about it. Might as well enjoy the show," said Carrot as he turned their attention towards the Senshi again. Nabiki wasn't with them, which struck him as odd.   
  
His grin widened as he realized who she was speaking with. She was standing in one of the more shady corners. People the Emperor would rather no one knew about. People who had grown powerful and rich enough to warrant invitations too attend important parties.   
  
"Underground connections. Hope she can handle it," commented Dan.  
  
"I think she can. If not, we're around," replied Carrot. "If you want useful information at a school you ask the bad kids. Might cost you a bit and you can't always trust them. I imagine she sees this as the same thing."  
  
"The senshi won't stand for turning a blind eye towards that kind of people," pointed out Ranma.  
  
"I think she knows that," replied Carrot calmly. "She's either going to talk with them about under the table type deals, or threaten them."  
  
"Wonder which it'll be?" asked Ranma.  
  
Nabiki pulled a blaster from her side and jumped out of the corner leaving two dead Juraians in her wake. She smiled calmly as she twirled the weapon around her finger and placed it back inside its holster. The crowd had stopped and she was the focus of attention. None of the guards had moved and she simply held up a small cube as she stepped up to the emperor and handed it too him.   
  
He accepted it and smiled at her. "I take it my suspicions were true?"  
  
"Ten million credits for an Emperor? The emperor of Jurai no less, cheap bastards," replied Nabiki. She was already surrounded by the senshi once again.  
  
Azusa merely nodded his head towards the doors and two guards merely nodded and stepped outside. "I thank you for your assistance in this unpleasant matter."  
  
The group of girls merely nodded and turned to look at the shocked crowd.   
  
Azusa cleared his throat. "Ah, Prime Minister. Come and meet our new friends."  
  
An elderly Juraian dressed in a rather colorful looking set of robes swallowed hard and walked forward.   
  
Trunks snorted. "That jerk. I bet he set this whole thing up just so we'd do that for him."  
  
"Actually, your friend discovered evidence of it earlier today."  
  
The boy turned upside down and floated just next to Funaho's head. She was standing just below him and smiling cheerfully. "I've never seen him take a liking to anyone so quickly. I'm quite surprised in you."  
  
"Guess we just grow on people like fungus or something," he replied as he continued to watch the crowd beside her. "Who was it? Mercury?"  
  
"Actually I believe it was Saturn."  
  
"Hotaru? You're lucky she didn't take out a few buildings trying to stop it herself."  
  
"I beg your pardon, but I do have some tact. Unlike certain unnamed little boys." The girl frowned up at him with her hands on her hips. She was dressed in a purple gown and had even gone so far as to put on a little makeup.  
  
"Hey Hotaru," he said as he waved at her. "You've been busy today?"  
  
"Not really. I stumbled across these idiots plotting something in a hallway. They asked me if we were mercenaries for hire. They aren't here. The messes are just representatives sent by them to speak with our leader. I informed him she was the one I took orders from."  
  
"Oh. I get it," grumbled Trunks. "Stupid criminals are common throughout the universe I suppose." He noted that both bodies were being carried out of the room and any fluids were being cleaned up professionally. Within two minutes the area was full of partygoers once again.   
  
"Cerio isn't happy with Tenchi I see," said Hotaru.  
  
The noble was standing against the wall near to where the prince was sitting. He had a deep frown on his face and was dressed in what looked like a powder blue jumpsuit. There was a short cape and the pants appeared to be bell-bottoms.  
  
"What the hell is wrong with that guy?"  
  
"He did lose a lot of credibility, not to mention..." started Hotaru.  
  
"No. I mean his clothes! Will you look at the guy?"  
  
"What's wrong with them?" asked Funaho.  
  
"He looks like a complete fag! I've know gay people who'd be ashamed to dress like that!"  
  
Funaho frowned at him slightly. "It's a cultural barrier I suppose. Here, such fashion is considered quite attractive."  
  
"I know that. It's just creepy that's all."  
  
Hotaru looked somewhat confused. "You think gay people are creepy?"  
  
"All right. That's a hole with no bottom that I'm not climbing into. I like gay people fine. I just don't understand it." He glared at both women and they seemed to shrug it off.  
  
"Since when are you so politically correct anyway? You've eaten people's internal organs with me before."  
  
Funaho's eyes went wide as she stared at the two children in shock. "What?"  
  
"That was thousands of years ago! Stop brining that up!" snapped the girl angrily.  
  
"All right fine. We really do have to leave tonight. We've got to find some kind of mess to get into to get a few practice runs with before we get to Earth."  
  
The girl frowned at him irritably. "I've got a few good possibilities plotted into our course. It'll add two weeks to our trip if we don't find anything. Several hostile races have planets under their control not to far from Earth."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
"My but you're a strange group of children," muttered Funaho.  
  
"Yeah. Tenchi's one of us too. Scary huh?" said the boy as he grinned at her. He raised his arms up and pretended to reach for her with a vacant look in his eyes. "One of us! One of us! One of us!"  
  
She giggled behind her hand and blushed slightly.   
  
Trunks finally flipped over and floated as if he was sitting on the floor. He put his hand up to his forehead and faltered for a moment in the air. "Whoa. Head rush."  
  
Hotaru merely sighed and looked away in shame. "My master is an idiot."  
  
"Cerio has been glaring at Tenchi for almost three hours now. What's with him?"  
  
"Tenchi's victory has changed the course of his carefully planned life."  
  
"I'm starting to think Tenchi might be the end of it," replied the boy calmly. "I'm still not sure if he's stupid enough to try and beat him again. Does he have a ship?"  
  
"His family commands a small fleet," replied the woman calmly.  
  
Trunks's eyes lit up and he turned to glance down at Hotaru. "Neat. You might not have to alter our course after all!"  
  
"What? Do you have any idea how long it took me to calculate all that and put it in the damn computer for that outdated piece of junk?"  
  
"Please! George might hear you!" cried Trunks as he picked up the man's head. He was on the ground long since passed out from drinking.   
  
"At least he's a quiet drunk," snorted Hotaru.   
  
"He's got to loosen up a bit. All this stress can't be good for him," said Trunks as he promptly let the man fall back to the floor.   
  
Funaho was a bit surprised. She hadn't even noticed that the boy was floating right over him. "Oh my. I'll have someone take him too his room." She waved to one of the guards and he rushed to her side and bent to his knees. "Take him to his room and make sure he is comfortable."  
  
"Take his clothes and burn them please. I've been trying to talk him out of that outfit for months now. I think he's gone a little crazy. Maybe getting rid of it while he's out will help? Oh, and if you don't mind, could you just drop him off at the ship? His things are already onboard. I don't think he used his room."  
  
"Crazy?" grumbled Hotaru. "Gee you think?"  
  
Trunks looked at Funaho again and grinned. "Only a little. He's harmless, really."  
  
"I don't recall ever seeing him before," commented the woman as she peered at him for a moment.  
  
"Had to get a six pack into him and drag him here. He's been on that stupid ship of his the whole time."  
  
"Oh. He pilots your ship?" she asked him.  
  
"Yeah. I'm gonna hand the keys over to him when this is over. It's his ship really, we're just sort of borrowing it."  
  
The woman wisely decided that it was best not to ask.  
  
Trunks turned his head towards Hotaru. "Why didn't you get Washuu to calculate our... Say, where is Washuu anyway?"  
  
Hotaru blushed and turned away from him. "She said not to bother her tonight. She wanted to go one more time."  
  
"Eew. I don't see Yosho around either."  
  
"He'd better show up to say goodbye to his mother," growled Funaho.   
  
Azusa glanced over at her and frowned slightly.  
  
"Sorry. I'm afraid I should be going now. I really shouldn't have been away from his side at all."  
  
"Too bad. I hate formalities, they just get in the way of everything interesting," replied trunks.  
  
"Possibly, but they too have their place in the world." With that said she left Hotaru and Trunks standing alone.  
  
"Wanna go find Yosho?" asked the boy.   
  
"Not really no. I think I'll get some sleep actually. I'll see you when you get to the ship."  
  
The boy nodded and continued to search the crowd as she walked away. "I guess it's up to me then."  
  
Trunks merely grinned as he noticed Cerio's little corner was growing interesting.   
  
An attractive young girl with long white hair draped across her shoulder walked up to him. She was a little younger than he was, but not by more than a year or so. Her clothing was a sort of pale blue dress that hugged her curves. She leaned against the wall and Trunks fiddled with his watch and pulled a wire out of the side that he placed inside his ear. He pointed his wrist at the scene and grinned.  
  
"Who is he?"  
  
"Some low life upstart from a backwater planet. I'll take care of him." Cerio frowned at her for a moment and looked back towards Tenchi again.  
  
"Brother dear, the thought maddens you doesn't it?"  
  
"Something I cannot have? My own destiny swept away by a commoner? No sister, the thought never crossed my mind."  
  
"He is of Prince Yosho's line. Hardly a commoner."  
  
"Who are you kidding? He's never even been to Jurai before."  
  
"I know. I'm finding him appealing. Ayeka is beyond my reach, but the other one. I think I can be rid of her, and maybe take her place at his side. The wife of an emperor."  
  
"You know I will give you that honor," replied Cerio coldly.  
  
"I believe that other boy has everyone questioning your sexual preferences, brother. Why would you want anything from me then? You want her for obvious reasons."  
  
Cerio growled angrily. "I shall make you pay for that." He hid his face behind his fan and stared her down from the other side. She copied his movement almost exactly.   
  
"You'll try. Really brother dear, you have no idea how long I've waited for an opportunity like this one. Soon, you'll be bowing to me."  
  
"I'm afraid I'm taking care of that this evening. Sorry sister, but your position remains unchanged." He then cackled rather girlishly and went back to glaring at Tenchi.  
  
Trunks lost interest in the conversation at that point. "Sounds fun. Tenchi's got his own version of the Kuno family now. Maybe we should get some of that drowned girl water for him when we get back?"  
  
"Real funny," grumbled Ranma irritably.   
  
"We'll file it away for later, in case things get too boring. We don't want to piss everyone off just before the big fight."  
  
"Weren't we going to look for someone?" asked Pissant.  
  
"We got plenty of time. This party will go for at least two more hours. We'll just head straight for the ship when it's over," replied Dan.  
  
"We should go soon though. I want to get everything loaded ahead of time. We can have the palace servants take care of it while we look for him," added Carrot.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"Hello mother." Yosho appeared to be standing alone in a darkened hallway. He was looking up at the moonlight in front of a window. Windows like it lined the wall giving the room its only light. He had been on his way to board his ship when he decided to stop and admire the moon for old time's sake.  
  
"My son," said Funaho as she stepped out of the shadows and into the light with him.   
  
"I hope the boy is ready for this."  
  
"I think he is more than ready. Which brings me to the point."  
  
The man stiffened up and turned to face the woman.  
  
"I hear you're living an awfully lonely life on that planet down there. Not even calling your mother on occasion."  
  
Yosho appeared to be petrified with terror. He was hoping to avoid this confrontation before he left.  
  
"Why you've been there for who knows how long and all you have to show for it is one measly grandson? I hope he fairs better with his wives than you did with yours."  
  
"What!?" cried the man in shock.  
  
"Haven't you mourned long enough? One grandson isn't enough."  
  
"Mother! I won't be..."  
  
"You have abandoned us Yosho, do not let the rest of our line do the same. You know I cannot bear another child."  
  
The man turned his gaze away from her and up to the moonlight. "I do not think I can break Tenchi's ties with Jurai, if he is to wed Ayeka."  
  
"And if something happens to him?" she replied coldly. "You know of the rift these outsiders have caused."  
  
"Yes. The fact that it is even there, after all they have done for Jurai, is exactly why I left. I feel I have doomed my Grandson to spend the rest of his life facing it in my stead."  
  
It was his mother's turn to look into the moonlight.  
  
"If there are any other children in my future, they will live as their people live."  
  
"So what's keeping you then?" she replied cheerfully.  
  
Yosho sighed heavily. "Mother...I don't want to talk about this right now."  
  
"When the hell are we going to talk about it then?" she snapped as her features hardened once again. "Don't even think about not calling me for this long ever again. I might decide to visit for a while if you don't call."  
  
The man paled. "A while?"  
  
"Find a girlfriend," she growled at him. "I don't care what you have to do. Stop sitting around pretending to be old! You'll die when you die, don't sit around and wait for it."  
  
"Wait a minute. How do you know about all this?" he muttered as he stared at the woman.   
  
"I had a little talk with Tenchi this morning. He was more than happy to talk with me, what with you telling him about his engagements and all. Really Yosho, you didn't tell him he would have to marry two women?"  
  
"You didn't..." he gasped.  
  
"No. Don't be silly. I had planned on keeping my eye on things for a while myself. I might decide to inform him though..."  
  
"My god. All parents are evil," said Yosho dumbly.   
  
"After all the shit you put me through when you were little? You're damn right!"  
  
"I guess you're right," replied the old man as he scratched the back of his head and grinned at her.  
  
She turned to look up at the moonlight for a moment and smirked. "Stop changing the subject. Why aren't you dating?"  
  
No answer came.  
  
She turned and looked at the empty hallway. A small vein popped out of her forehead.   
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"What?" Trunks had a large grin on his face as he hung by his shoulders from Yosho's desperate grip. The party was winding down and he was trying to find a place where he could horn in and get the girls to their ships without causing too much commotion. The senshi were pretty much attached to Azusa at the moment, everyone else was already boarded and ready to go.   
  
"We have to get out of here. Right now." The man had horrible fear in his eyes.  
  
  
  
"Sure. What's wrong?"  
  
"My mother," replied the man fearfully.  
  
Trunks looked over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of the glare the woman was giving the room as she quietly walked in the door on the opposite side of the room. "Right. Ladies! Time to go!"  
  
Azusa blinked as the girls calmly stepped away from his side. "Thank you for the party Your Highness, but we have to go now." Ami bowed and followed her companions towards Trunks.   
  
"What's going on here?"   
  
"Guards. I am not through speaking with my son," snapped Funaho as she pointed at Yosho.   
  
Azusa decided he would sit on his throne and watch the end of the party suddenly.  
  
"So that's how it is eh?" muttered Trunks as he watched this happen.  
  
"All right! We get to fight our way out!" said Trunks cheerfully. He glanced at the looks the senshi got on their faces as they immediately went into combat mode.   
  
"Try not to kill anyone. We're diplomats remember?" snapped Nabiki at the girls.  
  
"Are you insane? My mother is pissed!" snapped Yosho as he turned towards the doors and rushed out of the room.   
  
"I don't care about the others. Let them go, and bring me my son," snapped the woman as the glared at the guards.   
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"They're using the alarms for this?" muttered Trunks with a small frown as the hallways began flashing with red lights. Word was apparently already around the palace as a large group of guards stood in front of the group. There were about thirty of them and all of them looked ready to face them bravely.  
  
Yosho was the first one to charge them. He had another sword and hacked one of the guard's weapon in half. All of them were armed with wooden staffs.   
  
"Please," said Trunks as he spread his arms and walked just in front of the senshi. "Yosho, you can stop now."  
  
The man was still cutting his opponent's weapons in half and had not yet realized they were not resisting him any longer. All of the men were staring towards the bright multicolored light behind him. He hung his head and walked back towards them. "Can we just go? I'd rather not get caught."  
  
The senshi were standing just behind Trunks with a magically charged weapon in each of their hands. All of them were armed with two forty five-millimeter handguns except Rei. She had what appeared to be a giant flaming rocket launcher resting on her shoulder. The weapons were glowing with the color of each girl's power. Nabiki was standing beside them calmly with her arm raised in the air ready to order them to fire.  
  
"Put em away girls," said Trunks over his shoulder.  
  
"Show off," grumbled Minako.   
  
They all holstered their weapons and they strolled through the mass of stunned guards. Rei's weapon simply dissipated out of existence as she lowered her arms.  
  
A few moments they were jogging through the landing pad. The girls broke off from the group and headed for their fighters.   
  
Yosho and Carrot jogged on board the Mikon Taka where Hotaru was standing in the ramp waiting for them. "Nice of you guys to show up."  
  
"Call the others and tell them to take off now. Yosho has to get off planet as soon as possible."  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
"Ignore Juraian blockades and checkpoints. Take off." He turned her towards the cockpit and pushed her forward while he turned towards Yosho. "Once we get away from the palace we're home free."  
  
The man merely nodded and staggered after him into the ship.  
  
"Aren't three Juraian cruisers going with us?" asked Washuu as she popped her head into the conversation.   
  
"Ahhh! What the hell?" cried Trunks as he noticed her. He calmed immediately. "You're coming with us?"  
  
"All of the equipment for monitoring the starships has been fitted into this starship. I'm going to have to teach you how to use it."  
  
"This is George's ship. I'm giving it back when we're done?"  
  
The man glanced back at him from the cockpit and blinked. He was dressed in a blue jumpsuit of Juraian design. "Really?"  
  
"Yeah. It's the least I can do right? Besides, I've got other ways to get around planned for later." He grinned at her as she faltered for a moment.   
  
"Oh. I suppose I can remove it then."   
  
"Let him keep it. I'm sure you'll want to improve on this by then anyway."  
  
"You're right," she said cheerfully. "After all, I can run the entire ship from here. It's also got an advanced diagnostics program in it. Quite useful."  
  
George staggered back to the cockpit in a slight daze. Everyone but Carrot was glad they burned the outfit in the end. Carrot thought the look matched what was left of his sanity. Even if it was a little gross.  
  
"Wow, that's information that might be useful later," said Trunks to no one as he smiled. His teeth actually sparkled as he winked at no one in particular.   
  
"Come on. We're going to the cockpit." The boy waved his hand.  
  
"Who are you talking too?" asked Washuu.   
  
"Readers," replied the boy as he glanced at her.  
  
"What?" said the woman dumbly.  
  
"Can I talk to the readers?" asked George.  
  
Trunks laughed at him. "No. Don't be silly. Only me and Hotaru get to talk to the readers."  
  
"I am so not going there," said Hotaru as she frowned at him George was piloting the ship and the floor lurched slightly as it lifted off. Artificial gravity kicked in a moment later and they continued with what they were doing.  
  
He waved her off and continued towards the cockpit.   
  
Everyone was looking at Hotaru.  
  
"What? I don't know what the hell he was talking about okay?!" she snapped.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks found himself sitting next to George at the communications console just behind the pilot's seat. "Ladies. How are things going?"  
  
The lead fighter was jet black and had its wings loaded down with missiles of different makes and designs. The other five fighters were the same color as the uniform of the Senshi that piloted it. Sailor Moon's ship was colored military gray at her own request. They were hot rod looking monstrosities with shining colored chrome coats. The rear of each was fitted with massive engines with several jets. The noses ended in large dual barreled laser cannons. The weaponry on each ship varied under the wings. Everything from continuous fire lasers to light or medium sized missiles.   
  
"Neat," said Carrot cheerfully as he watched them pass by and take positions just in front of them.   
  
"I'm picking up a transmission," said Carrot. "Things check out over there girls?"  
  
"We're fine," said Nabiki calmly.   
  
"Takin the other call then," he said as he flipped the switch.   
  
"YOSHO!" screamed the angry voice on the other end.   
  
"Ouch," muttered the boy as he pulled the headphones off. "He ain't keen on talking right now lady."  
  
"Put him on."  
  
"Nah. I think I just won't bother to tell him you called. G'bye."  
  
"I'll charge you with kidnapping! Bring back my son! Don't make me come after you?"  
  
"Heh. What the hell crawled up your ass all of a sudden lady? I haven't known him very long, but I doubt if Azusa will bite. Your will versus the fate of a planet and screwing over the people who just saved yours? Besides, he's not dumb enough to attack us."  
  
"We shall see. I command a fleet of my own."  
  
"What the hell did you do to your mother?!" snapped Trunks into the passenger cabin angrily.  
  
"I didn't call for seven hundred years," he cried from his hiding place under the table.   
  
"Holy shit. She'll kill us all," said Trunks dumbly. "We gotta get out of here!"  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Saotome frowned as he glanced over his shoulder and found Tochi standing behind him. He was standing on a rooftop looking down at the wreckage of the village. Around twenty of the bird people had to be destroyed, before they took control of the village. Quite a few were seriously injured when they tried to run, and he had medical teams from his base flying in to care for them. He needed them in good condition. There was already a team setting up the training area just outside the village.  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's time. Come with me," she said simply as she turned away and floated into the air.  
  
He grinned darkly and floated up after her.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Four hours later Ranma was standing in a large room filled with glass tubes. Inside each one was a small crystal that were growing into what appeared to be humans. The ones close to where the pair was standing at the front of the room were the most developed.   
  
"Not very original," commented Tochi. "Still, it is your first one, it's always a special moment."  
  
"Yes. I suppose that it is," he replied simply as a wet looking man in a black suit and tie stepped out of the only drained tube right in front of them. He calmly put on a pair of shades and said nothing as he simply looked at them both. His features offered no expression at all. His hair was short and black, slicked back and greasy looking. His features were nothing more than a permanent frown.  
  
"Agent Smith, how very nice to meet you."  
  
"Yes sir," replied the thing stonily.   
  
"Agent Smith?" asked the woman in confusion.   
  
"Yes. Why do you think I chose this particular design? Easy to manufacture, intelligent, strong, and fast. He's basically and upgraded human clone with no free will and has the magical ability of a standard Youma. Plus, he'll blend in with the humans easily until he's provoked."  
  
"What happens then?" she asked him as she ran her fingers down the creature's chest.   
  
"If you're thinking transformation forget it. His intelligence is his real asset. He's also strong and fast enough to handle almost anything his line of work can throw at him. Plus, he's more than willing to die to complete an objective. I got the idea from a movie actually."  
  
"A movie?" said the blonde as she wrapped her arms around his chest from behind him.   
  
"Yes. These will be commanding the starships and running sensitive areas. Two months is not enough time to allow these creatures too much power. I intend to hold their leaders onboard the starships to help ensure the fighters don't turn."  
  
"Are you sure that will be enough?"  
  
"Does it matter?" he replied calmly. "I for one don't intend to go anywhere near those starships until the planet is well under our control."  
  
Smith continued to stare as Tochi put her chin on his shoulder. He hadn't even tried to speak since his introduction.   
  
"What are you going to do with him?"   
  
The boy merely snorted as he narrowed his eyes at the thing. "I'll have ten more of him by tomorrow, with seventy five total by the end of the week. The rest will take a bit longer. I'll probably go through a few of him, but I think I'll use him to help contain the mess my daughter left in China. I want those phoenix people to get used to taking orders from him as well. Plus he'll be able to keep those fools hiding in China out of our hair while we operate there. He can sense their energy and is drawn to it."  
  
"You mean?"  
  
"He's not finished growing yet Tochi. All of this, is just one Youma. Impressive ne?"  
  
"I thought you growing some Youma for yourself was a bit odd."  
  
"Impressed?"  
  
"Very. No wonder it took you so long to create just one. Kuroi was even starting to think you were having trouble with our instructions, or gave up."  
  
"I'm not sure if this will make him more comfortable with our plan, or just make him more paranoid."  
  
She kissed him on the neck playfully and said nothing. She wasn't really sure which of them would win when it came down too it. It would be very interesting to find out if nothing else.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
"What's going on? Why are they turning toward us?" asked Nabiki sharply. As she glared at the tiny screen on her console that showed Trunks grinning at her. Everyone in their group had on a headset and was listening in. The Senshi actually had theirs built into the helmets they wore. Trunks also had the original communications equipment for the ship turned on as well and had an open line to Jurai. Yosho was standing just behind him with his arms folded over his chest.  
  
"We may have to shoot our way into deep space. Hold on, I'm working on it," replied the boy.   
  
"Azusa? Hello?" he called into the microphone on his ear as he switched channels again.   
  
Within seconds the Emperor was glaring at him angrily. "What is the meaning of this?"  
  
"Your wife has gone insane and is trying to make us come back. I'm not really sure what made her snap, but I think it was something Yosho said."  
  
"I am aware of that," he growled impatiently. "Hurry up and bring him back. She'll calm down in a few days or so."  
  
"Sorry my friend. Order your ships away or I'm gonna go through em," he replied calmly.  
  
"What?" growled the man.  
  
"You really don't want me and my lady friends to blow up your nice shiny and expensive starships do you?"  
  
Tenchi's head popped up on the console in front of George. "When did we put a video screen here?" Muttered the man as he flipped one of the switches. Tenchi's head appeared and he looked quite worried. "What's going on? Grandpa, Are you all right?"  
  
"I'm fine boy. Are you on course?"  
  
"Yes. We left right after you did. I'll be there in a moment. The captain of your ship decided to follow once we got word that you were off planet." replied the boy.  
  
"Yes. I've been looking forward to meeting you again," interrupted the Juraian man behind Tenchi. "Hello Yosho."  
  
"Yosho, I have your grandson," replied Azusa. "Those ships will return on my command."  
  
"My orders haven't changed yet. I'm still under the personal control of the Emperor himself. Even the empress can't order me about at the moment. As much as I'd like to see you again old friend, I'm afraid I must follow his command."  
  
"I understand. Tenchi, do not worry yourself if you are forced to remain behind."  
  
"I won't stay behind long if we do turn back," said the boy firmly. "In fact, I have no intention of going back even if the Emperor orders it."  
  
"It is not your choice boy," replied Azusa calmly.  
  
"Well don't tell him about anything while we're gone then!" snapped Trunks irritably. He'd grown tired of the family bickering. At least Ayeka had enough sense to ignore it, she'd probably prefer to stay on Jurai. Ryoko wouldn't care either way as long as Tenchi was there. He paused and thought about it. She'd want to leave as well, just to keep Ayeka on level ground.   
  
He hadn't heard from any other ships yet and the large starships that had appeared in front of him seemed to be simply waiting for them to come into range. He switched to the senshi for a moment again and put Azusa on hold. "Lock and load ladies. We're getting kind of close." He quickly flipped back to find the man glaring at the screen angrily.   
  
The ships outside the cockpit shifted and folded, making themselves even sleeker looking as the turrets elongated and shifted. The other weapons systems came to life as well, moving up into ready to fire positions on the wings if they needed too.  
  
"I demand that you desist!" roared the man angrily.  
  
"Call your ships off Azusa, if anyone starts firing at me I'm going to leave an awful mess behind up here."  
  
Tenchi and the captain looked rather nervous.   
  
"What?" muttered the Juraian man dumbly from behind the boy.  
  
"I will do nothing. My wife has ordered you stopped, and she will deal with these matters herself." The transmission ended.  
  
"Man. He's whipped so bad," said Trunks as he adjusted the frequency once again. "Well ladies. Looks like we get our first taste of real combat a little early."  
  
"I am nothing of the kind!" snapped Azusa's voice angrily. "Those ships belong to my wife. I do not have the power to order them away. I can only ask her and I am not going anywhere near her right now."  
  
"Oops, forgot about the audio!" said the boy cheerfully. It was quite obviously a lie.  
  
"What?" stammered Nabiki dumbly. All of their weapons were armed and the girls gave a collective gasp. Ami merely stared forward calmly and seemed too ignore everything.   
  
"Are you insane?" cried Minako. "We can't... I mean..."  
  
"We just saved their entire planet and his mother is going to kill us if we don't get away. How grateful do you think they are now, huh?"  
  
"Not nearly as grateful as they'd be if you'd just left him behind," snorted Nabiki angrily.   
  
"I don't think she'd kill you," corrected Yosho. "I imagine she'd probably want to torture you a bit though. Just you personally, Trunks."  
  
The boy glared back at the doorway again. "You stay out of this!  
  
  
  
"What the hell are we doing? Just take him back!" snapped Minako.  
  
"No," said Usagi softly.  
  
Everyone went silent and turned their attention towards her.   
  
"This is his fight too. You heard him, Earth is his home."  
  
"Thank you," replied Yosho.  
  
"Wow. We sure talked a lot," said Trunks as he turned towards the window of the cockpit. "Scoot over man, I'm driving for this."  
  
George fumbled out of the way as the boy planted himself in his seat. He shifted over to the co-pilot's seat and buckled himself in very securely. "I suggest you do the same," he said to Yosho.  
  
"Freighter, this is Captain..." The transmission was ended rather abruptly.  
  
"I'll take this call captain. Hello boy." Cerio was looking at them smugly from behind a fan.  
  
"Hiya!" said Trunks.  
  
"I am taking Prince Yosho back to Jurai. Prepare to be boarded."  
  
"If you try, we're gonna blow up your ship," replied the boy calmly.   
  
"Ship? Don't be foolish. I command three Juraian battle cruisers, and three wings of fighters. Surrender or be subdued. Even if my fighters are unable to support you, the Queen's fleet is sitting in front of you. There can be no escape for you this time."  
  
Trunks snorted and pointed at the intercom. "Subdued? Get a load of this jerk girls. Would you please remove this asshole from my presence?"  
  
"Gladly," replied Nabiki.  
  
"Are you sure we should be doing this?" muttered George nervously.  
  
"They're gonna blow up your ship if you don't do it," replied Trunks.  
  
"There is no other choice!" agreed Yosho with a serious frown on his face.  
  
"Cut it out. This is all your fault you know," said Trunks as he frowned at the man. "Not that I'm not enjoying it."  
  
Yosho sighed and nodded his head. "I see."  
  
"We'll be there in a moment Grandpa!" cried Tenchi angrily.  
  
"No boy. You continue your course. We'll catch up. I do not think the captain or crew will be very cooperative about facing their own fleet.   
  
"You're right. I couldn't ask that of them. I wasn't thinking," replied the boy somberly.  
  
The captain looked incredibly relieved at hearing this. "I'm ending the transmission and cutting off communications. I'll find out what happened when I return." The man was obviously not pleased, but seemed to have some grasp of the situation.  
  
"We should take him back to avoid this confrontation," warned Washuu.   
  
"Bah," replied the boy as he waved his hand at her.  
  
"It will damage the relationship you just formed if you embarrass the planet this way," warned the scientist.  
  
"She's right," said Hotaru as she poked her head into the conversation as well.  
  
"It's getting a little crowded in here. You should be manning the guns. The senshi don't need Jurai, I'd just as soon have them cut ties with this place before they pick up any of its bad habits. At least until Tenchi takes over and cleans things up. With all the training I have him it shouldn't be a problem. I'm not keen on staying myself, we need to get back and the red tape involved with something like this will keep us here for a long time if we wait for them to let us leave anyway."  
  
"A wise decision," said Yosho calmly.   
  
"You shut up. You're calling your mother when we get back."  
  
"You can't..." snorted Yosho as he frowned at the boy.  
  
"You wanna bet?" he replied calmly. "I've got five little soldiers I'm sure would be more than glad to help me do it too."  
  
The man walked out of the cockpit followed by the others. Hotaru and Yosho manned the guns while Washuu took her place at her station. "Three Juraian battle cruisers? I don't think those ships are Tenchi and the others."  
  
"What are our chances?" called back Trunks. He had turned on several screens and was looking at the faces of Nabiki and the Senshi on six small screens.   
  
"Are you kidding?" snorted Washuu. "Those shields are nothing to scoff at, but our weaponry should penetrate no problem. After all, each girl's power is the battery for the weapons systems. The ship itself works as an amplifier actually. Only Nabiki's ship has a separate power source for the weapons systems."  
  
"Cool," said Trunks as he grinned at her image.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
There were four large cruisers in front of them and three behind them. It was one hell of a tight spot. Dots began to appear out of the giant ship's belly as the fighters launched.   
  
"They're trying to subdue this ship. I've got a feeling destroying yours is optional, especially once we start returning fire. Our mission is to escape ladies, other than Cerio and his ships I'd rather avoid casualties if we can avoid it. Fighters are fair game though." He began to flip switches on his console and set both his hands on the controls. Warning lights flashed on the console and he glanced over at George.  
  
The man was simply sitting there, petrified with horror at the coming onslaught of ships.   
  
"Here they come," said Nabiki as she steeled herself. Trunks dove down into a roll and the fighters veered off in two groups to the right or left. Ami and Rei went left after Nabiki, while Usagi led the others in the opposite direction.   
  
All of the fighters dove after Trunks.  
  
"We could just leave him you know. He'll probably think of a way out of this himself," commented Rei.  
  
"No one gets left behind. Not even him. Don't forget the others on board," replied Nabiki.  
  
"I know, just thought I'd bring it up," she kicked in her after burners and spun around a hundred and eighty degrees in an instant. The other ships performed the same maneuver and lost the few fighters who had been launched to tail them. The larger ships were closing in all around them and were spreading out to surround them.  
  
"We need to keep a door open," said Nabiki. "Girls, figure out which ship has that pink haired idiot on it and keep him from getting into position."  
  
A laser bolt streaked towards Nabiki's ship and she rolled away. "That one," she growled as she caused a target indicator to appear on all of their screens. "He's been listening I think."  
  
"Gee you think so Ma'am?" snorted Minako.   
  
"You just volunteered for that mission, I want Hino on your wing. The rest of us will keep the Mikon Taka covered. Let's go to work."  
  
"That's enough," said Yosho firmly over the intercom. "I shall return home. I did not think she would take this so far."  
  
"What? Aw, man!" cried Trunks.  
  
Everyone else breathed a sigh of relief as the fighters broke off suddenly.  
  
Trunks halted and jumped out of the seat to go give Yosho a piece of his mind. He paused as he realized the position he was in at the moment. That jerk had ruined a perfectly good space battle.  
  
He jumped up and began working at the console.  
  
"What are you doing!?" cried George in horror.   
  
"Your orders sir?" said Minako as she appeared on screen. None of the Senshi had stopped and herself and Rei were both still charging Cerio's ship.  
  
"Stop. I guess I can't make criminals out of you. It's his decision in the end," replied the boy simply as he continued to work at the console. The ships stopped charging and turned towards his position. "By the way ladies, see you when we get there." He promptly shoved a few levers forward and the stars began to streak across the sky.  
  
"Stop them!" cried one of the desperate commanders of the starships.   
  
It was too late though the ship was long gone.  
  
"Prince Yosho has escaped!" verified another transmission.   
  
"Impossible!" cried Cerio angrily.   
  
"That asshole left us!" snapped Minako.  
  
"Actually, they were only sent to retrieve Yosho," pointed out Nabiki. "We should go before their orders change. The six ships blasted out of the ring of command ships in an instant. Trunks had transmitted the information into their ships just before he made the jump.   
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Yosho was staring at the boy in horror. "What are you doing? I surrendered!"  
  
"You aren't in command of this ship. I am," replied the young Saiyan as he kicked his feet on top of the table and stretched out. "We need to slow down a bit. Cerio has a trap waiting for Tenchi, so we need to double back and meet up with them. I don't want the girls to get to Earth before they kill something. I'm still not certain how some of them will react to it at first. They might not care, but I'm not willing to bet on it. I'm pretty sure it will bother Minako and Usagi at least a little bit once they realize what they've done. Ami's about as lethal as she's going to be. Rei and Makoto probably won't mind much."  
  
"I'm not entirely comfortable with that," commented Washuu.  
  
"He is right, we can't have one of them freeze up with emotion in the heat of battle. It's best to get into a small skirmish first. I've got a feeling that we'll be diving right into things when we arrive," said Hotaru calmly.   
  
"I suppose you're right," replied the scientist as she continued to work at her console. "The Senshi's ships will power down when they catch up to us. We'll have to wait a few minutes for them to arrive."  
  
"Do not blow this off boy..." growled Yosho.  
  
"Don't you get it? You're off the hook. I kidnapped you. I didn't tell you I was calculating this jump when things got quiet for a reason."  
  
"What?" stammered the man dumbly.  
  
Trunks pointed at a small lens near the front of the cabin. It was poking out of the wall.  
  
"Washuu is sending this to Jurai. It's encrypted, so the ships around the planet won't pick it up. I'm sure it will find it's way into your father's hands in a day or so though."  
  
The woman waved at him cheerfully.  
  
"That doesn't excuse the abuse of my honor!" snapped the man angrily.  
  
"You'll forgive me in an hour or so when you realize I'm right," replied the boy with a small shrug. "Sit and think about it for a while. Tenchi should be following the coordinates we originally set, so he'll be easy enough to catch in about an hour or two."  
  
"What was this about a trap?" asked Yosho.   
  
"That idiot prince wants to pick a fight with Tenchi. I imagine he'll attack his convoy and target his ship specifically. Wants to be rid of him to get his 'destiny' back or whatever. I'm sure we'll have plenty of fun blowing him up for it. How are the girls doing anyway?"  
  
Washuu smirked at him. "Playing cards, sleeping, going over battle data. I think Nabiki is still a little miffed at Cerio for shooting at her. It was the only shot fired in the whole skirmish."  
  
"Man. How annoying," grumbled Trunks. "I kinda wish we could go back, but I suppose they'll all be gone by then anyway."  
  
Yosho sighed and hung his head. "How did I get into such an odd position."  
  
"You didn't call your mother for seven hundred years, that's how. Honestly man, what's wrong with you?"  
  
Hotaru narrowed her eyes at the man and he stepped away from her.  
  
"Anyway. Here are the girls. Give them our new coordinates and rendezvous with Tenchi. Look for good ambush spots along our planned route and change our route through them. I want to catch him with his pants down. I leaked our travel plans just before we left."  
  
"What?" muttered Hotaru.   
  
"I 'accidentally' included our full route when I transmitted our course to the senshi. All the Juraians probably picked it up. This short escape jump was hidden in the transmission."  
  
Yosho glared at Washuu. "You did this?"  
  
"Well. I had a little help, but what you don't know won't hurt you," replied the boy simply.   
  
Washuu simply blushed and sank a little deeper into her chair as she purposely rotated it away from Yosho.  
  
"I give up. Tell me when we meet my grandson. I'm going to sleep until I get my own ship."  
  
"You wanna go back to Jurai then it's your call," said Trunks with a small shrug. "I don't have time for delays like that. Sorry."  
  
The man glanced back at him and nodded with a slightly thoughtful frown. "I suppose I understand then. I will remain, it is already too late to do anything about it now."  
  
"I'm sure your grandson will be happy to hear that. He'll feel better knowing you're with him to help," said Hotaru as she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.   
  
The young saiyan boy merely hopped to his feet and walked back towards the cockpit. "If I don't get to blow up something soon I'm gonna go nuts," he muttered under his breath.  
  
"Little warmonger," growled Hotaru without much heat in her voice.  
  
"Yeah. Like you're not looking forward to putting your fist into Chibi Usa's skull," he replied simply as he rounded the corner and left them sitting there.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Ah, the action begins again finally; Akane and friends 'Enter The Matrix' so to speak, and Cerio does something really stupid, and pays for it! Next time on Insertion! ^_^ 


	93. Insertion 93

Insertion   
  
Part 93  
  
Stress relief.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Captains log, Stardate, twenty-nine thirty-seven. Captain Trunks, of the, starship, Mikon Taka reporting. We have, encountered, a new threat to our, mission. This, infectious condition, seems to have affected all, onboard. This, boredom, threatens to take us all."  
  
"We need something to do. I wish we'd thought to bring a Gameboy or something," grumbled Dan.  
  
Trunks was leaning over the console of the Mikon Taka watching the stars pass by lazily. He wouldn't have to do more than flip a switch for about two days. They had been underway for about a week and it was a pretty boring trip. Yosho now commanded his own ship. Tenchi also had a vessel under his command. The third ship was commanded by a large gruff looking Juraian man with a beard almost like the Emperor's. He always looked at everyone very firmly. Carrot and Ranma both liked him, even if he didn't have a sense of humor.  
  
Still, that left him with nothing to do but watch the stars streak by. The next time he had to touch anything was still two hours away, and everyone else was sleeping. Cerio would have to be pretty fast to catch them now, and he was losing hope of every being released from his boredom.   
  
"Maybe we should stop at the next asteroid belt and let off a few rounds?" said Dan.  
  
"Hotaru will be pissed if we screw up her calculations," pointed out Ranma.   
  
"Since when has that ever stopped us?" replied Carrot cheerfully.  
  
"Maybe it should! Hotaru worked hard on those calculations," commented their collective conscience.  
  
It was of course dealt with in the usual manner.   
  
"How many light years before the next one? Maybe we can do it before anyone wakes up?" said Carrot as he turned their head towards the controls.   
  
"What about the Senshi?" grumbled Pissant.   
  
"I'm sure they won't mind a little training exercise to loosen them up a bit," replied Carrot.  
  
"Yeah. Sometimes a soldier has to blow something up, or they'll go nuts," agreed Dan. "I bet you all of them have been staring at those weapons for a while now."  
  
"They aren't obsessed with blowing things up like you two!" replied the annoying voice.  
  
"What do you mean? Ranma is obsessed with explosions now too," said Carrot irritably.   
  
"Yeah," replied the original occupant.   
  
"Still! They aren't thinking about those stupid guns all the time!"  
  
"Nah. Just a couple of hours or so, not much to do in those ships, just like this one," replied Dan. "Probably not all at the same time either."  
  
"Well, maybe they are. They'll get plenty of chances to use them."  
  
"I want to make sure those weapons work the way they're supposed too. I haven't seen anything in the way of tests. I don't trust Washuu to properly test what she builds," replied Carrot calmly. "She's smart, but also very arrogant. She may not have tested it at all."  
  
"What about Yosho and the others? They'll get ahead of us," muttered Pissant hopefully.   
  
"We can catch up to them easy. We've got a couple of months to do it remember? This thing is faster than those cruisers," said Carrot as he waved the comment off. "Shouldn't be a problem at all. We're keeping our speed down so we don't shoot ahead of them."  
  
"Hey. Cool! There's asteroids coming up ahead! A nice size belt too," Dan pointed at the screen with a wide grin on his face.   
  
"Finally," muttered Ranma.  
  
The diminutive boy wheeled around towards the communications console and started flipping switches. "GOOD MORNING VEITNAM!" cried Trunks over the intercom as his image appeared on the senshi's screens.  
  
Rei and Makoto both screamed. Minako simply jumped, and Rei managed a quiet gasp. Usagi was hysterical with terror. All of them calmed quickly as they realized who they were looking at. Nabiki appeared to be sleeping still.   
  
"Um? Hello Nabiki, are you up?"  
  
"What?" she replied sharply without opening her eyes.  
  
"She's been quiet for hours," said Minako. "She put us under radio silence about four hours ago."  
  
"Heh," said Trunks cheerfully as he grinned widely. "Hey Nabiki. Wanna blow some stuff up?"  
  
The girl's eyes snapped open.   
  
"There's an asteroid field just ahead. We're gonna stop for about an hour and do some maneuvers. Squeeze off a few rounds. Recess basically."  
  
All of the girls leaned forward and gripped their flight sticks.  
  
"Yeah. That's what I'm talking about," said Trunks as he started flipping switches on his console. He paused for a moment as the cabin began to flash with a yellow light. "Huh?" He shrugged it off and continued working.   
  
The ship began to slow down and the stars slowly shrank down to slow moving pinpoints of light in the distance. A sun burned in the distance with several planets circling around it slowly.   
  
In the near distance the floating ore hung in open space, twisting and turning slowly within itself under the pull of gravity.   
  
"My god. It's beautiful," whispered Usagi.  
  
"Yeah. Let's break it," said Trunks cheerfully.  
  
An annoying alarm sounded inside Carrot's cabin. He slowly turned his head towards the now red flashing light. "Huh?"  
  
"Um, I get the feeling we've been caught," muttered Carrot.  
  
"No shit," replied Dan.  
  
"I hope you're proud of yourselves!" beamed Pissant.  
  
Ranma didn't particularly care if the senshi noticed him punching the rest if himself in the face.  
  
"Holy shit!" cried one of the Senshi. Makoto's cockpit was flashing with warnings as well. The others followed almost immediately afterward.   
  
"What's going on?" growled Nabiki.  
  
There was a commotion from the back and what sounded like pounding feet. To his surprise it was Washuu, and not Hotaru, who burst into the cabin gasping for breath. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Stopping for target practice. Field test for the weapons," replied the boy dumbly.  
  
"You have no idea how right you are," snapped Washuu as she pushed him aside. "We need to start calculating our jump and get out of here! I've got to get to my station!" She whirled around but found herself unable to walk due to the boy grabbing her collar. He tossed her into the seat next to him.   
  
"Sit down and start talking," he said calmly as he finally found the switch to turn off the alarms.  
  
"You idiot! There are ten Juraian cruisers right behind us!" snapped the woman as she tried to jump up out of her seat.   
  
"Cool!" said the boy cheerfully.  
  
"Don't you get it? They aren't trying to disable us! They belong to those men Nabiki and Hotaru betrayed on Jurai! They got wind of their cover being blown and found out who it was. All of them got into their personal ships the minute you left the planet and escaped Jurai in the confusion! They had to avoid the trap that was set for us, but thanks to Cerio..."  
  
"Is he with them?" asked the boy calmly.  
  
"Just behind them. If they catch us, so will he."  
  
"Gets to keep Ayeka as payment for his info I guess?" replied Trunks with a small nod.  
  
"Yes. I was hoping we'd lose them."  
  
"They know where we're going," replied Trunks calmly. "We'll have to deal with them sooner or later."  
  
"Without those cruisers..." growled Washuu angrily.  
  
"Don't think we can handle it?" muttered the boy calmly.  
  
"That's not the point," she muttered half-heartedly.  
  
"I really wish you'd told me about this sooner. I'd have stopped hours ago," said Trunks as he sped up the ship a little and blasted towards the Asteroid field. "Follow me girls. I think you get the point of this now correct?"  
  
"I could have lost them by altering our course without slowing us down," grumbled Washuu as she looked out the cockpit window at the asteroid field. "At least we've got cover."  
  
"Isn't that dangerous?" asked Carrot.  
  
"What? The asteroids?" said the woman in confusion.  
  
"No. Don't be silly, that altering our course thing."  
  
"Well, if I didn't install that super computer in the back, yes. I can do it no problem though."  
  
"Glad I stopped."  
  
Washuu frowned at this, but didn't say anything. It didn't really sound like he was talking about the dangers of the alterations.  
  
"We need to keep them from following us?" replied Nabiki after the pair had finished talking as she led the girls into the floating mountain range just behind his ship. A stone the size of a car forced her to shift slightly, but she still had quite a bit of room to maneuver between stones otherwise. That would probably quickly change. Ten Juraian cruisers appeared a short distance behind them suddenly. Each one launching dozens of fighters out of it's belly as soon as it had slowed enough.  
  
"Seems our friends had quite a following," grumbled Trunks. "Ungrateful jerks."  
  
"In case you people haven't noticed. We have a battle stations situation here. Please feel free to man the guns, or run our advanced diagnostics and communications system at any time now."  
  
"I'm sending word to Tenchi and the others," grumbled Washuu.  
  
"Don't bother. Our mission is to cripple them, lose them, and make sure they can't follow. You're going to plot a new jump for us when we reach the other side of the field. For now, we're going to get our speed down and eat away their fighters before we make an attack run on those cruisers. The fleet we'll be facing on Earth will probably be bigger than this. He'll find a way to man the fighters on those moon kingdom ships, even if he has to grow them himself, or however the hell they make Youma. He knows who's coming for him."  
  
"I could look into how that's done," said Washuu casually as she strolled back towards her station. It was really a pretty good plan all things considering. The boy had been itching for a fight anyway. "You know if it was anyone else besides you guys, I'd be a lot more worried."  
  
Trunks simply smiled as he twisted through two large and spinning Asteroids that passed dangerously close together just after he went through them. "I guess this is a better batch of Juraians to fight against. Don't have to feel that bad about killing em afterwards."  
  
"Like any of you would have!" snapped his conscience.  
  
He paused and thought about it for a moment as he buzzed the surface of a particularly large asteroid and turned back towards the oncoming ships as he suddenly stopped the forward momentum. "I guess you've got a point there."   
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
It had been a while since she'd seen them, and it was both comforting and nerve-wracking. Other people didn't really go into the jungle as deep as they had gone. They surrounded her on all sides, passing with their lives as always. They were getting a few odd looks as they strolled through the middle of the street in the open market. There were around a thousand people in the village, apparently it had grown quite prosperous once it moved. Still, it was a hole in the ground Chinese village as far as Akane Tendo was concerned. She didn't like to rough it. Camping with her family was fine, but what she was doing now was a little more than a weekend with her father and sisters.   
  
She frowned as she glanced around the area surrounding the village. Her eyes were well hidden behind her shades as she watched the crowd carefully. Gohan and Trunks told them they had to be very careful outside the field. Ranma basically controlled China at this point. "I'm getting a bad feeling." She was wearing a full pack on her shoulders and was dressed in her uniform. They had extra clothes with them of course, but the wardrobe choices were minimal. She was thinking about buying something else to wear a little earlier, but the feelings she was getting made her a little anxious to leave.  
  
Jadeite was standing next to her with a backpack full of supplies. The two of them had been assigned to restock some of the things they were getting low on in their hideout. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I feel like we're being watched," she replied honestly.  
  
  
  
"The whole village stares at us every time we come here. I imagine they'd like to know what we're doing down in that place. They think it's cursed."  
  
"I bet they don't like us much."  
  
"Be glad they'll take our money at all."  
  
The girl frowned at him and hefted her pack a little higher onto her shoulders. "We should go. We don't want to wear out our welcome any sooner than we have too. I don't think we're staying where we are long."  
  
"I agree," replied the man with a small shrug.   
  
Akane froze and gasped as her eye caught something for a split second through a hole in the crowd that quickly closed. When the view cleared again she frowned. "Jadeite."  
  
The man had already started walking and turned towards her again. "What's up."  
  
"I saw something," she replied calmly as she pulled her pistol out calmly.   
  
The villagers quickly dispersed from around her and she didn't seem to care or notice. One of them made a lunge for her and she blasted him in the chest. It was a young Chinese man in ragged looking clothes. He was sent sprawling across the ground writhing in pain. He stopped suddenly, but his chest continued to rise and fall. People were scrambling to get away by this point.  
  
"You'd better have a good excuse for this one," said Jadeite calmly as two frightened looking men crawled towards the fallen man. He waved them over and pointed at the man. They seemed to catch the hint and rushed up to carry him away.  
  
"There's something here. I saw it, but it vanished into that crowd."  
  
"What did it look like?" asked the man as he drew his own weapon and flipped the safety off.  
  
Akane had already replaced her sidearm with the long silver rifle that was strapped onto the side of her pack. "One of us. It wasn't anyone I know though. I think he's using the company against us."  
  
"What? That's insane, he knows we'd..." His eyebrow cocked slightly as he saw the man step out into the open. His face was a stern frown as he looked at them both from behind a pair of black shades. "Great. Try not to hurt him too badly alright?"  
  
This earned them both what appeared to be the very faintest of grins from the man. It was gone as quickly as it had appeared. "I must inform you, that you are quite mistaken."  
  
"Who are you? What do you want?" growled Akane.  
  
"Miss Tendo, you may call me Agent Smith," he replied calmly.   
  
"Well Smith, care to tell us why you're here, and who sent you? I've got a pretty good idea."  
  
"I'm here to kill you," he replied calmly. He had yet to move and simply stood in the street opposite them both.  
  
Akane fired at him with an irritated looking frown on her face. She kept pulling the trigger and sent a volley of blue energy balls at the man. Her irritation soon gave way to disbelief. "What the?"  
  
He moved with impossible speed as he simply shifted out of the way of her shots without moving his feet. He dusted off his lapel as he stood up straight again.  
  
"Shit. I don't think he's human," growled Jadeite.  
  
"Those two were right about Ranma then," said Akane as she glared at the thing and tensed her body.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Hello, Mister Saffron. My employer thought you and I should have a little talk." Smith was standing in front of a golden cage. Inside the former ruler of the phoenix people was locked away. He could escape, but knew the penalty for attempting to do so quite well.   
  
"What do you want?" he growled angrily.  
  
"I've been sent to discuss the future of your people, and how you relate to that."  
  
"I'll order them to destroy themselves."  
  
"We would appreciate such an order. It will make leading them much easier, and remove any potential further use we might obtain from you. Please feel free. I'll have a podium set up so that you may issue the order immediately."  
  
Saffron hissed through his teeth as he shook his head and slumped down against the back of the cage in defeat. "Is he too busy to see me himself?"  
  
"He thought you might enjoy talking to someone else a bit more," replied Smith diplomatically. "Now. To business."  
  
The birdman raised his eyes and leveled a glare at that thing.  
  
"I am hoping you might look upon this as a blessing. We are being quite kind to you in the future."  
  
"What are you talking about? You call this kindness?" spat the broken creature angrily.   
  
"You will be allowed much more freedom. How does ruling every human on this planet sound to you?" The look on Smith's face told him that it wasn't a very appealing idea to him.  
  
Saffron gasped as he stared at the thing.  
  
"My employer has already proven that he is your superior in power. We are prepared to grant you even more than you've dreamed of, if you follow us."  
  
"Details," growled Saffron quietly from the shadows.  
  
Smith offered a fake looking grin. "We'll rule the planet through you. As long as you keep them under control and follow our commands, we'll let you do as you wish with the humans when this is over. Whatever you wish. If you ever need support to keep them from becoming rebellious, we'll handle that as well."  
  
Saffron sat silently behind the bars of his cage and said nothing for a very long time. "What's in this for you?"  
  
"My employer doesn't wish to be bothered with trivialities like ruling such a worthless herd of creatures. He will one day rule the Universe, and is kind enough to offer you what will be left of the planet once he's through with it."  
  
"Big plans," growled the birdman.   
  
"I wouldn't know," replied Smith stonily. "Our offer?"  
  
"I'll think about it."  
  
"We are on a timetable. You have twenty four hours to think it over."   
  
Saffron didn't even turn his head, but followed with his eyes as the man walked away and left him. The door closed, and he imagined he had twenty-four hours of solitude to think things through.  
  
Unfortunately, it was more time than he needed. The man had made him an offer he couldn't refuse and he knew it.   
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
The afterburners of all seven ships roared to life as one. Asteroids began to explode ahead of them as the first wave of fighters to reach them blasted their way into the field.   
  
Trunks chuckled as he opened a CD player that was installed on just under the console. He flipped several switches and shifted in his seat as he cranked the volume to the maximum.  
  
"What are you doing?" asked Washuu angrily. "We're putting out on every frequency!"  
  
"This is that CD I had you burn for me. One should always have a good soundtrack for any space battle." 'Going too fast' from the movie 'Driven' started blasting through the ship at maximum volume. He put on a headset with a microphone on it and everyone else onboard was forced to do the same. "With these we can talk normally despite the volume. Cool huh?"  
  
"Oh," replied the woman as she adjusted her headset and plopped herself down at her workstation. "You're making us a target."  
  
Trunks grunted and swerved around a massive protrusion from one of the asteroids.   
  
Nabiki spared him an irritated glance, but really didn't have time to argue with him. For the first time ever, she locked onto a real live target as one of the Juraian fighters curved through the air in front of her. The ships were about ten meters long with fin like protrusions jutting out of a sort of bubble that held the cockpit. They looked a lot like a scaled down version of the larger ships. He was weaving back and fourth through the debris of various asteroids, blasting away at anything in front of it as it tried to keep her off its tail. Blasted pieces of stone and metal flew in every direction in its wake, making tailing it a bit complicated. She spun around a particularly large chunk of metal and fired off two small missiles.   
  
"Damn it," she growled angrily as they both impacted on shattered asteroids. The explosion left a large bubble of flame in the void for an instant and her view went bright orange for the briefest of moments as she passed through it. The Juraian ship was turning right sharply and she kicked in her side thrusters and twisted to run along side it.  
  
Her head whipped back and fourth between her target and the oncoming rocks. She could see the man inside well enough to realize he was doing the same. A small smirk formed on her face as she saw his eyes grow wide as her main turrets swiveled to face him.   
  
He exploded in a ball of flame as he impacted with one of the larger asteroids. Nabiki didn't even bother to watch as she turned her turrets forward again. Rei's ship roared by overhead and she turned about to follow the two ships hot on her tail. "Hino! Call for help if you need it."  
  
She appeared on Rei's screen and the girl breathed a sigh of relief. "I can handle it, there's only two of them." Two more exploded in front of the red ship despite her situation. She hadn't taken any damage yet, but things were getting a little frantic.   
  
Nabiki moved a little higher up and her ship jolted forward suddenly as she picked up her speed. She could see the two ships below her in a small screen on her right instrument panel. The black ship took a nosedive and fired off two missiles just before it passed between the two ships. Both of them exploded just after she passed and both girls streaked off together towards the nearest group of fighters.  
  
"These things aren't very maneuverable. The ties were faster and had a better turning radius. This is almost beneath us." She glanced at her rear view monitor and noticed three ships grouped in formation tailing after her. She snorted and flipped a switch on her console. A barrel like canister floated out from her rear towards the ships. They all turned to avoid it, but the blast radius was large enough that they were all sent flying and burning into different asteroids. "I'll have to have a talk with Hino later about using her rear defenses."  
  
She veered towards the right as a moon-sized chuck of rock forced her to alter her course away from Rei. A good-sized group of fighters ahead of her among some of the smaller debris caused a small grin to form on her face. She hated to admit it, but the soundtrack was appropriate. She opened her engines to full throttle and shot forward towards them.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"There are hundreds of them," growled Makoto as she jammed her stick to the right and spun into a barrel roll as she avoided the lasers of the ship behind her as well as the debris of the exploding asteroid. Large pieces of it passed above and below her ship. Without missing a beat she flipped the ship over and opened up both cannons on the oncoming ship. It faltered in space as the electric charge of her cannons forced his systems into failure. She fired off two more missiles and ignored him as he slammed into an asteroid and expired. "What's our count?"  
  
"There are three hundred ships, around thirty from each cruiser," replied Ami over the link. "There are two hundred and fifty remaining."  
  
"Two hundred and forty eight," corrected Usagi as she streaked by directly in front of Makoto with both of her main cannons blazing. She spun up and took a position on the girl's right wing. Both of them turned as four ships appeared in front of them.   
  
"I've got this," said Ami calmly. She pulled up behind them and shot forward between them. The main gun on her ship appeared to be a large chain-gun. Thousands of tiny ice shards streaked across space at impossible speeds and impacted on one of the ships in front of them. "There are five more setting up a trap just ahead in that big asteroid."  
  
"Where the hell is Minako?" asked Makoto irritably as she led Usagi towards it.  
  
"I see her!" said Usagi cheerfully as a large followed by what appeared to be a golden beam of light erupted on the surface of the asteroid.  
  
"The cruisers are just sitting there," said Makoto as she and her wingman moved towards Minako's pyrotechnics. "Will you look at her! There won't be anything left by the time we get there!"  
  
"Maybe they're afraid of the asteroids? They are pretty big ships."  
  
"Those are Juraian ships. The shields on those things could handle asteroids no problem. Something is up," said Nabiki as she appeared on screen. "Where is the Mikon Taka?"  
  
"We thought it was with you," said Usagi as she blinked for a moment. Another fighter tried to ambush the two girls and ended up in a spectacular ball of flames.   
  
Makoto shifted back into formation. "Worry about that later, we're coming up on that asteroid."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"I am not having fun." She kept repeating the mantra over and over again inside her head. It wasn't right for her to be enjoying what she was doing. Six fighters had appeared from behind one of the larger asteroids and she was on the defensive. Rather than take the fight out into space, she was running along the surface of the giant stone. Inside one of the canyons as the occasional laser blast shattered one of the walls of rock beside or in front of her. She wasn't particularly concerned with the shots impacting behind her.   
  
Her path was narrow, and she knew it could end at any moment abruptly. Still, she twisted through the crack at high speed, just ahead of her pursuers. With an almost casual flip of her wrist she fiddled with her weapons console and adjusted a small analog stick. Targeting systems appeared on her rear view console as her main turret twisted all the way to the rear. A sharp angle forced her to turn the ship on its side as she tore around it. She passed within inches of the wall and fired off her lasers. A huge cloud of dust and debris erupted from the wall. She pulled up sharply and out of the canyon as all of the ships behind her slammed into the wall. "That was almost too easy," she said cheerfully.  
  
"Watch your back! There are more of them!" snapped Makoto as she appeared on her screen.   
  
"Huh?" said the girl as she glanced down at her radar screen. Sure enough, around eight more targets appeared to be moving towards her fast from the edge of the screen. "Come on. They aren't even in rage yet," she muttered irritably as she spun around to face them. "I'm going back towards the surface of the big one."  
  
Two of them appeared behind the girls as they emerged from their hiding places behind two nearby asteroids.   
  
"Shit!" snapped Makoto angrily.   
  
Minako jammed her stick forward and fired her rear launching thrusters. Her tail end flipped over the cockpit and she fired two missiles and a hail of golden laser fire on them both. Both missiles struck targets and the lasers ate through the remains of the hull just before the concussion weapons exploded. "Ha! I'm gonna eat laser death!"  
  
"What?" snapped Makoto angrily. "You idiot!"  
  
"What?" said Minako. "Should I add whipped cream and a cherry or something?"  
  
"Fly, just fly damn it," muttered her friend as she ended the transmission.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Trunks had his headset on and grinned at the image before him. A large Juraian man in dark clothes appeared on the communications screen and looked quite proud of himself.   
  
"Fools. We have you now. You will suffer for crossing the house of..."  
  
"I hope your insurance is paid up," interrupted the boy as he flipped on a pair of shades. He was cheerfully piloting through a tight mass of asteroids with fighters exploding all around him. Some of them were from George and Hotaru's fire. Others were from the sheer number of obstacles floating around.  
  
"Turn off that infernal racket and surrender at once. I may choose to spare the rest of..." started the man as his temper rose.  
  
"Blow it out your ass. In case you hadn't noticed, you've only got about a hundred fighters left. Where you planning on using those big guns of yours any time soon?" He pulled down his shades as a pause between tracks on the CD gave everyone a moment of silence. Rammstein's 'Feuer Frie' began playing and he twisted into a downward spiral causing the death of no less than four fighter pilots in the process.  
  
The man merely frowned. "I see."  
  
"Nah. You're blind and stupid, and really think you're going to win because I'm too stupid to know what I'm facing. I hate to tell you, but I'm not planning on losing."  
  
"You are a fool then."  
  
  
  
"Hey. Has Cerio shown up yet?" asked Trunks he was having no trouble annoying the man as he blasted his forces into oblivion.   
  
"Desist at once! Do you have any idea how many galactic laws you are breaking?"  
  
"At my count? None, Especially since you've all been ousted from Jurai and are seeking revenge by killing me. Once I've destroyed or disabled your starships I'll send word to Azusa to come clean up the rest of you. Can't have you roaming about the universe stirring up trouble."  
  
"I will make you suffer for this. Target him and open fire! All guns!"  
  
"Hey Washuu. What do we have that'll get through those ships shields."  
  
"Those Anti-Matter missiles should do. I fitted a few on all of the ships."  
  
The man on screen's face went white quite suddenly. "Open fire! Destroy them. All ships ahead full! Go into that field and get them! Shut that damn screen down!" The transmission ended as he started giving orders to his crew in a panic.   
  
"We're coming a little close to the edge of the field," commented Hotaru.  
  
"I'd noticed that as well," agreed George.  
  
"I know this is your fault. I'm gonna beat your ass for this later," grumbled Hotaru.  
  
"Aw, you know you're having fun," said the boy as he waved her comment off.   
  
"I was having a good dream damn it!" she snapped angrily.  
  
"Why are we leaving our cover?" asked Washuu.  
  
"Don't want one of these missiles to hit something too close to us," replied the boy as he fired off two of them. After they got about three feet in front of the ship, they blasted forward heading for the ship in the middle of the group of cruisers. Large beams of light shot out from the ships and Trunks actually twisted around the outside of one of the beams as it passed by into the asteroids.   
  
"Whoa," said Trunks as both missiles impacted on their targets finally. A massive shock wave of blue gold and white power ripped through space as the starship expired in flames. It formed a sphere of power with a ring of energy that tore through the asteroid field. There was actually a gap in the field for a few seconds before natural movement filled it in. The Juraian ship that took the most direct hit slowly listed in space and the hull was visibly being eaten away by the energy. "That was cool! I'm gonna do another one!"  
  
The fleet of cruisers was in disarray as they tried to get their bearings back after the initial blast. Their shields had left them mostly intact, but they couldn't take another blast at close range. At least two more were heavily damaged by the blast and a third wouldn't be moving under it's own power any longer.  
  
"I think we made them nervous, every ship in that group is targeting us directly," commented Washuu.  
  
Trunks realized that he was flying straight for them. "Hmmm. Maybe we should..." He fired off two more missiles and veered to the right after they were away. A hail of laser fire formed a complicated web of death around the ship and he spun and twisted through the void to dodge. "Now this is what I'm talkin about!"   
  
George was leaning over his turret with a slightly sick look about him. "I don't want to die..." he muttered irritably as he watched what was going on outside.  
  
The fire stopped abruptly as the missiles hit their mark once again. The cruisers had spread out quite a bit by this point. Only two of them were damaged by the blast, one of them was because the energy ring ripped it neatly in half. The boy grinned as three of the others began to list in space as some of their systems failed, and one appeared to lose power completely.  
  
"Holy shit!" Trunks pulled up into a barrel roll as another large cruiser appeared out of light speed just in front of him. "Hey! It's the gay wonder! I was wondering when you'd show up!"  
  
Cerio's face appeared on the screen. "You'll soon regret ever meeting me boy."  
  
"You're late to the party! Here, have a missile!" said Trunks as he twisted the ship around on its axis and fired away another anti matter missile directly into the boy's hull.  
  
"What?" cried Cerio as he staggered under the force of the impact.  
  
"Yeeeehaaaaaawwwwwww!" cried Trunks as he blasted away at full throttle towards the field. The pink haired boy had a panicked look in his eyes as the transmission ended quite suddenly.  
  
Metallica's 'Fuel' was blaring at high speed as he dodged and twisted through the field around asteroids. The energy shockwave was tearing through it behind him, eating a huge chuck of asteroid field away as it rushed towards them.   
  
Slowly it dissipated and he gasped a sigh of relief as he slowly pulled the throttle back down. His eyes were wide and his palms were sweaty. He was actually shaking and looked like he couldn't really believe he was still alive.  
  
His face cracked into a grin. "That was so...awesome."  
  
"I'm gonna kill him!" screamed Hotaru over the intercom.  
  
"George! He's gotten sick on his weapons systems! You're cleaning that up yourself you know! Get it all off and I'll repair it for you. That means you have to take it apart yourself!" said Washuu.  
  
The boy simply put his face into his palm as he calmly piloted towards the other side of the field. The senshi were still ahead of him in the belt, doing sweeps to make sure they had a clear path through the field. He could see the occasional small explosion in the distance as the girls continued to squeeze off rounds into the smaller debris.   
  
"Should we sneak up and surprise them?" asked Carrot.  
  
"Are you insane?!" cried Pissant.  
  
"Let's not push our luck," agreed Dan.  
  
"What about you, Ranma?"   
  
"I'm with them," he said instantly.  
  
"Wuss."  
  
"Wait a minute! You killed Cerio you asshole!" snapped Dan angrily.  
  
"So?" grumbled Carrot irritably. "It was cool wasn't it?"  
  
"We wanted to watch him make Tenchi suffer!" snapped Ranma. He refrained from any physical punishment though. "You ruined it!"  
  
"Don't worry, Jurai has lots of guys who'll try to kill him. We'll have plenty to keep us occupied," replied Carrot as he waved it off.  
  
"He didn't deserve to die!" cried Pissant.  
  
There was a moment of silence inside the boy's head as everyone took in what was said.   
  
"We should have been more dramatic about it at least. That was too anti climactic," said Dan as he calmed down a bit.  
  
"You have to admit, it was a good explosion," muttered Ranma reluctantly.  
  
"He's lucky it was, we'll forgive him this time," agreed Dan.  
  
"I'm not forgiving any of you kill happy jerks!" snapped Pissant.  
  
"Does he have an off switch or something? He's ruining the song for me," said Carrot as they furrowed their collective brow.   
  
"Yeah. Pipe down. We're having fun right now. You can whine about it later," agreed Dan.  
  
There was a slight whimpering as the voice finally complied.   
  
"Hey. Cut it out you big baby. We gave you the chance to stay out of this when we came back," snorted Ranma as his eyes became slightly misty.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Carrot.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Some kind of new Youma?" growled Akane as she rolled across the dusty street with her weapon gripped firmly in her hands. A dust cloud was rising into the air from where the thing's fist had impacted the ground.  
  
"We have to get out of here," growled Jadeite as he attempted to take a few shots at the creature. "We're going to need help with this thing."  
  
"There is no escape," said Smith as he rushed up to the man and planted his fist across his jaw. Jadeite was sent sprawling, but managed to keep a firm grip on his rifle. He spun it around and appeared to fire it just over his shoulders. The pack straps were burned away and he jumped to his feet and moved aside as the man kicked his pack about a mile outside of the village. He pointed the barrel at the thing's head.   
  
"You missed."  
  
The barrel was in Smith's hand before Jadeite could react. It was stripped from his grasp and used to belt him across his face. The man dropped the weapon to the ground and calmly walked towards where Jadeite was slowly pushing himself to his feet. The man's jaw was bloodied and he spat out one of his back teeth onto the ground.  
  
"Get away from him!" screamed Akane as she rushed towards them both and fired repeatedly.  
  
The agent shifted around her shots as before but remained in place. Jadeite rushed away with his head held low as the girl's blasts tore the wall beside him to shreds. The people inside the place were rushing away from the scene as fast as they could.   
  
Akane cursed as she realized there were two bodies on the floor on the other side of the remains of the wall. "Shit."  
  
Smith simply calmly turned towards her and started walking.  
  
"We've got to go!" cried Jadeite as he rushed up beside her and pulled on her arm.  
  
The agent started walking after them at a quick pace as they started running down the street in front of him. He frowned as they started to pull ahead and started to run, swinging his arms as he shot towards them.  
  
"He's gaining!" snapped Akane angrily as she fired a few shots with her pistol back at him. They were all easily dodged, but kept the agent back behind them.  
  
Jadeite got the same idea as they neared the edge of town. "If we can get to those woods and find some cover we might be able to lose him. He's too fast."  
  
The girl nodded and they dashed off the road towards the woods. "He's gaining!" She fired off a few more rounds and pushed the thing back a bit further. "What should we do?"  
  
"Split up. He can't chase both of us. One of us has to make it back to report this."  
  
"What?" she gasped as they dove into the tree line together. Both of them fired behind them repeatedly as they twisted and turned through the trees.   
  
"Whichever one of us he follows stays behind and stalls him." The man had a smirk on his face that told her he had every intention of that being him.   
  
The tree bark between them splintered suddenly and both of their heads whipped down the line of fire in unison. Smith was standing with a pistol in his grip watching them calmly.  
  
"He's armed," muttered Jadeite irritably.  
  
"Shit," growled Akane as she dove to the side and fired off a few rounds towards the thing.  
  
Smith simply sidestepped the fire and continued to shoot at her. He unloaded a full clip and quickly slipped in another one. He tilted back slightly as another blast of energy bolted by just in front of his nose. He fired two shots towards Jadeite without looking and whipped around his head. The forest was silent and he could see nothing but trees. He started walking as if there was no danger and replaced his weapon inside his coat. He glanced around calmly and swiftly as he strolled through the forest. "I know you're still here somewhere. You haven't had time to run away yet. I'm going to find you, and when I do..." Without warning his hand snapped out and pulled Jadeite out of a large patch of shrubs by his throat.   
  
The man gasped as he gripped the arm and simply choked under the grip. He was lifted off his feet and found the back of his head was being pressed into the bark of the tree behind him.  
  
"Ah. There you are." The agent gave a sort of pleasant looking smile as he talked to his prisoner. "I suppose I should keep you alive so your friends come after you. However, I feel that they probably will anyway if I kill you. Human emotion has a way of doing that to people."  
  
There was a loud blast from behind him and he turned his head to locate the other target. However, all he saw was an increasingly large shadow. His eyes turned up and he dropped his prisoner on the ground as a massive four-foot tree trunk slammed into him from above. It hit the ground with a resounding boom as it'' branches tore through the forest in its wake. Splinters of wood and broken branches went flying around.  
  
Jadeite found himself covered in small twigs and fresh leaves. "I told you to keep going back to camp."  
  
Akane frowned at his tone as she inspected the burned out remains of the bottom of the tree. "You're glad I stayed behind though."  
  
"You could have killed me," he growled as he looked up and down the length of the trunk. "Look at the size of this thing."  
  
"You were dead anyway. Besides, I didn't miss did I?"  
  
"Akane. Take a look at this," muttered Jadeite as he stared down at the tree trunk. A black suit clad arm was poking out from under the tree.  
  
"Yeah. It's dead," she said in confusion. "So?"  
  
"It's still there. This isn't a Youma, it's something else."  
  
"Still nasty whatever it is," she replied sourly. "I hope Ranma doesn't like losing it."  
  
"I'm not so sure he'll care. We need to tell the others. This thing was designed to blend in with humans I think. It never transformed into anything else."  
  
"What's so strange about that?"  
  
"When I made Youma I could disguise them as people if I wanted. Once they changed, they couldn't revert back. Their power was limited when they were in disguise, they had to remove it to fight at full strength."  
  
"That wasn't this thing's full strength?" muttered the girl as she stared at it in horror.   
  
"No. That's just it," he replied. "I think this thing can fight at full strength without shedding its disguise. Either that, or it looks like this normally."  
  
"What should we do? We still need supplies," said the girl as she glanced back.   
  
"Supplies can wait. We need to tell the others about this," said the man firmly. "We also need to find out if our two guides know anything about it."  
  
"That's a good idea," said Akane as she kicked the hand.   
  
Jadeite pulled out his blaster and shot the appendage off at the shoulder. "I'm bringing this along. Maybe we can learn something about it?"  
  
"How? We don't have any of our analyzing equipment."  
  
"I think our problem may be bigger than you think Akane. I don't think this thing is a Youma. I think its some sort of human clone. It was way too smart to be a monster of some kind."  
  
"What? That thing is human?" muttered the girl in horror.  
  
"Yes. Genaku loved the idea of growing an army. Serenity never let him go through with it though. Without her around to stop him, there's no reason he can't do just that."  
  
The girl nodded seriously and picked up the severed arm. "I don't see why it matters. They can die after all. Sure didn't act human."  
  
"I suppose you're right. Still, we should find out as much as we can. When I said 'human' I only meant that part of it is probably human. It's nearly impossible to make a Youma look this human without some sort of disguise."  
  
The girl shrugged and started walking. "I guess we should go then."  
  
"Yeah," agreed the man absently as he looked back at the fallen tree. "I guess I am glad you stuck around after all," he said quietly as he slung the arm over his shoulder and followed after her.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"We have lost one," said Chibi Usa as she glared at her father. He was floating in the sky with hundreds of Chinese fighter planes roaring by him in every direction. Each one was manned by one of the phoenix people as they started their advanced training.  
  
"I am aware of that," he replied calmly. "It performed admirably. I'll send a few more to keep those fools contained until I feel like dealing with them."  
  
"That's unlike you," replied Chibi Usa as she watched one of the fighters rip by and veer away from them quickly. "Where did you get these anyway?"  
  
"It wasn't much trouble to sack the government of their entire airforce. I just killed everyone within a mile of the airbases."  
  
"Is that wise? The humans..."  
  
"Are pathetically weak. They have no idea where we are anyway."  
  
"I wouldn't count on that with all this activity."  
  
"I wouldn't worry. Hong Kong is gone, and I've sent a warning to the government telling them to leave me alone. China is being stubborn about getting help, just as I'd planned. Not that it would have mattered much if they had."  
  
"My, but you've been busy," snorted his daughter irritably.  
  
"The army is mobilizing to the south of here. I've already spent most of the day keeping missiles and rockets away from our planes. It's bad enough these idiots have already lost five of them. Four of the pilots survived."  
  
The pink haired woman merely nodded at this. "What about the Chinese army?"  
  
"Do what you want with them. The ships arrive in a month or so, and we won't have to worry anyway by that point."  
  
"I'll enjoy that," she replied simply. "What of those women?"  
  
"Jokezuko? Leave them be. We're going to need labor for the terraforming project. I'll have Cologne assassinated and negotiate with the remaining leaders."  
  
"What about these people?" she snorted.  
  
"They don't breed fast enough," he replied with another shrug. "I've got everything under control. Besides, I've got a special fate in store for Akane Tendo."  
  
"Why fixate on that lowly human?"  
  
"I made her what she is, and I want to enjoy destroying her."  
  
"Sparing your enemies for any length of time is unlike you. She could grow to be a danger."  
  
Her father said nothing for a long time and his shoulders began to shake. His daughter seemed confused for a moment until she realized he was laughing. "A danger? Too me? You must be joking. I can wipe out this entire planet in a single blast. Believe me daughter, you overestimate their chances. The real danger comes from that other me. He's the one you should be worrying about."  
  
"What of the goddesses?"  
  
"What about them? You failed, that's why they're still around. I doubt we'll have a clear shot at Keiichi anytime in the near future. We'll be rid of him soon enough. I don't want that place turning into a safe haven for the rats when I decide to take over."  
  
"You mean when we decide to take over?"  
  
The boy cocked his head back and smirked as he saw Kuroi standing behind him. "Of course. Simple explanations for a simple mind."  
  
"Ah. I see," replied the boy calmly as he floated behind them both.  
  
"What are you doing here? You never come out," said Chibi Usa as she watched him carefully.  
  
"Just thought I'd check up on things personally today. There is quite a bit to see. After all, you've just brought China to its knees and the world is aware of us now. I hadn't planned on that until our armada arrived."  
  
"We have to train them. We can't just throw them in the cockpit and expect them to know what they're doing. I'm glad I did it. Other than a few small mishaps, they've taken to mechanical flight much better than expected."  
  
The boy snorted. "I suppose you're right. Perhaps we should test them against live targets?"  
  
"When I think they've learned enough. I'll handle that sort of thing personally though. I don't want to lose too many of them before the big fight."  
  
"You really think that those five little girls will be so much trouble?"  
  
"It's not those girls I'm worried about," replied Ranma coldly. "They'll all be much stronger when they return. You'd best be ready."  
  
"I think you'll be disappointed."  
  
Ranma merely shook his head. "I can't even begin to hope that is true. You're going to get caught with your pants down if you're not careful Kuroi. It is always better to err on the side of caution."  
  
"Very wise. I'll try to remember that," replied the boy as he vanished into thin air.  
  
"He's growing more cautious."  
  
"Let him. I'm not plotting against him yet," replied Ranma as he continued to watch the training. "Besides, he is impatient. I could use that against him in the future if I need to."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Anti Matter?" growled Nabiki angrily as she stared at the readout on her screen. "Who the hell authorized anyone to use those!?"  
  
All five faces appeared on her communications console. None of them looked guilty either.   
  
Minako piped up. "Trunks is using them on the cruisers. That's when they started firing into the field."  
  
"Great," muttered the commander irritably. "I'm still not picking up anything."  
  
"I believe we have cleared the area of hostile forces," said Ami calmly.  
  
"Well, my count is still down by about fifty ships," replied Nabiki calmly.  
  
"Some of them wrecked in the asteroids," pointed out Usagi.  
  
"We don't know how many though. Keep your eyes open."  
  
"Right," was the unanimous reply.  
  
"We should be nearing the rear of the asteroid field. The Mikon Taka should be with us by the time we reach it," said Minako as she peered down at her instruments for a moment.   
  
"Hi girls! Did you all have fun?" cried Trunks as his ship pulled up behind them. There were several scorch marks on the hull, but otherwise it was undamaged.  
  
A blank stare was all he got in reply.  
  
"What? Now what's the problem?" he growled as they exited the field.   
  
"We're going to jump now," said Washuu's voice. The stars streaked by as they shot forward.  
  
Nabiki closed her eyes and tilted her head back. "Keep it on private channels girls."  
  
"Yes Ma'am," they all replied. One by one their faces vanished leaving only Trunks behind.  
  
"Now what?" he grumbled angrily. "What the hell are you so pissed at?"  
  
"I just spent the last hour and a half killing thirty two people. You tell me what's wrong."  
  
"Yes. That's the kind of negative attitude I like to see about that sort of thing!" said the boy cheerfully. "I'm glad you realize that it's your job to make sure they all understand what they just did."  
  
"What?" muttered the girl as she sat upright.  
  
"Call em up individually in an hour or so and give em a talking too. They'll appreciate it, and I'm afraid I'd just screw it up. You're better with people that way."  
  
  
  
"Yes. I know." She didn't look happy with it either.   
  
"I want you to transmit a full diagnostic on the ship to Washuu over a secure channel. Tell the girls to do the same."  
  
"Sure thing," she grumbled sourly as the transmission ended. The diagnostic alone would take two hours. She'd start calling the girls when she was finished.  
  
As she turned on the onboard computer she frowned and looked thoughtful. "Just what am I to these girls anyway?" What sort of authority over them did she have, if any? Her orders were always taken, but how much would they really do for her? Would it all end when this was over? She didn't know what to think. There was a bond that she couldn't explain between herself and the girls now, and she had no idea just how deep it went.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Huh? I thought Agents didn't appear till near the end of this." Gohan picked up the arm and looked it over for a moment before handing it to Trunks.  
  
"I was afraid of this," growled the other saiyan as he accepted it. "Agents are dangerous, not to us really, unless there are a lot of them. I don't think he's got quite that many yet though. We're going to have to start moving soon, and we'll be dogged the whole way by them."  
  
"You knew about this?" growled Zoicite angrily.  
  
"No. You don't understand, by picking you up we've changed things. Not even we can be sure of what's going to happen. Most of you would have died, but he would have used you for a bit longer before he decided to be rid of you. We knew about agents, but the timeframe for them is wrong. This isn't good," answered Trunks calmly.  
  
"What do you mean? 'Not good' how? What kind of shit are we in here?" interjected Kunzite calmly.   
  
"Agents are hard to kill, and harder to get rid of. They lock on to your personal energy signals and keep coming. Inside this field we're invisible to them, but outside they'll home in fast."  
  
"How many?" grumbled Nephrite.   
  
"We don't know. He can grow as many as he wants. We never really found out that much about how he did it."  
  
"Great," said Akane flatly. "So now what? Are we stuck here?"  
  
"We can fight them off. The only problem is there's no other safe zones between here and where we're headed."  
  
"And that is?" asked Nephrite.  
  
"You'd just try to get there too fast. That will only get us all killed," replied Gohan calmly.   
  
  
  
"I see," said Kunzite. "This is some sort of covert operation isn't it? You want something from us in the future."  
  
"Yes and no. I'm afraid you're not going to get any more than that tonight."  
  
"We're going to have to plan our route carefully," growled Trunks. "We're going to have to tell them anyway. Agents aren't fun. We can't stay Super Saiyans forever either. They may not know that yet, but it won't take them long to figure it out."  
  
"Fun is not a good description. I'll agree to that," muttered Jadeite as he rubbed at his jaw.  
  
Gohan nodded his head. "I guess we don't have a choice then. We're going to Jusendo. It's near Jusenkyo, and a very important part of what's going on."  
  
The group nodded.   
  
"We'll start planning tonight, tomorrow we're going to test the waters a bit and see how long it takes for another one to find us. I wouldn't count on more than a few days of peace at a time, if that. We need to get you used to what you'll be dealing with."  
  
"Training?" asked Kunzite.  
  
  
  
"That would take too long," snorted Gohan.   
  
Akane decked him.  
  
"We only have a few days," muttered Trunks. "None of you are going to improve that much in a few days. You saw that thing."  
  
She blushed and stepped back. "Oh. Still..." She gave him a firm looking at and left it at that.  
  
He looked confused and rubbed his jaw in irritation.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Tsukino. Are you all right?" Nabiki frowned as she saw the girl on screen staring into space.  
  
"Huh? Oh, I'm fine Ma'am," she replied simply.  
  
"Anything about today you want to get off your chest? This is a secure channel."  
  
"We've all been talking about it. I knew you were going to call me. I'm fine really." She smiled cheerily into the video monitor. "I sort of figured out what I'd be doing when we were training. I've already sorted through all of this."  
  
"I thought that too you know."  
  
The blonde merely nodded. "It's funny. I feel sad, but I can't cry, and I don't want too. Maybe it was because it was ship to ship... I thought I'd feel worse than this. We all thought that. I've heard the others talking..."  
  
Nabiki was once again reminded of some of the things they had lost. Usagi had never been treated the same by the others. It was a mutual decision, and they all seemed to be more business like in dealing with others. They had gone from friendship, to a professional team of mercenaries. Makoto and Minako were a pair now, Rei seemed to hang around Ami more often, neither one of them spoke much anymore, but for different reasons. Usagi was the lone wolf of the group now. It didn't seem to fit her personality well at all really.   
  
Hino was downright disturbing at times. She seemed to enjoy her work a little too much. She would never be sure, but when she had asked about the Anti-matter missiles, she could almost swear she heard a gasp of pleasure from Rei's ship. She was thinking the girl was getting off on the rush she was getting. It wasn't so much the explosions, as much of the power of the weapons she was handling. According to Washuu, there weren't any ships of their class and weight with a higher top speed, or offensive capability.  
  
Rei found that idea very appealing apparently.  
  
"Tsukino. If you need to talk I'm here." Nabiki had spent the better part of the last three hours talking with the girls at this point. Usagi was the last, and all of their reactions were essentially the same. None of them felt anything more than a disconnected feeling that they should be feeling guilty.  
  
"I know. It's rather comforting in an odd way."  
  
"Scarily so."  
  
"Huh?" said the blonde in confusion.  
  
"It's nothing. Just thinking out loud. My channel is open anytime you need it."  
  
"Right," said the girl as she shifted back in her seat. It was damn comfortable. Washuu mentioned something about electro-something to help her keep her figure on extended trips. It did feel a little weird when she went to the bathroom though. It was taken directly from her bladder or colon by a specialized tube that wasn't quite comfortable to insert. It wasn't a painful process, and after a few moments it was difficult to even tell it was there.   
  
In two weeks they would have to slow down to docking speed so her supplies could be filled from the Mikon Taka's stores. A short time later they would reach the Earth. The fact that the ship was a freighter only made things easier. They couldn't remain docked with the ship in light speed, though and that meant they had to fly them themselves.   
  
"I wonder what my mom's gonna say when I tell her I joined an elite wing of starfighter pilots?"  
  
Somehow, a small prickle of fear started to worm it's way into her stomach. "Say. What is mom gonna think about all this. I've been gone a while. I'll bet she's worried sick...she's gonna kill me." The girl looked up for a moment. "Um, Tendo?"  
  
Nabiki's face popped onto the screen. "What is it?"  
  
"Can we call our parents? I mean, could you ask Trunks about it or something? I'd like my mother to know I'm all right, and I want her to calm down before I get there so she's not still angry when she sees me again. You know?"  
  
The girl blinked and opened her mouth. "Actually. I'm not sure. I'll ask him about it. Who knows? Washuu might be able to pull it off."  
  
"Ah! Ah! Ah! What was that name again?"  
  
"Washuu-chan, the greatest scientific genius in the universe," said Nabiki in a deadpan tone.  
  
"I can do that no problem! In fact, I could help you call your friends, or your second cousin, or anyone you want. As long as I have an address with a telephone in it."  
  
Usagi beamed. Her mother wouldn't be angry at all!  
  
"That's right," cried Washuu cheerfully.  
  
"Family only, immediate family. I'll only allow calls to your homes, or parents directly. This isn't going to become a party line. One call."  
  
"Great," said Minako.  
  
"It could endanger our mission..." muttered Ami.  
  
"He already knows we're coming."  
  
"He doesn't know about us though," replied the frigid looking girl as she simply watched the stars streak by her. "If we transmit that information, it could be intercepted. I suggest censoring any sensitive information."  
  
"No way. My encryptions are far too good. I can disguise it as anything I want. Even a television signal, or even radiation from the sun, although that might give the person you're calling a small burn..." She started thinking about it and muttered to herself. "I'm afraid I am going to limit the conversations to audio only. It's not an easy thing to do from this distance. I'm going to have to warp dimensions just to keep the lag down to inside your lifetimes."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Shingo was calmly talking on the phone. "You're lying." He paused and seemed to think about it. Before he could go on, he reacted to another question. "I dunno. For a while I thought you were dead for sure! Mom went nuts, and then she just started crying a lot, now she's just real quiet. Wow. Can I see your spaceship when you get back?"  
  
His mother stepped into the hallway and saw him on the phone. "Shingo, who are you talking too?"  
  
"It's Usagi. She says she's in outer space." He jumped by her and quickly rushed to his room with a huge grin on his face as he handed her the phone.  
  
"Who?" asked Mrs. Tsukino as she took the phone. Her eyes went wide at the sound of the voice on the other end. "Usagi?" She started crying as she fell to her knees and clutched the phone. "No! Listen! Where are you?"  
  
Her jaw dropped as she heard the response. "What? Is that some sort of club? A city? Tell me and I'll..."  
  
She blinked her eyes and brushed her hair out of her face as she seemed to take something in. "Out...outer sp-space?" There was a long pause. "You're in outer space? My god I've gone crazy..."  
  
"Honey? Who's on the phone?" asked Mr. Tsukino as he turned the corner.  
  
"Kenji, it's Usagi. She says she's in outer space," said the woman as she tried to stop herself from laughing. She was mostly successful and simply handed him the phone. "Say hello."  
  
"What? Ikuko are you feeling all right?" He paused when he heard a voice on the other end. "Hello?"  
  
"What?" muttered the man as he stared into the receiver. "My daughter is missing! This isn't..." he seemed angry. "Usagi?" He stared into the phone. "You're where?"  
  
"You come home immediately! You are so grounded young lady! Do you know how worried your mother is?"  
  
"What? What jets? Are you in another country young lady?!"  
  
"Outer space?"  
  
"..."  
  
"Tell me something. Is that Mizuno girl there too? Who exactly is with you?"  
  
"Kikuko, do you know a Tendo?" he asked her as he put his hand over the receiver.   
  
"No. I'm afraid I don't," replied the woman with a frown forming on her face.   
  
He nodded and started jotting things down. "We know the other girls, but do you have..." He smirked and started jotting down the address of the Tendo dojo.  
  
"What's going on?" asked the woman.  
  
"I'm not sure, but I think it's a good idea if we meet this Tendo family and try to find out what this is about."  
  
"She's still alive," whispered the woman as she clutched her hands to her chest. "You heard her too? I mean, I'm not dreaming?"  
  
"I don't think I am," replied the man as he looked down at the phone again. "She hung up."  
  
  
  
"What?" said the woman as she inhaled a sharp breath. "No! I..." She lunged for the phone desperately.   
  
Her husband took her firmly in his arms. "She's not there anymore Ikuko. I'm sorry, she said she couldn't call again before she gets back."  
  
"She's coming back?" said the woman as she stared at him with a bit of hope returning.  
  
"Within a month. If we don't find her before then that is."  
  
The woman nodded slowly and stepped away from him. "Tendo?"  
  
"We're going there now. Get Shingo ready, she says there's another girl there with her, besides her friends. This is her home address. I think we should meet them, if nothing else we know it's related to what happened to her."  
  
The woman nodded and turned to get her son.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC...  
  
Next Time: Meet the parents. 


	94. Chapter 94

Yet another Star Wars Joke. Laugh, laugh at them damn you!

Insertion

Episode 94

The never ending dead horse.

OooOOooOO

The Solar System is in dire peril. The only inhabitable planet, Earth, is falling within the grasp of the Evil Ranma Saotome and his allies, The Youma Lords. With Beryl gone, and Saffron and his people withing their dark grasp, they await only the arrival of the Imperial Fleet to conquer the world. The Senshi race back to the planet, fearful of parental backlash, and death and dismemberment. They weren't sure if the two were related or not...

On the planet's surface, Akane Tendo, and the Men in Black follow their mysterious guides through the wilderness of China towards Jusendo. However, their trek is far from easy. Agent Smith, Ranma's personal minion, hunts them with relentless abandon. All the while Akane Tendo trains at every opportunity, and sharpens her mind by reading as much manga as she can allow in the evenings.

Unbeknowst to them, but knownst to us, a shadowy specter of the distant, and not so distant past gathers strength for the coming battle...

OooOOooOO

Deep in space a shadow loomed over the surface of a passing moon. A gigantic starship passed overhead kicking up dust from the surface as it passed and ignored the gravitational pull of the sphere. It's hull was an almost pastel violet and the light from its engines burned a hot pink.

Heavy breathing escaped the mask of the tall imposing figure that loomed over the helm of a Jurian starship. He was clad armor reminiscent of a techno-samurai. A robotic looking mask peered out across the field of stars. "It is as you predicted. Soon I will have my revenge. I will destroy anyone who would bar my path to the future." The pace of his breathing sped up slightly as he glared at nothing behind his hot pink mask. His entire robe was pink, right down to the knee high boots.

A short robed figure walked up behind him and kept his face hidden in the shadows of his brown and ragged looking hood. "Soon indeed, my new apprentice. The both of us will destroy our enemy. Without mercy, or regret." His voice was cold and deep and he didn't bother looking up at him.

"Lord Gracious." One of the men rushed up to him and glanced down at the dirty looking robed figure. He stepped back for a moment before coming to attention. "We've managed to lock on to their energy signature. There is no hope of catching them before they reach the planet."

"Very well Captain. Set your course for, Earth." The imposing pink warlord turned away and walked off the bridge after the small robed figure.

"Yes M'lord." He quickly stepped away from the pair and gave the smaller figure one last nervous glance as he rushed away.

OooOOooOO

Akane Tendo had a scowl on her face, not unusual as of late. She looked as emotionless as the monster she stood in front of, and all around her. "Smith."

"Ah, Miss Tendo. I wish I could say it is agreeable to see you. I don't like wasting my time. I have...important matters to attend."

"I wish I could say I was sorry for the inconvenience." She adjusted her tie a bit just after Smith did, all of him. "I'd rather just kick your ass." She pulled out a couple of energy weapons from behind her back. Each about the size of a 9mm handgun.

Smith sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose. "Very well, Miss Tendo. Have it your way, yet again."

"Stop smirking, you haven't produced yet. What's so different this time?" Akane seemed a little too calm considering her current situation. The girl was checking over her weapons and seemed to be paying no attention to the crowd around her. She was standing in the middle of a market street of a small nowhere town in China. She was alone, and about fifty of the monster's bodies surrounded her. The place was deserted, the whole town was gone.

"There are a lot more of me this time." The size of the crowd doubled as more of him stepped out of hiding. They were behind almost every possible hiding place, and walking out of the buildings. All of them stepped up to back the current crowd and looked to be preparing to fight as they stretched and popped knuckles and necks to loosen up.

Akane arched her eyebrow a little. "What's the matter? Ranma doesn't have the balls to kill us himself?"

"You aren't worth the effort." Smith started to close in all around her and most of him looked quite smug, the rest just looked angry.

She snorted and dropped one of the energy weapons to the ground before reaching into her coat and pulling out a more conventional looking firearm. It appeared to be a very large sawn-off shotgun, with an eight round clip built into it. She leveled it and unloaded a shot at the crowd. A huge area in front of her seemed to vaporise as the air filled with a light spray of red. She was smirking as the weapon went off twice more as she jumped in the air and cleared out a large circular area of each crowd. She landed on a rooftop and swung the weapon across her shoulder. "Not so many now, eh?" she called down to them and strolled across the tiles as if it where a sidewalk on a sunny day. Red dripped down her cheeks and she removed her sunglasses long enough to wipe them off on her shirt. Smith was starting to jump up around her. The shotgun weapon was something they'd cooked up to deal with Smith. It put so many tiny pieces of metal into the air that the monster couldn't dodge them all, and covered too wide an area to run from.

They'd been fighting their way across China for almost two months now. The Chinese government seemed unaware of what was happening, that or Ranma had enough of it in his pocket that they ignored it. He'd always been secretive and seemed to enjoy using it to irritate others. The weapon she was using was just an automatic shotgun with specialized ammunition. She liked the weapon of course, but it had a limited amount of ammunition.

Smith was closing fast all around her yet again. She hopped over the first to try and tackle her and put her heel into his back to push off back off the roof and over the street. Smith followed her into the air, she spun around and picked three of them off in the air before she landed and hooked her shin into the neck of a fourth who had tried to land beside her. He flew away and knocked two more of himself out of the air. She spun around and fired point blank into the belly of the one who tried to catch her from behind. The weapon left a large burning hole behind that spread until it destroyed the chest cavity almost completely. A head shot, like the one she achieved on as she fired just to her right at another charging monster, simply burned the head off with most of the neck.

The thing slumped to the ground at her feet and she spun into a complex series of spinning kicks that were all blocked by the group of monsters around her. She went into the air again and flipped over the head of one after he tried to kick her from behind, planted her hands into his leg and grabbed the back of his jacket as she went over him. Using her momentum she heaved him back at the other three. They started to get up, but it was almost comical to watch them all notice the glowing blue orb that was attacked to the kicker's leg.

It exploded, sending pieces in every direction, the blast knocked another Smith out of the air, leaving Akane Tendo queen of her mountain again. The numbers were dwindling fast, and there was a lot more space in the street below her. A few more jumped up to challenge her position again. Back up was just behind it, creating waves of men moving towards her. She arched her eyebrow again and reached up behind her back. She used her free hand to put her current handgun away as she pulled a light saber from her belt. She cracked her neck and spun the weapon around her wrist as she prepared herself.

Smith made a grab for her as one of him dove at her with his arms spread. She slashed up after he was committed and the fell in two pieces on either side of her. She ducked below a punch and cut one along the legs at the knees. He fell back and hit the ground. She put the blade through his chest as two legs collided in her previous position. She used the stab to vault herself over the hilt and pulled it out in time to stab the one trying to catch her in the air through the chest as his leg passed just next to her cheek. He fell forward over her as she landed and rolled between his legs as he died and put her fists into the gut of the two who had tried to catch her from either side. They flew back into the crowd of about ten more, each with a grenade sticking to his belly. Both exploded, one set the other off and pieces of monster rained down on the area around her.

She walked back to the edge of the roof and hopped back down to the street again. She reached up and picked up her discarded energy weapon. She turned her head and saw a Smith bearing down on her from an alley in a large truck. He had the gas to the floor. She took a moment to regard this before firing a single shot into the gas tank. The vehicle exploded in a spectacular ball of flames and rolled to a dead stop about three feet in front of her. She put the weapon away and started walking.

Jadeite and Kunzite came rushing around the corner on a street just ahead. They both paused and seemed to regard the situation for a moment.

"I'm starting to see why you got left in charge." Kunzite was looking at the mess behind her. It was growing less and less unusual.

She didn't look like being covered in a sticky wet substance was uncomfortable. "Any idea where we are?"

"Well, we're in northern China now, somewhere." Kunzite peered around at the fields as he answered.

"Where the hell are those idiots?" She looked a little annoyed as she asked.

"They said something about food and took off." Jadeite shrugged. "You know them."

"Irresponsible jerks. How much can those idiots eat anyway?" The girl only looked a little miffed. "I hate that they can fly."

Kunzite nodded. "Would be nice. Still, if we listen to those two, it'd only get us killed." They all started to walk down the road together. Akane seemed to be working on loosening up her shoulders a little while the other two strolled with their hands in their pockets. "What do we have to eat anyway?"

"Zoicite said something about pork I think." Jadeite didn't seem to be looking forward to it much.

"Again? I'm thinking we should pick smaller game for meat, this is almost a week now." The pony tailed former general hung his head a little.

"The first think I'm gonna do when I get home is have Kasumi make me a huge meal." Akane looked up at the sky as she walked for a moment with a wistful smirk on her lips.

"I'm going for some okonomiyaki. I got hooked since we came here." The short haired general seemed to cheer up a little as well.

"What the hell is Nephrite doing anyway?" Akane noticed he was absent after a moment.

"He's fuming at camp. He set us out to get you. You know he hates it when we break schedule." Jadeite chuckled a little after he said it and shook his head.

"Schedule for what? We don't even know where we are thanks to those two idiots." Akane stepped off the street and onto a dirt road that led towards a patch of woods beyond a few farms in the distance.

"I'm almost afraid to ask..." Kunzite moved closer so they were shoulder to shoulder as they walked.

"Yeah. I got it." She pulled a bag from under her shirt and sighed as she handed it over.

"Drat. No unscented I take it?" He peered inside and sighed a little. "I hate it when I smell like apples."

"Sorry. All they had." She pulled out a plastic bag with a few small bottles in it as well. "Dinner won't be so bad tonight now that we have this. I never thought I'd miss salt so much." She regarded the bag and hung her head. "I can't believe I had to go through all of that just for some seasonings." She glanced back at the road behind them over her shoulder with her eyebrow twitching a little.

OooOOooOO

Ranma Saotome stood on what was left of Jusendo with a dark smile on his face. Chibi Usa and the two remaining Youma Lords stood just in front of him looking down at the rows and rows of soldiers below. All of them were dressed in white armor. The only part of their body that wasn't armored were their wings. Ranma had protested, but Kuroi seemed somewhat attached to the idea. Intermixed within the ranks were also large numbers of Smith.

The air blew up around them tossing dust and hair to blow in every direction. The evil Saiyan put his arm up to shield his eyes a little from the dust as A shuttle pulled up to the cliff they were standing on and floated just off the edge with the door open and waiting for borders. "Heh. He'll be here soon."

Kuroi glared back at him for a moment before stepping on board the shuttle with Tochi.

Ranma and Chibi-Usa stood back as the two youma looked back in confusion.

"Come on!" Kuroi snarled at him and waved his arm. "We..."

"We aren't going. I've got business to deal with down here." Ranma didn't seem bothered by the youma's anger.

Tochi didn't bother looking back at them as she sat down at the seat by the door to Kuroi's right. "I'd hate for you to miss something important."

Chibi Usa frowned at the boyish youma and shrugged her shoulders.

"What business?" Tochi put her arm on the younger youma's shoulder and it seemed to calm him a bit.

"He'll be coming here. I intend to be here when he arrives. I won't set foot on those ships until Ranma Saotome is dead."

Kuroi smirked. "Have it your way then." The door closed and the shuttle took off.

"Why aren't we going?" Chibi Usa seemed a little worried and frustrated. She clenched her fist and leveled her stare at him. "You are aware those ships have cannons? It would be easy for them to..."

"Smith controls those ships. He's in command of every important operation. Kuroi isn't as dangerous up there as he'd like to think." He turned away and started walking back down the mountain. "Come on, we're going to be ready when they arrive."

"If we aren't strong enough by now, it's too late." She looked up at the sky. "Even I can tell they are coming."

"Wait then." He snorted and strolled away. The moment he was away from her his face was nothing but a deep scowl.

In the sky overhead, a group of about seven Imperial Warships floated in the sky, a sight not seen in the memory of the planet. Small almost box like shuttles could be seen coming down within the rows of troops. He looked out over the scene as he descended the mountain's side and it didn't help his mood. "I'm waiting for you, hurry up and finish this off. Then you can really suffer." His smile turned strange, almost crazed. It was obvious he was growing impatient with waiting for things to start happening. The arrival of the star ships had only made things worse.

OooOOooOO

"It's almost time." Gohan was looking up at the star ships in the sky overhead. He was sitting around a campfire with Gohan and the former employees of Ranma Saotome. "My guess is Keichi is safe. It's too late to bother with that anymore. In a few hours, he'll have the attention of every government in the world."

"Like he doesn't all ready." Akane looked a little irate.

The former generals were all silent, and seemed to be paying little attention to much of anything. Each was in his own place.

"Point taken," agreed Trunks with an amused looking smirk on his face.

"We aren't getting any sleep for a while are we?" Akane looked down at the small metal cup that rested in her hands as she looked into the firelight.

"Fraid not." Gohan had yet to take his eyes off the ships overhead as he stood up and turned to face them. "We've got a few hours of peace at most. These things aren't known for patience. They'll start as soon as they get everything up and running."

"What are we gonna do?" Akane didn't seem to be very frightened and sipped at her drink a little.

"Smith could be a big problem, even after Ranma is destroyed. We need to take care of him." Trunks popped his back and scratched at his side giving a few grunts as he spoke. "There's a reason we've been less than available to bail you out more and more you know."

"Take care of Smith?" Jadeite's voice got their attention.

"How do we do that?" Kunzite stood up and crossed his arms with a rather aggressive looking smirk on his face. The generals were paying attention to the trio's conversation now.

"We have to stop it's production. He's pumping these things out at an unbelievable rate. More than he should be making. Smith was a problem, but this is insane. There are thousands of him. Something has him rattled, more than he should be. I'm sure it's not us either." Gohan pulled the map out and laid it across the stump he was sitting on. The group huddled around it and peered down at the tattered page. He pointed out a spot southwest of Jusendo, Akane noted it was near Jusenkyo. The saiyan continued to speak as he moved his finger to where their camp was. "We're here. We leave as soon as it's bright enough."

"Where are we going?" Jadeite seemed a little miffed he was still omitting specifics.

"Ranma's youma factory. We could never find it, because he only made a few at a time, maybe twenty or so a batch. He's gone into some sort of panic overload and made way more. We were able to locate it. Once we do that, we can bring him under control." Trunks was leaning back against one of the logs they were using as seats with his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. "It's gonna be a big fight, it's not a small place either. We've got no reinforcements."

"Well, good luck. You two can handle it right?" Akane seemed cheerful again.

"No." Trunks frowned a bit and opened one of his eyes to glance at her. "We can't do it for you. We've got business of our own. As much as we like you guys, we didn't come back just to protect you."

"A little notice would have been nice." Zoicite seemed annoyed as he started opening the arms cases. They only had three small cases, but their ancient design allowed for quite a bit of folded pocket space for storage.

"Stop complaining. You said you weren't getting any sleep tonight anyway. It had to be tonight, otherwise there'd be too much going on there. We didn't know if Ranma might decide to drop in. We can't hide from him that close up. You can expect it to be crawling with him regardless, just less so now than normal." Trunks seemed to believe that was enough exposition and settled back down for a nap.

"You could have just told us all this weeks ago!" Nephrite seemed to have just reached the point where he couldn't contain himself any longer.

"To what end?" Trunks rolled over on his side facing away from them as he frowned a little.

Gohan was still looking up at the star ships as the other generals held their companion back as he went on a rather colorful rant. "Sky sure is pretty tonight." He sipped on his cup and ignored the events around him.

OooOOooOO

Ranma Saotome sat with his hands behind his head as he looked at the blue orb in front of them. It was growing larger with each passing moment, but it was still only slightly larger than a speck in the distance. The outer planets loomed as the largest things in view, with the sun shining far in the distance. It was quite a sight to behold.

"We're coming up on the Earth soon." He was the only one in the cockpit, everyone else was getting a last bit of sleep before they arrived. They would wake in a few hours when they drew closer to the solar system.

He was slightly surprised when the door opened. Washuu stumbled in and yawned as she stretched out and sat down beside him. "Hi."

"Hey." He nodded in greeting and relaxed again.

"I had to be up first, I've got a bit of work to do. Gotta make sure everything is ready to go. Last minute stuff, you know." The boy noted she had a cup of coffee in her hands. She sipped on it and looked to still be half asleep.

"Last minute stuff?" His head swiveled towards her.

"Nothing to worry about. Just a few things to make sure they're combat ready after the trip."

"I don't like the way that sounds."

"Which one of us is the genius here?" She was sipping her coffee and not even bother to look at him as he fumed for a moment.

"Whatever. I just want to get there." He looked irritated now as he glared at the planets.

Tenchi appeared on the screen. "There are ships in orbit over Earth. Our sensors are detecting shuttles moving to and from the Earth. We can expect a fight." He didn't look pleased.

"They'll have plenty of time to..." She paused. "What are they moving? There's a lot of traffic..."

"They are transporting large numbers of life forms to the star ships. Quite a force." Tenchi was obviously relaying information given to him by a nearby officer. "I don't like this."

"We can handle it." Ranma seemed uninterested and leaned back in his chair. "You and the Senshi will handle the space battle. I'm heading straight for the planet with Hotaru. We've got business there." His eyes were closed and he seemed to relax a little more now that he had people to annoy.

"It'll be safer for me to operate if I'm on the opposite side of the planet from the battle as well. I'll be more useful if I'm not under fire." Washuu nodded in agreement with his plan. "I can help coordinate the battle, and keep us in touch throughout the whole thing."

"All right. I wish I could land with you." Tenchi seemed honest. "Ryoko will help us here. She's already told us."

"I'm altering my course then. You are to engage the fleet over Earth." Ranma sat back up and seemed alert again. "Nabiki and the Senshi will assist you."

"I'm glad to have them." The young captain seemed to perk up a bit.

"Be careful Tenchi. From what I've seen, those shuttles are full of pilots for the fighters. Be ready." Washuu looked quite serious as she put her face up to the screen.

"Good luck." Tenchi's smile withered a little as he said it.

"We don't need it. We're the most kick ass team in the known universe as far as I know. " Ranma smiled at him as the screen went dark. "I can't wait! I'll bet he's real strong, it could take hours!" The boy seemed quite pleased with this.

Washuu rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. "Well, I've got work to do. Time to put those girl's to work too."

Trunks smiled as the conversation continued.

"Sweet! We're almost there! I can't wait to put my fist through his teeth!" Carrot was getting pretty excited.

"I'll say, I wanna trash the guy." Ranma was an overconfident ball of anger.

"Heh...heh...boom...heh...heh..." Dan was getting ready in his own way.

"We need to be careful! We're supposed to be saving the planet, not blowing it up! Remember how much trouble it was last time?" Pissant was complaining.

All was right with the Universe, well, besides the evil planetary takeover thing. On the whole though.

"Will, somebody shut him up. I'm tryin ta concentrate." Dan seemed a bit angry at the tiny irritating voice.

"You otta be used to it by now!" Ranma snapped just about everything he said. "When I get my hands on that jerk..."

"We all want to kill him." Carrot seemed pleased with Ranma's current mindset. "Focus pal. We're in the home stretch."

"I know. Because of him, I've seen hell!" The others had to suppress the aura to keep from melting the seat.

"Calm down! We're gonna burn our clothes again!" Pissant seemed a bit more forceful than usual. "I'm getting hot."

"Whatever. How many hours?" Carrot was making them look at the readout on the console. It gave them distance and an ETA. "Six. Man, what I wouldn't do for a few rounds of Doom to cool off."

"Yeah. Waiting for explosions sucks. I want one now." Dan made them nod as they looked out at the planet in eager anticipation. They could see the Senshi's group moving off in the distance as they passed by Uranus. Their heads turned to watch the blue planet pass by them. "Huh huh huh huh. Heh heh heh m heh heh. That's cool."

Ranma and Pissant were a little confused by this as Dan and Carrot enjoyed a private joke.

Another moment of amusement quickly passed as they moved on through the system.

OooOOooOO

The bridge of the 'Queens Pride' was bustling with activity. A chair was elevated near the back of the bridge over a system of pits that housed the control center of every system on the ship. A gigantic window gave a panoramic view of the universe outside the ship. The Earth could be seen spinning slowly and lazily in the starboard side windows.

The golden haired female strolled up to the chair and smiled at the raven haired child youma as she neared. A few bird men passed in front of her in a bit more of a hurry than before. He was standing next to the seat looking into a hand held screen.

"What's going on?" Tochi walked up to Kuroi with her eyebrow arched.

"Our little problem brought some friends along. There's a small group of ships approaching, and another smaller ship moving towards the opposite side of the planet. It will take them a while to get here." The boy was working with a hand held touch screen and brushed one of his black hair spikes out of his face. He seemed preoccupied as he paced around and focused on what he was doing. "We're preparing for combat now. We have plenty of time to be ready for them."

She sat down in the captain's chair. "Friends?"

"Jurian ships. There are three of them. Plus, a small squad of unidentified fighters. The other is the ship that escaped Earth." The boy spared her a glance and seemed to relax a bit more. "They shouldn't pose a problem."

"There are six fighters." Tochi frowned as she leaned into a screen showing the ships position on a map. "Wonder who they are?"

"We have an entire armada of fighters. Smith is proving rather useful. He'll be piloting half the fighters to keep the others in line." The boy glanced over his shoulder as one of them appeared behind them out of the shadows.

"Sir, I am to relay a message."

The boy glanced up at him. Tochi frowned a little. "I'm not sure I like this development." The female straightened her back and stood a bit taller.

"You're surprised? He is a hive mind youma." The boy nodded at the suit clad monster.

"My master wants you to leave the single ship be. Any forces sent against him would be wasted."

"I'd planned on it. I know what he wants, and he can have it. I'll be interested to see how it turns out. I've got what I want already."

That comment seemed to catch Tochi off guard. "Wha?"

The boy ignored her as he looked out into the field of stars with a dark smile on his face as he moved across a walkway over the computer pits and to the center of the walls of glass. He was rewarded with a breathtaking view of the planet, it's moon, and a sea of stars.

OooOOooOO

The students of Furinkan high were alarmed and panicking. Men in black suits had forced them all out the gates of the school, every one of them looked exactly the same. Ranma Saotome stood in front of the doors with a dark looking frown on his face. He was surrounded by armed men, and had a very attractive, but evil looking woman with pink hair standing next to him.

Not a one had the balls to walk up and argue with him. The men hadn't done anything but cleared out the grounds and now appeared to be guarding the building for some reason.

"Is there a bomb or somethin?" One of the students walked up and asked one of the men in black suits with what looked like shotguns covered in chrome. He turned his head and frowned at him. "Just leave. There's nothing happening here today. All I can say is it's some kind of meeting. You'd best clear out."

The crowd seemed to back away a bit as he turned his head back to where it was and stood motionless with his weapon held ready in front of him. A little at a time, the crowd began to disperse and move away from the grounds.

OooOOooOO

Soun Tendo was sitting at the table with his head hung low. His eyes were vacant and he looked almost hollow. "My daughters..."

Kasumi was beside him, a deep frown of worry and confusion on her face. "Don't worry father. Nabiki called from outer space and said she'd be home soon."

"Yes, that's very nice dear." Tears were flowing down his face at this point.

The girl turned her head as the door opened. A group of people stood in the entranceway. A couple with a young boy, a single woman with short hair, and a man dressed in an English suit. Each of the adults looked somewhat distraught. The boy seemed pretty cheerful.

"Oh hello." Soun stood up and tried to compose himself.

The group bowed to him in apology. "Please forgive us. We're looking for Soun Tendo." It was the mother of the boy who spoke up.

"I am he? Is there something I can help you with? I'm afraid my family is..."

"Missing a daughter, named Nabiki?" The short haired woman interrupted. "We all got strange calls from our girls a month ago. We, heard your daughter's name mentioned. We aren't sure what they mean, but we think she's with them."

"Anything you can tell us!" The man in the suit rushed forward. "I'll pay anything for information about my girl!"

"Nabiki is fine. She's in outer space." Kasumi seemed quite cheerful.

"Yes. That one." The short haired woman sighed as she put her hand up to the bridge of her nose. "I'm Mrs. Mizuno. This is Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino, and Mr. Aino."

"I'm afraid I know about as much as you do. Kasumi says she got a call..." He looked up at her for a moment. He was starting to think she'd cracked. He hadn't been home and missed the call. The police had come and gone, and now he was waiting alone. Akane had vanished as well, with no word or warning. He had no idea what to do. He hadn't been able to contact Ranma for months. Genma had left him to search for his son, and he'd gotten no word from him either.

Aino fumbled with the phone as it started to ring in his pocket, he almost dropped it answering it. "Yes?" He perked up for a moment. "Hino-sensei! What?" He glanced over at Soun. "Turn on the television, any channel is fine. Are you sure? What...ch...an..."

Soun had already done so, and the screen was showing something impossible. There was something in the sky over the Earth. Something much too high up, and much too large to be an airplane. They were grouped close together in the stratosphere overhead, and small lights could be seen moving about between them in the night sky over Europe.

"I wonder if Nabiki is there?" Kasumi seemed quite hopeful. "I do hope she comes home soon. We're very worried."

The group stood around staring at the screen in a sort of shocked awe. Ami's mother fell over in a dead faint.

"Cool! Usagi better give me a ride in her space ship!" The boy was jumping up and down with excitement.

OooOOooOO

Akane Tendo stood alone in front of a large complex built into the interior of a large cave. It was a building that looked like a factory about fifty yards inside a mountain cave. She was covered in weapons and had a firm frown on her face. Her grip shifted on her weapon as her glasses kept her eyes hidden.

Smith was walking towards her, hundreds of him, meeting her at about twenty feet away. Both the girl and the wall of men stopped. "Ah. Miss Tendo. I'm afraid we aren't expecting company. I'm sure we can find a way to accommodate you." One of the clones stepped forward and spoke up taking only a single pace away from his brethren. "It's a shame you haven't brought your friends with you. We would certainly enjoy meeting them again. I'll be sure to drop in and see them when you're settled in here."

"I don't really need the help." The girl shrugged and rubbed at the bridge of her nose with her pistol still gripped in her hand. She let her arm hang back down and stepped towards them. "I'm pretty sure I can handle it. I've got a few tricks you haven't seen yet."

"Really, that's very interesting." Smith seemed unimpressed and didn't move.

"Believe it." The girl crouched suddenly and performed a few gestures with her hands and fingers without dropping her gun. A hundred more Akane Tendo appeared all around the girl, firming a wall of their own within the cavern. Jadeite and Kunzite appeared at the back of the cavern flinging crates of weapons firearms and swords to the army of girls. Within thirty seconds all of the girls were armed and moving forward as a group. Smith had cleared out a few villages, and a few towns from the map. They'd been raiding the vacant towns for supplies, and weapons.

Smith remained standing where he was with one of his hands over his wrist over his belly. All of them looked the same, and they didn't seem worried about the new development.

Akane opened fire and the men in suits started to fall. They reacted as soon as the first fell and charged forward like a wave.

The girls never lost their grin as they met the charge head on. Each one was as fast as the monster it was facing, and the confined space of the cavern gave her the advantage. The legion of Akanes stopped pressing forward and dug in to keep Smith from gaining any ground.

A few of the girls had swords, and carved chunks, bullet ridden bodies, and charred skeletons littered the ground in front of them as the battle raged. Smith returned fire, but as the girl's dwindled they reappeared.

Akane wasn't even fighting the battle herself. She was sitting nearby with a smirk on her face behind a large boulder in the entrance. She'd picked up a few new tricks from her manga, but Dragon Ball had been her base of study. She had the ki reserves to keep it up for some time. Then, the real battle would begin, once he'd been thinned out a bit. She frowned a bit as she thought about it. It was something she had learned from Ranma. "That bastard. He'll get what's coming to him."

OooOOooOO

Gohan and Trunks were sitting on top of a skyscraper in a section of Tokyo that would remain outside the scope of the battle to come. They had a large bucket of pop corn and two very large cups of soda on the ledge with them.

Trunks looked at his watch and slapped Gohan on the shoulder. "It's showtime."

A large flash of light formed in the middle of Nerima. Both Saiyans put on a pair of sunglasses and grinned like idiots. "Ooooooh!" They chimed in unison.

"That was a good one!" Trunks seemed pleased with himself.

"We're just getting started too. Great." Gohan seemed to agree and was almost hopping up and down on his rear.

Pops and bangs filled the air as flashes of light sparkled in the distance.

OooOOooOO

TBC...

Well, almost there. Doubt this will go a hundred chapters when I do finish. Maybe two or three more to go. It's been fun so far. So I might as well get the rest of it done. Expect chapters of other things first though. I've got three or four half done chapters in the works for other stories.


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